Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2009, Spring: Mojave National Preserve / Day 7: Macedonia Canyon, Mojave National Preserve, from Mid Hills campground 48
I've wanted to visit Macedonia Canyon since my first Mojave National Preserve trip almost 10 years go, but just never managed to fit it in.
I almost go on a hike to Live Oak Spring today instead, but I keep delaying my departure due to light rain, so I'll save Live Oak Spring, a longer hike, for tomorrow.
14.9 bicycle miles with 1650 feet of elevation gain and loss, plus 3.8 hiking miles with 640 feet of elevation gain and loss. I take six litres of water and drink about three.
- A noise outside my tent proves to be a lizard scurrying about
I wake up late this morning, around 9h, which is possible due to many dark clouds hiding the sun. A few rain sprinkles make me wonder what to wear on today's bike-hike and whether I should go anywhere at all. Breakfast is as usual: tea, granola, dried pineapple, dried dragon fruit, dried peaches (yum), tamari almonds, and a tasty cranberry electrolyte-replacer drink that I should have bought more of. - I keep delaying my departure to Macedonia Canyon due to the light rain that falls from time to time
It hasn't rained enough for anything to get wet, so I finally decide to leave around 13h15. It's a pleasant 77 degrees and doesn't get much warmer due to the clouds hiding the sun. I finally decide that I might as well do my planned bike ride and hike in Macedonia Canyon despite any possible rain, since I'll get wet anyway, even if I stay here at Mid Hills campground. - The fun ride down Wild Horse Canyon Road looks different today with the ominous clouds hovering above the Mid Hills
Otherwise, today's ride down Wild Horse Canyon Road starts out the same as my ride down to Wild Horse Mesa a couple of days ago. - After a few miles, I turn at Macedonia Canyon Road and pass through the flimsy barbed-wire gate
Finally, I'll explore Macedonia Canyon today; I've been considering riding down this road for years, but didn't fit it into any of my previous Mojave National Preserve trips. I rode down the first quarter-mile during my 2006 trip here just to check it out. - I begin the gradual descent down Macedonia Canyon Road, Mojave National Preserve
I'll drop down about 750 feet over about 2.5 miles. Of course, the road is rather sandy, since it runs down a wash, and my fat tires hiss while they ski downwards. I slip and fall off the bike while riding through a sand trap. - I pull over along Macedonia Canyon Road to examine what's left of an old foundation
The structure was not very large. Given the amount of work that went into constructing this foundation, a good guess is that there may have been a cabin here at one time. - Down at about 4125 feet, I turn up an old road that leads into the Macedonia Canyon valley
An old weathered sign here indicates the main Macedonia Canyon Road. If you look closely, you'll see a small building at the bottom of the hills in the distance. - I ride up the track into Macedonia Canyon valley, but the hard-packed surface doesn't last, so I park the bike and start hiking
I stash my bike behind some bushes, reset the GPS to help me find it again, and start walking up the hill with my backpack. - Up on a hill in the Macedonia Canyon valley, I stop to check my maps and GPS
I'm walking here with no predetermined destination, just exploring, and it's time to decide where I'm headed! I'm hungry and eat a blueberry Clif bar before going further. - I decide to head over to the remnants of the Columbia Mine, those small orangish mounds in the distance
In the background is Columbia Mountain, behind which is the valley where I hiked a few days ago to Chicken Water Spring. It's hard to pick a hiking route here because of the small hills everywhere. - Approaching the Columbia Mine area, I pass a few abandoned metal tanks
Many old, rusty cans lay around here also. - I reach the orange tailings pile at Columbia Mine and see a "danger" sign
Old mine holes like this one scattered across the expansive Mojave National Preserve are slowly being marked by appropriate "danger" signs. I hope that doesn't mean we'll eventually have a paved road leading here. - I don't know how deep this mine hole is at Columbia Mine, Macedonia Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
