Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2009, Spring: Mojave National Preserve / Day 4: Mid Hills campground hike to Eagle Rocks, Wildcat Spring, Chicken Water Spring and Silver Lead Spring 71
This Mojave National Preserve trip really starts today, as far as exploring new areas is concerned, which is the reason I keep coming back here. I'm "trapped" up in the mountains at Mid Hills campground to avoid the heat down below, so I'm going to take advantage of it to hike and ride to areas I haven't yet visited up here.
Today I'll hike over to the Eagle Rocks formation near Mid Hills campground, then down to Wildcat Spring and Coyote Spring (a different Coyote Spring than the one I visited on my last Mojave trip). I'll return to Mojave National Preserve's Mid Hills campground via Chicken Water Spring, Silver Lead Spring and Wild Horse Canyon Road.
Chicken Water Spring was a possible campsite on my trip plan. However, given the hot weather and the uncertainty of water availability this late in the spring, it's just as easy to camp at well-watered Mid Hills campground up above and use it as a base for day hikes to areas like Chicken Water Spring.
I bring six litres of water with me and consume four. I eat some almonds and a Clif bar. Awesome day and perfect temperatures (70s and 80s). 10 hiking miles with 2348 feet of elevation gain and loss.
- Mid Hills campground, Mojave National Preserve before today's hike to Eagle Rocks and Wildcat Spring
It's so nice to sleep in a bit! The morning sun is hot, so I do have to open the flap on the shady side of the tent to let the heat out. But it's a pleasant 76 degrees up here in the mountains, and it even dropped into the 50s overnight! - Mid Hills campground's 26 campsites are all nicely deserted this morning, except for mine
I walk up the road to the nearby water tap and rinse my hair. I'm not a big fan of campgrounds, but this one is really nice. You can hear your neighbours, if you have any, but you often can't see them due to the rolling terrain and the juniper and pinon pine trees (many of which burned in 2005). - Across the road from the water tap, I ponder the wiew of the Eagle Rocks, which will be the first stop on today's hike
Not visible in this photo is the steep gulley between here and Eagle Rocks. Lots of desert marigold flowers up here at Mid Hills, even though the flowering season down below has already pretty much dried up for the summer months. - I'm being watched!
This bird, a pinon jay, I think, is watching me from one of the nearby burned trees. Perhaps he's waiting for me to leave so he can take a bath in the puddle of water I left below the tap. - Back at my tent, a lizard pretends to hide from my camera under a nearby pinon pine
Does he really think he's invisible just because he has stopped moving? - I consult my maps and have breakfast and hot tea (which makes me sweat) inside my tent
There are a lot of flies this morning, plus the occasional yellowjacket wasp and big black bee checking me out, so I'm more comfortable and carefree inside the tent with the screens up. Breakfast is Mountain House Beef Stew, one of my favourites. - I prepare my backpack for the day and begin by walking down the short steep hill into the gulley behind Mid Hills campground
I'm carrying six litres of water, epipens in case of yellowjacket sting, a flashlight, three Clif bars, a small bag of almonds, some maps, my GPS unit, camera, extra batteries; I think that's all. - A patch of asters on the way down to the gulley between Mid Hills campground and Eagle Rocks
I won't see many more of these during this trip. - A bee tightens up and launches itself toward a thistle bloom
There are quite a few white thistle flowers in the gulch between Mid Hills campground and Eagle Rocks. - Palmer's penstemon blooms on the way up the gulley toward Eagle Rocks
Whenever I see one of these penstemons in the Mojave Desert, a few happy bees are buzzing around. - Eagle Rocks, Mojave National Preserve
I've stared at these huge rock piles each time I've ridden the 10-ton bike up Kelso-Cima Road during my past Mojave National Preserve trips, but have never visited them close up until now. - There's no shortage of quirky rocks in the Eagle Rocks area to look at
It would be easy to spend a whole afternoon rambling around right here exploring the rocks. A lot of the small green patches in the background are junipers coming back after the 2005 "Hackberry Complex" fire. - Maybe this one should be called Buttock Rock
I like the necklace effect on the lower part of these rocks. I've seen several rocks in this area like this. - I begin hiking beyond Eagle Rocks into new territory that I've been looking forward to visiting
A lot of lavender-coloured verbena flowers cover this particular slope. - The texture of the Eagle Rocks area is perhaps even more interesting on their back side
A person could easily spend an entire day walking a short loop around Eagle Rocks, staring at the mesmerizing lines and forms, forgetting where he is. - My next stop will be down in the hidden valley at Wildcat Spring; perhaps it's that tiny green spot down there, I'm not sure yet
I'm not sure how to get down there, but it looks like I need to start climbing down off this ridge soon. - Three bugs are enjoying this thistle blossom
They ignore me, which is fine, since one of them looks like a potentially stinging bee. - I pass an unexpected manzanita shrub as I begin my way down the boulder pile
Manzanitas do grow at some of the higher elevations in the Mojave, but it's more a coastal California plant. - It looks a bit steeper going down than I was hoping for
I'll try my luck and continue downward, but if it gets too treacherous, I may have to climb back up to the ridge and try descending somewhere else. - Oh good, a level spot, but perhaps followed by a steep drop...
