Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Fall 2010: Route 66 and Kelso Dunes Wilderness Bicycle Camping / Day 3: Day hike into Kelso Dunes Wilderness to the south end of Broadwell Mesa 81
Perfect hiking weather today: bright sunshine, a bit chilly, but not cold. I don't encounter any other humans today, but I will see a few bobcats, an owl, a jackrabbit, and lots of volcanic rock.
Today's route was prepared just last night, to replace my originally planned hike further south in the Bristol Mountains. However, I didn't make it far enough into the mountains yesterday to do that hike today.
I'll drink about four litres of water, eat three energy bars and some almonds, and collect three stray balloons. 18.6 hiking miles plus approximately 1100 feet of elevation gain.
- Here in the Bristol Mountains foothills, I'm awake early enough to see the gorgeous light of sunrise, a rarity for me
The temperature went down into the mid 30s on my first night of this trip camping outside, but I slept really well and feel refreshed. The soft sand under my tent here makes for a nice sleeping surface. As Jeff said, this looks like a photo in an advert for camping gear (except that the brand names are not being shown prominently)! - I heat up water for my instant Starbucks coffee, eat granola, dried fruits and nuts, and prepare my backpack for today's hike
I'm not a morning person, but I want to get started early so I can hike as far as possible toward Broadwell Mesa with minimal hiking after dark on the return trip. - The distant flat of Broadwell Dry Lake and the Cady Mountains beyond get a lot of my attention as I peck at my breakfast
I'm planning on camping out over in that area as my next stop on this trip. - Shortly after I begin hiking northward across the Bristol Mountains alluvial fan, I cross a former road and its newer ant hills
These old tire tracks are now inside the Kelso Dunes Wilderness Area and thus off-limits to mechanized vehicles, including my bicycle (not that I mind). - Very few plants in this area of the desert flower at this time of year, but here are a few minimal flowers
I'm guessing that these are early "Paper bag bush" flowers (Salazaria mexicana), but not sure. - I cross the first of several drainages from the Bristol Mountains; this small tree seems to like living here in the flood zone
This must be a "Smoke tree" (Psorothamnus spinosus). - This low area on the west side of the Bristol Mountains collects blowing sand
The ripples on the sandy surface signify the strong winds that sometimes blow here (and which I fortunately didn't experience last night). - I'm surprised when I find myself briefly hiking across a flat, prairie-like expanse in the Kelso Dunes Wilderness
While hiking across an alluvial fan, I expect to cross many deep dips caused by drainage from the mountains, but not flat areas like this. - Zooming in, I can make out the tidbit of civilization that is Ludlow, California along old Route 66 and I-40
The snow-capped mountains in the distant background remind me that this is the beginning of winter in the desert. It was close to freezing last night here in the lower, warmer parts of the desert. - I dip down into another drainage wash while walking across the alluvial fan of the Bristol Mountains
In places, the walls of the wash are steep, but I find an easy way to cross here. - Oh, another lost balloon in a wilderness area...
