Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007, Christmas: Mojave National Preserve Mountain-Bike Camping / Day 2: Hike beyond Indian Springs toward Cane Spring, returning cross-country via Eyeball Rock in an unnamed wash, 7-8 miles 53
With the unexpected luxury of drinking water here at Indian Springs, I'll stay an extra day and explore on foot some of the wash and lava-flow areas up toward Cane Spring. No bicycling today.
I don't have a set destination for today's hike other than heading up the wash, which makes it that much more interesting.
- Late-morning coffee and breakfast (brunch, really). It was cold last night and I didn't sleep so well, and then I slept in late
- After breakfast, I dig a cat hole up on the hillside above Indian Springs Road
- I pack a day bag and start today's hike by walking 1/4 mile up to Indian Springs to filter the day's drinking water
- I refill my two-litre Camelbak and an empty 1.5-litre bottle with water from Indian Springs
- With no set destination, I start walking up the wash past Indian Springs and notice some intriguing rock layers
- The colourful yellow lichen on these rocks is quite painterly
- A little further up Indian Springs wash, I come across another seep and a bit of ice that today's sun hasn't reached, and melted
- I continue up Indian Springs wash
- More cool rock layering effects
- Erosion along the walls of Indian Springs wash
- Poor little cactus!
- I'm seeing animal tracks all over the place
- Another trickle of water
- The wash forks and gets narrower, then I stumble across these bones
- I think I'm at Cane Spring, but maybe not; Cane Spring might be over in the next wash
- Just beyond Cane Spring, I come across more surface ice
- Another one of many splits in the wash
- Randomly, I decide to head up the rocky right fork
- More eroded walls in the wash
- "Painted-dot" rock
- The tip of one of the old lava flows lies a short distance ahead
- Approaching the base of the lava flow from the knoll that it rests on
- I make it almost to the top of the lava and am taking in the excellent views across the Indian Springs area
- I climb back down to the wash below
- I feel like taking a different route back to camp, instead of returning the same way I came
- I start walking up the low ridge to the west of me to get an overview of the area
- At the top of this low ridge, I contemplate my next steps
- Behind me is one of the cinder cones for which this area is well-known
- Further along atop the next hump
- Looking to the northwest, I can see another wash that looks like it drains toward Indian Springs
- I'm partially descending the back (south) side of the ridge to avoid the cold wind on the ridgetop
- Heading back up to the ridgetop for a moment
- Great views across to Soda Lake from the ridgetop
- So it's down the back side of the ridge again for a short distance to avoid the wind
- I keep seeing these diminutive buckwheat-like plants
- OK, back up the hill a little again
- Nice views, but there's a really steep drop between here and that wash down there
- This must be an animal trail along the ridge
- Ah! Just beyond the end of the animal trail, I spot a wash worth aiming for on the valley floor
- Almost down at my chosen wash!
- Now that I'm in the wash, I just have to follow it all the way down to Indian Springs Road
- A big hole dug by an animal in a quest for water
- Faint pink light in the wash
- A quick stop at "Eyeball Rock," as I've decided to call it, for a photo break
- Sunset near Eyeball Rock
- Desert mallow
- Yet more neato rock layering effects
- Dusk is closing in here in Eyeball Rock Wash
- Where am I?
- OK, I admit it--I'm lost, but not totally
- I nervously hike cross-country by flashlight toward the lights of Baker, in search of the road back to my tent
- After 1/ 2 mile or so, I'm relieved to stumble across Indian Springs Road as hoped
- After I get home next week, I'll get a detailed USGS map and try to map today's hike in the Indian Springs and Cane Spring area