Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2009, Fall: Mojave National Preserve / Day 5: Hike to Rex Mine and west edge of the Providence Mountains, Mojave National Preserve 81
Camp stays set up while I go for a hike over to the old Rex Mine. I improvise my route after that and end up in "West Edgar Canyon #3" on the west edge of the Providence Mountains. Great scenery all day long and I still have a bad cold.
10.8 hiking miles and 1575 feet of elevation gain. I drink only 2.5 litres of water while hiking (in warmer weather I could drink double that) and eat two energy bars.
Temperatures recorded in Baker, CA: a high of 69F, low 37F.
- Another sunny morning on Cornfield Spring Road; I'm still coughing a lot from my cold, but am ready for another hike anyway
I didn't sleep well last night, but I have managed to sleep in until 8h30. I'm enjoying the warmth of the sun shining on my tent after a chilly, close-to-freezing night, during which I heard coyotes. After two cups of strong morning coffee (this Starbucks instant Via coffee is not bad) comes the usual breakfast (granola, tamari almonds, dried apricots and vitamin C drink) and I'm off hiking by 10h30. After studying my maps a bit last night and considering options, I decided that today I would hike up to the old Rex Mine site, which I haven't visited yet. - To get over to Rex Mine Road from my campsite on Cornfield Spring Road requires a 1.5-mile hike across the rocky fan
We'll see how this goes... I'm literally forcing myself to hike today because I still feel terrible due to my cold. I expect that the sunshine, great scenery and mild exertion will be a remedy as the day progresses. - The dense scattering of rocks on the fan east of Kelso induces what I call, "avoidance hiking"
Here, one hikes not in a straight line, but in a constantly weaving pattern created on-the-fly to avoid the largest rock patches. - Oh look, a lost set of four bright-blue ballons tied together, stuck to a young creosote bush, framed by a Kelso Dunes backdrop
These balloons might be forgotten garbage today, but there once was a time when a group of smiling, laughing people stood around them. I stuff the balloons in my backpack for disposal tomorrow at Kelso Depot with the rest of my trash. - Numerous gulleys need to be crossed while hiking the fan betweeen Cornfield Spring Road and Rex Mine Road
A ribbon of yellow, desert willows about to lose their leaves, crosses the landscape in the biggest wash through this area. - The sides of the drainages coming down the fan are mostly not very steep, but they do make for clumsy hiking
After a few more of these ups and downs, I'll arrive at Rex Mine Road. - I finish the hike across the rocky fan and begin the easier walk up Rex Mine Road
The old mine site sits about a mile up the road at the edge of the Providence Mountains. - The only signs marking one's arrival at Rex Mine are these no-camping and no-campfires sign
So far, the National Parks Service has done a great job keeping signage minimal and non-touristy. Let's hope that continues. Rex Mine Road, like Cornfield Spring Road, is an unsigned dirt track that you'd never notice if you weren't looking for it. - I check out one of several debris piles at Rex Mine and find an ornate electrical socket
This quasi-Victorian design seems rather fancy for a place as utilitarian as this. - An old Copenhagen tobacco lid rusts quietly amongst other, less identifiable, cans at the old Rex Mine site
Copenhagen satisfies... - The old "cabins" at the Rex Mine site are actually old railway boxcars
The cars were probably removed from service down at Kelso, the nearest train station, and brought up the hill to this site. - It looks like a tiny flat-roofed addition, just big enough to be a closet, was built on to the near cabin
Judging by all the scattered wood debris in the area, there were apparently once more buildings here at Rex Mine. - The boxcar cabins at Rex Mine have a board-and-batten exterior
Weather and vandalism are taking their toll: the exterior wall of the boxcar at left has been almost completely removed. - This boxcar cabin at Rex Mine leans to one side, anxious to collapse one day
The interior space is quite constrained, even before bringing in furniture. - This boxcar cabin at Rex Mine had electricity
The "safety switch" is copyrighted 1922 by the Square D Company, Detroit, Michigan: "Making Electricity Safe for Everyone." - Interesting wall coverings in this boxcar room at Rex Mine
The board-and-batten exterior is the only real wall here. The inside "walls" are made of wallpaper, cardboard, and wallpaper. - A closer look at the wallpaper, cardboard, and wallpaper interior at the Rex Mine boxcar cabin
