Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2010, Mojave National Preserve / Day 10: Malpais Spring, Castle Peaks area, day hike, Mojave National Preserve 87
Absolutely perfect weather on today's 8-mile hike in the Castle Peaks area of the Mojave National Preserve to Malpais Spring, Indian Spring and Taylor Spring. The high elevation up here keeps things comfortable, with my campsite at 4593 feet elevation and and the high point of the day at 5430 feet.
- A peaceful morning of solitude at the top of Malpais Spring Road
I slept well and feel refreshed, partly because yesterday's ride was moderate rather than strenuous. The warm sun on the tent feels good after a chilly night, but I start to sweat after a while. Time to get up! - After coffee and the usual breakfast of granola, nuts and dried fruit, it's time to dig a cat hole
It's tough to dig a hole in the clay-like earth, but the gravelly patches here and there are not as difficult to excavate. - Before starting the hike to nearby Malpais Spring, I lock my bike to a joshua tree, for what it's worth
I don't expect any visitors while I'm gone hiking, but you never know... - As I climb down into the canyon leading to Malpais Spring, I'm greeted by pink cactus and range ratany flowers
The pointy turrets of the Castle Peaks sit in the background; I'll hike up that way after checking out Malpais Spring. - A few steep rock outcrops edge the Malpais Spring canyon
The wash is looking dry toward Malpais Spring, will there be water ahead? - Here's an old pipe, presumably leading to the source of Malpais Spring
Follow the pipe! - After a short distance, I climb up out of the canyon to circumvent a thicket of willow, desert willow and catclaw
I hope Malpais Spring isn't in the middle of all that greenery, which would require bushwhacking to penetrate. - Once past the big thicket, I climb back down into the Malpais Spring wash past a patch of orange desert mallows
I check my GPS and see that I haven't reached Malpais Spring yet, so I continue walking up the wash. - I follow the pipe up the wash toward Malpais Spring
The pipe is suspended in the air and supported by ledges on the rock walls, rather than resting on the ground. - I walk up a wide slot in the Malpais Spring canyon, still following the pipe
Judging by the erosion of the rock, gushing water must flow here after a big rain. - I pass a big rock wall in Malpais Spring wash
A few turrets of the Castle Peaks are visible in the distance. - A rock outcrops juts out from the wall of Malpais Spring wash like an arrowhead
- I get excited when I discover this little stream; I'm close to the source of Malpais Spring
Is this it, or will there be more water than this? - Near the source of Malpais Spring is a moist, grassy area that's probably underwater during wetter periods
The water channel is stained a dark reddish-brown; must be a high mineral content in the water here. - The stream from Malpais Spring is very shallow, so I try digging a hole deep enough to accommodate the end of my water filter
Hmmm... not sure I can get any water here without significant work. The hole I dig is in sand so soft that the stream instantly disappears into it instead of accumulating! I refill my hole and continue onward a bit disappointed. - Just above Malpais Spring is another thicket area with lots of willows, and these upright bushes that I don't recognize
Open areas between the thickets make it possible to hike easily further up the wash. - I climb up the canyon wall a bit to get an overview of the Malpais Spring area
There's not much water here now, but it's still quite green for the Mojave Desert. - Quite a few moths flutter about in the moist area around Malpais Spring
I'm guessing there are several hundred, and perhaps a few thousand, of these small moths here. - Above Malpais Spring are more interesting eroded areas to walk through
What will be around the next corner? - One of several slots to walk through in the canyon above Malpais Spring, Mojave National Preserve
... and a little climb to get up out of the end of the slot. - I climb up the hill above the slot canyon and look back down into the area above Malpais Spring
Gee, I was way down there just a few minutes ago. - Atop a rocky outcrop above Malpais Spring, I notice a lizard near my feet, who thinks I don't notice him
...but I do notice him, and take several photos while he stands still, perfectly camouflaged. I don't eat lizard, so he doesn't have much to worry about. Maybe he knows that. - The walls of Malpais Spring canyon are less tall as it rises up to meet the highlands
Interesting rock outcrops continue, but probably not for much longer. - The white blooms of Cliff rose line some stretches of the upper part of Malpais Spring canyon
Cliff rose looks like it might make a good garden plant. - Orange desert mallow flowers bloom out the side of reddish rock in upper Malpais Spring canyon
Desert mallows are almost everywhere on this trip. - I'm enjoying the rocky constrictions in Malpais Spring wash, and I find myself hiking toward another one
... just when I thought I may have reached the end. - Deposits of sand and silt fill the drainage between the rocks
No footprints here. - I reach a small dry waterfall to climb
Water flows have scoured smooth some of the surfaces here. - Just beyond the dry waterfall is a narrow, curving slot to walk through
The mineral content of the rocks produces subtle shades of greyed-out pink, ochre and mauve; colours that were popular in house paint during the Victorian era. - I take a look back toward my tent and Hart Peak after climbing out of the slot canyon
I'd like to come back here during the winter and see what this looks like with water flowing. - I hike up the wash beyond the slot canyons above Malpais Spring, then hike cross-country over to Indian Spring
I don't know if there's anything of interest at this Indian Spring, but I'll find out shortly. - At Indian Spring in the New York Mountains is an old fence that has collected a lot of rock and sand over the years
It appears that water draining down the hillside, carrying rocks, passes through this fence, and the rocks get trapped here. What would the person who built this fence think if he could see it today? - At Indian Spring in the New York Mountains is a dry, abandoned cistern
However, I notice another cistern nearby... - Indian Spring, New York Mountains, Mojave National Preserve has water!
