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
When I set up camp in the dark last night, I thought this juniper tree outside my tent might help cut the sun. It help doesn't much though. It's still early; I should try to sleep a while longer, if the sun permits. I'm still tired. - 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
It's only 7 a.m. and the morning is already quite warm. It was dark when I arrived here last night, so it's fun to take a look around and see where I am. - 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
It's hot inside my tent and I've opened "the lid" to get more air inside without bringing in flies, or having the hot sun shine on me. I sweat a bit while eating breakfast (hard to swallow) and drinking two cups of cold coffee. - The first stop on today's hike is nearby Mail Spring; a pair of deer stare at me as I approach
Mail Spring supposedly has water sometimes. However, I'm not expecting to find any water here now that the dry season is well underway. But you never know... - Hmmm... a rubber glove near Mail Spring
Usually I find stray balloons or their remains in remote places like this, but not rubber gloves! - Well, here's how much water remains at Mail Spring in late spring 2012
It's not enough for me to filter, and it's probably just barely enough for the wild animals that use it, like those deer I saw a few minutes ago. - There's a wildlife camera here at Mail Spring; I wonder if my photo has been taken
Judging by the greenery, there's obviously a fair amount of moisture here during wetter times of the year. - Several large mahonia (berberis) bushes at Mail Spring are covered with thousands of yellow flowers
Hundreds of bees are buzzing around the flowers and their sweet scent. - This old cistern at Mail Spring was probably frequented by cattle back when this was still grazing land
It looks like it has been "improved" a few times over the years. - 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 was hoping that just maybe there might be water at Mail Spring, but since there isn't, my next destination will be Keystone Canyon and Keystone Spring. I'm carrying 4.5 litres of water for today's hike, already luke-warm. - I've missed most of this spring's flower blooms, but there are still occasional cactus blossoms
Many of these will have a bee inside them, if you look closely. - Hiking cross-country here in the New York Mountains foothills provides views across to the Castle Peaks
I've hiked over there a few times, but probably won't hit that area on this trip unless I make a detour to a water hole over that way. - I haven't seen any people yet today, but I have found signs of people: a balloon
It's pink, but it's not a flower. A hummingbird will likely approach this to see if it's a flower or not. - I luxuriate briefly in the shade of a big pinon pine at a campsite in Keystone Canyon where I've camped before
I just took a short break under a juniper 15 minutes ago, but in today's hot weather, I'm ready for another break, and many more. The shade here is better than my last stop. It's odd to be at this spot without my tent and bike this time. - I look at sap on the bark of the pinon pine at my former Keystone Canyon campsite while drinking water and eating almonds
Some of the limbs of this tree have obviously been cut for firewood by campers over the years, but fortunately this tree has survived. - Back on my feet after my break, partially rejuvenated, I start hiking up Keystone Canyon
This little sign wasn't here when I last visited this area a few years ago. - A few yellow flowers bloom in the gravel of Keystone Canyon (probably Groundsel, aka Senecio)
There's no coolness at all in the slight breeze today. I can only imagine how hot it must be down at Nipton and Primm! (I'll learn later that it reaches 104F today at Nipton) - This small shrub in Keystone Canyon reminds me of Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum)
... but it's not the Yerba Santa that grows in the San Jose area. It might be Eriodictyon angustifolium (Narrow-leaf Yerba Santa). - Striped boulder in lower Keystone Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
- Here is some kind of manzanita bush growing in Keystone Canyon, New York Mountains
It's always interesting to see these growing in Mojave Desert mountains since I'm used to seeing them mainly in the Coast Range east of San José. - Rock wall in Keystone Canyon
It's a hot day (90s F) and all this rock and gravel seems to be adding a bit to the heat. - Time to hike uphill and gain a few hundred feet of elevation on another old road
I'm getting slower as the day gets hotter, so I take it easy on the uphill. - Here and there in Keystone Canyon, I've been seeing the occasional red penstemon flower for hummingbirds
With so few flowers in bloom right now, these really stand out. - After a few minutes, I'm already high enough to have a view across to the other side of Keystone Canyon
Keystone Spring, where I'll stop for water later, is somewhere over around that meadow area halfway up the hill over there. - I keep hiking up the old road into the New York Mountains, looking forward to seeing the old mine site ahead
I'm at about 5800 feet elevation now, but it still doesn't feel much cooler than it was down below. - Ah, now I can see some old mining remains in the distance
Best of all, it looks like my road is almost level, and even a bit downhill, from here to there. - The road ends and I find a fire ring that hasn't been used for a while, and an abandoned truck
... and I think that's a building over there hiding in the trees. - I wasn't expecting to find anything at this site except for perhaps some old mining debris
Looks like I'll be spending a few minutes looking at stuff here... - I'm overheating and need a break, but I can't resist the urge to take a peek inside first
... then I'll take a break. - A stove and a broom
- A platform for sleeping and a shelf for food
