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Dragging the 10-ton bike through the sand is quite tiring and I'm expending a lot of energy here
This provides a perfect excuse to stop often and turn around to watch the gorgeous sunset over Cima Dome behind me.
Date: April 28, 2008, 19h07
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For a few minutes, that famous orange light of desert sunset oozes across the land
I'm inching my way closer to the New York Mountains ahead. There's a little less sand in places, which is encouraging. Now I occasionally get to walk the 10-ton bike instead of drag it through sand.
Date: April 28, 2008, 19h11
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The orange light of sunset vanishes as quickly as it appeared
This road is still a hopeless sand pit, but I've decided that it doesn't matter if it gets dark. I have a good headlight on my bike to guide me through the darkness to Butcher Knife Canyon.
Date: April 28, 2008, 19h17
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Dusk at the top of Cima Road
I've just hiked the bike more than a mile up the sand of the old Cima Road beyond Death Valley Mine. I don't have much energy left, but I've survived just fine. I turn left at the road to Butcher Knife Canyon and I think I'm out of the sand, finally!
Date: April 28, 2008, 19h27
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On the last leg of the trip toward Butcher Knife Canyon, I can actually ride some of the road
After dragging the bike through sand the last hour or so, walking the bike on packed earth now feels easy, and riding occasionally on the bumpy road at 8 miles per hour feels incredibly fast! Those lights way off in the distance: Las Vegas?
Date: April 28, 2008, 19h44
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It's too dark now, so I ride and walk the final couple of miles slowly by headlight
I arrive at the old corral below Butcher Knife Canyon at around 20h45, hungry and exhausted. I can't figure out where to set up camp because goathead thorns and rabbit droppings are everywhere. My tires get encrusted with the thorns.
Date: April 28, 2008, 19h54
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