On our last report we posted the first portion of our Easter Trip to the Mojave National Preserve. This week we'll finish talking about the areas we explored in the park along with places surrounding it. We'll travel dirt roads, remote two tracks and even end up in parts that don't look anything like the desert. All the while trying to keep off the beaten path as much as possible known as Mojave Road.
As we continued through the mining area of the West Invanpah range, we ran into more and more homesteads and claim areas. All were littered with remnants of old iron and history no matter where you looked. And of course when you're in the desert, you always stumble upon an old school bus that has somehow magically made it's way out for retirement.
I searched high and low but couldn't find any information on this location. It seemed new compared to the rest of the area in building techniques and materials used. I'm thinking someone was in the area not long ago. If i remember correctly it even had a freezer fridge and what looked to be a phone line system on the wall. Seemed odd for being in the middle of no where.
The property was spaced out pretty large and there was plenty to see. Including a mine tunnel that went into the mountain side, split in two and ended up stopping about 20 feet in.
Another area of the property we found this bunker type structure built into the hillside. We assumed it was an old powder room for explosives, as it was low slung and had a huge iron door that was extremely heavy to swing open.
As we explored further on we found more vehicles around each and every corner. Abandoned and appearing to sit where they were last running. As car enthusiasts ourselves, we always get a kick out of checking out these old beasts and picture what it may have been like driving around the property way back when.
A vintage UNIT excavator lies near the road. Again, probably broke down and became too expensive to repair/relocate so they simply let it lie. The head was off of it and it had a huge straight 8 motor in it. I bet it was quite the torque master back in it's day. Out front it had a large boom on it with a scoop, most likely utilized in mining work or maybe even ranch work at one time.
One of my favorite buildings in the area was this explosive blast structure. It wasn't located too far from the powder house we found earlier. Not making much sense that a wood structure would be used for such an application, but you never know in places like this. Many times they used what they had available to them at the time.
For lunch we stopped off at somewhat remote cemetery located off the beaten path. It was a serene, quiet and beautiful place, as well it should be. Some of the burial sites were unmarked and some had really nice head stones with recent dates.
Looking at some of the dates in the head stones, It was definitely still in use to this day. We gave our respects and headed on our way reminded to cherish each and every trip we take.
As always the food selection is always amazing when Yosh does the shopping. Lunch was a thinly sliced high-end deli pastrami, with rich muenster and packed on a carb loaded parmesan bagel. Needless to say, it fit the bill quite nicely.
After lunch and visiting old souls, we headed for the northern most part of the Mojave National Preserve. This is the part that many people don't even know is part of the park. It's north of Interstate 15 and just West of the Nevada. It's also home to the tallest peak in the preserve, Clark Mountain at 7,929 ft. Here we are located at the boundary marker for the northern most point of the park for vehicular traffic as we approached Clark from the backside.
As we head up Yates Well Road you can see how the vegetation changed as we worked our way through the canyon. As a matter of fact this area near the highest point has the only three Relic White Fur in the Mojave Desert. They are also remnants of the last ice age.
Approaching Greenes Cabin up the top of the wash, we stopped to check it out. It was not part of the original Yates family ranch, but instead built by the Greene family and lived in from 1900-1920.
As you can see most of the building is past the point of being salvaged. The floor almost appeared as someone tried scavenging pieces to take elsewhere.
Passing by the old Stamp mill and Weigh station. The concrete foundation still exists today.
Passing by the old Stamp mill and Weigh station. The concrete foundation still exists today.
One of our stops we were excited about seeing for quite some time now was the Colosseum Gorge or Colosseum Pit Mine. It's extremely obvious how the mine got it's name if you get a chance to see it.
The mine in the 1980's and 90's produced 7000 ounces of gold a week for at least 12 years. I've heard talk about cyanide and that's why the water appears to be so blue. Only on the day we visited the sky was overcast, not representing the water conditions well.
The pit is huge. To give you an idea of it's size you may not notice the land cruiser parked at the bottom (bottom right hand corner). It also appears that the road down the center is steep, but in reality it's very gradual.
From the bottom of the pit i snap a photo of Yoshi. She's in this photo somewhere, can you spot her?
Another perspective of just how large the pit really is. The land cruiser heading back up from the bottom.
As the clouds stand still over Clark Mountain, Dixie takes a break at the top of the open pit on one of the huge boulders. These boulders were spread around the entire top of the pit as almost like a fence building technique.
The roads up in this area are like spaghetti. They run everywhere and in each direction, like a maze. Finding your way in and finding your way out can be tricky so make sure to take a map with you. We ended up having to back track and turn around once near this salt lick. Not exactly a common site in these parts, but there's definitely cattle in the area.
After making our way down the trail and into the main cut off road we dropped down into the Ivanpah valley floor towards the solar panel site near state line Nevada.
In the distance you can see the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. It's still in the building stages but presumed capacity will be 392 megawatts and it will deploy 170,000 mirrors to focus the energy into centralized boiler towers. The solar plant allows access to the Mojave National Preserve and the Clark Mountain area. So when you approach the gate either to enter or exit just let them know what you're up too. You will get a nice drive through the plant and it blows your mind how large this place is. Definitely the wave of the future.
