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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 seem to be everywhere. It feels like people rarely come here. My tires and shoes get encrusted with the thorns, yet I amazingly don't get a flat tire. Maybe it's time to sing the praises of my self-healing "slime"-filled bicycle tubes. The tent keeps trying to blow away while I set it up because there's so much wind up here. It takes me a while to get settled and I eventually prepare a pouch of Backpacker's Pantry "Chicken Cashew Curry," which is rather dull, but I'm hungry enough that I don't care. The wind is warm tonight, so I don't need to wear clothing in my sleeping bag to stay warm, for a change. In addition to the noise of the wind, and the occasional distant rumble of a freight train wafting up from the valley below, I hear a few crickets singing and a few moths flitting against the outside of my tent. Sometimes these noises calm down and all becomes incredibly quiet for a moment or two until the wind picks up again. It's very satisfying to have reached a somewhat remote destination that I thought I may not attain. My only problem may be water, since I drank six litres of my supply on the way here. I'll take inventory of that tomorrow. I fall asleep so easily, looking forward to waking up here in the morning to see what this place looks like by day. - Mojave National Preserve map, Day 6: Coyote Springs to Butcher Knife Canyon corral
- The meagre stream contains as much algae as it does water
There's also a fair amount of mud around, or is that something less sanitary? There's a reason that I'm using a water filter... - The stream is too shallow to pump water from it, so I dig a small depression to accept the intake hose of my water filter
Inevitably, this stirs up a lot of silt, so I'll have to wait a few minutes before I can begin to pump water. - Filtering water from Cottonwood Spring, Mojave National Preserve
I've waited five minutes, and the silt in the depression that I dug in the stream has cleared away. I'm filling my half-depleted two-litre Camelbak and two empty 1.5-litre water bottles. - Successful taste test of the water at Cottonwood Spring, Mojave National Preserve
The water from Cottonwood Spring tastes great filtered. It helps that the water is almost cold, so it's really refreshing on this warm day, the coolest water that I've drank since yesterday at Kelso Depot visitor centre. - The proud deed of pumping water completed, I begin my walk back down Cottonwood Canyon and toward Butcher Knife Canyon
The hike ahead of me should be interesting, and I might get lucky and find even more water at Butcher Knife Spring. - Lots of purple salvia dorrii flowers in this area
These sage flowers are especially striking when they occur next to yellow encelia flowers or orange desert-mallow flowers. Of course, they're always super-fragrant. - I leave the road and begin hiking cross-country to the Butcher Knife Canyon area, about a mile away
I dodge tough shrubs and the occasional cholla cactus as I make my way over to Butcher Knife Canyon. The straight-line hike is barely a mile, but cross-country hiking requires longer distances as one walks around shrubs, and never in a straight line. - I scramble over a few rocks on the way to Butcher Knife Canyon
I could have avoided this by taking a tiny detour, but rock scrambles are scenic and enjoyable. - Burned joshua tree near Butcher Knife Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
This dead joshua tree has more reach than most. The burned trees in this area suggest that the Mojave National Preserve "Hackberry Complex" lightning fires of 2005 reached this area. - For some reason, this meadow near Butcher Knife Canyon is resplendent with small white flowers
I haven't seen any of these flowers in the area except at this location. - As I get closer to Butcher Knife Canyon, I note some piles of mine tailings on the hillside in the distance
The piles appear to be colour-coded. I decide to head up to that area to look closer. - On the way up to the mine tailings, I cross a drainage with profuse desert-mallow blooms
I don't think I've ever seen so many desert-mallow blooms at once. Often, these plants don't grow higher than a foot or so. One exception is in my garden in San José where I planted one of these and it grew into a five-foot shrub, but it has more foliage and fewer flowers than the ones here. - Above the piles of tailings at the Butcher Knife Mine
So many orange desert-mallow flowers up here... The sandy area to the right that looks like road (and which is, sort of, a road) is the wash into which Butcher Knife Canyon drains, my route today. - Just above the lower mine at Butcher Knife Canyon is another big hole in the ground
This hole is not fenced off like the one below. - Danger! Hazardous mine
A wire fence cordons off the lower mine shaft at the Butcher Knife Mine, decorated, of course, by more orange desert-mallow flowers. - Many flowering phlox are found in this area
I haven't seen many of these elsewhere on this trip so far. - I walk down to the wash of Butcher Knife Canyon on the remains of the old mine access road
I'm not sure I would have noticed this eroded, grown-in road had it not been marked on my topo maps. - Some assorted old debris and cans are scattered near the wash
This must be where the miners' camp was located and it is marked on my map as "ruins." - Some of the debris here isn't all that old
I remember the design of these Dr. Pepper and Hires root beer cans from years ago. - An old Hunt's can
I guess tomato sauce was once consumed here. - A boulder pile and joshua trees greet me as I arrive at Butcher Knife Canyon wash
Three smaller rocks are carefully stacked in the slot between the big boulders. - Hiking up Butcher Knife Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
Boulder piles are frequent here in the New York Mountains, especially on the other side of the mountains and in the steeper areas, where they are more dramatic. - I spy a stream in Butcher Knife Canyon
This looks promising, so I continue walking up the wash. Will I get to filter more water today? - Yup, it's a stream