The original wallpaper was applied directly to the inside of the exterior board-and-batten walls. It looks like an additional layer of cardboard, covered by more modern wallpaper, was applied over the interior studs a couple of decades later. - This Rex Mine boxcar-cabin room has the luxury of wooden interior walls
This room even boasts shelving, which, though useful, doesn't leave much room for a bed or other furniture. - Abandoned stove at Rex Mine site, Mojave National Preserve
Presumably, the stove wasn't in the small boxcar cabins; there probably wouldn't be room for it there! My cell phone just barely works here, so I send a couple of text messages and update my outgoing phone message so that people know where I am. - Abandoned bedspring at Rex Mine, Mojave National Preserve
There's so much junk to explore here, and so little time! I'm really good at pretending I don't have a bad cold, and my energy isn't as high as it should be. I sit down on a big rock nearby for an energy bar, some water and a 15-minute break. - Cold-storage building at Rex Mine, Mojave National Preserve
The Rex Mine ore bin is in the background, just up the hill, and it's time to go take a look at it. - A gently switchbacking road winds up the hill to the Rex Mine ore bin
I get a good view of Kelso Dunes in the background as I rise up above the fan. - Gee, the Rex Mine boxcar cabins look so small from up here
I guess Kelso, down in the valley there, is where the miners who lived here went for groceries, back when Kelso was a real town with a store. - The track to the ore bin at Rex Mine looks like it's headed straight for Kelso
But it would be easier to fly; Kelso down there is about 3.5 miles away. - At the end of the trackway at Rex Mine, a chute drops down to the ore bin below
The gentle curve of Cima Dome sits on the horizon on the other side of the valley. - Along the trackway is an open shaft and the main headframe, with the Providence Mountains in the background
Don't get too close to the open shaft! - I take a peek down the shaft at the Rex Mine headframe
How deep does that hole go, anyway? - Attached to one of the timbers is bottle containing mining claim papers
Papers inside show the claim as belonging to Idora Silver Mines in Idaho, the same company with the mining claim at the unnamed canyon north of Old Dad Mountain where I hiked a few days ago. - While at the Rex Mine headframe, I get out my maps and decide where to go next
It's only 12h30, so I still have a few hours of hiking time ahead of me. - I decide to walk up the trace of an old road beyond Rex Mine and try climbing that first hill ahead
It looks like this road toward the Providence Mountains hasn't been used for a very long time. - On the way to my chosen hill beyond Rex Mine, I come across another claim marker
The area of the Rex Mine claim appears to comprise much more than just the main mine area. - My little hill on the western tip of the Providence Montain range is an interesting climb
It's steeper than it looked and has lots of sharp volcanic rock that pokes my hands when I touch it. - Nice view from this hill into a little canyon; I think I'll climb back down and hike up that way
It would be fun to continue the slow climb up this hill at the west edge of the Providence Mountains, but I'm in the mood to cover a bit more distance before the day is over. - Great view to the north from here also, overlooking the Rex Mine area, that little hill in the middleground
I'm at about 2940 feet elevation here. - I pluck my way back down the hill to the wash, carefully
There's not much soil here for the feet to dig into, and some of the small rock is loose and slippery in places. - On the way down the hill, I find a horn
Nearby are a few weathered bones. The Providence Mountains are sheep territory. - As I walk up the wash toward the Providence Mountains, I decide to skip the first canyon and visit the next one instead
I should have enough time to reach the second canyon and enter it partway. My maps show that the it penetrates the mountains a little further than the first canyon, so it might be more interesting. - A barrel-cactus garden at the mouth of "West Edgar Canyon #3," Providence Mountains
Like most Mojave National Preserve canyons, this one is unnamed. Depending on how you count, it's the third canyon draining the Providence Mountains area west of Edgar Peak, hence the unofficial "West Edgar Canyon #3" name. - West Edgar Canyon #3 is, as you might expect, full of rocks, big and small
I wish I had time to explore "West Edgar Canyon #2," but this one looks interesting enough. "Avoidance hiking" is the rule here, choosing the best rocks and sandy areas to walk on, while avoiding larger and rounder rocks. - As I enter West Edgar Canyon #3, I think I see a very faint trace of a road along the bottom of the hill at my right