Onward bound, we hit the interstate and off again only driving for one exit length. We now were headed towards our next location to visit. Nipton.
Nipton is a tiny railroad town developed way back in 1900 as a place for miners to reside. It now has a population of 60 people. We pulled in, stretched our legs and took Dixie for a walk. We were to meet a friend at this location to join us for a leg of the trip.
The general store actually has plenty to get you by and on our day we had a nice ice cream in the warm desert day. Funny tidbit, the cafe advertises that they have the best burgers in town, even though there is only one hamburger joint in the entire place. It's also known to have the most lottery winners in any such place around.
Out back they had a complete yard chocked full of old wagon parts and rusted relics in case you were in the market for anything.
They also had an area out back where you could camp in these portable cabins with an open air roof. The idea here is to bring your own sleeping bags/pillows and use it as temporary place to stay. They were equipped with a wood stove and some even had wall air condition units for summer use. I don't know if they get many customers but they were definitely interesting and it seemed like a neat idea.
After checking out Nipton we headed east towards Searchlight to look for a place to camp for the night. Breaking into Nevada we found nothing we liked, so we double backed and headed southwest into the preserve again. Driving off the beaten-path for a couple hours to find a campsite for the night we ended finding a cozy campsite near the sunrise mine on the east side on the Ivanpah Mountains.
The valley floor and the New York mountains in the distance were spectacular as the sun started to set after another long exciting day.
After sunset It was time to break out the grill and get dinner going. Tonight's dinner consisted of Hawaiian sweet boneless ribs with a side of rice. The meat tasted like candy and I'm sure all the local critters in the area could smell them for miles. We had no fear as there wouldn't be anything left when we were through, that was for sure.
Our good friend Tony that joined us hours earlier made his dinner over the nights camp fire. On the menu, corn on the cob and a nice juicy steak. Even his pooch received a bite or two. After all, mans best friends deserves the best right?
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful Easter morning. I fired up my coffee, sipped and enjoyed the view as Yosh made a terrific breakfast with pancakes and eggs.
You aren't seeing double vision. Tony's dog Cooper is a Boston Terrier too and they both got along very well. Since it was Easter Sunday, we gave them Bunnies to tear apart.. Why of course right?
After picking up all the dead bunny fuzz, we packed up and finished breakfast. Rolling up the tent, we found this guy roaming around in the morning sun (photo by Tony Tedford).
After parting ways with our good friend Tony and Mr. Cooper, we headed south to find the next campsite for the night. We wanted to reach camp somewhat early since the last 2 days were full of driving. We ended up heading east on Mojave Road and up through Cedar Canyon to the Mid-hills area just south of the Providence mountains.
We ended up keeping it simple and pulling into Mid-hills campground as we hadn't visited it before. The access road is unpaved and is not recommended for motor homes and as a side note, you may want to tie your bicycle down tighter than normal too. We found a bike in the road with an entire bike rack strapped to it still. You never know what you might find in the desert.
The campground was mostly empty as we approached our campsite. This was probably due to it being sunday and the holiday was just about over for most. To us, it's the best time to camp in a campground.
The spot we chose looked over the entire valley floor and Cima Dome in the distance. It was magnificent and much cooler than down below as we were up near 5,600 feet now. It was also all by itself with no place or view of any other campers in the area.
Unfortunately the Hackberry Fire swept through the area back in 2005 leaving much of the vegetation burned. 26 campsites were left unscathed, however there's plenty of left over reminders of what happened here.
After camp was established we relaxed and made some lunch. Pastrami, spinach and peppercorn cheese all melted together in a pita pizza bread. Again, another perfect meal.
We spent the evening enjoying the sunset and the shadows of the burnt trees. They created dramatic silhouettes in the distance and as much as i hate to say it, they look beautiful to me as a photographer.
As the night came to a close we enjoyed a nice hot cup of mac and cheese dinner as the temperatures dropped dramatically from the previous two nights. The winds kicked up beyond belief as we huddled near the fire and eventually down in our tent for a good nights rest.
The morning came all too soon as the winds picked up to an extreme gust keeping us awake. We decided like most times to take the longer, scenic off-highway route towards the pavement.
Gold valley was second to none and caught our attention several times. It was old cattle country and it was quite different than the desert floor we traveled days prior.
Before touching pavement we made our way through to the Hole-in-the-Wall area. The plateaus and basalt cliffs in the area are just terrific for climbing and hiking. In fact, there's a plethora of trails to hike here, including rings to climb and a very informative visitors center that we highly recommend.
After exiting back on to pavement, we made our way down near Mitchells Caverns which we were sad to see still closed from trips before. Recently, we heard that someone trespassed into the area and vandalised some of the caves with the ending result of it being closed Indefintely. Absolutely a disappointing thing to hear and i can't lie, it makes us angry.
Once back to the highway, we headed for home with the holiday traffic ahead of us. It was another great trip and we saw so many new things. We can't wait to get back to the preserve sooner than later!
If you'd like more information on the Mojave National Preserve you can visit their site here at http://www.nps.gov/moja/index.htm