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- The return hike down into Devil's Playground Wash allows me to walk toward some great views that were behind me on the way up
- On the steeper, more eroded parts of the road, it's a bit slippery going downhill and almost like hiking cross-country
- I'm not getting tired of the flowers, rocks and cacti as I walk back down to Devil's Playground Wash
- I arrive back down at Devil's Playground Wash in what feels like no time at all
- Climbing out of Devil's Playground Wash, I'm starting to feel the heat of the day with the sun shining on my back
- The climb up the old road over the tailings pile is steep
- After crossing the summit again at Hill 1114, I take a short break in the first shade of the day before hiking down to my tent
- Back at my tent well before sunset, I rest and eat a little, then take a few photos before the sun fades away
- Bighorn Basin Mine hike as viewed in Google Earth (5.25 miles)
- Mojave National Preserve map, Day 5: Bighorn Basin Mine day hike from Coyote Springs
- Early morning coffee-making at Coyote Springs, Mojave National Preserve
- Breaking camp and packing up
- OK, I'm finally on my way down the road away from Coyote Springs
- I've got three miles of this somewhat sandy road from Coyote Springs to ride on a slight downhill
- After 30 minutes, I reach the pavement of Kelbaker Road
- A roadkill specimen greets me just as I'm about to start the ride down Kelbaker Road
- I can't resist taking a closer look at this big bird
- The 8.5-mile descent down Kelbaker Road to Kelso Depot is always fun
- One hour after leaving Coyote Springs, I pull into the Mojave National Preserve visitor centre at Kelso Depot
- I also visit the washrooms outside Kelso Depot to wet my hair and rinse one of my wool t-shirts and a couple of other items
- After my 45-minute break at Kelso Depot, I begin the next segment of today's ride: Kelso-Cima Road toward the New York Mountains
- As I climb the Kelso-Cima Road grade, train tracks are always to my right near the road on a raised bed
- After 3.8 miles, I pass Globe Mine Road, where I camped for three nights a few days ago
- A train just passed me on the Kelso-Cima grade
- I pull off the road for a short break and to refill my Camelbak from my 10-litre water bag
- I take another break when I reach the end of my Kelso-Cima Road climb at the junction of Cedar Canyon Road
- When people come down Cedar Canyon Road, here's the sign that they see when they reach the end at Kelso-Cima Road
- Welcome to Cedar Canyon Road
- After another half hour, my two-litre Camelbak is empty again, so I take a break at a pull-out along Cedar Canyon Road
- I resume the climb up Cedar Canyon Road and stop to enjoy the view down the road from where I just came
- A little higher up Cedar Canyon Road, the pavement ends, just like the sign says
- I reach Death Valley Mine Road and turn left here to begin skirting around the west side of the New York Mountains
- Death Valley Mine Road winds around the base of the mountains
- The first mile or so of Death Valley Mine Road is rideable despite some sand on the road because it's a bit downhill
- It's not only sand here: rocky patches on Death Valley Mine Road provide quite a contrast to the slippery sandy segments
- I pass an old road that is now closed by Wilderness barriers
- I arrive at the ruins of the old Thomas Place homestead
- I'm starting to see some blooming sages in this area
- Low-growing banana yuccas are also frequent around here
- The last mile or two of Death Valley Mine Road is very sandy in places, in addition to being slightly uphill
- Well, the old sign isn't legible any more
- A brilliant display of desert mallow flowers marks the end of Death Valley Mine Road; I'll turn right here on the old Cima Road
- I start dragging the bike up the old Cima Road, which is turning out to be really sandy
- Ugh, the road is getting even sandier
- I look across the sand trap here and ponder the abandoned buildings at Death Valley Mine
- Dragging the 10-ton bike through the sand is quite tiring and I'm expending a lot of energy here
- I figure I may as well continue onward a little further and see if the deep sand lets up
- For a few minutes, that famous orange light of desert sunset oozes across the land
- The orange light of sunset vanishes as quickly as it appeared
- Dusk at the top of Cima Road
- On the last leg of the trip toward Butcher Knife Canyon, I can actually ride some of the road
- It's too dark now, so I ride and walk the final couple of miles slowly by headlight
- Mojave National Preserve map, Day 6: Coyote Springs to Butcher Knife Canyon corral
- The meagre stream contains as much algae as it does water
- 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
- Filtering water from Cottonwood Spring, Mojave National Preserve
- Successful taste test of the water at Cottonwood Spring, Mojave National Preserve
- The proud deed of pumping water completed, I begin my walk back down Cottonwood Canyon and toward Butcher Knife Canyon
- Lots of purple salvia dorrii flowers in this area
- I leave the road and begin hiking cross-country to the Butcher Knife Canyon area, about a mile away
- I scramble over a few rocks on the way to Butcher Knife Canyon
- Burned joshua tree near Butcher Knife Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
