Home 7119
- The sunset and belt-of-Venus view at the top of the Old Government Road is as good as it's going to get
- There's a moon in the sky!
- I walk back down to the canyon floor: big rocks, willow trees and cottonwoods along Piute Creek
- Layers of roots, dropped foliage and sand drainage in this dry part of the Piute Creek bed
- I walk through a few cottonwood trees to get back to the stream that emanates from nearby Piute Spring
- I cross through some of the riparian brush at Piute Creek
- I don't find any of the old road, but I do find parts of a trail here in Piute Canyon
- I follow the trail a short distance up a hill, but this is headed away from the stream that I want to follow
- It's fun to explore randomly, but I'm also here to fetch more drinking water
- While getting ready for today's hike down to Piute Spring, I have my first and only sighting of humans for the day
- This part of the Piute Gorge Trail is marked by rocks, but there are few footprints here to keep the trail alive
- As I gain a little elevation, I can see the rounded corral that I rode past yesterday
- On my way up the hill, I pass by this engraved rock
- And here's another one...
- The Piute Gorge Trail joins the Old Government Road and I approach the crest
- Nice views across the next valley toward the Dead Mountains Wilderness area, outside Mojave National Preserve
- From here, I'll start winding my way downhill toward the Piute Spring area
- Today, not much remains of the Old Government Road except for some rock build-up
- Sometimes, the old trail is washed out
- I arrive at the wash headed toward Piute Creek and follow it downward
- At the bottom of the wash, I walk around looking for P G s that are indicated on one of my maps
- I arrive at the end of the road, happy to make it before dusk
- Elevation profile of bicycle route, Piute Gorge to Hackberry Spring via Rattlesnake Mine
- Round-trip bicycle route, Piute Gorge to Hackberry Spring via Rattlesnake Mine
- Just a few hundred feet further...
- I've just finished filtering my water and it's getting dark; time to ride back to camp at Piute Gorge, in those distant hills
- I ride 2 miles on Ivanpah Road before turning off on the Mojave Road to head back to Piute Gorge; I arrive home a bit past 21h
- I want this campsite!
- I'm almost at the spring, but it's much easier to walk up this rocky stretch than to try riding up it
- I come around a corner, and the sun is behind the mountains now
- Rocky hills along the road into the Hackberry Mountains
- Fine gravel!
- This private property in the Bobcat Hills area is marked by plastic pumpkins
- My road ends, and I scoot across Ivanpah Rd to start riding the road into the Hackberry Mountains
- The first part of the road into the Hackberry Mountains is a bit sandy and bit rough
- I pass an old corral in the Hackberry Mountain foothills
- Predictably, I have to walk the bike across this sandy wash crossing on the way into the Hackberry Mountains
- It looks like signage has been recently re-erected to remind people to not drive their 4WD vehicles in the Wilderness area
- This stretch of the road is pretty soft, and I have to walk the bike a bit
- This short, steep and eroded piece of road makes me wonder if it will get worse
- The road almost becomes invisible in a few spots on the way up the hill
- One thing I enjoy about this road is the changing landscape
- A scattering of Joshua trees dot this transitional Mojave landscape
- Sunset will be a couple of hours from now; I'm trying to decide whether to go all the way to Hackberry Mountain, ahead at left
- This unusual metal grate over a mine hole is apparently intended to keep the mine shaft open to bats
- The views from the Rattlesnake Mine rooster-comb extend all the way across the Lanfair Valley to the New York Mountains
- From the Rattlesnake Mine site, I still have views across the valley to my Piute Gorge campsite, that slot in the distant hills
- I take a look at some crumpled structure remains near Rattlesnake Mine before continuing my bike ride
- Everyone loves a good historic desert can dump, don't they?
- Beyond Rattlesnake Mine, the old road gently climbs another 200 feet or so
- From the Rattlesnake Mine site, I have a clear view across the valley to my Piute Gorge campsite, that slot in the distant hills
- A little further up Rattlesnake Mine Road, I decide to go for a short walk up to the top of the rooster-comb ahead
- A few yellow flowers (Encelia farinosa perhaps) bloom at the old Rattlesnake Mine site
- This part of the old Rattlesnake Mine site has great views over to both the Castle Peaks and the Castle Mountains
- I take a look down into the canyon at an old discarded truck before heading out on today's bicycle ride
- Shortly after I start today's bike ride, I ride past an old circular corral
- Inside the corral is a fire ring
- Just before I start riding up the pipeline road here, I run into Bryan and his sons in their pickup, and we have a great chat
- I have to walk the bike across several sandy wash crossings on the pipeline road
- Elevation profile of Piute Canyon/Piute Spring hike
- Hiking route: Piute Canyon to Piute Spring
- About two gallons of water filtered from Piute Spring, I hike back up the canyon to my campsite
- Elevation profile of bicycle ride to Piute Gorge
- Big boulders in Piute Canyon
- Piute Canyon: down we go...