Pretty basic, and there's even a bottle of raspberry syrup on the shelf. - OK, now I take a break under the shade of a big old pine tree and eat some almonds
... and drink more water, of course. I've been sweating a lot and it's in the 90s today, to which I'm not yet acclimated. Shade is such a treat when there isn't much! - 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
There's also supposed to be a spring nearby, so I'm looking for that too. - Rails once ferried a tram to the the top of the chute
Now it's an antique sculpture in an isolated corner of the Mojave Desert. - Looking in the opposite direction, the tram track leads from a storage building
The track is starting to fall off the eroding hillside. - As I walk around, looking for the spring, I come across a pile of acorns
Yep, a few oak trees grow in the New York Mountains. - I think I've found it: Bronze Mine Spring
It's dry right now, except for a few green grasses by the source. I wasn't expecting to find water here, but I was hoping to be surprised and find some. - This appears to be the source of the spring
... at least this is where the hoses from the dry cistern lead. - I sit under the big oak tree at the spring for a few minutes to enjoy the shade
And to enjoy just sitting here at this high point of today's hike, at about 6000 feet elevation... The hot weather adds a certain stillness and serenity to the land. I've seen no other people today. - 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
I decide to follow the narrow rocky drainage 3/4 mile back down instead of the trail that climbs up and around the drainage. - A few little red flowers catch my eye as I walk quickly down the canyon: probably Scarlet gilia
I've read that this smells skunky, but I didn't crush the flowers to find out! - This is a great little canyon, full of rocks and trees, completely quiet and remote
Real wilderness, more than worthy of the federal designation as such. - I encounter a dense thicket of willows, or Desert willows (chilopsis), so I climb up the hill a bit to detour around it
No human footprints anywhere here. - 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
It's easy to follow an old pipe, but I nonetheless get sidetracked and walk a short uphill distance on the wrong trail before realizing I'm not on the trail to Keystone Spring. - OK, now I'm on the correct trail to Keystone Spring!
Short, but steep in places. If it weren't in the 90s F today, the hill wouldn't slow me down so much. Fortunately, there is a bit of shade to be had here and there. Awesome day of solitude. - And here it is: Keystone Spring!
A little hole full of water in a meadow in the New York Mountains. It looks the same as I remember it from a few years ago (2008). A large bird (small hawk?) is startled by my arrival and flies over to a tree branch on the other side of the spring. - A little hole full of water in a meadow in the New York Mountains. It looks the same as I remember it from a few years ago. A large bird (small hawk?) is startled by my arrival and flies over to a tree branch on the other side of the spring. - I presume the Keystone Spring water hole here has more (and fresher) water during the wetter season
The water here is a bit murky, but tastes OK after filtering, despite its appearance. The water is likely not very fresh, probably leftovers accumulated from the last precipitation. I should have brought more water bottles; I'm going through so much. - I get out my water filter and pump a few litres of water from Keystone Spring
There's no shade here at the spring itself, so pumping water in 90 degrees and full sun feels like more work than the hike to get up the hill! Still, it's a quiet desert-wilderness moment, ultimately enjoyable. - On my way back down Keystone Canyon, I pass a few expiring purple flowers that I've seen before, but can't identify
I took a better photo of this plant on my 2008 Keystone Canyon visit. - On the way back down Keystone Canyon, I pause to take a look at interesting staining on a rock-outcrop turret near the trail
Perhaps there's more to this than stains on the rocks... - I'm hiking into spectacular views across Lanfair Valley to the Castle Mountains as I exit Keystone Canyon
I was thinking of camping over in that area on this trip, but with the hot weather that has set in this week, I'm more interested in aiming for higher ground. - Juniper berries on the hike back to my tent near Mail Spring from Keystone Canyon
There's no shortage of these in this upland area of the Mojave Desert. I have some just outside my tent. - My tent is somewhere in the area in front of that low brown hill in the middleground
The expansive juniper and joshua-tree forest between here and there is a lot of fun to hike through, even though it doesn't provide much shade. - I pass this juvenile Joshua tree while hiking back to my tent near Mail Spring, Mojave National Preserve
This one is probably a few years old now, and they can live for hundreds of years. - Beyond the Joshua trees and junipers, I have good views over to the Castle Peaks while hiking back to my tent near Mail Spring
Great vistas and so quiet; haven't seen another person today. I'm glad this area didn't burn in the 2005 Hackberry Complex brush fires like much of the juniper forest in Mojave National Preserve. - I arrive back at my tent before sundown and rest inside until the sun goes down and things cool off a bit
I'm too heat-exhausted to eat anything right now but a handful of almonds. Perhaps I should have stayed out hiking a little longer, since my tent is still pretty warm inside (the rain flap is on the sunny side to provide a bit of shade). - With sunset at Mail Spring comes a bit of relief from the day's heat, followed by thousands of stars in a moonless sky
After dark, I make Backpacker's Pantry just-add-boiling-water Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry, yummy. My hot drinking water eventually cools down to a more drinkable temperature. Quiet except for a burst of noise that sounds like an owl catching a rodent and a few gusts of wind.