It may be just an illusion created by the constant erosion here, and not an old road cut at all. But I'm curious, so I'll go check it out. I startle a tiny Mojave squirrel and see a few late-fall lizards profiting from the sunny day. - There is a faint old road cut here after all, but it's so grown-in that it doesn't always make for a good hiking trail
The old road is so worn and vegetated that I'm not always sure if I'm on it or not. It's often washed out to the point that it's easier to hike down in the wash and avoid the grabbing catclaw bushes growing in the roadbed. - Desert dudleya growing in West Edgar Canyon #3
Dudleyas are quite resilient. I have a few in my garden and don't water them, ever. - West Edgar Canyon #3 gets narrower and passes through some deep shade
At this point in the canyon, the rocks to hop over or avoid are larger than they were down below. - For a moment, I think I've noticed a post way up on top of the canyon walls, but conclude that it's probably an agave plant
It's fun to just stand here and look around at the mesmerizing array of lines, textures and colours on all sides. - At 3300 feet, it's time to stop for an energy bar break and to consider backtracking out of West Edgar Canyon #3
I don't really want to turn back yet, but it is almost 14h30, and it will be dark by 17h. Even if I turn back now, part of the hike back across the rocky fan to Cornfield Spring Road will probably be by moonlight. - West Edgar Canyon #3 makes a tight left turn just ahead, and continues to rise into the Providence Mountains
With more daylight hours, I'd keep on going; the best part might be just around the corner, who knows. According to my maps, I'm probably only half, or two-thirds, of the way up the walkable canyon. I should come back when the days are longer. - Two tufts of yellow grass decorate a jumble of rocks in West Edgar Canyon #3, Mojave National Preserve
There's a bit of rock-hopping to be done in this part of the canyon due to a shortage of flat ground. - Exiting the shaded part of West Edgar Canyon #3
I'm hiking downhill now, fairly quickly, but have to pay attention to the small rocks everywhere. Sprained or broken ankles not allowed! - Another skull fragment, this one with fur still attached
I wonder where the horns went... they're probably nearby somewhere, concealed by a rock or a bush. - Against a Kelso Dunes backdrop, chollas and creosotes glisten at the exit of West Edgar Canyon #3
Chollas of course add to the list of obstacles to avoid during "avoidance hiking." - The relatively smooth gravel in this part of the wash is a nice break from all the rock higher up the canyon
My hiking speed picks up accordingly. - I'm doing well for time, so I'm going to climb over this hill and connect to an old dead-end road from Rex Mine
It's steep, but should be easy as long as I cross at the slightly lower saddle on the ridge. This is a different part of the same hill that I climbed a wee bit today, after visiting Rex Mine. - At the top of the hill, in addition to the great views, is a bunch of scat
Bobcats or coyotes, I would presume. - While pausing to plot a good route down the short steep hill, I notice a small cave in the hillside
Cool! I'll have to walk down and check it out. - Entrance to the small cave is via a narrow ledge
The ledge is just wide and flat enough for a human to use, carefully. - I carefully edge my way along the ledge and am surprised to find that the cave is empty
I thought I might find bones, scat, feathers, a bird's nest, or some other sign of its use as a pre-built shelter... - I stop to look back up at the cave as I carefully climb down the hill
This cave probably exists due to some sort of air bubble being in the original volcanic rock, much like the Mojave National Preserve Lava Tube, which is big enough that you can walk inside it. - On the way down the hill from the cave, I notice a long train climbing up the Cima Grade down in the valley
It looks flat from here, but the 2% grade from Kelso up to Cima was difficult for trains in the early days. - I now join an old dead-end road from Rex Mine, leaving the cave up on the hill behind me
This old road is shown on my topo maps and probably ends at the "rooster-comb" a quarter-mile ahead. That train is still trudging up the Cima Grade down below under the defining curve of Cima Dome on the horizon. - The old road ends at the rooster comb, as I thought it might, with excellent views over Kelso Valley
I decide to climb up to the top of the rooster comb for even better views. - At the base of the rooster comb is a lot of scat, none of it fresh
Perhaps the animals that used to come here often (coyotes?) don't come here anymore. - Atop the rooster comb is another claim or survey marker