- A half-moon looks down at me while hiking Piute Canyon
- It must be dramatic when water gushes down this well-worn drainage in Piute Canyon
- This huge ball of rocks seems to have tumbled down the hillside in Piute Canyon
- I should be close to Piute Spring now
- I come around another rocky bend and arrive at trees, mostly willows: Piute Spring is here somewhere
- I pass a few coyote melons on the way back up Piute Canyon and arrive at my campsite just before total darkness
- Here's a little rock shelter in Piute Canyon
- Colourful layers of earth are exposed in Piute Canyon
- Some of the layers are tilted
- Layers exposed by erosion
- This rock-wall segment in Piute Canyon has a crumpled appearance
- Rust and grey-blue in Piute Canyon
- Boulders strewn about in Piute Canyon
- Layers of sandy sediment are exposed here and there in Piute Canyon
- A couple of steep steps down here in Piute Canyon
- I pass through a slot in Piute Canyon
- Piute Canyon opens up a little
- Twisted rock layers in Piute Canyon
- More rust and grey-blue in Piute Canyon
- I begin the hike down to Piute Spring by walking over to the trail sign at campsite #2
- Late-day sunlight looks great in Piute Gorge
- I'm almost at the bottom of the rather eroded trail leading down to Piute Canyon
- Part of the road sprouts a lot of rock
- Don't brush up again that Joshua tree and cut your head open while passing by!
- An easy-riding stretch is coming up just around this bend...
- A bit of rock, a bit of sand...
- An hour later and I'm still on this road: getting close to Piute Gorge now!
- I arrive at Piute Gorge and check out a couple of the campsites that overlook the gorge
- I've just arrived at the Piute Gorge area and I love it already, as Ranger Matt told me I would, several years ago
- I choose a campsite overlooking Piute Gorge, then quickly prepare to go for a short hike down to Piute Spring before dark
- Hmmm, my road has become rather sandy here because it's in a drainage channel now
- I come across another cattle pond, this time a really big one
- The road is quite rough for the final few miles to Piute Gorge
- More fun riding on the way to Piute Gorge
- Paint or etching?
- More more more rocks
- I'm quite satisfied by this unexpected discovery here
- Subtle
- A lookout point from the rocks
- Back on the 10-ton bike, I'm happy to see my route has firm ground here
- I wonder if this grassland is natural, or if it was converted into grassland by the cows that grazed here for decades
- After packing up camp, I start the ride down the dead-end road that I didn't ride up yesterday
- So far, this road provides a variety of surfaces from firm to rocky
- A mushroom pops up in the middle of the road amidst a light carpet of eriophyllum flowers, if that's what they are
- I don't need a rest yet, but this looks like a good place to stop and go for a short walk
- Another old cattle pond, this one surprisingly still with a bit of water
- More rocks
- More more rocks
- There are very few flowers blooming at this time of year out here, but I spot a patch of these tiny yellow guys near my tent
- I notice some fresh footprints in the wash while I'm out walking around on my morning toilet run
- Elevation gain of bicycle ride to Lost Camp, Lanfair Valley, from Slaughterhouse Spring
- The Lost Road takes me into a wash briefly, with many tire tracks, before I return to the faded trail and find a campsite
- Corral remnants along Hart Mine Road
- I stop at another junction near Hart to decide how I want to proceed
- Before continuing, I look back to the New York Mountains, the area where I spent the last two nights, some 15 miles away
- I decide to try this fairly well-maintained road as a route around the Castle Mountains, even though it's not on my map
- The road narrows and I find myself riding along a chain-link fence
- I'm not able to ride this faded road any longer, and the tire tracks I was seeing here have all but disappeared
- The tire tracks are really faint in some places and hard to follow, like here
- I arrive at a dried-up cattle pond, just before sunset
- The 10-ton bike pushes ahead on The Lost Road, with significant GPS assistance
- I come across another old reservoir along Hart Mine Road
- I pass Waterwell Farm, which appears to be a defunct modern water reservoir
- As I approach the Castle Mountains, the choice of possible routes to follow increases
- It's funny to run into a stop sign in the middle of nowhere near the old Hart Mine
- After filling up on water, I hike the 1/2 mile back to the 10-ton bike and resume today's journey toward the Piute Range
- Back on Ivanpah Road, I'm at about 4600 feet elevation, almost at my high point for the day
- Ivanpah Road passes through a blasted slot through the rocky landscape
- As I approach the old settlement of Barnwell, I'm compelled to stop and look at the old private automobile graveyard there
- At 4800 feet elevation on Ivanpah Road, my high point of the day, I'll turn left on Hart Mine Road at Barnwell, 100 feet ahead
- I take a peek at one of the old houses at Barnwell while riding by, as I like to do
- Parts of Hart Mine Road have a tendency to get a bit washed out
- This sign explains why Hart Mine Road is sometimes in rough condition
- Open range on Hart Mine Road
- This part of Hart Mine Road follows an old railway grade that dates back to the old mining days
- At this point, I'm now outside the Mojave National Preserve boundaries, and will be for most of the rest of the day
- I ride a short distance up the road to Bathtub Spring, stash the 10-ton bike in some bushes and hike up to the spring
- On the way to Bathtub Spring I pass several small, colourful butterflies
- Before Bathtub Spring Road rises up to the old Ivanpah railway grade, I notice a drainage tunnel under the old track bed
- I'm surpised that this drainage tunnel is in such good condition
- Close-up of the tunnel under the old railway grade
- I ride a short distance up Ivanpah Road and turn back to take in the great view across Ivanpah Valley behind me
- I pass the old stone foundation of something near Ivanpah Road
- I walk down to the wash for my morning toilet run and notice the tracks of an old road no longer used
- A big sage is sprouting some fresh-looking growth
- I've had breakfast, done my toilet run and lazed around a bit: now it's time to pack up the tent and move on
- Packing up done! I ride the 3/4 down the bumpy hill to Ivanpah Road
- I arrive at Ivanpah Road and turn right to head up into the New York Mountains
- There's that threatening sign again on Ivanpah Road: Rough Road, Next 23 Miles
- Another morning at Slaughterhouse Spring; nice!