You're sure to eventually find a stray balloon when traversing a wilderness area! - Out here "in the middle of nowhere" in the Kelso Dunes Wilderness Area is a rock cairn with something attached to it
Time for a stop here and a closer look... - The cairn here serves to identify a survey marker, "$250 fine for removal," it says
Dated 1911, U.S. General Land Office Survey. - I encounter a field of small lava rocks as I walk toward the Bristol Mountains
I think the wash I am hiking toward is by the low dark hill straight ahead. I have it marked on my GPS and keep on walking. - Already, I've encountered a second stray balloon that reached its death in a wilderness area
"Have a Berry Cool birthday," the balloon proclaims. Trash can be so cute sometimes. Give it 50 years and this will be an antique. - In the drainages crossing the alluvial fan just west of the Bristol Mountains grow a lot ghostly small bushes
These might be those "Gutierrez bushes" that look so incredibly green and lush during the moister season in the desert. - A couple of hours after starting out, I finally reach the wash that I chose and beginning hiking up into the Bristol Mountains
Quite a few smoke trees live in this wash, and what is that ahead? Looks like a structure of some kind. - Very cool! There's an unexpected old cabin here in "South Broadwell Wash"
My maps indicate an old prospect here, so I was expecting to find a few holes in the ground, but not an old cabin. The outdoor shelving adds an interesting touch. - The wood of the old cabin is very, very weathered
Since there are no big trees nearby, the wood used to construct the cabin would have been brought in from quite a distance. - The cabin has no floor other than the natural gravel, and no apparent foundation
It's a wonder that it's still standing! Then again, this area of the Mojave Desert receives very little rainfall, which probably helps to preserve it. - A fire ring, which hasn't been used in a long time, sits out in front of the cabin
An old road, still visible in places, once came up the wash here. Perhaps this structure was used as a workshop and not as living quarters... - I walk up the old road behind the cabin, which leads to the old prospects marked on my map
I could easily spend some time here exploring what's left of the prospects, but decide to focus on my goal of penetrating the mountains further. The days are so short at this time of year! - From the low hill behind the cabin, I have a nice view down into the wash and toward flat-topped Broadwell Mesa
The Broadwell Mesa area is my destination, so I walk back down to wash and continue hiking in that direction. - I've noticed very little debris in this area so far, despite its previous usage, but one exception is this chemical bucket
The weathered label on the can says, "Quik Foam Baroid Heating Chemicals." This product is apparently used to accelerate the process of drilling holes in the ground. - I continue hiking up "South Broadwell Wash," following an old set of dirt-bike tracks
Other than these fading dirt-bike tracks (which shouldn't be here in a federally designated Wilderness area), I see no human footprints at all. - Ah ha, I spot another stray balloon as I hike in the wash toward the south end of Broadwell Mesa
That's balloon #3 today! Ever wonder where those balloons end up when they cheerfully float away? - I'm at a high-enough elevation now that I'm occasionally seeing a few small barrel cacti
These robust cacti don't seem to mind the surrounding heat-absorbing volcanic rocks. Hiking here in the summer, or even late spring, would probably be a slow and tough process. - The amount of rock strewn about in "South Broadwell Wash" increases as I continue hiking
I don't think the dirt bikers whose tracks I've been following made it this far. It's getting a bit rough, with not quite enough open sand to make biking fun. - The landforms are becoming more interesting as I get closer to Broadwell Mesa
Still no sign of human footprints here, just some animal tracks here and there. - Erosion formation in "South Broadwell Wash"
This is another of those dry Mojave Desert places where a lot of water obviously flows at certain moments. - This rock in "South Broadwell Wash" collects water from time to time, making the local wildlife happy
... but it's dry right now. I guess the recent rains in Barstow a few days ago didn't reach this area 50 miles east. - As I enter the Broadwell Mesa formation, I'm paying more attention to the route I prerecorded on my GPS
My route curves left here around the volcanic rock in front of me. - A cascade of sloping volcanic rock edges this wash in the Kelso Dunes Wilderness Area
I still haven't seen any human footprints today, other than my own. - Bird droppings on rocks above the natural tank suggest that ledges up there might be used as nests
I suppose I could climb up there and take a closer look, but right now I'm wondering if I can climb up the small dry waterfall here and hike further up the wash. - I arrive at a dry "natural tank," where water accumulates as a temporary pond after water events
A big pile of sand and gravel here prevents water from escaping until the tank here gets deep, probably shoulder-high. - The waterfall and natural tank here are dry right now, but there is a hole in the sand down there
