Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2010, Mojave National Preserve / Day 11: Juniper Spring day hike from Malpais Spring, Mojave National Preserve 75
I don't know much about the Juniper Spring area, so today I'll hike over a pass in the New York Mountains and see it. Excellent weather, landscape and flower shows. 11 hiking miles round trip, over 2000 feet elevation gain.
- I'm awake at 8h45, step outside my tent near Malpais Spring, and am greeted by a lizard
Good morning! I haven't spoken to anyone since leaving Nipton two days ago, so I chat with him for a bit. I first woke up at 6h, but I felt like I needed more sleep. - After breakfast I prepare my backpack and start the hike toward Juniper Spring around 10h15
Perfect weather again today! It was cool overnight, but not cold, and the morning sun is warm, but not hot. I enjoyed the light breeze blowing through the tent while eating my usual granola-nuts-coffee-dried fruit breakfast. - The first part of Indian Spring Road leaving Malpais Spring is nicely camouflaged beyond the Wilderness boundary
Someone did a great job scattering plant debris on the old closed road to discourage vehicles from accidentally driving in the Wilderness area. - On the way to Indian Spring, the road passes through a rather barren area above the Malpais Spring canyon
I walked through a piece of this area yesterday afternoon on the way back to camp from Taylor Spring. - After two miles, I reach Indian Spring and filter drinking water for the day
The water is cool and I'm relieved that it tastes good! I filter three 1.5-litre water bottles. I'll return here later for more water on the way back to camp. - Before leaving Indian Spring, I check the map for my route across the plateau toward Juniper Spring
I like to carry both a GPS and a few paper maps. - Colourful scat, it's party time
Whoever left these droppings at Indian Spring appears to have feasted on a lost balloon or two, instead of real food. Which reminds me, I haven't seen a lost balloon today. - I'll start by hiking 1.5 miles straight across the plateau and down to a wash which I'll follow to Juniper Spring
There are almost enough junipers for me to call it a forest. - Peach cactus flowers on the plateau northeast of Indian Spring
I haven't noticed many cactus flowers of this colour. The colour makes me think of hybrid roses rather than cacti. - A number of shallow dry washes need to be crossed as I hike "Indian Spring Plateau"
I'm hiking northeast, which is largely crossing against the "drainage grain" of much of this territory. - I pass a rock outcrop that's associated with the rocks down around nearby Malpais Spring
Malpais Spring is about a mile southeast of this location. - A miniscule pool of water holds out between some rocks on "Indian Spring Plateau"
Other than this, the washes crossing the "Indian Spring Plateau" area all seem dry right now. - I pass a cactus-pad patch and a scattering of barrel cacti amongst the junipers on "Indian Spring Plateau"
Some pink is provided by buckwheat flowers and the occasional range ratany in bloom. - Here is the wash that I'll follow up through the New York Mountains and down the other side to Juniper Spring
I climb down into the wash and start hiking up the easy grade. - A patch of barrel cacti grows along Juniper Spring wash
Despite this patch of barrel cacti, I'm not seeing many of these around here. - I reach a fork on the way up the wash to Juniper Spring; I check my GPS and take the left fork
A few motorcycle tracks are visible in the sand in the wash and I'm following their route. - On the way up Juniper Spring wash, I pass a really colourful area with Vanderbilt Peak in the background
Mostly a lot of desert sages with orange desert mallows, but a few flowering yuccas and yellow blooms as well. - The wash comes to an end; remnants of an old road rise the final few feet up to a pass in the New York Mountains
Though many faint or disappeared roads are found on the USGS quad maps, this one isn't. - I pause in the shade of a juniper with its juniper berries at the pass in the New York Mountains
It's nice to retreat from the hot sun for a few minutes. I rest briefly, eat an energy bar, suck back some water, and try my cell phone. It works! So I compose a text message. - My text message doesn't want to be sent after I compose it, so I climb up the adjacent hill for better reception; away it goes
I'm high enough here that I can see past the Juniper Spring area below across to Ivanpah Dry lake in the distance. - I return to the wash and pass the big juniper that provided me with some nice shade for a few minutes
It will be all downhill for the next mile and a half. - On the way down through a floriferous area in Juniper Spring wash, I pass an especially bright juniper
Blue phacelias bloom under the shade of the juniper tree, and not beyond. Orange desert mallows outside the shade line provide major contrast. - Juniper Spring wash is an easy descent as it winds down the north side of the New York Mountains