- Slaughterhouse Spring hills hike, elevation profile
- A lot of fill was used to build up the Ivanpah railway bed across low-lying drainage areas like this one
- Today's Ivanpah Road, an important north-south corridor in the Mojave National Preserve, is visible behind me
- Here's another slot blasted through the hill for the old Ivanpah railway
- This stretch of the old Ivanpah railway bed is really returning to nature
- Sunset approaches as I hike the old railway bed toward Bathtub Spring
- I'll hike through this one last blasted slot through the rock before reaching the Bathtub Spring area
- Imagine a train passing through here 100 years ago!
- I arrive at Bathtub Spring shortly after sunset and finally figure out how to get through the fence that protects the spring
- Oh, another stray balloon, but this one is different!
- I hike the 1.5-mile-long stretch of the old Ivanpah railway grade northbound to the Bathtub Spring area
- Just before arriving at Ivanpah Road, I walk past a low rock wall with lichen growing on it
- The wash I've been following arrives at Ivanpah Road, so I cross it, and begin hiking the old railway grade
- Salvia dorrii: I thought I detected the distinctive smell of desert sage earlier, and here's some
- I encounter no other human footprints as I hike down this wash toward Ivanpah Road (and I haven't seen any other humans today)
- I hike cross-country a while across rolling Joshua-tree-and-juniper forest in the Trio Mine area
- Hmmm, a skull
- Old rusty cans: That means I've arrived in the area of a former settlement!
- I wonder if this collapsed structure was once a house
- Ah, there's an old-style water heater
- And there's the old stove...
- Once in a while, one stumbles across old abandoned vehicles in remote desert locations, like this one
- Not sure what model of old car this is; it's van-like
- Merle Norman: I take a look at the partially buried carpet waste nearby
- My short hike up the invisible road ends and I begin hiking down a gently sloping wash toward Ivanpah Road
- Upon leaving the Lecyr Spring area, I can see across the upper part of Lanfair Valley to the Castle Mountains
- I hike down Lecyr Spring Road, which is quite eroded in places
- I check out this guzzler not too far away, curious as to whether it contains water or not
- I like this canyon so far: a few more boulders to climb over ahead
- Before I start climb up the adjacent hillside, I notice what I think is a young Palmer's penstemon sprouting in the canyon floor
- It's a short steep climb out of the canyon, but I'm not experiencing any vertigo yet, which is good!
- While climbing up the rocky hillside, I plow through a spider web by accident and have to brush this unusual spider off me
- On top of this hill above the canyon, I now have a clear vista across Ivanpah Valley
- I like being up on my hill here, but there's more canyon down there for me to hike up
- After 20 minutes of hiking near the ridge line, I still have nice views down into the canyon
- Once the canyon rises higher into a less rugged area, I decide to try continuing my hike in the canyon again
- Oh, a balloon in a remote location where people never go!
- I'm now near my high point for the day (5000 feet elevation); Lecyr Spring should be not too far ahead
- I enter the canyon, and some of it is really narrow, at least at first
- A narrow spot in the canyon, with willows growing in the canyon floor
- I think these old flowerheads in the wash are from last season's Cliff roses
- Rock piles along the wash attract my attention
- At the bottom of this pile of rocks is what I call the flat-foot rock toes
- Nice, almost warm morning near Slaughterhouse Spring; I wake up baking in my tent around 8h30
- My first stop of the day is to see see what's at Slaughterhouse Spring