Animals have probably been digging down there; I'll go see. - Perhaps 1/4 cup of water exudes from the little hole at the bottom of the natural tank, which is otherwise dry right now
If I were dying of thirst, I could probably dig deeper and get a bit more water. Fortunately, I'm not. - I stare at the dry waterfall and decide that I should be able to climb up it and continue my hike in the wash beyond
I'll probably have problems climbing back down this small rock wall on the return trip due to vertigo, but I don't care right now, since I'm on the way up. - I continue hiking up the wash beyond the dry waterfall, feeling like I've entered an unexplored land
There are a lot of large rocks and a few thorny catclaw acacias to dodge. - I come around a bend, and a noise interrupts the quiet, startling me
Climbing up the rocky hill, I see a critter which at first looks like a small mountain lion. I realize that it's actually a large bobcat when I notice two kittens following it upward. I am not quick enough with the camera to capture this moment! - An interesting pile of scat and bits of fur
I wonder who did what to whom... - The wash reaches another dry waterfall that will need to be climbed over if I want to continue onward
This dry waterfall is a lot shorter than the one I climbed over a short while ago. - I notice a low-flying bird overhead that turns out to be an owl when it lands in the nearby brush
I first think it's a small hawk, until I notice its flat face peering at me. He watches me for a few moments, then flies away. I wonder if he was trying to distract me from something, like a nearby nest. - The occasional streams of water here have carved their presence into the rock
I climb up the rocks to the left of the dry waterfall and take a short break here to enjoy the peace of this secret place. - From my perch near the top of the dry waterfall, I look down at the tiny pool of water remaining amongst the rocks
It's not much water, but perhaps enough for now to support the owl that I just saw, and the bobcats I saw earlier just down the canyon. - Above the dry falls, the wash continues rockily along, and it looks like it pops out onto the top of Broadwell Mesa soon
It's just past 13h, and I've hiked almost nine miles so far, so I'm going to turn back here and check out this end of Broadwell Mesa from a potential vantage point I noticed on my way here. - I scramble back down into the wash, and head toward the piece of flat-topped Broadwell Mesa visible a short distance down-canyon
My footsteps in the sand seem quite loud amidst the silence here. - A few more slugs of water are needed in this dry landscape, even though it's a chilly day
I keep inspecting the rock walls around me in case there are other old drawings that I haven't noticed. - Some of the volcanic rock in this wash appears to have been meticulously arranged by a bricklayer
But there's no mortar here... - Many old, red plant stems (buckwheats perhaps) and fresh green catclaw acacias grow in this wash
The catclaws will reach out and grab you if you walk too close to them. Ouch! - I climb up a narrow drainage and find myself on the top of the south end of Broadwell Mesa
Nice views from here down into the canyon that I've been exploring. - From up on Broadwell Mesa, I look down at a sandy patch in the wash where I've been hiking
Those small, dry bushes everywhere produce an excellent contrast with the dark volcanic rock. - Centuries of erosion have created this drainage canyon through the south end of Broadwell Mesa in the Kelso Dunes Wilderness
What will this relatively untouched area look like 1000 years from now? Hopefully it won't be covered with solar power plants (and weeds), the kind of thing that current government likes. Natural desert areas like this are these days seen as "wastelands" to be conquered. - I'm just close enough to I-40 here on Broadwell Mesa that I have cell-phone reception, so I send off a couple of text messages
There's something disjointed about standing here in a remote place that people rarely ever visit and using a piece of technology to instantly connect me with the outside world. - I climb back down the volcanic rock into the wash to resume my return hike down "South Broadwell Wash"
A small catclaw acacia pokes out of the rocks. - I'm hiking rather quickly, so every footstep around or on the rocks is an opportunity to slip and break an ankle
This hike doesn't have a lot of elevation gain, but the rocky surfaces demand a fair amount of focus. - Approaching the dry waterfall, this time in the downhill direction, a partial "staircase" begins the quick descent
A catclaw acacia blocks the view of the small drop-off ahead. - The drop-off ahead is only about 10 feet high, best climbed down backwards as if descending a ladder
My feet blindly grope their way down the short rock wall, looking for the small protrusions that serve as stairs along the way. - I made it down the little rock wall easily, but the short, blind descent was just enough to set off my vertigo
I hate vertigo and the shaky feeling that it needlessly produces. That rock wall was not high at all! - I'm now out of the dramatic volcanic-rock canyon in the Bristol Mountains and back in a wider wash