And there's even green grass here too. I'm almost surprised to find water here because some otherwise decent maps don't show Butcher Knife Spring here. - The stream in Butcher Knife Canyon looks like it might not go much further
Lots of algae, but not much water so far. Still, finding water in the Mojave Desert, no matter how little, can be exciting. - Just around the bend, I locate Butcher Knife Spring and get to the business of pumping some water into my near-empty Camelbak
The water trickles over this rock into a small pool below, just deep enough for the intake hose of my water filter. The water is clear and clean, much better than the water at Cottonwood Spring, and it's refreshingly cool. - I'd like to hike further up the canyon and over the hill to the other side of the New York Mountains if I had time
Instead, I turn around after filtering water and start the hike back to my campsite a couple of miles down the fan. - A rattlesnake startles me as I approach this big boulder along the Butcher Knife Canyon stream
There is a reason why desert hiking requires always looking where one puts hands and feet! I almost didn't see the snake stretched out across the ground in front of me like so many random twigs. Instinctively, I take several quick steps backward to get out of the rattlesnake's striking range. A large rock moves loudly beneath my feet, causing the snake to slither away with a hiss before I manage to snap a photo of it. - The excitement of the rattlesnake incident behind me, I return my focus to the hike away from Butcher Knife Canyon
It looks like only a few vehicles have travelled up the wash here since the final spring rains. Their tracks are visible, but smoothed out, with the texture of animal tracks superimposed on them. - Many burned pine cones are scattered on the ground around here
I notice that some of the pine cones still contain seeds, so I decide to taste one of the very well-roasted pine nuts. It tastes like a very dry, burnt nut, so I spit it out. - Colonies of flowering banana yucca populate some of the walls of the wash below Butcher Knife Canyon
These flowers have a wine-brown shading, unlike the whiter yucca flowers I saw along Death Valley Mine Road. - I'm still walking down the wash away from Butcher Knife Canyon, mindlessly, enjoying the scenery and the sunshine
I've got a good walking rhythm going now. The wash is quite wide and I'm back at the tire tracks after veering away from them for a while. - Hmmm... there are no more tire tracks in the wash here; where did they go, and where is the road that I was on?
I shouldn't be seeing that small hill ahead. I quickly realize that I've been following "bad" tire tracks for at least a mile, and that I forgot to stay on the "good" tire tracks that would have led out of the wash to the road back to my tent. If I keep walking straight ahead, I'll eventually end up down in the Ivanpah Valley below Morning Star Mine Road, which is not what I'm intending! - To my right is an old trailer on a hillside that I'm not expecting to see, so I start hiking cross-country toward my tent
According to my map, I must be a mile or so east of my tent. But with the endless forest of joshua trees between here and there, I can't tell exactly where I am. I wouldn't mind except that it will get dark shortly and there will be no moonlight this evening. I didn't bring my flashlight because I was sure that I wouldn't need it (I should know better). I like this area and would love to go for a walk up to that old trailer to see what remains up there. But there's no time for that right now. - I'm hiking briskly cross-country in the hope of crossing before dark the Cottonwood Canyon Road that will lead me to my tent
I'm really enjoying the sunset over Cima Dome in the distance, but am a bit nervous about not knowing my precise location, even though I know I'm not too far from my tent. My cross-country hike will get a lot slower if it gets dark because it will be harder to avoid the spiky and thorny bushes. I'm already getting some good scratches on my legs as my hiking speed increases and I get a bit careless. - After almost an hour of cross-country, I cross the old road at dusk and realize that I've overshot my campsite by about a mile
I've been lower on the fan than I thought, below my campsite. It's a relief to reach the old road and have last night's bicycle tracks guide me back to camp. - Ahhh, back at camp by Butcher Knife Corral and there's still a hint of daylight remaining; such perfect timing
Despite the awkward end to the day, it has been a great one. The moral of the story is to always bring a flashlight on day hikes (as if I didn't already know that). Supper tonight is Mountain House Jamaican-style Chicken and Rice, which turns out to be an excellent, spicy rendition of red beans and rice with a few chicken bits thrown in. After supper, really strong winds set in and I have to put on a sweater and my full-length jeans to stay warm, even though the temperature hasn't dropped all that much. The relentless wind is strong enough that the tent flaps back and forth endlessly, noisily, as if someone is beating on it on the exterior, loud enough to almost erase the sound of the trains rumbling in the valley below. I'm glad I placed large rocks inside the corners of the tent earlier today. My flashlight hanging from the tent ceiling sways back and forth continuously and I think I'm on a ship at sea in a storm. After midnight I realize that I'm going to need quite a bit more brandy if I want to fall asleep amongst this noise, so I indulge accordingly. My recently purchased tent is surviving the wind so far, but I wonder how much it will take. I fall asleep finally around 2h. - After sleeping in late and a quick breakfast, I go for a short walk around my Butcher Knife Canyon campsite to see it by day
It was quite dark when I arrived here at the corral below Butcher Knife Canyon last night, so it's nice to see what it looks like by day. I slept so well last night, being pooped from the long day of biking and hike-a-biking. - A bit down the fan sits a fire ring next to which I was going to set up camp last night until I noticed goathead thorns all over
