On our third day at Joshua Tree we hiked most of the way to the Lost Horse Mine, then drove south to the Cottonwood Spring Nature Trail.
But first, we had to pack up our gear after spending the night out in the wilderness, on the desert floor. We woke up early, in the dark, and began getting ready for the day. We ate quickly and put on our backpacks for the short uphill trek to the car. The sun rose directly in front of us, so we kept our hats on and our heads tilted down. It was looking to be another hot, cloudless day. Soon enough, we were back at the trailhead. We took what we needed for dayhiking out of the big packs, then stowed them up top in the roof box. We had car-camping sites reserved from here on out.
We drove a few miles to the Lost Horse Mine Trailhead. I checked the water and snack levels in our daypack, and we were ready to hike. Water was critical on a hot day, and we took note of the many signs saying “Don’t Die Today!” that were strategically placed at every trailhead. Being unprepared for the harsh rigors of JTNP has cost many lives over the years. Luckily for us, the air was still cool that early in the morning, which was part of our plan as the trail was uphill all the way.
The trail followed the original road to the mine, which was quite wide, although time and weather had eroded it in many spots. A 4WD vehicle (like mine) could have made it easily enough, but the locked gate ensured that we had to hike uphill the old fashioned way. The sun was out but the air hadn’t gotten too hot, so Vicki hiked slowly and didn’t overheat.
Supposedly, the original discoverer of the mine (who sold most of his stake to investors) lived there for many years, even after the gold played out. We wondered if the old stone structure we found tucked into a side-canyon was one of his homes.
Eventually, we rounded a corner and the mine site came into view. We could see the wooden structure in the distance, plus many roads and piles of tailings all across the mountainside. There was a chain link fence around the building, sadly. To protect the public from themselves, no doubt. Vicki decided that she didn’t want to bother climbing any further that day, so she took a break while I took photos.
We’ve seen many abandoned mines, and this one probably had a lot of rusting machinery and toxic mercury spread around it. This was the only gold mine in JTNP to ever show a profit! But the owners still left their garbage behind. Sad but true. It seems like bankruptcy is part of the Business Plan of mining companies, as they never seem to have any money left when it comes to cleaning up the mess they made. They leave it to the taxpayers to foot the bill. Maybe in the future they’ll be forced to put money in escrow, or into another financial instrument, in order to leave the world a better place when they’re gone. I can only hope so.
Meanwhile, this is now considered to be more of an archeological site due to its age. Better than calling it a Toxic Waste Dump! I noticed during this visit to JTNP that some of the old mines we drove to back in the 1990’s were no longer showing on the park’s maps. Like the famous Dirty Sock Mine, which used an old sock to strain the gold out of a mercury amalgam, or the one with the circle of rocks where they would pour liquid mercury on a depression in the ground and then dump the choice ore into it. A mule would walk around and around all day long, grinding the ore and mixing it with mercury. Then they’d strain it. We took our kids there! But now it has vanished from view. Is this a Sin of Omission? Perhaps. Maybe we should be thankful that the park is protecting us by keeping us in ignorance. Do you feel blissful? I know I do.
We took a short break and ate some snack while hardier hikers passed us and continued onward. We were done. We came, we saw, and we almost conquered. Then we headed back down to the car, and simply enjoyed the wildflowers along the way.
The unexpected heatwave changed our plans. We were going to spend five nights in the park, exiting at the southern end, but we decided to cut it short by at least a day. That end was much lower in elevation, and would be ten degrees warmer than the already-roasting temperatures we were experiencing up here. No thanks. How would we sleep at night? But visiting it via an air conditioned car seemed like a fine idea. So off we drove.
As the highway dropped into the Pinto Basin, we entered the low desert, leaving the Joshua Tree zone behind. The vegetation changed markedly. We began seeing many of the same cacti and plants that we were used to from our many visits to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. It was like old home week.
As predicted, it was in the upper 90’s down in the valley at the Cottonwood Visitor Center. We didn’t want to leave the car, but we went inside anyway, and learned a few things about this lower desert from the interpretive displays inside, regarding rocks, plants, and indigenous people. After that, we drove around the corner toward the Cottonwood Campground and found a shaded picnic area. It was hot, yes, but the shade made it tolerable. “But it’s a Dry Heat” the desert-dwellers always say. And they’re correct. But it’s still hot.
We drove a short distance to the Cottonwood Spring parking lot and hiked down the path to the spring itself. There were plenty of palm and cottonwood trees, so I wasn’t surprised to find that there was no surface water evident. The trees sucked most of it up, and the rest was below us in the sandy wash. If we dug we would have found water, I have no doubt. The natives and early pioneers discovered this place long ago, a true oasis in the desert.
It was only a bit after noon, so we got back in the car and checked out the map. There were plenty more things to see that day! But first we would head north, back uphill where the air was cooler.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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