Daylight Pass by Bicycle - Velo

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Daylight Pass

If ever there is such a thing as an extremely lopsided pass - this is it. And the -260ft as a starting elvation on the "big side" of the pass, obviously also has to be a record. No surprise then, that the good points of each approach are of also very different. The west side has its incredible mountain views and desert bottoms glistening in the heat. The west side has bearable tempereatures, at least in a relative sense, and in the morning, according to the time of year.

1.START-END NORTH:jct with Airport Rd, just south of Beatty
2.profile turns left in Beatty
3.intermediate high point, 3580ft
4.TOP: Daylight Pass, 4316ft
5.Hell's Gate
6.START-END SOUTH:jct Beatty Road - Nv374

Approaches

From North. If I had to make the length of the description proportional to its relative height, it would have to be over already. In an attempt to make it biiger, you could include I15 from Las Vegas. It climbs an addtional 1700ft from Las Vegas in Amargosa Valley. But it does it so gradually, the profile would loose its focus. As an aside, I15 only has 2 lanes, and contains rumble stripped shoulder. Biking is legal but not pleasant at best.

In Beatty things become pleasant. A short climb up leads up pleasing, gentle desert hills. A road cut at a small high point throws the view open onto the quintessential Nevada highway view, a road straight as an arrow running head long into the the next range, dressed to the waste in a wide skirt of alluvium. There is no shoulder, no rumble strips, no curves, no traffic to speak of, just beautiful desert stretching out from range to shining range. The summit in these desert hills is quickly reached and has a sign with name and elevation, and a nice view back into the direction just traveled. And yes - the last few miles contain gentle curves.

Beatty

From South. (also described upwards). There are two option for the lower part of the climb. The point, where the two options meet is labeled as Hell's Gate on state maps. There is no water available here, just a bit of shade around two roofed picnic tables. The road, joining in from an easterly angle, is labeled as Beatty Road on my map. The other one, Daylight Pass Rd, joins from a westward angle. Daylight Pass Rd has nice views of the gigantic alluvial fans on the west side of Death Valley, especially mesmorizing during a decent. But riding up Beatty Road and heading for Corscrew Peak also has its interesting points.The profile follows Beatty Road.

The junction of the two roads, Hell's Gate, marks a transition. The profile enters a fairly steeply climbing, yet grassy curvy valley. There is a tendency to underestimate the elevation gain from the valley floor to Hell's Gate. With 2700ft above the -260ft low point, it is aproximately 2/3rds of the total climb up. From here the April temperatures also become more bearable. Traffic on this road is very light, compared to the road running through the famous valley.

cLiCk on image , arrows , or thumbnails to advance slideshow

Dayride with this point as highest summit

( < Mormon Pass | Secret Pass > )

Daylight Pass x2: ~1mile south of Beatty on I95 > I95 north > Beatty > Nv374 west > Daylight Pass > C190 south > Beatty Rd north > Daylight Pass > Nv374 north > Beatty > back south on I95 to starting point: 68,1miles with 6120ft of climbing in 6:31 hrs (garmin etrex32 r4:23.4.23)
Notes: first ride after the truck was towed into Pahrump and spent 3 days in the repair shop. Nice temperatures going down into Death Valley, fairly hot climbing back out of it.