Cool erosion pock marks on the rocks here. - I'm a bit stuck right here and will have to squeeze behind the manzanita (and other) brush here to reach the next step down
My arm and hat get charcoal stains from hugging a burned pinon pine on the way, but so far, so good. I hope I am not heading toward a drop-off that I won't be able to climb down? - I'm getting closer to the bottom, but each time I think I see an easy next-step-down, it turns out to be less simple
Of course, if this exercise were too easy, it would be less fun. - Looking back up the boulder pile as I get closer to the bottom
I have hardly any rock-climbing experience, so this descent has been an entertaining and challenging puzzle so far. - The toughest part for me is just before the bottom, where I'm left with no choice but to jump down a few boulders
Hiking solo in a remote area means that one must meet challenges and surpass one's usual limits carefully, not taking too many risks, and turning back if necessary. Your cell phone doesn't work here. - I reach the bottom of the boulders and look back to see what I've just climbed down; I expect sore knees and thighs tomorrow
I celebrate by drinking a bunch of my already-warm water and a covey of quail clucks and scatters, very annoyed by my intrusion into their space. I'm in awe that the boulder pile doesn't look as steep as it seemed while climbing down it. - Entering the next phase of today's hike, I start heading down toward Wildcat Spring, Mojave National Preserve
I pre-recorded a route through this area on my Delorme GPS and am also carrying a good topo map from mytopo.com to assist me. A couple of jackrabbits run away when they detect me. - Looking back again at the Eagle Rocks and Mid Hills area
This remote upland valley is incredibly scenic and, despite being sandwiched between the well-travelled Kelso-Cima Road and Mid Hills area, it feels like humans rarely come here. - My Delorme GPS leads me into a small wash as I look for signs of Wildcat Spring
Two deer dart across the wash and a covey of quail noisily disperses, startling me in the quiet desert; I should be getting close... - Wildcat Spring, Mojave National Preserve
I walk around a bend, startle another covey of quail, and here is Wildcat Spring. It looks dry. - Wildcat Spring is not completely dry, yet, upon further inspection
A small trickle of water and a lot of mud here host many flies, but my guess is that Wildcat Spring will be dry within a month or so. If I weren't carrying water, I could dig a hole to allow water to accumulate and then filter it. - I take a short break at Wildcat Spring and drink some of the water I brought with me
I carry a water filter on my trips, but the $12/night fee at Mid Hills campground pays for the luxury of being able to refill my water supply without effort for day hikes like this. Plus, the National Parks Service deserves our support, especially in a park like Mojave National Preserve which (fortunately for those of us who seek solitude) doesn't have huge visitation numbers nor an entrance fee (yet). - I leave Wildcat Spring and start hiking toward my next stop, Coyote Spring, about 1/2 mile beyond
Note the faded track here of an old road. This is not the same Mojave National Preserve Coyote Springs that I visited during my 2008 Mojave National Preserve trip. That one is situated in the lower Granite Mountains, south of Kelso Depot. - My GPS leads me around a bend toward Coyote Spring; I'm at the lowest elevation of today's trip, 4430 feet
A giant rhus trilobata (that big green bush) welcomes me into the wash that presumably leads up to Coyote Spring. A mourning dove runs away, trying desparately to fly, but apparently injured and flightless. - All this greenery says that this must be Coyote Spring, but I don't see any water here, not even a bit of mud
I stop for another short break and devour a Clif bar here. I guess I'm a few weeks too late to see water here at Coyote Spring. - I climb up the hill above Coyote Spring and try my cell phone
No reception here. Oh well... I guess I won't be changing my outgoing message today to let people know exactly where I am (I know there will be no reception further up near Wild Horse Canyon Road). - Small blue flowers peer out from between some rocks on the ridge between Coyote Spring and Chicken Water Spring
I've seen these before, but don't remember what they are. - Map and GPS check at the the top of the low ridge 200 feet above, and just south of, Coyote Spring