I'm not going to get any closer to try to find out... - A final glance at the orange tailings pile near Columbia Mine, Macedonia Canyon
Further up the hillside to my right are larger mine ruins, probably the main part of the Columbia Mine. With more time, I'd walk up that way, but what I really want to see right now is the building further down the valley. - White buckwheat flowers in Macedonia Canyon valley
I walk over a couple of low hills and then down toward the cabin in Macedonia Canyon. The dark clouds linger, but they haven't produced any rain since I left my campsite at Mid Hills campground. - According to my maps and GPS, an old road exists in the gulley just below
It doesn't look like an old road from here, but I walk down the wash anyway since it's probably the best route to the Macedonia Canyon cabin. - And voilà, there it is, the Macedonia Canyon cabin
Or whatever it is... maybe it's not a cabin at all, and just a storage shed. I'll climb up the hill and find out. - Atop the little hill, I get a better look at the Macedonia Canyon cabin
More oil drums scattered around here, as well as a torpedo-like object that looks like an old-style hot-water tank. - Lots of debris surrounds the Macedonia Canyon cabin, including this old barbeque grill
In an urban area, this would probably be seen as just trash, but it's considered "historic trash" when found in an isolated area of Mojave National Preserve. What is an antique, and what isn't? - The Macedonia Canyon cabin has definitely seen better days
When I come across old structures like these, I always wonder when they were last inhabited and how much of the deterioration has been brought about by vandalism rather than sheer aging. - An old broken soda-pop bottle, of a brand named Bubble-Up
I've never heard of Bubble-Up. The notation "kiss of lemon" near the bottle cap suggests that this may have been a 7-Up clone; probably not a very successful one. - View of the east side of the cabin in Macedonia Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
The dark-red exterior finish (what's left of it) is a sort of rolled-out asphalt shingle sheet with a fake-brick pattern. The white part of the structure looks like a later add-on. - Inside the cabin in Macedonia Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
The cabin contains two rooms: the "old room" and the "new room." Here I'm looking into the old room from the new room. The fake brick asphalt was once an exterior wall, and is now a decorative element in the new room. - Labels on the stove inside the cabin in Macedonia Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
A meticulous person took the time to label the knobs for each of the stove's top burners with one of those fancy labelling machines that were quite modern in the 1970s. - One of the bottom drawers of the stove is labelled "do not use"
What could be the problem with this bottom drawer of the stove? - The other bottom drawer of the stove is full of packrat materials
Perhaps rats were living here at the same time as humans, hence the "do not use" label on the adjacent lower drawer... - More 1970s' plastic antiques in the cabin in Macedonia Canyon
A record player and a radio. I'm surprised that these items are still here and thank all the previous visitors for leaving them for me to discover. - This structure near the Macedonia Canyon cabin was apparently the outhouse
Private property, keep out! The dark rain clouds from earlier today seem to have mostly blown away in favour of bright blue skies (and slightly warmer temperatures). - One of several debris piles near the cabin in Macedonia Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
This may have been a former outbuilding rather than a random pile of junk. - I take one last look at the Macedonia Canyon cabin as I begin walking away down the wash
Macedonia Spring is just a half-mile down the hill, so I'm going to check it out before I ride back to Mid Hills campground. - Below the Macedonia Canyon cabin is an old rusty stove
I guess this was discarded when the modern stove that's still in the cabin was installed. This looks like an old oil or wood stove, whereas the one in the cabin looks like a gas stove. - More junk near the Macedonia Canyon cabin!
