Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Spring 2012: Mojave National Preserve Bicycle-Camping and Hiking / Day 14: Borrego Canyon hike, Mojave National Preserve 44
Another hot day (nearby Cima: high 98F, low 69F), so I decide on this shorter hike instead of a long bike ride through some lower, and thus hotter, territory to Foshay Pass and back that I've been considering. 4.6 hiking miles and 16.7 bicycle miles.
- Breezes keep the tent somewhat cool after the hot sun wakes me at 7h30, then I ride over to Hole-in-the-Wall Visitor Centre
I'm a bit tired this morning because I had a hard time getting to sleep last night: it stayed warm until late. It's hot again today, so I think I'll skip a considered ride to Foshay Pass and do a short hike in nearby Borrego Canyon instead. - It's Saturday, so the Hole-in-the-wall Visitor Centre is open; this Say's Phoebe nest is nearby whether open or not
It's always a pleasure to chat with the gal who works at the Visitor Centre, who tells me what kind of bird is living here. I hang out and buy a book, as well as a bag of jerky and some chips to eat, while charging my cell phone. - I stop briefly at a stand of Desert willows (Chilopsis) while riding almost 2 miles down the paved Black Canyon Rd
These small trees are still putting out a lot of slightly sweet-smelling flowers, and attracting insects and bees. - Here's one of the butterflies I see in the Desert willow (Chilopsis) flowers on Black Canyon Road: probably a Monarch butterfly
- Desert willow (Chilopsis) flowers are also popular with hummingbirds, but I can't seem to catch one on camera here
Although it's not native to the San Francisco Bay Area, this deciduous California tree can grow in a San José backyard without any supplemental water and bring you hummingbirds: I have one. - I ride the 3/4-mile rough road into the mouth of Borrego Canyon off Black Canyon Road
I pass a nice campsite along the way that appears to be frequently used. - I'm surprised to find a spring and water tank at the end of the road: it's not marked on my maps
The spring is maintained because I'm in cow-grazing territory again, with lots of cow manure around. - A couple of bees are swimming (or are they drowning?) in the spring tub at the end of Borrego Canyon Road
Well, this is the end of the road, so it's time to stash the bicycle and become a hiker for a while. - I stash the bicycle behind some Catclaw bushes with fragrant flowers and begin the hike up Borrego Canyon.
It looks a lot like the Cave Spring area where I hiked yesterday for good reason: it's just a few miles away. - I pass a few small stands of Desert senna flowers in lower Borrego Canyon
I saw a few of these in the Cave Spring area as well. - Borrego Canyon splits into a north and south fork; I choose to follow the south fork
Since I'm not familiar with this area, I randomly choose to follow the south fork of Borrego Canyon. The south fork looks like it might make an easier ascent up to adjacent Wild Horse Mesa, should I decide to hike that far. - I guess it's time to stumble upon a stray balloon, since I haven't seen one yet today here in Borrego Canyon
- A closer look shows that the lost balloon blew in from a Red Robin restaurant
- Borrego Canyon is quite rocky, making for slow hiking, as I thought might be the case
It's usually impossible to walk in a straight line here! - I like this stretch of Borrego Canyon because there isn't as much vegetation to avoid, due to the rocky floor
Just in front of me is a small natural water tank, dry right now. - I see fragments of animal trails here and there in Borrego Canyon, probably created by animals like these cows
A few Mojave yuccas here are burned, perhaps victims of the 2005 brush fires that burned part of The Preserve. - A couple of aggressive yellowjacket wasps follow me as I slowly rise up this part of Borrego Canyon
The two-weeks worth of salt and sweat on my skin is really attractive to them. I pick up my hiking speed a little here, despite the 90+-degree heat of the day, hoping to evade the wasps that I'm allergic to! - I sit down for a moment in the little bit of shade provided by this tree in Borrego Canyon
The breeze today is nice, but it's hot today, mid 90s F. - Much of Borrego Canyon is rocky and brushy like here, offering no obviously good hiking route up the canyon
Sometimes I walk along the edge of the rocky canyon floor to avoid the biggest accumulations of rocks and vegetation, but sometimes that gets too steep and I return to the rocky channel. - Hiking up Borrego Canyon is getting slower and slower as I encounter obstacles like these large rocks with increasing frequency
