The wind wakes me up at 5h15, in time to see the sunrise, but it's too early for me, so I go back to sleep

Being a late sleeper, it's a treat to see a sunrise like this once in a while. However, I've been tossing and turning all night, so now that morning has broken, I'm ready to sleep!

After a few more hours of sleep, I'm up and enjoying the surprisingly warm morning here in Pinto Valley

The typical chilly wind up here is completely absent this morning. Therefore, the sun bakes me in my tent as it rises higher. The heat makes me feel like I've woken up at a hotter lower-elevation area somewhere else.

After breakfast and coffee, my task is to walk the 3/4 mile over to Bathtub Spring and filter more drinking water

A few Wallace's woolly daisies (Eriophyllum wallacei) and some Desert sages (Salvia dorrii) grow in the old road, which is now an unofficial trail.

A Claret-cup cactus grows in a boulder pile near Bathtub Spring, Mid Hills, Mojave National Preserve

The cactus stays dry up in the rocks while water flows down the sandy wash during wet times.

I arrive at Bathtub Spring and find quite a few of these little white butterflies playing in the moist area by the spring

I've seen these around Mojave Desert springs before, possibly Northern White-Skipper butterflies.

There's not much surface algae in the basin at Bathtub Spring, but there is a lot of heavy, slippery growth deeper in the water

It's harder to scoop out of the spring basin than I expect; much of it slops back into the basin as I try to scoop it out!

I get on with the business of filtering enough water for a couple of days from Bathtub Spring

My MSR Sweetwater filter is having problems again, acting like the filter is clogged, even though the filter is quite new. I think I'll replace this with a different brand of water filter for my next trip.

I persevere with my ailing MSR water filter and manage to fill my water bag with clean, tasty water from Bathtub Spring

This big 10-litre MSR water bag is great, but it does impart an unpleasant plastic taste to water left in it for a few days. I'm glad my water filter hasn't completely stopped working (I've brought chlorine tablets in case that happens).

Time to go for a bicycle ride, without the added weight of all my camping gear!

I take a short break by a juniper tree in Pinto Valley. I see a car in the distance (not in the photo), the only one I'll see today. Some wind has kicked in, and it no longer feels like a hot day.

The dirt road I'm riding is unexpectedly blocked by private property, so I walk the bike cross-country to avoid it

Maps aren't always completely up-to-date! It's an interesting walk across the brushy, trail-less plain to the next road with the bike, avoid cacti and other spiky plants. I don't want a flat tire!

Back on a road, I ride for a while, then stash the bicycle in the brush and go for a hike to a rocky area

There's a lot to look at here, in addition to the scenery itself.

Graffiti

Patterns

Butterfly

After a bit more hiking, I arrive at more rocks

Flower

Squiggles

Bird