Already, I would like to go back and explore beyond what I've seen. A lot of thorny catclaw acacia bushes need to be avoided in this part of the wash. - I hike through an area of heavy erosion in "South Broadwell Wash" west of Broadwell Mesa
This texture festival invites me to climb up that hill, but I'll resist the temptation. I notice a bobcat scurrying up a nearby hill. - Erosion in "South Broadwell Wash" exposes earth layers that would otherwise be hidden
It's hard to imagine a quantity of flowing water here high enough to scour that wall in such a way. - Erosion has exposed a series of small air pockets in one of the earth layers, and a few small bushes grow on up the crest
There are probably a few birds who really like those inaccessible spots up there! - Water has exposed a swirling pattern in the earth and rock layers here
One day, I'll have to witness one of the massive flash floods that create this geology in such a dry landscape. - As I continue my return hike, I notice an old road climbing a hillside, which I didn't notice while hiking up the wash
There's probably an old prospect up there somewhere, though I didn't notice it on my maps (maybe I wasn't looking). - Further down the wash, I notice the old dirt-bike tracks again
This signals my return to the far edge of civilization, even though I'm still within the boundaries of the Kelso Dunes Wilderness Area. - Curved layers of rock in "South Broadwell Wash"
I could probably sit down here and stare at the patterns for half an hour. - A parade of smoke trees in the wash catches the sun as I approach the alluvial fan east of Broadwell Dry Lake
Apparently, there is too much water in this specific spot in the wash where I'm standing for smoke trees to grow. They otherwise seem to like this sporadically wet environment. - My return hike back down "South Broadwell Wash" comes to an end as I approach the fan above Broadwell Dry Lake
Sunset is getting dressed for the occasion. - I glance north in the Bristol Mountains as I begin my southward hike across the fan back to my campsite
Those steep purple hills would be interesting to explore. I hope to make it over there a couple of days from now on another hike. - This rich-red volcanic-rock field on the fan east of Broadwell Dry Lake looked so black earlier today
I still have a few miles of hiking left before I reach my campsite. - Last year's dry Gutierrez bushes (I think) nicely pick up the late-afternoon autumn light
My campsite is somewhere at the base of those hills straight ahead at middle-left. It will be dark before I get there. - Asclepias subulata (Rush milkweed) growing on the fan
Thanks for the plant ID, Lee. I would never have guessed that this is a milkweed. I've seen a few of these today, but not many. - Yellow early-sunset glow in the Cady Mountains, on the other side of Broadwell Dry Lake
I'll move my campsite to somewhere over there a bit beyond Broadwell Dry Lake tomorrow. - A pink glow washes across this desert plain in the Kelso Dunes Wilderness Area
With the current craze for giving wild desert land away to developers to plow down for solar-power plants, it's a relief that a proposed solar installation just down the hill at Broadwell Dry Lake has been canceled and won't ruin this amazing landscape. - This little wash trickling down from the Bristol Mountains wins the prize for picking up the richest rays of the day
I always enjoy this fleeting moment of a desert sunset just before colors begin to desaturate and light starts dimming. - Pink begins to fade as I point myself toward my campsite at the base of the mountains ahead and keep walking
The temperature only reached 60 today; I can already feel it dropping a few degrees with the departure of the lukewarm sun. - The sun goes down for good behind the Cady Mountains, not to be seen again until tomorrow
I don't need my flashlight just yet, but I stop to pull it out of my backpack and put it in my pocket while I can still see. - A few clouds are rolling in east of the Bristol Mountains at dusk
I hope these clouds don't mean I'll have a windy night in the tent! The desert can be so incredibly quiet and peaceful, but the frequent strong winds can be really aggressive! - I cross another small drainage at dusk; I'll have several more to cross, a few quite deep, by flashlight, on my way home
The wind is picking up as I end my hike in darkness before the almost-full moon rises. I don't even see my tent, hiding in the dark behind a creosote bush until I'm 10 feet away! It takes me a while to boil water for supper due to this evening's wind, which gives me a good excuse to pace around outside and stare at the full moon while the temperature drops down into the 30s. Tonight's meal is instant Mountain House Sweet and Sour Pork with Rice, yum, with cognac for dessert. Moderate winds continue throughout the evening, but not enough to make sleeping impossible while my tent walls gently flap, flap, flap. I get to sleep around midnight. - Elevation profile of Kelso Dunes Wilderness Area "South Broadwell Wash" hiking route
18.6 hiking miles plus approximately 1100 feet of elevation gain.