Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2009, Spring: Mojave National Preserve / Day 2: Kelso Depot and Cornfield Spring Road, Mojave National Preserve 45
Today begins with an aborted five-mile round-trip hike to Cornfield Spring (I run low on water) followed by a couple of hours browsing the library in the air-conditioned comfort of nearby Kelso Depot.
5.1 hiking miles with 650 feet elevation gain (and loss) plus 3.5 bicycle miles.
Mojave National Preserve wake-up call near Kelso Depot: morning sunshine
I make a small pot of tea, wondering if it will be enough to jumpstart my day; I would prefer some strong coffee, but have none
It's a hot morning, probably in the high 70s; I mount the rain cover on the sunny side of the tent to get some shade
Time to dig my first cat hole of the trip
I pack my backpack and start walking up the road toward Cornfield Spring
Hmm... no water here at all, just a nice patch of desert willows (chilopsis linearis)
Chilopsis linearis flowers in close-up
As I hike up Cornfield Spring Road, I come across this collection of old pipes
I keep hiking up Cornfield Spring Road and realize that I'm almost out of water already; not good on a hot day like this
Kelso Dunes paint a scenic backdrop for this moment of indecision
Break time! A Clif bar, and more water, which is already rather warm
Desert-horned-lizard break! Quite different from my Clif-bar-and-water break a few minutes ago
The 2.5-mile hike back to the tent is pleasant, and I'm enjoying the gentle downhill as I sweat under the hot sun
Residual flowers on a cactus; these may become cactus pears soon
I pass again through the stand of desert willows on the way back to the tent
As I approach the tent, I'm overcome by a feeling of disappointment due to not having reached Cornfield Spring
I reach inside my tent to get some water and notice yesterday's heavily salt-crusted t-shirt
A wasp, or some kind of big fly, is sitting outside my tent, obviously attracted to something
Now that I'm back at my tent, one of the things I want to see is that fenced-off structure a quarter-mile in front of me
Near the structure are many old cans strewn about
On the approach, this thing looks like an abandoned skating rink surrounded by barbed wire
So, what in the desert is worth surrounding with barbed wire like this?
Peering through the wire, I see a large, dry concrete reservoir
On the way back to my tent, I notice a very distinct animal trail running across the fan
I fetch my bike at the tent and ride the almost two miles down to Kelso Depot
Close to Kelso Depot, I notice that Cornfield Spring Road crosses an old washed-out paved road
Approaching Kelso Depot, and air conditioning!
I suck back a glass of cold iced tea at the just-opened first-floor lunch counter, then go exploring Kelso Depot's many rooms
Several of the Kelso Depot exhibits introduce visitors to various distinct areas of Mojave National Preserve
Old Kelso Depot office space
Kelso Depot baggage office, from staff's view
Kelso Depot, second storey: the real reason I'm here today (besides the air conditioning)
I plant myself in the sitting area of the little library and go about browsing the books and maps
A couple of the small sleeping rooms are furnished in the simple style of the period
From Kelso Depot, view northeast up Kelso-Cima Road from the door at the end of the second-floor corridor
My air-conditioning festival melts away when I refill my water supply at Kelso Depot and begin the ride back to camp
In addition to the four now-full 1.5-litre water bottles in my backpack, my 10-litre black water bag is mostly full now too
Back at the tent, I decide to rest silently for a while and enjoy the mind-and-body debilitating drug that is the heat
Sunset finally approaches like I knew it eventually would; I've been imagining its arrival from inside my tent for a while now
Like the Providence Mountains behind me, I stretch, and I stretch, upward and outward, the cool 90-degree air enveloping us all
Sunset at Kelso also means removing the tent's outer flap to let the hottest air escape through the screen
Heat does kill the appetite, but a good meal after exertion in the heat is still satisfying, if taken slowly
After dark, the wind picks up a little; it's a beautiful warm evening and the stars are bright
Route of short Cornfield Spring Road day hike and ride down to Kelso Depot (Day 2)
Elevation profile of short Cornfield Spring Road day hike, Mojave National Preserve (Day 2)