Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2009, Spring: Mojave National Preserve / Day 13: Copper World Mine day hike from Pachalka Spring, Mojave National Preserve 44
Copper World Mine is one of three hiking routes from Pachalka Spring that I pre-recorded in my GPS, but I'll probably only have time to do two of them. 2090 feet of elevation gain (and drop) over 7.4 miles with an average grade of ten percent during 4.5 hours.
Strong winds roll my tent over at Pachalka Spring just as I'm thinking perhaps I should put some rocks inside to weight it down
I've learned my lesson and walk around looking for large rocks to put inside my tent
My backpack is prepared for the day and waits for me to take it on a hike over the hills to the old Copper World Mine area
Pachalka Spring Road drops down into a gravelly wash that drains from the Clark Mountain area in the background
I start the one-mile climb up the hills ahead on the way to Copper World Mine
Just as my route leaves the wash, I notice a bone fragment on the ground
My route up the hill is as steep as anticipated and has great views back down toward the wash
A little higher up the hill, looking west toward Valley Wells, where I stopped at the store yesterday
A northwest view beyond three agave stems toward Pachalka Spring, with Kingston Range in the distance at the right
I've reached the top of the hill and Pachalka Spring's green spot is still in view at the centre-right
Up on the ridge, I find myself staring straight at Clark Mountain
From the ridge, I look down into the steep canyon that descends from Clark Mountain
From the ridge, I'm now looking down the other side into the canyon and see the road that leads up to Copper World Mine
Looking south from the unnamed ridge above Copper World Mine toward Cima Dome on the horizon
I reach a steep slippery area on the ridge with a gnarled juniper while attempting to begin a descent toward Copper World Mine
This downhill to Copper World Mine Road is also pretty steep, but it has a bit of a saddle on the way to ease the descent
On the saddle halfway down to Copper World Mine Road, someone has built a rock cairn
As I approach the bottom of the hill, I look up the road that leads to the old Copper World Mine site
There's a lot of interesting rock to look at on the way down the hill
I reach the bottom of the hill and start walking up the road toward the Copper World Mine site
On the half-mile walk up the old road to Copper World Mine, I notice a lonely old cabin nearby
A bit further up the Copper World Mine road, down in a gulley, is an old headframe
The road fizzles out and comes to an end at two big tailings piles at about 5400 feet elevation
A bright blue streak in the rock at bottom right, presumably copper
The Copper World Mine cabin is quite modest, but has one luxurious feature for a desert dwelling
An old stove in the Copper World Mine cabin kept the occupants warm during cold weather
The back side of the cabin near Copper World Mine
Just outside the cabin is what looks like the remains of a small dugout
A view of the Copper World Mine cabin from the hill just above the dugout
I return to the road and start walking down the canyon away from Copper World Mine
I take a look up the big hill that I climbed over to get here, but I'm going to return to camp on a longer, easier route
The road twists its way down the canyon away from the old Copper World Mine site
The steep hills on each side of the canyon make it easy to forget that the road is descending fairly rapidly
Striped rocks along the road leading down Copper World Mine canyon
A little over two miles down the canyon from Copper World Mine, the road exits the canyon onto the fan
From the low point of today's hike at about 4350 feet elevation, I walk north across the fan for about a quarter of a mile
I reach Pachalka Spring Road and return to camp on the same route that I took yesterday with the 10-ton bike
On the old Pachalka Spring Road surface might be a patch of ancient asphalt
I walk up Pachalka Spring Road toward the Clark Mountain Range and follow the road into the wash just south of Pachalka Spring
I follow the road up out of the wash and return to my tent near Pachalka Spring
Not only is my tent intact when I return to Pachalka Spring, but it's suddenly a bright and sunny day
Sunset at Pachalka Spring, Mojave National Preserve, with Kingston Range in the background
Copper World Mine hiking route from Pachalka Spring, Mojave National Preserve (Day 13)
Elevation profile of Copper World Mine hiking route from Pachalka Spring, Mojave National Preserve (Day 13)