Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2008: Mojave National Preserve Mountain-Bike Camping and Hike / Day 11: Keystone Spring and mine day hike, New York Mountains, Mojave National Preserve 49
Leaving the ailing 10-ton bike at my Keystone Canyon campsite at 5300 feet, I hike up to Keystone Spring in search of water, then up to the old mine below New York Mountain at about 6000 feet. 5.5 miles round trip. No humans sighted today.
Making morning coffee at Keystone Canyon
Today's day hike will take me to an old mine site not far away, below the crags of New York Mountain in the distance at right
First, I go for a short walk around my Keystone Canyon campsite
I prepare my supplies for the day and begin the hike up Keystone Canyon
White primroses and orange desert-mallow flowers along Keystone Canyon Road
I come across another campsite with a fire ring near the road
The road shares Keystone Canyon with a wash and crosses it several times
Along this stretch, the road is actually in the wash
Road users have placed rocks in this gully to facilitate passage over it
I'm delighted to discover the moist remnants of a recent trickle of water in the middle of the road
The road is almost non-existent in this part of Keystone Canyon
A fork in the road!
I spot an old cistern along the road
Another fork in the barely discernable road
Ah, there's the pipe that presumably leads up to Keystone Spring
I stumble across these little red flowers that I'm not familiar with
The old pipe continues along the ground along the old road to Keystone Spring
Keystone Spring?
Further up the meadow, I reach a hole filled with water
The water here at Keystone Spring doesn't look good, but..
Looking closer, Keystone Spring seems to be semi-stagnant
Bugs abound at Keystone Spring, as happy to have water as I am
I cautiously approach the spring to test the yellow jackets, and then pump water to fill my Camelbak and water bottles
My water supply refilled, I walk back down the hill from Keystone Spring and hike up the road toward New York Mountain
After a bit more climbing, I turn around to see that I've risen quite a bit during the last half mile
I continue hiking up what's left of the old road up Keystone Canyon
A little higher, I approach a face-like rock formation in the foreground at my left
I get my first view of the old mine site at the bottom of New York Mountain
The eroding old mine site at the top of Keystone Canyon sits just a few hundred feet below the peak of New York Mountain
It appears that rock, silt and wood debris tumbles continually down into Keystone Canyon from the old mine site
Teal-blue rocks are scattered around the mine site while "Sleeping-head Rock" keeps watch from the right side
A trickle of rusty, contaminated water exudes from a tunnel in the hillside above the mine tailings
The old rails from the mine tunnel end at the edge of the tailings pile
I climb a bit up the slope around the mine up and consider going all the way up to the New York Mountain ridge
The views from up here are great, and I hate to turn back, but I'm turning back anyway
I start the walk back down the old road to my campsite at the bottom of Keystone Canyon
Here's a plant that I've never seen before
I'm down at the bottom of the big hill and in the main part of Keystone Canyon now
After refilling water at Keystone Spring again, I still have a bit more downhill on the old Keystone Canyon Road
The road in Keystone Canyon descends a little more
I'm down at the bottom of Keystone Canyon now and almost back home for the day
A few primroses bloom along Keystone Canyon Road a bit west of my campsite
Back at the tent, the job that awaits me is re-repairing my broken bike rack
I re-repair the broken bike rack by reinstalling my improvised brace under the rack, rather than on top of it
I take in the views of the surrounding hills while the sun goes down and I ponder my situation and exit strategy
Quite a few desert four o'clocks are blooming around my Keystone Canyon campsite
The last supper at Keystone Canyon
Keystone Canyon hike as viewed in Google Earth
Mojave National Preserve map: Day 11, day hike to Keystone Spring and Keystone Canyon mine