Mattress springs and a garbage can. The padding that was once on the mattress was probably long ago confiscated by birds and rats building their nests. - When I reach Macedonia Spring, I dont find any water at all
Not even a little bit of moisture, despite the greenery here. I saw a deer and two jackrabbits, one with a white fluffy tail, on the way here. I walk up the drainage area anyway just in case there's water that I've missed. - Rhus trilobata bushes at Macedonia Spring instead of water
I've noticed that rhus trilobata grows in dry areas which get water during the earlier months of the year. Even though this plant spooks me because it looks a lot like (and is related to) poison oak, I planted a couple of these in my garden in San José, where they don't grow into dense bushes like they do here. - A bit disappointed at having discovered only dryness at Macedonia Spring, I walk back down the drainage
I scare a lot of quail while walking here. Cackle, cackle. The views from here across the hot Kelso Valley below are quite nice with the gentle curve of Cima Dome on the horizon. - From the low point of today's travels at about 4000 feet, I walk back up Macedonia Canyon a half-mile or so to fetch my bicycle
On the way up the hill, this patch of silver plants, probably asters, catches my attention. My Delorme GPS makes getting back to the bike so easy in this area of numerous old roads. I eat a chocolate energy bar when I get back to the bike at 17h exactly. - I've got 700 feet of elevation gain on Macedonia Canyon Road ahead of me and I'm sweating hard already!
As they say, "take it slowly, but take it." I do just that, and all goes well. - Macedonia Canyon Road is quite sandy, which is why I've never ventured down here on my previous Mojave National Preserve trips
I'm doing better on this uphill than expected, for which I again credit my tough 2.35-inch Serfas Swoop mountain-biking tires. I'm sure the energy bar and the nice scenery have contributed positively to my enjoyment of this uphill. - On the way up Macedonia Canyon Road
Some of those dark clouds are returning. It's slow-going, but I'm ahead of schedule since I thought I would need to walk the bike much of the way up this road. - A tree grows in the wash in Macedonia Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
The occasionally used road winds around the tree, which looks like it might be dead. - I ride back up through the invisible-until-you-get-to-it gate at the top of Macedonia Canyon Road
I'm now officially out of Macedonia Canyon. - A quick 270-degree turn of the bike and I'm on Wild Horse Canyon Road again and on my way back to Mid Hills campground
I'm at about 4950 feet elevation here and will climb back up to 5600 feet at camp over the final 7.5 miles or so. - I'm mesmerized by the tentacles of dark clouds swimming above while I look behind me during my ride up Wild Horse Canyon Road
I stop along here to take way too many photos. The only motor vehicle I've seen today also stops along here, and the French tourists driving it are also fascinated and taking photos. I slowly crank my way up the road, surprised that I've had no knee problems yet during this trip. - As I get closer to Mid Hills campground, the dark clouds weaken, but a few raindrops fall
Peaceful dry rain falls occasionally for an hour during the evening, but things never get really wet. It keeps the flies away tonight. Unfortunately, Mid Hills campground is not empty tonight; the weekend crowd is arriving. A rather loud group of SUVs and dune buggies arrives nearby and chop part of a tree for their campfire, joking about "not seeing the signs" prohibiting vegetation removal. Fortunately, they go to bed early, probably working stiffs like me, tired early on a Friday night after a long work week and a few beers. Supper is Mountain House Jamaican Style Chicken and Rice, which is really good. The pronounced allspice flavour adds a real Jamaican touch, and the chicken chunks have a chewy texture that I really like (though I know not everyone would). Buy this one again! I stay up late and can hear someone in the next campsite snoring! The great thing about Mid Hills campground is that you don't really see your neighbours because of the rolling terrain, even though you may hear them. - Mid Hills campground to Macedonia Canyon and back bike ride (Day 7)
14.9 bicycle miles with 1650 feet of elevation loss and gain. The bicycle route is the thin red line, while the highlighted loop is my hiking route. - Macedonia Canyon ride profile (Day 7)
14.9 bicycle miles with 1650 feet of elevation loss and gain. - Macedonia Canyon hike route (Day 7)
3.8 hiking miles with 640 feet of elevation gain (and loss). - Macedonia Canyon hike profile, Mojave National Preserve (Day 7)
3.8 hiking miles with 640 feet of elevation gain (and loss).