This seems to be part of the Rex Mine claim, and there is a prospect nearby. - I linger for a few minutes on the rooster comb to take in the view over to Rex Mine, Kelso Dunes and far beyond
The headframe and ore bin of Rex Mine are visible from here as dark blocks on the hill in the middleground. - Looking toward Kelso from the rooster comb, I keep looking for my tent, which is too small to be visible in this view
Even the abandoned Kelso reservoir, near my tent and much bigger, is invisible from here. - I climb down from the rooster comb and notice a small tailings pile of greenish shale-like strips
I guess this prospect, which apparently never amounted to anything, is why the Rex Mine claim extends out to here beyond the main mine. - Back on the old road, it's time to head back to camp; the upper-left of the hill ahead is where I visited the cave a while ago
With only an hour of daylight remaining, I won't make it back to camp by dark, but I'll be almost there. Best of all, I'll pass through the Rex Mine area during the luminous light of sunset. - The old road passes an official Wilderness marker (non-Wilderness begins here) with the Rex Mine headframe in sunset silhouette
OOfficial Wilderness is usually just marked by an easy-to-miss post like the one here, but in this case, additional rocks have been placed across the roadbed so that vehicles don't enter Wilderness unintentionally. - Passing the Rex Mine boxcar cabins under the red glow of sunset
The miners who lived here probably led tough lives; hopefully they occasionally enjoyed some the amazing sunsets here. - Time to say good-bye to Rex Mine; it has been a long and interesting day exploring the area
I expect the sunset hike down the fan to be pleasant this evening, just like it was yesterday hiking back down Cornfield Spring Road. - As I leave the Rex Mine area, I notice a grave site that I didn't see earlier
Joe Wasinek. Must be someone who worked at the mine here, though a Google search turned up nothing... - Catching the last hot-red rays of sunset as I walk down Rex Mine Road, with the Providence Mountains behind me
Despite the warm colour, this end-of-day light can have a rather cool feel to it in late November. I think the temperature has already dropped a few degrees since mid-afternoon. - Heading down Rex Mine Road toward Kelso, a glimmer of red sunset light remains
About an eighth of a mile ahead, I'll turn right and hike across the fan to get back to my campsite on Cornfield Spring Road. - Looking behind me yet again (I can't stop!), there's still a fading pinkish glow on the Providence Mountains
But the day is basically over, admit it. - I reach a point on Rex Mine Road where I decdie to start hiking across the fan back to my campsite on Cornfield Spring Road
I'm using my GPS, so I could follow the exact route I took across the fan earlier today. But there's no need to do so since there's no trail. - It's dusk and I'm hiking across the Kelso Valley fan back to my tent
"Avoidance hiking" is required here due to creosote bushes, cholla cacti, and lots of small rocks. - This narrow drainage is easy to cross, even at dusk, but there are a few deeper, wider ones to cross
I get out my flashlight; the small potentially ankle-breaking rocks everywhere are getting difficult to see in the fading sunlight. - The very last light of day illuminates a cholla cactus while it dissipates in the distance somewhere west of Kelso Dunes
Welcome to darkness! - It's 17h and already dark; I'm not an early-riser (I wish I could be), so I really dislike the short days at this time of year!
I have about 3/4 mile (perhaps 20 minutes) until I reach home for the night at my tent near Cornfield Spring Road. I put on my windbreaker due to the chill in the air. - Hiking by flashlight on the fan east of Kelso amidst small rocks and small cacti
This petite cactus is a perfect example of something you do not want to bump into accidentally while hiking in the dark! It's a quiet evening back at the tent, and I'm not hearing any of that unusually busy traffic from Kelbaker Road that I heard last night. It suddenly occurs to me that the extra traffic was due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Supper tonight is Mountain House Chicken Teriyaki with Rice, plus some turkey jerky and cajun almonds as an appetizer. Beautiful moonlight tonight. By 21h, it's really cooling off and I'm wearing two sweaters over my shirt, two pairs of long underwear, and two pairs of socks. Another night in the 30s! - Hiking route to Rex Mine and West Edgar Canyon #3 from Cornfield Spring Road campsite, Mojave National Preserve
10.8 hiking miles and 1575 feet of elevation gain. - Elevation profile of hiking route to Rex Mine and West Edgar Canyon #3 from Cornfield Spring Road campsite
10.8 hiking miles and 1575 feet of elevation gain.