Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Fall 2012: Mojave National Preserve bicycle-camping and hiking, Lanfair Valley loop / End of day 4: Piute Gorge hike to Piute Spring to filter water

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Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Fall 2012: Mojave National Preserve bicycle-camping and hiking, Lanfair Valley loop / End of day 4: Piute Gorge hike to Piute Spring to filter water 29

Great way to end the day! It's only 3.6 hiking miles, and about 600 feet of elevation gain on the way back up, but I feel like I'm in one of those spectacular Death Valley canyons with colored rock walls, not common in Mojave National Preserve.

I begin the hike down to Piute Spring by walking over to the trail sign at campsite #2
Late-day sunlight looks great in Piute Gorge
I'm almost at the bottom of the rather eroded trail leading down to Piute Canyon
Hiking down Piute Canyon is like entering another world
Here's a little rock shelter in Piute Canyon
Colourful layers of earth are exposed in Piute Canyon
Some of the layers are tilted
Layers exposed by erosion
This rock-wall segment in Piute Canyon has a crumpled appearance
Rust and grey-blue in Piute Canyon
Boulders strewn about in Piute Canyon
Layers of sandy sediment are exposed here and there in Piute Canyon
A couple of steep steps down here in Piute Canyon
I pass through a slot in Piute Canyon
Piute Canyon opens up a little
Twisted rock layers in Piute Canyon
More rust and grey-blue in Piute Canyon
Big boulders in Piute Canyon
Piute Canyon: down we go...
A half-moon looks down at me while hiking Piute Canyon
It must be dramatic when water gushes down this well-worn drainage in Piute Canyon
This huge ball of rocks seems to have tumbled down the hillside in Piute Canyon
I should be close to Piute Spring now
I come around another rocky bend and arrive at trees, mostly willows: Piute Spring is here somewhere
I push my way through the willows and locate Piute Creek, then filter some drinking water just before dark
About two gallons of water filtered from Piute Spring, I hike back up the canyon to my campsite
I pass a few coyote melons on the way back up Piute Canyon and arrive at my campsite just before total darkness
Elevation profile of Piute Canyon/Piute Spring hike
Hiking route: Piute Canyon to Piute Spring