I thought there might be more rock and less sand in the wash, and possible obstructions. I wasn't expecting to run across motorcycle tracks. - A barrel cactus has detached from its hillside garden and tumbled down into Juniper Spring wash
The root system is quite shallow for such a bulky plant; no wonder they lose their footing once in a while - Sporadic accumuations of juniper berries create dark spots on the floor of Juniper Spring wash
From a distance this first appears as dark soil. A directed glance suggests rabbit droppings, until a closer look reveals the unmistakable blue of juniper berries. - Views across Ivanpah Valley to the Clark Mountains present themselves as I approach the bottom of Juniper Spring wash
The short vertical line on the other side of Ivanpah Valley looks to be Nipton Road, where it rises out of the valley to meet I-15. - Near the bottom of Juniper Spring wash are a couple of old rusty cans attached to tree trunks
Target practice perhaps? Maybe I should have brought a few guns, since they're legal here. Yee haw. - Bright-red Indian paintbrush near the bottom of Juniper Spring wash
A purple desert sage and a garden of barrel cacti fill the backdrop. - I exit the Wilderness boundary, feebly marked by two nondescript, svelte posts, and arrive at Juniper Spring Road
Mojave National Preserve is entirely in California, but driving into the Preserve on the dead-end Juniper Spring Road requires that one start on the Nevada side of the nearby State border. - I start walking up Juniper Spring Road
Juniper Spring, if it exists, should be a half mile or less from here. - Juniper Spring Road rolls up and down in the New York Mountains foothills
Juniper Spring Road is open to motor vehicles, but it apparently doesn't get much traffic. - Some Prince's plume (Stanleya pinnata) grows in the area of Juniper Spring, Mojave National Preserve
This is the first patch of Prince's plume that I've seen during this trip. I planted one of these along my driveway a few years ago and it lived (and flowered) for two years. - Juniper Spring, Mojave National Preserve; it's dry
I wasn't expecting water here, but I wasn't expecting water at Indian Spring either, and it has a full, fresh tank of the life-sustaining stuff. You never know... - Near the dry Juniper Spring trough is a pipe leading up a wash
It's worth following, just to see where it goes; probably not far. - The pipe from the dry Juniper Spring trough leads me up to what may be the smallest pool of spring water possible
Several moths flit around the cup-sized pool of water at Juniper Spring, Mojave National Preserve. This might extend the life of a very thirsty person by a few hours; better than nothing! - Near Juniper Spring are a few small piles of tailings
Despite the tailings piles, I see no mining holes nor tunnels here; they may have been filled in during recent years. - I decide to return to the Juniper Spring wash I descended for the return trip after considering other routes
Other routes back to my Malpais Spring campsite will be steeper. I should probably choose a different route back other than the one I already know, but don't. - A preening bird in a tree above me seems oblivious as I walk up the narrow wash
Perhaps he's not oblivious at all, and it's just that he knows I can't fly and potentially threaten his personal space. - To get back to Juniper Spring wash, I climb over a hill with views across Ivanpah Valley
A few barrel cacti and an old burned tree (probably a juniper) try to interfere with my view across Ivanpah Valley. - From the hill above Juniper Spring are nice views across Ivanpah Dry Lake with the Clark Mountains to the left
The cholla cacti here on the hill glow in the bright afternoon sunlight. - I pass a couple more clumps of Prince's plume (Stanleya pinnata) on the way over the hill to Juniper Spring wash
I wonder if the burned branches here are a result of the 2005 Mojave National Preserve "Hackberry Complex" fires or an earlier brush fire. - I start the walk back up Juniper Spring wash
Some of those dark strips in the wash that looks like shadows are actually accumulations of juniper berries. - A patch of Evening primrose grows adjacent to a juniper tree
A few tiny yellow Goldfields flowers, easy to miss, grow here too. - Rhus trilobata is common in many desert washes like Juniper Spring wash
This is "the plant that looks like poison-oak, but isn't." These berries are supposedly edible. I planted one of these at home, but it doesn't get enough sun to produce flowers or grow properly. - Some stretchs of Juniper Spring wash are quite colourful
... thanks to orange desert mallow flowers and purple sage - Slowly, Juniper Spring wash rises; easy hiking
No bushwhacking required in this wash, as is required in some others. - I take a short break in an area with scattered flowers and junipers
My timing for catching wildflowers at the higher elevations of Mojave National Preserve during this trip has turned out to be pretty good. - Purple sage in the foreground and bluer phacelias under a juniper tree
