Day 8: Gold Valley bicycle ride and a short hike in Saddle Horse Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
As always, it's great to wake up at Mid Hills campground. I'll spend a couple more nights here.
I need to recharge my cell-phone battery, so I ride down to Hole-in-the-Wall visitor centre from Mid Hills campground. I won't have time for a full-day hike, so I do a short one in Saddle Horse Canyon. 19.7 bicycle miles and 3.4 hiking miles.
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Date: May 22, 2011, 08h46
Size: 83 items
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It was chilly again last night, and windy, but the sun is warm on my first morning at Mid Hills campground
I'm not a huge fan of developed campgrounds, but I often camp here because I like it so much. This is my first time at site #9. Old-growth juniper-pine forest on one side of my tent, a landscape that burned during the 2005 brush fires on the other.
Date: May 22, 2011, 08h46
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On the other side of my tent at Mid Hills campground site 9 is a wide-open space that burned in the 2005 brush fires
I set up my tent last night so as to get some morning shade from an adjacent juniper tree. I take the morning slow and easy.
Date: May 22, 2011, 08h47
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Some of the juniper trees, like this one, at Mid Hills campground are quite old
However, people keep cutting off branches of these trees for their campfires! The forest fire of 2005 consumed a lot of the old trees around here as well.
Date: May 22, 2011, 08h48
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Here and there, an orange mariposa lily pops up among the banana yuccas, junipers, and pinon pines at Mid Hills campground
I've always liked how yuccas (which look like desert) mix with the pines and junipers here (which look like a forest). I have my usual camp breakfast of granola, nuts, dried fruit, coffee and vitamin C drink.
Date: May 22, 2011, 10h22
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I walk over toward the campground's overlook and stop at the campsite where "the other bicyclist" said he was camping
He has already left, so I walk up the hill to the right to take in the views.
Date: May 22, 2011, 11h07
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From the Mid Hills campground overlook are open views across to Cima Dome
It's really windy up here, so I'm glad I'm not camping on this side of the campground. I can see Clark Mountain in the distance off to the right, and Cima Road climbing the hill in front of me.
Date: May 22, 2011, 11h08
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I remember seeing patches of these small, daisy-like flowers when I was here last year
I think these are fleabane (Erigeron concinnus).
Date: May 22, 2011, 11h15
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It's time to prepare the bicycle for a ride down to Hole-in-the-Wall campground, where I can recharge my cell phone
I don't need to carry a lot of water, since I can fill up there, but I do need to bring items like warm clothing for later, snacks, a spare tube in case of a flat tire, and epipens in case of yellowjacket sting.
Date: May 22, 2011, 11h41
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Just before noon, I leave Mid Hills campground and ride down Wild Horse Canyon Road without the weight of my camping baggage
Mid Hills campground is about 10 miles away, downhill, a really nice mountain-bike ride.
Date: May 22, 2011, 11h54
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On the way down Wild Horse Canyon Road, I pass the little road that leads to the Eagle Rocks area
I spent a couple of hours hiking Eagle Rocks last year; highly recommended. I wont be stopping there today however.
Date: May 22, 2011, 12h00
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After a couple of miles, I reach the smaller "Gold Valley Road" on my left and leave Wild Horse Canyon Road
I rode part of today's route last year, and my photo from this location on Wild Horse Canyon Road looks almost the same!
Date: May 22, 2011, 12h10
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The first part of Gold Valley Road passes through a meadow thick with mature sagebrush
Amazingly, this relatively small tract of land survived the brush fires of 2005, which burned everything around it.
Date: May 22, 2011, 12h12
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I pass a herd of cows on Gold Valley Road, with Table Mountain in the background
Most of the greenery in the burned landscape here is Antelope brush (Purshia tridentata), which is sprouting from its roots after the 2005 brush fires here.
Date: May 22, 2011, 12h15
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The bovines along Gold Valley Road look at me for a moment
... then they decide to trot away
Date: May 22, 2011, 12h16
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The upper part of Gold Valley Road rolls up and down over gently folding terrain
Perfect for mountain biking!
Date: May 22, 2011, 12h19
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I stop on a low bluff to try my cell phone and it works, so I take a short break and send a few text messages
Much of this area has no cell signal, but I remember that I had a signal around here during last year's trip.
Date: May 22, 2011, 12h34
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This old juniper tree was mostly burned, like everything surrounding it, during the 2005 brush fires, but its crown lives on!
Orange desert-mallow flowers are everywhere in the Gold Valley hills right now. Twin Buttes sit in the background on the far side of Gold valley.
Date: May 22, 2011, 12h51
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Gold Valley Road rises up a gentle hill and arrives at a higher area with nice views of the surroundings
I'm at just under 5450 feet elevation here, and it will be downhill from here to the Hole-in-the-Wall visitor centre.
Date: May 22, 2011, 12h54
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