I wasn't expecting to find water here, and yet here's a full cistern. And, fresh water is still dripping into the tub! The box for a wilderness camera behind the spring contains no camera. - The water in the Indian Spring cistern is clean, aside from minor algal growth in the tank
I'm thrilled by the discovery of usable water here. I thought Malpais Spring would be my only possible source of water in this area, and it's almost dry. - A bee sits on the edge of the Indian Spring cistern, enjoying the water's edge
Actually, several bees are here, but none of them seem interested in my visit, thankfully. - When I arrived here at Indian Spring, a flurry of doves took flight and left; this one watches me from a nearby branch
The dove seems to realize that it's being watched and flies away shortly after this photo is taken. - Now that I know there's good water here at Indian Spring, I'll be back tomorrow to fill up
I have plenty of water with me for today, so I walk past the old fence posts and continue hiking. - Beyond Indian Spring, I start hiking up the remnants of an old road that leads upward
Where will this take me? - As I approach a ridge in the New York Mountains, I notice pink cactus flowers popping out of a boulder
In the background is one of the outcrops of the Castle Peaks. I could hike up that way or I could continue exploring the lower ridge here. Decisions, decisions... - A patch of phacelias bloom under the shade line of an old juniper tree
One of the Castle Peaks outcrops rises up in the background. - From this ridge in the New York Mountains, I recognize Ivanpah Dry Lake and Clark Mountain in the distance
Somewhere at the foot of these hills ahead sits Juniper Spring. I'll have to look at my maps later and consider doing a hike to that corner of Mojave National Preserve which I have yet to visit. - I walk along this ridge in the New York Mountains, parts of which are quite lush in a Mojave Desert way
Lots of junipers, joshua trees and cholla cactus here. - A little further along the ridge, I gaze across the plateau over Malpais Spring toward the area of Searchlight, Nevada
I haven't seen many yellow cactus flowers like these today. - I stop to look at an old, dead yucca trunk laying on the ground
From a distance, it just looks like old grey wood, but a close-up view reveals the tightly compacted fibres that make up the "wood." - An open area on the ridge is dotted with tufts of pink cactus flowers
Probably Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris). Clark Mountain presides in the distant background. - Well, since I'm at the base of one of the Castle Peaks outcrops, it's time to decide whether to continue upward or not
I want to hike up the hill and around the other side of the pinnacle, but I also want to explore other parts of the plateau area. I can't hike in both directions at once! - I decide not to climb up to the Castle Peaks, and instead hike down a wash and across the plateau toward Taylor Spring
I've already bagged two springs today: Malpais Spring and Indian Spring. Time for a third one. Lots of fragrant purple sage in this wash. - Occasional colour juxtapositions make for a scenic hike down this wash east of the Castle Peaks
Purple sage, plus red Indian paintbrush, plus yellow snakeweed (I think), plus light-catching cholla cacti. - I walk through a patch of yellow desert marigolds (the large flowers) and goldfields (the tiny yellow ones)
The dark green junipers amplify the yellow of the flower garden. - This plant (snakeweed, I think) is so odd for its dense, rounded shape
It's absolute greenness and bright-yellow flowers seem out-of-place in the dry desert before it dries up for the hot summer. - More purple desert sage and yellow desert marigolds as I glance up at the Castle Peaks
If I had started my hiking day earlier, I might have had time to visit both Castle Peaks and Taylor Spring. However, I rarely start my hiking days early! - A GPS check shows that Taylor Spring lies somewhere past the large rounded hill ahead
No trails lie ahead, just fun cross-country hiking. - A patch of pink buckwheat flowers sits in my view of the Castle Peaks as I hike down the wash
I must be re-entering buckwheat country now; there were almost none up on the ridge. - I hike over several low hills and across drainages on my cross-country hike toward Taylor Spring
The little ups and downs are fun, but care must be taken not to walk into piercing cacti or yuccas. - I take a short energy-bar break on a big rock pile before hiking down the next wash on the way to Taylor Spring
Despite the hot sun, the cool breeze has made today's hiking very comfortable, with the result that my water consumption has been moderate. - I look up to Castle Peaks again before I head down the wash toward Taylor Spring
I do wish I had enough daylight left to hike up there also; perhaps tomorrow? - This cactus is different from all the others that I've seen today
Those delicate pale pink flowers... - I wonder what is this ghostly grey bush