The fire ring probably hasn't been used yet this year judging by the young plants sprouting in it. This area seems seldom visited. Goathead thorns (puncture vine) are everywhere in this meadow; I don't think I've ever seen so many. My tires, shoes and saddlebags picked up lots of them just from passing through here last night. My tent rests in the background, with the New York Mountains a couple of miles further beyond. The two springs that I want to hike to today sit near the base of the mountains. Cottonwood Spring is roughly straight ahead two miles beyond, while Butcher Knife Spring is to the left, about two miles behind the corral in this view. - This campsite is actually two miles down the wash from Butcher Knife Canyon, not in the canyon itself
The road I came in on last night is just behind the tent. The meadow here at 4600 feet was presumably used for cattle grazing, given the absence of native vegetation, except for joshua trees. Although it looks flat here, the meadow slopes gently down toward the Ivanpah Valley and Morning Star Mine Road. The subtle curve of Cima Dome forms a backdrop in this view. - It's time to check out the old corral here below Butcher Knife Canyon
When visiting abandoned installations like this, I always wonder when they were last used. - Old cattle-watering trough in the abandoned corral below Butcher Knife Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
I'll find out shortly where water would come from to fill this cattle trough; for now, it's not obvious. Orange desert-mallow flowers add a nice touch. - I pluck a few items out of the mess inside my tent and stuff them into my backpack for the day's hike
My day pack includes the usual items (water, water filter, extra bottle, batteries, tripod, energy bars, apricots, and epipens in case of wasp sting), except for a flashlight, which I'm sure I won't need for some reason. - I begin the hike up the road to Cottonwood Canyon and Cottonwood Spring, at the base of the New York Mountains
I'll walk about two miles to reach Cottonwood Spring. At this time of year, there's a good chance that the spring might still be flowing, so I've brought my water filter and two empty bottles in case I can get some water there. I could use the extra water because I drank more yesterday on the way here than expected. - Erosion on the old road to Cottonwood Canyon has exposed some old rubber piping that had been buried under the road
These old pipes presumably once carried water to the corral at the bottom of Butcher Knife Canyon near my campsite (I had been wondering where water came from for the trough in the corral). - A mile north of my campsite is "the fork" in the road to Cottonwood Canyon and Butcher Knife Canyon
The right fork to Cottonwood Canyon and Cottonwood Spring is my route right now; the left fork leads to Butcher Knife Canyon and Butcher Knife Spring. I'll hike cross-country to Butcher Knife later this afternoon. - The joshua tree forest gets denser as one gets closer to Cottonwood Canyon at the bottom of the mountains
The joshua tree forest here is about as dense as the one across the valley in the Cima Dome area, which is reputed to be the largest and densest in the world. - 10 minutes later, as I approach the base of the New York Mountains, lush juniper trees like the one on the left begin to appear
Pinyon pines also begin to appear in this area, mixed in with the joshua trees, banana yuccas and cholla cacti. This is classic native vegetation in the Mid Hills and New York Mountains area of Mojave National Preserve. - Desert primrose
I try not to walk on these low-growing plants when I encounter them. - A pull-out on the road to Cottonwood Canyon reveals a nice camping area complete with a fire ring
When I first planned this trip, I thought I might reach this spot with my bike and camp here, but getting to the old corral 1.5 miles behind me turned out to be enough of a challenge! - After exploring the campsite area, I return to the main road toward Cottonwood Canyon
I'm almost there; Cottonwood Canyon with its spring should be just up ahead in the foothills. The hike so far has been pleasantly serene. Real silence, except for the wind, and no people are to be seen anywhere. - Here I am starting up Cottonwood Canyon at the base of the New York Mountains, Mojave National Preserve
The area is somewhat green, which I'm hoping is a sign that there may be water ahead. - Awesome: a tiny stream in Cottonwood Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
It's not much water, but this is the Mojave Desert at the end of April after all! I'll keep walking upstream and see how much more water exists here. - I reach an old wooden box which houses a camera that takes photos of wildlife
Presumably, this means that Cottonwood Spring itself is right there in the grassy area ahead. - Old sign on the wilderness-camera box at Cottonwood Spring
This BLM (Bureau of Land Management) sign must be at least 15 years old because National Parks Service took over administration of this area from BLM in the early 1990s when Mojave National Preserve was created. - Apparently, this dripping water is the source of Cottonwood Spring
The small quantity of water dripping out from under the tree roots here does not amount to very much. At least not right now; the flow is probably more significant during the wetter months. - There doesn't seem to be more water to discover in Cottonwood Canyon, so I climb up a small hill for a break with nice views
My tent is about two miles down below. The high peak in the background is Clark Mountain, the highest point of Mojave National Preserve, which I haven't gotten around to exploring yet. - Cottonwood Spring is aptly named since this cottonwood tree lives here
This tree is dumping some of its fluff and pollen into the air, which probably explains why I just had a sneezing fit (I'm allergic to cottonwood trees, which I hate to admit because I like them). - I walk back down to Cottonwood Spring to filter some water
It looks like the wilderness camera is going to get some choice shots of me and my water filter instead of a deer or a mountain lion. At the Mojave National Preserve Visitor Centre at Kelso Depot is an album of photos that were captured by cameras like this, so maybe I'll find my photo there one day. - The water that drips out from under the tree roots at Cottonwood Spring flows over this rock as a clear shiny film
