Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Spring 2012: Mojave National Preserve Bicycle-Camping and Hiking / Day 2: Keystone Spring day hike from Mail Spring, New York Mountains, Mojave National Preserve 66
Hot day! I'm not yet acclimated to the heat, so feeling heat-sick and a bit lethargic (highs: 98F at Lanfair, 104F at Nipton). Nonetheless, I trek on and get water from Keystone Spring. 9.2 hiking miles and about 1500 feet of elevation gain.
I wake up in the Mail Spring area of Mojave National Preserve and realize I'm still alive after yesterday's hot bicycle ride
I'm tired and not feeling refreshed, but the New York Mountains up the road from my tent look good in the early morning sun
By 9h, it's too hot in the tent, and I have no choice but to get up and start today's hike to Keystone Spring
The first stop on today's hike is nearby Mail Spring; a pair of deer stare at me as I approach
Hmmm... a rubber glove near Mail Spring
Well, here's how much water remains at Mail Spring in late spring 2012
There's a wildlife camera here at Mail Spring; I wonder if my photo has been taken
Several large mahonia (berberis) bushes at Mail Spring are covered with thousands of yellow flowers
This old cistern at Mail Spring was probably frequented by cattle back when this was still grazing land
An inscription in the concrete at the Mail Spring cistern reads 'Bob + Louise'
Another inscription in the concrete at the Mail Spring cistern reads 'Ed Shirey'
I take a look back at the tent down there as I get going on today's hike to Keystone Spring; hot sun, slight hot breeze
I've missed most of this spring's flower blooms, but there are still occasional cactus blossoms
Hiking cross-country here in the New York Mountains foothills provides views across to the Castle Peaks
I haven't seen any people yet today, but I have found signs of people: a balloon
I luxuriate briefly in the shade of a big pinon pine at a campsite in Keystone Canyon where I've camped before
I look at sap on the bark of the pinon pine at my former Keystone Canyon campsite while drinking water and eating almonds
Back on my feet after my break, partially rejuvenated, I start hiking up Keystone Canyon
A few yellow flowers bloom in the gravel of Keystone Canyon (probably Groundsel, aka Senecio)
This small shrub in Keystone Canyon reminds me of Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum)
Striped boulder in lower Keystone Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
Here is some kind of manzanita bush growing in Keystone Canyon, New York Mountains
Rock wall in Keystone Canyon
Time to hike uphill and gain a few hundred feet of elevation on another old road
Here and there in Keystone Canyon, I've been seeing the occasional red penstemon flower for hummingbirds
After a few minutes, I'm already high enough to have a view across to the other side of Keystone Canyon
I keep hiking up the old road into the New York Mountains, looking forward to seeing the old mine site ahead
Ah, now I can see some old mining remains in the distance
The road ends and I find a fire ring that hasn't been used for a while, and an abandoned truck
I wasn't expecting to find anything at this site except for perhaps some old mining debris
I'm overheating and need a break, but I can't resist the urge to take a peek inside first
A stove and a broom
A platform for sleeping and a shelf for food
OK, now I take a break under the shade of a big old pine tree and eat some almonds
Slightly refreshed from my break, I go for a walk around the site and note a fairly intact old chute
Timbers prop up the old chute
I go for a walk to see what the chute looks like from above
Rails once ferried a tram to the the top of the chute
Looking in the opposite direction, the tram track leads from a storage building
As I walk around, looking for the spring, I come across a pile of acorns
I think I've found it: Bronze Mine Spring
This appears to be the source of the spring
I sit under the big oak tree at the spring for a few minutes to enjoy the shade
Presumably, this rusty, old sign used to deliver a message of some kind
This wood block looks like it was used as a base for pounding things
A couple of signatures adorn the inside of the door
Time to head back down to Keystone Canyon; next stop Keystone Spring
A few little red flowers catch my eye as I walk quickly down the canyon: probably Scarlet gilia
This is a great little canyon, full of rocks and trees, completely quiet and remote
I encounter a dense thicket of willows, or Desert willows (chilopsis), so I climb up the hill a bit to detour around it
Another interesting find is what appears to be the remains of a small building
In Keystone Canyon, I come across an old cistern that I remember from when I was here in 2008
An old pipe leads up to Keystone Spring from the dead cistern that I just passed
OK, now I'm on the correct trail to Keystone Spring!
And here it is: Keystone Spring!
I presume the Keystone Spring water hole here has more (and fresher) water during the wetter season
I get out my water filter and pump a few litres of water from Keystone Spring
On my way back down Keystone Canyon, I pass a few expiring purple flowers that I've seen before, but can't identify
On the way back down Keystone Canyon, I pause to take a look at interesting staining on a rock-outcrop turret near the trail
I'm hiking into spectacular views across Lanfair Valley to the Castle Mountains as I exit Keystone Canyon
Juniper berries on the hike back to my tent near Mail Spring from Keystone Canyon
My tent is somewhere in the area in front of that low brown hill in the middleground
I pass this juvenile Joshua tree while hiking back to my tent near Mail Spring, Mojave National Preserve
Beyond the Joshua trees and junipers, I have good views over to the Castle Peaks while hiking back to my tent near Mail Spring
I arrive back at my tent before sundown and rest inside until the sun goes down and things cool off a bit
With sunset at Mail Spring comes a bit of relief from the day's heat, followed by thousands of stars in a moonless sky