Borrego Canyon is narrow here, but it's not hard to climb over that smallest boulder at the right. - Hmmm, my next few steps in Borrego Canyon will be climbing over that boulder at the left
Looks like there might be a flat area up on top of it. Or maybe not. - I take a look behind me and realize I am slowly gaining elevation in Borrego Canyon
- I arrive at a small dry waterfall in Borrego Canyon and ponder my next steps
I could probably get up around this one, by climbing through the brush at my left. And it looks like there might be a flatter area just above this. But maybe not. - I take a look up the dry waterfall in Borrego Canyon and the small boulders clogging the drainage
Maybe one day they'll get washed down into the lower channel like the rest of all the boulders around here. - I decide that the dry waterfall is a good place to turn around and start heading back down Borrego Canyon
It would be nice to try to make it up to the top of the canyon and onto Wild Horse Mesa, but hiking here is going slowly and I'm starting to feel the midday 90+F heat. My drinking water is getting really hot, as it always does at this time of day. - Hiking Borrego Canyon is a bit faster in the downhill direction
... but the rocks and vegetation that require slower "avoidance hiking" are there in the downhill direction too. - On the way back down Borrego Canyon, I climb up a hill on the side of canyon and take a look back
Of course, I have to climb back down into the canyon soon enough. I'm not tracing my exact steps on the way back down (in a hopeless quest for a better route through this rocky, brushy area), so some of my views are different than on the way up. - I pass a cavelet in the rocks on the way back down Borrego Canyon
- On the way back down Borrego Canyon, I get a good view of some rock igloos a bit like the ones I saw near Cave Spring yesterday
- As I pass the rock igloos in Borrego Canyon, I take a look back
It almost looks feasible to climb up to Wild Horse Mesa straight up the rocky hillside here. Almost. - I like this rock outcrop in Borrego Canyon because it briefly gives me a smooth surface to walk across, for a change
- It's fun climbing down the rocks here at a small dry waterfall on the way back down Borrego Canyon
- A typical moment while hiking in Borrego Canyon
Climb up a rock and pass between a couple of bushes. - Borrego Canyon hiking: climb over the rocks
During the midday heat, the rocks are warm, almost hot, to the touch. - I look back at the mouth of the south fork of Borrego Canyon across a field of dry grey-pink buckwheat twigs
And there's the flat Wild Horse Mesa up there. - I walked around this mini-mesa on the way up Borrego Canyon; now it's time to walk up it
- Lots of shiny volcanic-looking rock and barrel cacti love the heat here on this little Borrego Canyon mesa
I'm thinking about how this is my last hike of this trip, and it will end shortly. - I pass some horizontal layers of rock on the way back to my bicycle parked near Borrego Canyon Road
- Borrego Canyon is quite pristine, except for the cow grazing and this fresh roll of barbed wire
Looks like someone constructing a range fence in the area hasn't finished the job yet... Since nobody ever comes back here, nobody is likely to steal the goods! - Just before I arrive at my bicycle at the end of Borrego Canyon Road, I run into a big herd of cows
The cows don't like me, and run away. I grab my bicycle, ride up to the visitor centre, recharge my cell phone and drench my sweaty self with cold water from the tap--sooo good. It's still almost 90F in the shade. I nibble on almonds and dried apricots. - I ride home one last night on Woods Wash Rd after a stop at the Hole-in-the-Wall Visitor Centre to recharge my cell phone again
After two weeks here, this is my final night returning to a campsite to sleep. I'm feeling sad already; I'll miss this scenery on my "daily commute." I fill up on water and soak my self with cold water at the Visitor Centre, 88F in the shade. - One final quiet evening of solitude in Mojave National Preserve near Twin Buttes
As soon as I get back to my tent, I make a cup of tangerine vitamin-C drink. This feels so good. Crickets crick, a few flies wish they could get into my tent, and a few birds damage the silent evening by chirping. Warm evening with a comfortable breeze, supper is Backpacker's Pantry Kathmandu Curry, a tasty vegan lentil-rice dish, delicious as always. - Borrego Canyon hike route, Mojave National Preserve
Bicycle route in red, hiking route in blue. 4.6 hiking miles and 16.7 bicycle miles. - Borrego Canyon hike route, Mojave National Preserve, elevation profile
4.6 hiking miles shown, 16.7 bicycle miles not shown.