Then the water hits the ground and creates the small stream below. I'm relieved to find water because I drank more of my water supply than expected yesterday on the way here. I can now relax knowing that I have no chance of running out of water while I'm in this area. - Butcher Knife Canyon hike as viewed in Google Earth
- Mojave National Preserve map, Day 7: Day hike to Cottonwood Spring and Butcher Knife Spring for water
- I heat up a boil-in-bag Indian-style breakfast, happy that my tent survived last night's wind storm
The strong wind this morning persists in its attempt to extinguish the flame of my propane burner, so it's taking longer than usual to boil water. At least it's no longer rip-the-tent-apart windy like it was last night. - After two cups of good strong coffee, my Tasty Bite spinach dal and rice breakfast is ready; mmmm
This Tasty Bite spinach dal and rice meal is quite a bit heavier than my dehydrated backpacking meals, but I like to bring one along anyway on longer trips because of the home-cooked flavour. The portion size (in the white plastic bowl) is a bit small to serve as a complete meal after a strenuous day, but it's just right for breakfast. I imagine myself being "Popeye the sailor man" after this delicious breakfast and smoke a late-morning pipe accordingly. My "other dessert" is a Ritter Sport dark chocolate bar that has become increasingly deformed each day. For a change, it's solid enough to eat this morning because the temperatures dropped a little overnight. Most mornings, this poor chocolate bar has been melted by mid-morning and just barely held together by its wrapper. - Puncture vine, I hate you: here's one of the many nondescript goathead (puncture vine) plants that cover this meadow
I'm still amazed that I haven't had a flat tire yet from the sharp thorn balls everywhere here. The thorn balls are those white gravel-like pebbles on the ground that are practically unnoticeable. - One other unavoidable item around the Butcher Knife corral is small droppings
They seem to be big enough to be rabbit droppings, or something like that. I've been hoping that they're too big to be hantavirus-carrying rodent droppings. - Almost everything is packed up now, so it's time to take the tent down and make departure from Butcher Knife Canyon official
I find that one of my tent poles is quite bent, a victim of last night's wind storm, but it doesn't appear to have affected the tent's performance. Kudos to this low-end REI tent! - I begin dismantling the tent by removing the large rocks that I placed inside at the corners
Staking down the tent here didn't work (and often doesn't in the desert), due to sand and gravel on the surface and hard-as-rock earth beneath that layer. - I assemble the 10-ton bike just beyond the goathead-infested meadow at the Butcher Knife corral
I've been lucky so far to not get a flat tire, so I carry my belongings piece-by-piece to the edge of the meadow a few hundred feet away, beyond which there is only native vegetation and no goathead thorns. - I ride down the Butcher Knife Canyon road, satisfied that I've managed to leave my campsite by 13h
With my heavy load, I find myself walking and scootering the bike along some stretches of the road, but it doesn't feel too strenuous yet. My confidence level is high because of the extra water I'm carrying, thanks to the springs I visited yesterday. - The last mile or so before Death Valley Mine in the sand trap is tough again, so I drag the bike through parts of it
But it's so scenic that I'm enjoying the "down time" here nonetheless. - After 4.5 miles, I stop for a short break at the old Death Valley Mine site at 4400 feet elevation
I wanted to stop here on the way to Butcher Knife Canyon, but had no time because it was about to get dark. - The front of the old house at Death Valley Mine has a row of joshua trees planted in front of it
What could be more appropriate than native desert landscaping that looks great? - At the base of the joshua-tree grove are rocks and a few other native plants
Orange desert mallow and cacti were planted here as well. The residents here apparently understood native plants. - Front porch of the Craftsman house at Death Valley Mine, Mojave National Preserve
The floor boards are very weathered and probably weren't painted too many times. - Approaching the front door of the old house at Death Valley Mine
An old mailbox is still attached to the post. One thing that makes this house quite different from others of its Craftsman style that one might see in Detroit, Cincinnati or San José is the tin roof. - The house is very warped, and a glance inside one of the "basement windows" explains why
The support beams of this old house rest mostly on the ground and don't appear to have much of a foundation beneath them. - Behind the house at Death Valley Mine is a tank presumably for stove and furnace oil, and an exterior bathtub room
Note the "Shell Oil" engraving on the tank. Oil drums like these were once common on the east coast in towns where old stoves for heating, cooking and hot water burned oil. - Vandals have removed the boards off the back door, so I walk in and see old stairs to the basement
My first concern is that perhaps the vandals are living here, but they aren't. I've already seen that this house doesn't have a basement, so I'm guessing that these stairs lead to a cold-storage room. I don't descend to learn more. - Old knob-and-tube wiring once provided power to the light fixture outside the rear porch door
Modern wiring on the left shows that this house has received some modern electrical updates during more recent decades. - Inside the old Death Valley Mine Craftsman house
Plaster in the house has all been removed, suggesting that the National Parks Service may restore this building. As is typical for a Craftsman-style house of this era, built-in shelves and posts separate the dining room from the living room. - Behind the main house at Death Valley Mine are an old corral and a big shed
The corral looks empty, but what's in that shed? - Pickles! In addition to some old paint cans and wood trim pieces, some old bottles of home-made pickles are in the shed...