I'm on my way now to Chicken Water Spring, a mile or so away over in the next hidden, unnamed valley. - Many buckwheats are still flowering up on this ridgelet between Coyote Spring and Chicken Water Spring
I'm a bit late in Mojave National Preserve this spring and have missed most of the wildflowers, but there are still a few to enjoy. - The descent into the valley of Chicken Water Spring is so short and easy that it's almost not a descent
I only drop down 50 feet or so here. Footprints abound in this area, none them human. The tall peak straight ahead is Columbia Mountain. - A stark pinnacle just south of Coyote Spring on the way to Chicken Water Spring
If I weren't so preoccupied with covering a certain amount of distance during the next couple of hours, this would be a fun hill to climb up to see if my cell phone gets reception at the top. - Chicken Water Spring is off to my right, but I decide to walk straight ahead for a short loop around this end of the valley
Nice sage in front of me. A possible bicycle route on this trip was to camp near the bottom of the rocky slope ahead, where an old road, still open to vehicles, ends. I'm hiking to that location instead. - An old foundation near the end of Chicken Water Spring Road
It's hard to guess what this may have been, perhaps someone's cabin, but it wasn't very big. - Chicken Water Spring Road is quite indistinct here and doesn't look like it has been driven often in recent years
Chicken Water Spring Road winds around the remains of an old corral. If I had come up this road on the 10-ton bike, I probably would have been walking it, which is what I anticipated. Columbia Mountain presides in the background. - A broken-down brick cistern sits in the corral at Chicken Water Spring, Mojave National Preserve
Another dead cistern, smaller and made of concrete, sits just outside the corral, but where is Chicken Water Spring itself? I look around. - Chicken Water Spring, to my surprise, drips into this shiny, new steel basin
This area was obviously heavily burned during the 2005 "Hackberry Complex" brush fires, so I'm guessing that this spring tub was installed here after the fire. - The basin at Chicken Water Spring is mostly full, though the water may not be the freshest
Perhaps I could have bike-camped here and purified the water with my water filter. I had been worried that there might not be water here. Mojave National Preserve is so large that staff usually doesn't know if smaller springs like this contain water. Mojave National Preserve is not a backpacker-friendly park in that respect. - I don't mind the dead moths in the Chicken Water Spring basin, but the dead lizard makes the water less appetizing
I pluck the dead lizard out of the water and leave it on the ground for the wildlife to eat. There's no algal growth in this spring tub, so the water would probably be fine after filtering, despite the dead lizard, which hasn't started to decompose. - After Chicken Water Spring, I look for an uphill wash on my left that will take me up to Wild Horse Canyon Road
This part of Chicken Water Spring Road is well-packed and might even be rideable on the 10-ton bike in the uphill direction. Maybe. - I start hiking up the wash that will pass Silver Lead Spring on the way up to to Wild Horse Canyon Road
I leave Chicken Water Spring valley behind me as I rise up along old tire tracks that are no longer open to vehicles (this is in a federally designated Wilderness area). - I continue walking up the wash toward Silver Lead Spring and Wild Horse Canyon Road
I need to calm down, but don't. The uphill here is steeper than it looks, rising about 1000 feet over two miles. Since it doesn't look steep, I unconsciously attack the hill as if it were flat, drinking lots of water, required by the 80s temperature. - I pass a meticulously contructed bird's nest in the wash on the way up to Silver Lead Spring
Just out of curiosity, I wish I knew which birds live here. - The wash leading up to Silver Lead Spring and Wild Horse Canyon Road is wide
Animal trails provide an easy trail to follow. - Firecracker penstemon (Penstemon eatonii) in the wash below Silver Lead Spring
I planted a couple of these in my San José garden and they grew for one season only; they prefer life out here in the desert. - Bones in wash near Silver Lead Spring, Mojave National Preserve
