Couch Potato Ride–Twentynine Palms to Death Valley then on to Bakersfield

Morning broke with sunshine and a slight breeze making me extremely pleased, however when I took my first load out to the bike, I was struck by how chilly the air felt. It was a brisk 30 degrees! I broke out the gerbing gear and connected my dual controller to the bike and unconnected the GPS. The darned thing had been near worthless so let it suffer being discharged. I got my bad motel coffee while I packed up the bike and was out in the morning air around 8ish, early for me!

Rhyolite is not quite like any other ghost town that I have visited. Sure there are the old ruins and the tales but I have never seen a another ghost town with an artist’s interpretation of the Last Supper, but here in Rhyolite lives a rather amazing sculpture by Albert Szukalski. One of two. The other is called Ghost Rider and both are both whimsical and a bit eerie and created in 1984. They are joined with other symbolic sculptures of vast size and placement in this ominous desert terrain. More information on the outdoor sculptures can be found at Goldwell Open Air Museum.

Icara 1992 by Dre Peeters

My version of Ghost Riders

Albert Szukalski’s version

Sofie Siegmann’s Sit here 2000

Detail of the same

Lady Desert: The Venus of Nevada 1992 by Hugo Heyrman (whose computer generated image inspired this sculpture but reminded me of a lego creation)

The Last Supper

Tribute to Shorty Harris 1994 by Fred Bervoets

Bandit becomes art…

Old railroad car

Beautiful downtown Rhyolite.

After perusing Rhyolite I set about making my goal of Bakersfield and my friend Mark’s home. I found some unusual sights throughout the desert and took a road less traveled that some enduro riders had told me about. When I consulted the park map, I was shown a dashed line stating limited access. Now just how limited can access be to a motorcycle? I was about to find out, as I took the Wildrose Canyon turnoff.

The road was lovely, that is until it reached the summit and became a pretty rough route for a street bike, but the bandit handled the challenge like the trooper that I have thought it to be. We made it unscathed to Trona, the capitol of strange places, with its plethora of mineral deposits.

Trona seemed a bit less bizarre than the last time I had been there. At least I saw some people about coupled with the boarded up buildings and beaten yards. Trona seemed less threatening for some reason.
One of the more unusual sights in the dunes…

Wildrose Canyon

Goat, goat and more goat!

Beautifying Trona

Gas in Trona
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Trona to Lake Isabella was a wind chamber. I stopped for gas in Inyokern, downed a coffee drink and phoned home then headed to Hwy 155 via Hwy 178. The area was still experiencing fall with gorgeous foliage colors. There was an odd sky full of swirling clouds and low fog. I didn’t heed the warning signs and was kicking myself up near the top of 155 while immersed in damp and cold fog that blinded my navigation. Top speed dropped to 25 mph on a road that begged to be hotly ridden…next time!

Hwy 178