...set off by the orange desert mallow at the left - Plenty of cholla cactus also lives in Juniper Spring wash
...even though the junipers, desert mallows and desert sages tend to steal the show. - Fresh juniper berries
No patch of blue phacelias is flowering in the shade of this juniper, unlike some of the others I've seen today - I leave Juniper Spring wash below, and start climbing up a hill toward the Vanderbilt Peak area
I can almost, but not quite, see down into Ivanpah Valley from here. - I head up toward a saddle near Vanderbilt Peak behind the tree at upper left
On the way up, I cross several several washes, including this one filled with yellow flowers (snakeweed, I think). - A garden of Prince's plume and desert mallows grows in the rock on the way up to Vanderbilt Peak
Some of the ups and downs on my cross-country hike here are a bit steep and slippery with some loose rock. - Approaching the pass near Vanderbilt Peak, straight ahead
I have to climb down into the gulley in front of me first. - I follow the rockier stretches on the way up to the Vanderbilt Peak pass for better traction
Loose gravel on the smoother stretches here makes for more slippery hiking. Not a great place to fall and get injured! - The pass by Vanderbilt Peak lies just ahead
Just a little higher... - Now that I'm on the pass by Vanderbilt Peak, I have views southwest across the Indian Spring plateau to Castle Peaks
I won't have time to visit Castle Peaks up close during this trip, but I've been enjoying their presence as I explore the area. - In the northeast from Vanderbilt Peak pass, I can see over to Nevada's McCullough Mountain
McCullough Mountain is another area on my "maybe" list for this trip, but I'll postpone that to a future date due to lack of time. - My next stop will be Indian Spring, to refill my water supply
Hart Peak juts upward from the Castle Mountains; the rusty rocks of the Malpais Spring area stand out at centre-left. - I spot some kind of grasshopper in the gravel
It's almost invisible from a distance due to its granite-like colouring. - The mile-long hike from Vanderbilt Peak pass to Indian Spring rolls gently up and down across drainages
It's surprising how much of the area is actually quite green, even though it looks brown from a distance. - I cross several small washes while hiking the plateau on the way to Indian Spring
Junipers, yuccas, snakeweed, cholla cactus, rock, sand... - Back at Indian Spring for the second time today
I filter enough water to fill my four 1.5-litre water bottles, which should get me through tomorrow, before hiking back to my campsite. I drank about 2.5 litres since replenishing here this morning. - I manage to photograph this zebra-tailed lizard near Indian Spring before he scurries away
I've seen dozens of lizards today... - Yellow desert marigolds and purple desert four o'clocks grow by this juniper near Indian Spring, New York Mountains
A few phacelias are hidden in the juniper's shade. - I pass through one of the last groves of junipers on the way back down Indian Springs Road to my campsite
Junipers don't grow down by my campsite near Malpais Spring. - A little further down Indian Spring Road, the junipers fade out, replaced by a fairly dense joshua tree forest
The joshua tree forest here isn't quite as dense as the one in the Cima Dome area. - I pass through "the barren area" again while returning to camp on Indian Spring Road
Plants do manage to grow here, but not enough to form a ground cover. The reddish and purplish shades of earth here are an interesting sight. - A third of a mile later, I arrive back at my campsite near Malpais Spring
I'm back a bit earlier than I expected. Hopefully no critters have discovered and burglarized my tent! - Quite a few thorns, probably from cholla cacti, are stuck to the bottom of my shoe and need to be removed (carefully)
I also have some burrs to pick off my socks from hiking through grassy areas. - At sunset, I watch the sun go down and take dozens of photos to see what I get
All three nights that I've camped here by Malpais Spring have had excellent sunsets. - Feathery pinks and blues dust the sky looking northeast
I get out my pot of water that I'll boil for my evening meal once the sun goes down. - The sun has departed and the full moon is up; looking forward to a moonlit evening after a great day
It's quiet here except for the moderately strong winds that have picked up and I haven't seen anybody in a couple of days. Songs of crickets fills the air, which didn't happen last night. Perhaps they like the fact that today was a bit warmer. I boil water for tonight's tasty instant meal, Mountain House Sweet and Sour Pork with Rice, and chow down. - Elevation profile of Juniper Spring day hike from Malpais Spring, Mojave National Preserve
11 hiking miles round trip, over 2000 feet elevation gain - Juniper Spring day hike route from Malpais Spring, Mojave National Preserve
11 hiking miles round trip, over 2000 feet elevation gain