Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Spring 2011: Mojave National Preserve and area bicycle camping / Day 13: Bicycle ride to Keckiella Rocks, Mojave National Preserve

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Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Spring 2011: Mojave National Preserve and area bicycle camping / Day 13: Bicycle ride to Keckiella Rocks, Mojave National Preserve 33

The wind wakes me up at 5h15, in time to see the sunrise, but it's too early for me, so I go back to sleep
After a few more hours of sleep, I'm up and enjoying the surprisingly warm morning here in Pinto Valley
After breakfast and coffee, my task is to walk the 3/4 mile over to Bathtub Spring and filter more drinking water
A claret cup cactus grows in a boulder pile near Bathtub Spring, Mid Hills, Mojave National Preserve
I arrive at Bathtub Spring and find quite a few of these little white butterflies playing in the moist area by the spring
There's not much surface algae in the basin at Bathtub Spring, but there is a lot of heavy, slippery growth deeper in the water
I get on with the business of filtering enough water for a couple of days from Bathtub Spring
I persevere with my ailing MSR water filter and manage to fill my water bag with clean, tasty water from Bathtub Spring
Time to go for a bicycle ride, without the added weight of all my camping gear!
Back on a road, I ride for a while, then stash the bicycle in the brush and go for a hike to a rocky area
Graffiti
Patterns
Butterfly
After a bit more hiking, I arrive at more rocks
Flower
Squiggles
Bird
Tic-tac-toe
Bulb
Sunshine
Smoke
Cactus
I pass some yellow-flowering bushes that I don't see often
Close-up of Keckiella antirrhinoides (Chaparral Bush-beardtongue)
Helicopters
I've seen so many of these Mojave ground squirrels on this trip, but never manage to photograph them
There's a lot of private property in some parts of Mojave National Preserve
My favourite part of the ride back to camp is passing through Pinto Valley's sagebrush patches
Strong winds have picked up during the afternoon, blowing in some end-of-day haze
I take a look behind me and see that the haze is thicker than I thought
Sunset at Pinto Valley inevitably results in another tent-advertisement photo
The jays are still hanging out in the trees near my campsite at sunset
Sundown at Pinto Valley means it's time for my evening meal; I'm really hungry