- For some reason, this meadow near Butcher Knife Canyon is resplendent with small white flowers
- As I get closer to Butcher Knife Canyon, I note some piles of mine tailings on the hillside in the distance
- On the way up to the mine tailings, I cross a drainage with profuse desert-mallow blooms
- Above the piles of tailings at the Butcher Knife Mine
- Just above the lower mine at Butcher Knife Canyon is another big hole in the ground
- Danger! Hazardous mine
- Many flowering phlox are found in this area
- I walk down to the wash of Butcher Knife Canyon on the remains of the old mine access road
- Some assorted old debris and cans are scattered near the wash
- Some of the debris here isn't all that old
- An old Hunt's can
- A boulder pile and joshua trees greet me as I arrive at Butcher Knife Canyon wash
- Hiking up Butcher Knife Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
- I spy a stream in Butcher Knife Canyon
- Yup, it's a stream
- The stream in Butcher Knife Canyon looks like it might not go much further
- Just around the bend, I locate Butcher Knife Spring and get to the business of pumping some water into my near-empty Camelbak
- 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
- A rattlesnake startles me as I approach this big boulder along the Butcher Knife Canyon stream
- The excitement of the rattlesnake incident behind me, I return my focus to the hike away from Butcher Knife Canyon
- Many burned pine cones are scattered on the ground around here
- Colonies of flowering banana yucca populate some of the walls of the wash below Butcher Knife Canyon
- I'm still walking down the wash away from Butcher Knife Canyon, mindlessly, enjoying the scenery and the sunshine
- Hmmm... there are no more tire tracks in the wash here; where did they go, and where is the road that I was on?
- 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
- I'm hiking briskly cross-country in the hope of crossing before dark the Cottonwood Canyon Road that will lead me to my tent
- 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
- Ahhh, back at camp by Butcher Knife Corral and there's still a hint of daylight remaining; such perfect timing
- 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
- 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
- This campsite is actually two miles down the wash from Butcher Knife Canyon, not in the canyon itself
- It's time to check out the old corral here below Butcher Knife Canyon
- Old cattle-watering trough in the abandoned corral below Butcher Knife Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
- I pluck a few items out of the mess inside my tent and stuff them into my backpack for the day's hike
- I begin the hike up the road to Cottonwood Canyon and Cottonwood Spring, at the base of the New York Mountains
- Erosion on the old road to Cottonwood Canyon has exposed some old rubber piping that had been buried under the road
- A mile north of my campsite is "the fork" in the road to Cottonwood Canyon and Butcher Knife Canyon
- The joshua tree forest gets denser as one gets closer to Cottonwood Canyon at the bottom of the mountains
- 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
- Desert primrose
- A pull-out on the road to Cottonwood Canyon reveals a nice camping area complete with a fire ring
- After exploring the campsite area, I return to the main road toward Cottonwood Canyon
- Here I am starting up Cottonwood Canyon at the base of the New York Mountains, Mojave National Preserve
- Awesome: a tiny stream in Cottonwood Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
- I reach an old wooden box which houses a camera that takes photos of wildlife
- Old sign on the wilderness-camera box at Cottonwood Spring
- Apparently, this dripping water is the source of Cottonwood Spring
- 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
- Cottonwood Spring is aptly named since this cottonwood tree lives here
- I walk back down to Cottonwood Spring to filter some water
- The water that drips out from under the tree roots at Cottonwood Spring flows over this rock as a clear shiny film
- 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
- After two cups of good strong coffee, my Tasty Bite spinach dal and rice breakfast is ready; mmmm
- Puncture vine, I hate you: here's one of the many nondescript goathead (puncture vine) plants that cover this meadow
- One other unavoidable item around the Butcher Knife corral is small 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 begin dismantling the tent by removing the large rocks that I placed inside at the corners
- I assemble the 10-ton bike just beyond the goathead-infested meadow at the Butcher Knife corral
- I ride down the Butcher Knife Canyon road, satisfied that I've managed to leave my campsite by 13h
- 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
- After 4.5 miles, I stop for a short break at the old Death Valley Mine site at 4400 feet elevation
- The front of the old house at Death Valley Mine has a row of joshua trees planted in front of it
- At the base of the joshua-tree grove are rocks and a few other native plants
- Front porch of the Craftsman house at Death Valley Mine, Mojave National Preserve
- Approaching the front door of the old house at Death Valley Mine
- The house is very warped, and a glance inside one of the "basement windows" explains why