The colors of the vegetables, except for one bottle, are rather faded: how old are these?!?! - The back side of the main house at Death Valley Mine viewed from the corral
Two old bathtubs sit on the edge of the corral. - Just beyond the main house at Death Valley Mine is a second, smaller house
It was built more like a cabin, with none of the Craftsman stylishness of the main house. - The decaying front porch of Death Valley Mine house #2
The boards covering the windows and doors on both of these houses are recent additions, probably mounted by the National Parks Service. An original board-and-batten exterior seems to exist under the outer wall covering of the house. - Death Valley Mine house #2 also has drought-tolerant vines growing in front of it
This house hasn't aged as well as the main house. Some of the outer walls appear damaged by weather and vandals. - Rear of Death Valley Mine house #2
Vandals haven't removed the boards off the doors of this house yet, so I don't get to take a peek at the interior. - The walls around the corral out back send a prominent "keep out" message
The joshua tree forest provides an old-west backdrop. - A big raven's nest sits in the eaves of the main house at Death Valley Mine
I might not have noticed the nest if a big startled raven hadn't flown out of it as I walked by. A lot of chicken wire surrounds the house, serving as a trellis for the drought-tolerant vine that uses it for support. - I walk up the road to the old house at the Death Valley Mine site
It looks like a large old Craftsman-style house from around 1920. - I return to the 10-ton bike in the sand trap on the old Cima Road
It has been fun walking around the residential corner of the Death Valley Mine property and I wish I had time to explore the old mining area next door. However, I want to make it to the Nipton General Store some 30 miles away before it closes at 18h. - I ride down the old 2.5-mile-long road toward Cima, my next stop
Once I get beyond the big sand trap by Death Valley Mine, the rolling dirt road through joshua tree forest is mostly ridable in my slightly downhill direction (elevation drop of about 200 feet), despite some surface sand here and there. Cima is the small light patch at the centre-left in the photo. - I reach the junction of the paved Kelso-Cima Road and stop in at the Cima Store
It looks deserted, but I'll take a closer look anyway. The store is the double doors to the right, while the post office occupies the left end of the building. - Postal boxes inside the old post office at Cima, California, Mojave National Preserve
Above the postal boxes is a yellowed map of the region served by the Cima post office. - Mounted on the map is a roster of the postmasters of the Cima post office here since 1905, printed by typewriter
The most recent entry lists Irene Aussus, who runs the Cima store and has been the Cima postmaster for 45 years now (since 1963). - The post office is closed, but the lobby is still open
I step inside the well-weathered old building. - Indeed, the Cima Store is closed
Store hours here are known to be erratic, so a bicycle camper needs to treat this as a spring that may or may not have water. I still have adequate drinking water from yesterday's hike to Cottonwood Spring and Butcher Knife Spring. - I end my 15-minute break at Cima and get the 10-ton bike and I back on pavement at Cima Junction
Not much remains at Cima besides the post office, the store and a few old houses that are returning to nature like the one in the background here. - At the start of the long ride down Morning Star Mine Road, I stop to look up toward Butcher Knife Canyon
Butcher Knife Canyon, where I camped the last two nights, should be that spot at the right where the hills dip down a bit lower. The location where I have pulled off the main road is an intersecting power-line road that cuts across the desert, a few parts of which I have previously travelled. - After the big curve coming up, the fun hill down Morning Star Mine Road will begin
It's not extremely busy, but this is one of the busiest roads in Mojave National Preserve. Traffic is fast-moving and the road does not sport a paved shoulder. - Wheeeeee, Morning Star Mine Road descends into the Ivanpah Valley and the haze of the day
The road drops from 4300 feet to 2750 feet over about 11 miles. It's not especially steep, but the downhill is long, sustained, and is great fun to ride down. It seems to go on forever. - I stop briefly at the old corral on the way down Morning Star Mine Road
I hate to break an enjoyable descent, but... On a hot day climbing this hill during my 2006 Mojave Preserve trip, I chatted with a pipe-smoking man and his wife camping here who gave me a Camelbak filled with ice water. Alas, he's not here today. I wouldn't mind having the opportunity to thank him again. - Back on pavement, the 10-ton bike and I fly gracefully down Morning Star Mine Road
After the corral, 8.5 miles remain before the bottom of the road. The weather is perfect (high 70s), I sometimes have a bit of a breeze pushing me from behind, and I reach 32 miles per hour on the way down. - Darn: "stop ahead," complete with skid marks on the pavement
My big descent for the day down Morning Star Mine Road necessarily comes to a flying halt. I turn left at the bottom onto Ivanpah Road and begin the final 10 miles to Nipton across the Ivanpah Valley. - For three miles, I skirt the western edge of Ivanpah Valley on the paved Ivanpah Road
Ivanpah Road rises behind me into the east end of the New York Mountains; I hope to ride up that way before the end of the trip. - Ivanpah Road ends
I turn right on Nipton Road. - The final seven miles to Nipton crosses the dusty bottom of Ivanpah Valley
Nipton is the blotch of buildings in the distance at the left. - The scrub at the bottom of Ivanpah Valley is different from most areas in Mojave National Preserve
Presumably this is due to high alkaline soils (Ivanpah Dry Lake is not too far north of the road here). - The small campground at Nipton, with New York Mountains in the background, is almost empty tonight, which suits me just fine
Nipton offers a few canvas-walled "tent cabins," seen here in the background, in addition to their restored bed-and-breakfast house and a handful of tent and RV sites. - After setting up camp, I sit down with a couple of cold beers from the store, enjoy the sunset and listen to the passing trains
The cold (mmmm, cold) beer is incredibly refreshing after a long day in the sun and a decent amount of calorie-burning. It's a very pleasant end-of-the-day with a cool breeze setting in. The café is open for a couple of evening hours, so I walk over and order one of Bill's juicy hamburgers with a side of his crispy French fries, instead of eating another backpacker meal. Yum. Convenience. Faaat. The only other customers at the café tonight are Pat and Pam, a vivacious couple visiting from the UK, who are staying in Nipton's bed and breakfast. We chat a lot, drink more beer and hang out at the café for a couple of hours. After the café closes, Pat and Pam invite me inside the bed and breakfast to help them finish off a bottle of wine. The evening evaporated, I walk back to my tent in a pleasantly drunk condition. I fall asleep almost instantly and don't even hear the late-night trains passing a few hundred feet away. - I reach Nipton around 17h15 and check in at the general store for a tent-camping site