It has the nicely rounded shape of snakeweed. Post-flower snakeweed? Naaa, must be something else. - I walk down the wash toward Taylor Spring with Castle Peaks in the background
So many Mojave Desert springs are dry, so I'm not expecting to discover anything at Taylor Spring. However, I wasn't expecting water at Indian Spring and it turns out to be my principle water source for this visit. - Joshua tree fruits hang low at ground level
Edible? Perhaps. - Taylor Spring should be somewhere around the next bend
As I noted earlier in the day around Malpais Spring, "no footprints here." - I almost walked past this old, fallen-down, unhewn-wood fence around the Taylor Spring site without noticing it
I'm here at Taylor Spring, so says my GPS, but I don't see a spring yet. - I walk up and down the wash a little and locate the Taylor Spring site
Not a trace of water here, just a few old water troughs. - I start walking down the wash below Taylor Spring in a random route back to my campsite near Malpais Spring
A garden of barrel cacti lines part of the wash. - Orange desert mallow flowers contrast with the greenery in this sometimes-wet drainage (but not today)
Another shrub I'm seeing frequently in this wash is dark-green Rhus trilobata (skunkbush). - Foiled! I reach a barbed wire fence across the wash below Taylor Spring
This must be the Mojave National Preserve boundary. There's enough room for me to crawl under the fence, but it might be hard to get back across the fence further along. Hmmm... - The walls of the wash are steep and cactus-covered here at the fence line
I'll backtrack a little to climb up out of the wash at an easier spot, then I'll hike cross-country toward my campsite. - I arrive at a gravelly area on the plateau with an other-worldly purplish colour
Not much grows in that purple rock! I think I'll explore that drainage just ahead. - I dip down into this purplish and reddish wash
A few patches of yellow lichen look like spilled paint from a distance. - A neato little slot to pass through in this unnamed wash between Malpais Spring and Taylor Spring
The mini-pinnacles here haven't completely eroded away yet. - A lone bird sits high up on a rock, twittering away
He flies up into a nearby juniper tree after noticing me watch him. - Ha, foiled again! I'm back at another segment of that barbed-wire fence
I figured I would rediscover this fence. I'm only about a half mile from camp and realize that I might have had enough time after all to add Castle Peaks to today's hike. - I climb the short, steep hillside up out of the wash and take a look back down
A lot of yellow desert marigolds grow on the hillside, enjoying the very-well-drained soil. - My Malpais Spring campsite is not too far ahead, just in front of that large rocky hill
I follow the fence for a short distance, then veer off to my left to pick up the old Indian Spring Road. - I rejoin the old Indian Spring Road (now closed) for the final 1/3 mile walk back to the campsite
This part of the road crosses more of that purplish rock. One can still see traces of old tire tracks. - A few miniature lupines grow in the gravel of Indian Spring Road
These are the tiniest lupines I've ever seen. - Indian Spring Road skirts the ridge above Malpais Spring wash, so I walk over to see where I started today's hike
I'm amused when I notice the suspended water pipe running down the wash that I followed this morning. Amazing area. - Red Indian paintbrush decorates the joshua tree forest on the old Indian Spring Road
And there's one of those ghostly whitish shrubs again... - As I approach my campsite, I get a good view of Searchlight, Nevada down in the valley
It's odd to have such a remote campsite from which one can see "city" lights at night. The last human I saw was in a car yesterday afternoon back on Walking Box Ranch Road. - I enjoy watching the sun set from my tent near Malpais Spring
The nearly full moon has already risen in the sky. - I fill my pot from my big black water bag next to pink buckwheat flowers; I'll make my instant meal shortly
The fire ring here is a nice touch; if I had brought any wood with me I'd be using it tonight. It's starting to get chilly again, now that the sun is going down. - The sun sets nicely behind the Castle Peaks
Everything is quiet. I can hear myself breathe. - Clouds beyond the Castle Mountains pick up the last sunlight of the day
I'm looking forward to the bright moonlight after the sun goes down. - With sunset completed, it's time to boil water for tonight's instant meal and settle in for the evening
Supper is Backpacker's Pantry Chicken Cashew Curry. Good but not great. - Elevation profile of today's hike to Malpais Spring, Indian Spring and Taylor Spring, Mojave National Preserve
7.9 hiking miles with about 1700 feet of elevation gain. Lots of little ups and downs along the way. - Route of today's hike to Malpais Spring, Indian Spring and Taylor Spring, Mojave National Preserve
7.9 hiking miles with about 1700 feet of elevation gain. Lots of little ups and downs along the way.