- Behind the house at Death Valley Mine is a tank presumably for stove and furnace oil, and an exterior bathtub room
- Vandals have removed the boards off the back door, so I walk in and see old stairs to the basement
- Old knob-and-tube wiring once provided power to the light fixture outside the rear porch door
- Inside the old Death Valley Mine Craftsman house
- Behind the main house at Death Valley Mine are an old corral and a big 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 back side of the main house at Death Valley Mine viewed from the corral
- Just beyond the main house at Death Valley Mine is a second, smaller house
- The decaying front porch of Death Valley Mine house #2
- Death Valley Mine house #2 also has drought-tolerant vines growing in front of it
- Rear of Death Valley Mine house #2
- The walls around the corral out back send a prominent "keep out" message
- A big raven's nest sits in the eaves of the main house at Death Valley Mine
- I walk up the road to the old house at the Death Valley Mine site
- I return to the 10-ton bike in the sand trap on the old Cima Road
- I ride down the old 2.5-mile-long road toward Cima, my next stop
- I reach the junction of the paved Kelso-Cima Road and stop in at the Cima Store
- Postal boxes inside the old post office at Cima, California, Mojave National Preserve
- Mounted on the map is a roster of the postmasters of the Cima post office here since 1905, printed by typewriter
- The post office is closed, but the lobby is still open
- Indeed, the Cima Store is closed
- I end my 15-minute break at Cima and get the 10-ton bike and I back on pavement at Cima Junction
- At the start of the long ride down Morning Star Mine Road, I stop to look up toward Butcher Knife Canyon
- After the big curve coming up, the fun hill down Morning Star Mine Road will begin
- Wheeeeee, Morning Star Mine Road descends into the Ivanpah Valley and the haze of the day
- I stop briefly at the old corral on the way down Morning Star Mine Road
- Back on pavement, the 10-ton bike and I fly gracefully down Morning Star Mine Road
- Darn: "stop ahead," complete with skid marks on the pavement
- For three miles, I skirt the western edge of Ivanpah Valley on the paved Ivanpah Road
- Ivanpah Road ends
- The final seven miles to Nipton crosses the dusty bottom of Ivanpah Valley
- The scrub at the bottom of Ivanpah Valley is different from most areas in Mojave National Preserve
- The small campground at Nipton, with New York Mountains in the background, is almost empty tonight, which suits me just fine
- 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
- I reach Nipton around 17h15 and check in at the general store for a tent-camping site
- 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
- 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 old roadside building at Nipton looks like it may have been a store at one time
- This trailer-like building looks to be a former residence
- The old Nipton school house is a building worth saving
- Just across the road from the Nipton General Store along the train tracks is a rock and gravel display yard
- The Hotel Nipton bed-and-breakfast cactus garden is always worth a walk-through
- While in my tent choosing my afternoon ride, the dirt-bike tour group members arrive at Nipton in a cloud of noise
- OK, I've finally chosen a ride route for today on the power-line road above Nipton, starting at the Nevada border
- I start the climb up the hill away from Nipton toward the Nevada border
- Three miles up the hill of Nipton Road, I reach the "Welcome to Nevada" sign that makes a perfect tourist photo
- The views back down to Nipton and across Ivanpah Valley from the Nevada State line are superb
- I ride another half mile beyond the Nevada State line and then turn south on this dirt road with a cattleguard
- I see that I'm approaching a mining area with red soil that is not on my map and may still be active
- 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
- Nipton is still visible a few miles away down below
- Loose rock is the dominant surface on the upper portion of the power-line road
- I pass one of those little "Entering Mojave National Preserve" signs that are used on less-travelled routes
- I notice a Wilderness marker and a closed road
- Off in the distance further down the power-line road, I see wafting trails of dust
- Up the closed road, I come across small piles of mine tailings
- Now the dust trails from the dirt bikes are soaring across the Ivanpah Valley below
- A fire ring up above the mine tailings doesn't look like it has been used in quite a while
- The remnants of an old road climb a little further up the hill
- The road ends at the top of the hill where the soil is a rich red color
- This little canyon feels very remote even though it's not far from the busy road
- More rough road along the power lines above Nipton
- This antique sign has seen better days
- A little further down the power-line road, a distant black hill gets my attention
- At the bottom of the hill, the power-line road passes through an old ranch fence
- The power-line road goes right under the train tracks
- I ride the Nipton-Brant Road two miles along the train tracks to get back to Nipton
- Resting at my tent at Nipton: the pinkish glow of the desert sunset is always a welcome end of the day
- Some of that pink light spills across the hills in the background that I visited this afternoon