The last three miles to Nipton are always a bit of a tease because pedalling gets slower due to the slight slope rising out of the Ivanpah Valley. Nipton is as charming and semi-crusty today as on my previous trips here. The tent sites are overpriced, but the facilities compensate under the circumstances. I can't wait to have a shower, my first in seven days. A late-night soak in the outdoor hot tub should be nice later. - Mojave National Preserve map, Day 8: Butcher Knife Canyon corral to Nipton
- For a change, my first concern of the morning is not boiling water for coffee or digging a cat hole
Instead, I walk over to the general store, pay for another night of tent camping and get some coffee and packaged junk food to nibble on (cinnamon rolls, apple turnover, blueberry frozen juice bar, Arizona iced tea). A big orange van has just arrived at the campground to receive a group of dirt bikers that will be living here for a day or two. - I haven't chosen a destination yet for today's ride, so I go for a walk to look at some of Nipton's buildings
This antique tin-clad shed sits on a raised partial foundation. - This old roadside building at Nipton looks like it may have been a store at one time
The wooden-plank sidewalk adds an old-west effect. - This trailer-like building looks to be a former residence
The modern electrical mast suggests that this building may have been recently inhabited. - The old Nipton school house is a building worth saving
The construction appears to be concrete or stucco. - Just across the road from the Nipton General Store along the train tracks is a rock and gravel display yard
The materials being promoted originate from the Lucky Dutchman Mine near Las Vegas. - The Hotel Nipton bed-and-breakfast cactus garden is always worth a walk-through
However, after a week of desert camping and enjoying the random, natural environment, I find I don't have a really strong need to see these plants that I like arranged in aesthetically pleasing patterns. - While in my tent choosing my afternoon ride, the dirt-bike tour group members arrive at Nipton in a cloud of noise
There are a dozen or so dirt-bikers arriving from somewhere and it looks like a lot of fun. However, I'm looking for quiet and hope to avoid them while out on my afternoon ride. So I listen intently while the tour guide explains to the group the route of the next leg of the trip, which will include the old Mojave Road. - OK, I've finally chosen a ride route for today on the power-line road above Nipton, starting at the Nevada border
I fill my Camelbak and a water bottle at the outdoor sink at the Nipton campground, and away we go. I've ridden a few segments of that power-line road during previous Mojave National Preserve trips, but this segment between Nipton and the Castle Peaks area will be new to me. - I start the climb up the hill away from Nipton toward the Nevada border
It's so easy riding up a hill without the weight of all my gear, even with a hangover! - Three miles up the hill of Nipton Road, I reach the "Welcome to Nevada" sign that makes a perfect tourist photo
Hopefully, the all the bullet holes in the Nevada welcome sign are not a message from the Nevada Commission on Tourism. I'll probably only be in Nevada for half an hour or so. - The views back down to Nipton and across Ivanpah Valley from the Nevada State line are superb
I lurk here for a few minutes to enjoy the views from about 600 feet above Nipton. - I ride another half mile beyond the Nevada State line and then turn south on this dirt road with a cattleguard
I'll stay on this road, just for half a mile, until I reach the power-line road at the base of the hills ahead. The New York Mountains sit in the background. - I see that I'm approaching a mining area with red soil that is not on my map and may still be active
I turn right here on the lesser road to reach the power-line road a quarter-mile away. - Here I am at the top of the gravelly power-line road, and I'll descend this road about four miles to the train tracks
If you strain your eyes, you might be able to see that this road continues straight ahead for dozens of miles and over the next hill (which is actually part of Cima Dome). - Nipton is still visible a few miles away down below
I'm just high enough up that there are a few small yuccas and barrel cacti growing here, neither of which grow down the hill at Nipton. - Loose rock is the dominant surface on the upper portion of the power-line road
It makes for slow riding, even in the downhill direction! - I pass one of those little "Entering Mojave National Preserve" signs that are used on less-travelled routes
This also means that I'm reentering California after my brief visit to Nevada. - I notice a Wilderness marker and a closed road
Maybe that's an abandoned mine or some other point of interest up at the end of the closed road, so I stash my bike in a gulley and go for a short walk to find out. (Bicycles are prohibited in Wilderness areas.) - Off in the distance further down the power-line road, I see wafting trails of dust
This must be the dirt-bike tour group heading back to Nipton after their trek over part of the Mojave Road. - Up the closed road, I come across small piles of mine tailings
It doesn't look like too much activity took place here. - Now the dust trails from the dirt bikes are soaring across the Ivanpah Valley below
They're probably on Nipton-Brant Road: the road that follows the train tracks to Nipton. - A fire ring up above the mine tailings doesn't look like it has been used in quite a while
The wide open view of the Ivanpah Valley makes this a decent campsite, but the view is marred somewhat by the power lines. - The remnants of an old road climb a little further up the hill
I figure I might as well walk up to see if there's anything to be discovered. - The road ends at the top of the hill where the soil is a rich red color
However, the little canyon in the background looks interesting, so I'll go check it out. - This little canyon feels very remote even though it's not far from the busy road
There are so many little canyons out here like this one that probably rarely see people. I hike maybe a quarter of a mile up the canyon and then turn around and head back to the power-line road and my bike. - More rough road along the power lines above Nipton
Drainage from the adjacent hills crosses the road in many places, but this is the deepest wash-out in the road so far. - This antique sign has seen better days
From what I can discern, this is a "Danger: use this road at your own risk" sign. - A little further down the power-line road, a distant black hill gets my attention
