A sandy wash near my tent makes for a nice place to dig my morning cat hole, but of course I won't disturb this chia sage

I woke up many times last night with weird dreams, none of which I remember. Perhaps it was the occasional strong winds that woke me. I was tired enough that I fell back asleep easily.

Light clouds moved in overnight, attenuating the morning sun and allowing me to sleep in until 9h30, wow!

It's cool and breezy this morning, and quite comfortable inside the tent as I munch on breakfast: the usual granola, almonds, dried fruit, vitamin-C drink and instant Starbucks coffee.

The wind has picked up again, so I place large rocks inside my tent before leaving on today's hike

I don't want the tent to blow over while I'm gone for the day (which has happened before)! Tent stakes don't work very well in most desert soil, which tends to be either too hard or too soft.

I've been hearing occasional bluejay chirps all morning

There s/he is...

The Five Springs hike begins and I pass a blooming Goodings verbena as I walk away from my campsite

I've narrowly missed much of the spring wildflower season here. Some areas of the Mid Hills and New York Mountains have a lot of these verbena flowers earlier in the year.

A couple of bluejays perch on a burned tree, watching my tent

Thank you, please defend my tent against any possible intruders while I'm gone hiking!

I start by walking up the road toward Howe Spring, spring #1 of 5 on today's hike

A few old junipers survived the 2005 brush fires here, even though much of the vegetation burned.

Approaching Howe Spring, I notice some old scrub oaks growing back from their burned structure

Turbinella oak (Quercus turbinella), I believe.

The old cistern at Howe Spring is dry, but there is some water in the adjacent hole in the ground

It looks like this was a well-maintained spring once upon a time.

The water at Howe Spring is quite stagnant!

A water filter would probably make this safe to drink, but I'm glad I've brought sufficient water with me today (6 litres).

I continue walking up the wash beyond Howe Spring toward the top of one of the forks of Butcher Knife Canyon

About 3/4 mile ahead, I'll start heading downhill. I've previously hiked the lower part of Butcher Knife Canyon, but not the upper area, so I'm excited.

I relax at the top of Hill 1751-T above Butcher Knife Canyon and try my cell phone before hiking down to the sandy wash below

I get some reception here at 5720 feet elevation, just enough to send a text message. I should have better reception later on around at the bottom of Butcher Knife Canyon.

The hike down into Butcher Knife Canyon starts off as a small, rocky drainage

Prior to the 2005 brush fires, this area would have been quite green and shady.

A few yellow Groundsel flowers and orange Desert mallows brighten up the burned area here

I wonder if these plants would have grown here before the 2005 brush fires...

An instant later, I arrive near the top of Butcher Knife Canyon and start the downhill hike

I visited Butcher Knife Canyon back in 2008, but only hiked the lower areas. I'm looking forward to seeing the upper part of the canyon on the way down.

Upper Butcher Knife Canyon just looks like a bunch of sand at first, but many little pincushion flowers grow here

Probably Chaenactis fremontii.

A little further down Butcher Knife Canyon, a green carpet covers the sandy ground

It's going to get greener as I descend further down the canyon.

I've just reached the really green part of Butcher Knife Canyon

I haven't seen another person today, so all is quiet, except for the wind. I think I can hear a trickle of water somewhere nearby. There's a reason that these plants are so green, despite being in the Mojave Desert!