Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Spring 2012: Mojave National Preserve Bicycle-Camping and Hiking / Day 7: Black Diamond Spring and Barnett Mine day hike and bicycle ride, Mojave National Preserve 37
Cooler weather today, which is nice. Cima, 1500 feet lower than here, only reports a high of 67F. I wasn't planning on being at Mid Hills campground on this trip, but there's always more to explore out here. I haven't hiked in the Black Diamond Spring area before. 22.3 bicycle miles and 7.5 hiking miles.
- Another nice morning at Mid Hills campground, where I didn't expect to stop on this trip; time to plan an outing for the day
Feeling a bit rested after yesterday's "day off" and due to the onset of cooler weather, I'm ready to head off on a bicycle ride and hike to the Barnett Mine area, near Rock Spring. - Primroses at my Mid Hills Campground campsite
I manage to sleep in until 10h30 this morning; I really needed the sleep. After a couple of cups of coffee, granola, nuts and vitamin C drink, I'm ready. - All rides out of Mid Hills Campground start with Wild Horse Canyon Road, and I always enjoy the descent into Round Valley
It's not quite as easy to come back up though, when the 10-ton bike is loaded up. But I'm carrying no gear on today's day ride. - I ride past a windmill in Round Valley on Black Canyon Road
You can see the remains of the old fence posts that burned in the 2005 brush fires, since replaced with a wire fence. - I spot a Desert four o'clock blooming in Round Valley under a tree on the Black Canyon Cut-off Road
I've hardly seen any of these this year, unlike some other years. - The short Black Canyon cut-off road is always a fun mountain-bike ride
Vehicles rarely use this part of the road. - The dead coyote I passed on Cedar Canyon Road a few days ago is still there
But there's less of it now. - The road to the Barnett Mine area, about 1.5 miles long, is rough and slightly uphill
Like most backcountry desert roads, it gets rougher as it gets closer to the end. - A bit of assorted debris is scattered around at the end of the Barnett Mine Road
Perhaps a cabin was once here, and burned? Good view across the valley to Pinto Mountain. - Have a seat and relax at the end of the Barnett Mine Road
This squarish area with char on the ground looks like a possible site of an old structure or cabin. - I start walking up the trail to the old mine site: I see people over there--amazing
We don't meet, since they're walking in the other direction. I suspect they don't see me. I rarely run into people in the backcountry out here, but this location is an easy walk in from the historic Mojave Road, which is fairly well-traveled. - I go for a walk past one of the mine shafts at Barnett Mine
I wonder if the shaft was once deeper, and has been since filled in for safety reasons. - More mining remains at the Barnett Mine
- Time to explore a little: I climb up a hill behind the Barnett Mine and take a look at the panorama
Today's hike wasn't planned, so I'm just walking around and enjoying the surroundings. - A row of vertical rocks outcrops above Barnett Mine frame a view of Table Mountain
Table Mountain is a prominent landmark visible from many parts of Mojave National Preserve. - I decide to walk up to the top of the hill and see if it would be easy to walk down the other side
At the top, I can see across to Hackberry Mountain. I check my GPS. Looks good, so I decide to walk down the hill toward Black Diamond Spring. - I walk down a rocky slope and join a brushy drainage that should lead to Black Diamond Spring
- A lone juniper in Upper Black Diamond Spring Valley survived the 2005 brush fires here
- I like walking through some easy-to-miss chia sages in Upper Black Diamond Spring Valley
These produce a classic musty sage aroma when you brush up against them. - A couple of stray boulders sit on this part of Upper Black Diamond Spring Valley
This area burned really hard in the 2005 brush fires. Almost 7 years later, there's still very little growing here. The desert recovers sooo slowly. - I bet this animal trail leads to Black Diamond Spring!
I'll follow it and find out. - Follow the animal trail, follow the animal trail!
The trail leaves the burned area and passes through blackbrush and cholla scrub on the way down to Black Diamond Spring. - The animal trail ends at Black Diamond Spring, Mojave National Preserve, just as expected
Just a big puddle of water here at this time of year, but nonetheless dramatic in such a dry landscape, even with a lot of cow shit around to stink up the area. Quail and other birds add noise to the sound of the wind and my footsteps. - After a very short break at stinky Black Diamond Spring, I walk through an area full of white buckwheat flowers
This area did not burn during the 2005 brush fires here; what a difference! I'm starting my way back up the hill, on the other side of a low ridge (don't want to go back the same way I came). - Energy-bar break above Watson Wash!
I have to cross over those hills up there to get back to the bicycle. - On the way up the fan, I look over to Keckiella Rocks, a small plateau of volcanic-looking rock
Just to the left of it is "Little Keckiella Rocks," a smaller, similar formation. - I keep hiking up the gentle slope, passing through another patch of burned desert above Black Diamond Spring
- The big rock piles here above Watson Wash are even more impressive up close than they are from a distance
I've often looked over this way when passing through the area, but never ventured over here on foot to explore until today. Good hiking choice! - Paperbag bush glowing in the sun (Salazaria mexicana) high on the fan above Watson Wash
- Nice views eastward across the Lanfair Valley as I reach the top of the fan above Watson Wash
In a few minutes, I'll be climbing some of those rock piles behind me, which seems like the best way to get over the hill and back to my bicycle. - I need to climb up over that ridge to my right to get back to the Barnett Mine area
The rock climbing is fun, but it's slow and I'm not covering much distance at all. I'm having even more camera problems now, so I'm trying out my cell phone to take a few photos. - Hmmm, I'm not making as much progress climbing all these rocks as I would like
I'm spending a lot of energy going up and down to avoid rocks and trees instead of getting closer to the summit up there. - Up on the rock-pile hill, it seems that everything is steep going up and steep going down, with neither direction being best
It's getting close to sunset and this is not a place that I want to be forced to navigate in the dark. - I consider climbing back down to the wash and trying a less rocky route up over the hill, but I might as well continue upward
I go into high-speed mode climbing the rocks and am happy when I reach the final, less rocky, uphill stretch, which feels like a 45-degree angle at times. I can climb uphill quite well, as long as I don't look back and let vertigo set in. - I make it back to the Barnett Mine area at sunset, pick up the bicycle, and ride the 10 miles back to camp in dusk and dark
Relieved that I finished climbing the rock pile before dark, the ride back to Mid Hills, mostly in the dark, is leisurely. I pass no other vehicles, but I do see a campfire near Holliman Well as my headlight quietly cuts through the dark. Supper is Mountain House Rice with Sweet and Sour Pork; good again. It's cold again tonight, so I wear my sweater, long underwear, double socks and a bandana to keep warm. After the heat of the first few days of the trip, it almost feels good to be cold! - Route of Black Diamond Spring-Barnett Mine bike-hike from Mid HIlls campground
22.3 bicycle miles and 7.5 hiking miles with about 1200 feet of hiking elevation gain. (Bicycle track in red, hiking in blue.) - Black Diamond Spring hike from Barnett Mine, Mojave National Preserve
7.5 round-trip hiking miles with about 1200 feet of hiking elevation gain (plus 22.3 round-trip bicycle miles from Mid Hills Campground)