A burro was here? I haven't encountered any burros on any of my Mojave National Preserve trips yet, but I know they're around. - A broken-down gate near Silver Lead Spring
According to my GPS, I'm near Silver Lead Spring now, so I'm looking out for signs of water. Apparently this is an old grazing area, and excrement is everywhere. - I stumble across an old rusty water trough near Silver Lead Spring, Mojave National Preserve
I must be REALLY close to Silver Lead Spring now. - Here's an old concrete cistern near Silver Lead Spring
...and some rubber piping that doesn't look all that old. Now I'm getting excited. Where exactly is Silver Lead Spring? Am I standing on it? - Silver Lead Spring: I almost missed it, but here it is on a small hill just above the wash
Contaminated water is flowing out of an old mine hole; I wouldn't touch it with my water filter. The purple desert four o'clock flowers at the left of the photo don't seem to mind the dirty water. - Just to the east of the main part of Silver Lead Spring is an old conrete-and-rock retainer
The water held here is dark brown, perhaps tainted by something from the mine shaft. - I walk the final 1/2 mile up from Silver Lead Spring to Wild Horse Canyon Road at 5500 feet elevation
The view of New York Mountains in the distance is nice; I'll pop out onto Wild Horse Canyon Road in a few minutes and be on my way back to Mid Hills campground. - I crawl under a barbed-wire fence so I can walk up Wild Horse Canyon Road
This barbed wire looks fairly fresh, so this may be a cattle area that was recently bought out by the Preserve. Or, it's an area where cattle grazing still takes place and I didn't see any cattle? - I walk up Wild Horse Canyon road and cross a cattle guard
One of my feet almost slips into a slot between the cattle-guard grates, oops. It occurs to me that my carelessness is due to having never walked over a cattle guard before, even though I've ridden over them hundreds of times. - I decide to follow the small dirt road to my left instead of staying on the main road back to Mid Hills campground
Mid Hills campground is roughly in front of hills ahead. The small road leads to the Eagle Rocks area, but not back into the campground. - After a 1/4 mile on the dirt road, I begin heading cross-country through the partially burned desert forest
A bit of colour speckles the floor in this area: paper-bag bush (light yellow), desert marigold (bright yellow) and desert four o'clocks (magenta). - Nice views of Eagle Rocks again as I get close to reentering Mid Hills campground
A few orange desert mallows are still flowering here; most of the mallows I saw today have already finished flowering. - And a mariposa lily...
This quirky plant is so small that it's almost non-existent, except for its flashy poppy-like flower. - My short cross-country hike comes to an end when I reach the road through Mid Hills campground
I walk up the road and back to my tent; the campground appears to be empty again this evening. Good! - Back at Mid Hills campground site 22 after today's hike to Eagle Rocks and Wildcat Spring
I drink a cup of electrolyte-replacing drink and refill my water bottles for the evening from the campground tap. An aggressive bee follows me to the water tap. The cold water tastes and feels great. - I enjoy watching the sun go down behind the hills in the Eagle Rocks area
The first full day hike of this Mojave National Preserve trip has been excellent, thanks in part to the nice temperatures up here at Mid Hills (it's 75 degrees right now and there's a cool breeze). I make a small pot of instant miso soup with seaweed and eat some plain beef jerky before making my "big meal," which is Natural High Honey Mustard Chicken and Rice. It's good, but not quite as exciting as it might sound. The flavour is a bit light, but the wild rice in the mix is what really makes it worthwhile. There are not as many flies here tonight as last night, but a few are flitting against my tent. At dusk, a bee and a yellowjacket wasp seem to be seeking me out, but can't get in my tent. For a few minutes, the yellowjacket sits on the drinking nib of my Camelbak, which is hanging on my bike, and makes love to the water vapour that exudes from it. I fall asleep easily, tired and happy. - Mid Hills campground to Wildcat Spring and Chicken Water Spring hiking route map (Day 4)
- Mid Hills campground to Wildcat Spring and Chicken Water Spring hiking route elevation profile (Day 4)