It looks like a lava outcrop, but this isn't an area of lava flows. It's probably only a mile or so away, but I decide not to do the hike over to it (which I'll likely regret later). I hate to admit it, but I still have some headache from last night's beer and the hot sun isn't helping any, no matter how much water I drink. Under normal circumstances, water cures most woes. - At the bottom of the hill, the power-line road passes through an old ranch fence
The train tracks that head northeast (right) to Nipton are just beyond. - The power-line road goes right under the train tracks
The concrete berm on the right makes it clear that this road also serves as a drainage channel during water events. - I ride the Nipton-Brant Road two miles along the train tracks to get back to Nipton
Signs warn that this road is unmaintained, and it is washboarded, but it's no worse (right now at least) than some of the maintained dirt roads in Mojave National Preserve. - Resting at my tent at Nipton: the pinkish glow of the desert sunset is always a welcome end of the day
A car is parked at the tent cabin across from my tent; I won't be alone tonight. - Some of that pink light spills across the hills in the background that I visited this afternoon
The other tent cabins at Nipton are occupied tonight by members of the dirt-bike tour. - The sun is going down and it's time for another juicy hamburger at the Nipton café
The café turns out to be quite busy as the entire dirt-bike group is having supper there right now. I end up chatting with a couple of women who are in the area on research projects relating to bats and kangaroo rats. - Tonight is laundry night, since I didn't get to it last night because of the festivities
Nipton often ends up on my bike-camping trips because of the general store, of course, but also because it's one of the few places in the area with laundry facilities. - Inside the Nipton bathrooms: I end up not soaking in the outdoor hot tub after all, but I do take a shower in the quonset hut
The floor here is dirt with wooden slats around the shower stalls. The bathroom has electricity too, so I get to recharge my cell-phone. - One of the shower stalls at Nipton
I've always camped overnight when passing through Nipton, but an even cheaper option is to just stop here and take a shower, which costs about five dollars. The temperature has really cooled down during the evening, so I don my sweater and long underwear and wear them to bed in my sleeping bag. The wind has died down, so the land basks in silence tonight. Even the crowd of dirt bikers is quiet and they retreat to their sleeping quarters a bit after 21 h. However, the couple staying in the tent cabin across from me has a baby that cries from time to time and wakes me during the night. This is why I try not to spend too much time in developed campgrounds during my trips. - Day 9: Mojave National Preserve map: Day ride from Nipton to Nevada State line and power-line road
- Making morning coffee at Keystone Canyon
Beautiful morning, beautiful location. It was cold overnight, so the warmth from the morning sun shining on the tent felt good. I was up early, around 7h, but managed to fall back asleep for a while. There's almost no wind this morning, so all is silent and peaceful. - Today's day hike will take me to an old mine site not far away, below the crags of New York Mountain in the distance at right
Breakfast is two cups of strong coffee, Maryann's "rice and tofu in a ginger-miso broth" (delicious), granola, tamari almonds, dried apricots, dried pears and chili-lime cashews. I'm glad to be eating backpacker food again after eating junk food for breakfast back at Nipton. On the top of the closer hill on the left sits the former Keystone Mine, which I won't be visiting today. - First, I go for a short walk around my Keystone Canyon campsite
A rocky road behind my campsite, which I didn't notice last night, leads to another campsite in a hidden hollow just behind the juniper trees. - I prepare my supplies for the day and begin the hike up Keystone Canyon
I wanted to explore Keystone Canyon during my year 2000 Mojave National Preserve trip, but I ended up on the nearby road to Trio Mines instead. My day pack includes flashlight, water filter, epipens (in case of yellow-jacket sting), sweater, three 1.5-litre water bottles (one full, two empty), camera batteries, energy bars and dried apricots. I'm also wearing my two-litre Camelbak, full of water. - White primroses and orange desert-mallow flowers along Keystone Canyon Road
I listen to the sound of my footsteps as I walk, one of the few sounds here, other than the occasional flitting of a bird. - I come across another campsite with a fire ring near the road
I didn't walk up the road quite far enough yesterday to find this one, but I think I prefer my campsite anyway. - The road shares Keystone Canyon with a wash and crosses it several times
Consequently, the road is generally washed out and requires four-wheel drive and high clearance. - Along this stretch, the road is actually in the wash
I'd probably not think that this is a road if it weren't for the tire tracks here, and the fact that my maps show it. - Road users have placed rocks in this gully to facilitate passage over it
One of my older maps shows this part of the road as being inside a Wilderness area and therefore closed to vehicles. However, the new map that I purchased last week at Kelso Depot visitor centre corrects that error. - I'm delighted to discover the moist remnants of a recent trickle of water in the middle of the road
I'm still at least half a mile away from Keystone Spring, so this is a positive sign that there may be water at the source itself. - The road is almost non-existent in this part of Keystone Canyon
Tire tracks climb over the earth along the wash to avoid the big rocks. - A fork in the road!
The right fork rises up a hill toward Live Oak Canyon and Bronze Mine Spring, while the left fork (my route) continues toward Keystone Spring and New York Mountain. Not visible in the photo are the tire tracks which leave Keystone Canyon and rise up the road toward Live Oak Canyon. - I spot an old cistern along the road
Keystone Spring is up the hill a quarter mile or so, so I'm guessing that the broken pipe leads to the spring. - Another fork in the barely discernable road
The right fork heads up toward New York Mountain (which I'll follow shortly), but the left fork leads to Keystone Spring, where I hope to find water in a few minutes. - Ah, there's the pipe that presumably leads up to Keystone Spring
The road here is faint in places, so it's occasionally easier to follow the pipe than to look for the road. - I stumble across these little red flowers that I'm not familiar with
This might be a scarlet gilia (ipomopsis), not sure. - The old pipe continues along the ground along the old road to Keystone Spring
There's really not much left of the road! - Keystone Spring?
I've read that Keystone Spring sits in a meadow, so this water dripping out of a pipe must be it. It's really not much. I'll walk around a bit to see if there's more water than this. - The water here at Keystone Spring doesn't look good, but..
