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Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2008: Mojave National Preserve Mountain-Bike Camping and Hike / Day 11: Keystone Spring and mine day hike, New York Mountains, Mojave National Preserve /

A trickle of rusty, contaminated water exudes from a tunnel in the hillside above the mine tailings

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00691-mine-water-800px.jpg Teal-blue rocks are scattered around the mine site while "Sleeping-head Rock" keeps watch from the right sideThumbnailsThe old rails from the mine tunnel end at the edge of the tailings pileTeal-blue rocks are scattered around the mine site while "Sleeping-head Rock" keeps watch from the right sideThumbnailsThe old rails from the mine tunnel end at the edge of the tailings pileTeal-blue rocks are scattered around the mine site while "Sleeping-head Rock" keeps watch from the right sideThumbnailsThe old rails from the mine tunnel end at the edge of the tailings pileTeal-blue rocks are scattered around the mine site while "Sleeping-head Rock" keeps watch from the right sideThumbnailsThe old rails from the mine tunnel end at the edge of the tailings pileTeal-blue rocks are scattered around the mine site while "Sleeping-head Rock" keeps watch from the right sideThumbnailsThe old rails from the mine tunnel end at the edge of the tailings pile

The water isn't pretty, but the big shade tree (an oak?) is. Many chaparral plants normally found near the California coast grow as a "botanical island" in this highland area of the Mojave Desert.