I've previously filtered uglier water than this which turned out to taste great. Water filters do an amazing job. - Further up the meadow, I reach a hole filled with water
After a bit more walking around, I conclude that this must be Keystone Spring itself. It's still not much, but it is more than that tiny trickle that I discovered just below. - I cautiously approach the spring to test the yellow jackets, and then pump water to fill my Camelbak and water bottles
Fortunately, the yellow jackets are ignoring me, as is often the case when I'm pumping water at springs (I guess they're too busy). Filtering natural spring water from the land always makes me feel closer to my environment. The water is cool and tastes great after filtering. It is a bit odd to be in a grassy meadow in the desert. Right now I feel more like I'm on one of my trips in the dry grasslands of Henry Coe State Park than in the Mojave Desert. - My water supply refilled, I walk back down the hill from Keystone Spring and hike up the road toward New York Mountain
The old road is visible here in the form of a rock bed. No tire tracks here. - After a bit more climbing, I turn around to see that I've risen quite a bit during the last half mile
Nice views past the hills to the distant Castle Peaks area. - I continue hiking up what's left of the old road up Keystone Canyon
With all the big rocks strewn about, it's hard to imagine that this space ever served as a road. - A little higher, I approach a face-like rock formation in the foreground at my left
Two widely set eyes frame a flattened pug-like nose. I'm sure the natives who once inhabited these lands had special names for rocks like these. - I get my first view of the old mine site at the bottom of New York Mountain
From here, it looks like a massive pile of earth. - It appears that rock, silt and wood debris tumbles continually down into Keystone Canyon from the old mine site
Somewhere around that pile of earth is a mine shaft. - The eroding old mine site at the top of Keystone Canyon sits just a few hundred feet below the peak of New York Mountain
It wouldn't be a long climb, mileage-wise, to get up to the ridge, but it would be slow-going since it's fairly steep. - Teal-blue rocks are scattered around the mine site while "Sleeping-head Rock" keeps watch from the right side
"Sleeping-head Rock," as I call it, looks like a side-profile carving of a head with the exaggerated eyes, nose and lips of a cartoon character. Fred Flintstone? - A trickle of rusty, contaminated water exudes from a tunnel in the hillside above the mine tailings
The water isn't pretty, but the big shade tree (an oak?) is. Many chaparral plants normally found near the California coast grow as a "botanical island" in this highland area of the Mojave Desert. - The old rails from the mine tunnel end at the edge of the tailings pile
Looks like a suicide gesture to me. "Sleeping-head Rock" is seen again here at the right. Awesome views across the desert to the Castle Peaks area from here. - I climb a bit up the slope around the mine up and consider going all the way up to the New York Mountain ridge
The slope is quite slippery, but is probably not very risky for a more-experienced hill climber. Since I'm hiking solo and there's nobody around (and my cell phone has no reception up here), I decide not to continue any further. - The views from up here are great, and I hate to turn back, but I'm turning back anyway
I use twigs and trees to brace myself as I climb back down to the mine site below. - I start the walk back down the old road to my campsite at the bottom of Keystone Canyon
Of course, I'm enjoying the views all the way down - Here's a plant that I've never seen before
It reminds me a bit of some kind of verbena. - I'm down at the bottom of the big hill and in the main part of Keystone Canyon now
I turn right for another short walk up to Keystone Spring to top off my water supply before heading back to camp. My two-litre Camelbak is almost empty again. Turning left here would take me back to my campsite. - Looking closer, Keystone Spring seems to be semi-stagnant
Keystone Spring has probably shut down for the summer and is no longer flowing; what's here is quite possibly leftover water from a few weeks ago. - Bugs abound at Keystone Spring, as happy to have water as I am
My main concern is the many yellow jackets that are buzzing around the water. I'm highly allergic to those things. A yellow-jacket sting sent me to the emergency room last summer, but there are no emergency rooms in this part of the Mojave Desert. - After refilling water at Keystone Spring again, I still have a bit more downhill on the old Keystone Canyon Road
The tire tracks make me wonder if I have neighbors in the area this weekend that I haven't run into yet. - The road in Keystone Canyon descends a little more
The dark patches of earth on the hillside straight ahead stand out. - I'm down at the bottom of Keystone Canyon now and almost back home for the day
Even though I'm up at 5300 feet here, it doesn't really feel that high because there are no open views down to the nearby lower desert areas. - A few primroses bloom along Keystone Canyon Road a bit west of my campsite
I remember seeing a single lonely primrose bloom during Xmas week near my campsite at Devil's Playground, in the lower area of Mojave National Preserve. - I re-repair the broken bike rack by reinstalling my improvised brace under the rack, rather than on top of it
The brace on the outside of the broken rack worked for a while, but the rack eventually started rubbing against the wheel again. Having the brace on the underside of the rack should prevent that from happening. To my surprise, the great folks at Old Man Mountain bicycle racks replaced my broken rack after the trip, even though the damage was my fault from non-stop overloading well beyond the recommended capacity during years and hundreds of miles. - Back at the tent, the job that awaits me is re-repairing my broken bike rack
I could have hiked longer today, but I needed to return to camp and settle my mind by fixing (or trying to fix) the bike rack again. - I take in the views of the surrounding hills while the sun goes down and I ponder my situation and exit strategy
I'd like to spend another day hiking and exploring this area, but only two more nights in Mojave National Preserve remain before my trip ends. In case I run into more unforeseen problems, it's best that I begin the 75-mile trek back to Baker tomorrow. This will leave me with more flexibility should my repair not prove to be stable and sufficient. I don't intend to cover all that distance in a day, though I could if needed. After a few miles, I'll be back on smooth pavement again, but I'm really not sure at this point what my bike can and cannot tolerate. - Quite a few desert four o'clocks are blooming around my Keystone Canyon campsite
These plants look too green and plump to be growing in the desert!