After sleeping in late and a quick breakfast, I go for a short walk around my Butcher Knife Canyon campsite to see it by day

It was quite dark when I arrived here at the corral below Butcher Knife Canyon last night, so it's nice to see what it looks like by day. I slept so well last night, being pooped from the long day of biking and hike-a-biking.

This campsite is actually two miles down the wash from Butcher Knife Canyon, not in the canyon itself

The road I came in on last night is just behind the tent. The meadow here at 4600 feet was presumably used for cattle grazing, given the absence of native vegetation, except for joshua trees.

A bit down the fan sits a fire ring next to which I was going to set up camp last night until I noticed goathead thorns all over

The fire ring probably hasn't been used yet this year judging by the young plants sprouting in it. This area seems seldom visited. Goathead thorns are everywhere in this meadow; I don't think I've ever seen so many.

It's time to check out the old corral here below Butcher Knife Canyon

When visiting abandoned installations like this, I always wonder when they were last used.

Old cattle-watering trough in the abandoned corral below Butcher Knife Canyon, Mojave National Preserve

I'll find out shortly where water would come from to fill this cattle trough; for now, it's not obvious. Orange desert-mallow flowers add a nice touch.

I pluck a few items out of the mess inside my tent and stuff them into my backpack for the day's hike

My day pack includes the usual items (water, water filter, extra bottle, batteries, tripod, energy bars, apricots, and epipens in case of wasp sting), except for a flashlight, which I'm sure I won't need for some reason.

I begin the hike up the road to Cottonwood Canyon and Cottonwood Spring, at the base of the New York Mountains

I'll walk about two miles to reach Cottonwood Spring. At this time of year, there's a good chance that the spring might still be flowing, so I've brought my water filter and two empty bottles in case I can get some water there.

Erosion on the old road to Cottonwood Canyon has exposed some old rubber piping that had been buried under the road

These old pipes presumably once carried water to the corral at the bottom of Butcher Knife Canyon near my campsite (I had been wondering where water came from for the trough in the corral).

A mile north of my campsite is "the fork" in the road to Cottonwood Canyon and Butcher Knife Canyon

The right fork to Cottonwood Canyon and Cottonwood Spring is my route right now; the left fork leads to Butcher Knife Canyon and Butcher Knife Spring. I'll hike cross-country to Butcher Knife later this afternoon.

The joshua tree forest gets denser as one gets closer to Cottonwood Canyon at the bottom of the mountains

The joshua tree forest here is about as dense as the one across the valley in the Cima Dome area, which is reputed to be the largest and densest in the world.

10 minutes later, as I approach the base of the New York Mountains, lush juniper trees like the one on the left begin to appear

Pinyon pines also begin to appear in this area, mixed in with the joshua trees, banana yuccas and cholla cacti. This is classic native vegetation in the Mid Hills and New York Mountains area of Mojave National Preserve.

Desert primrose

I try not to walk on these low-growing plants when I encounter them.

A pull-out on the road to Cottonwood Canyon reveals a nice camping area complete with a fire ring

When I first planned this trip, I thought I might reach this spot with my bike and camp here, but getting to the old corral 1.5 miles behind me turned out to be enough of a challenge!

After exploring the campsite area, I return to the main road toward Cottonwood Canyon

I'm almost there; Cottonwood Canyon with its spring should be just up ahead in the foothills. The hike so far has been pleasantly serene. Real silence, except for the wind, and no people are to be seen anywhere.

Here I am starting up Cottonwood Canyon at the base of the New York Mountains, Mojave National Preserve

The area is somewhat green, which I'm hoping is a sign that there may be water ahead.

Awesome: a tiny stream in Cottonwood Canyon, Mojave National Preserve

It's not much water, but this is the Mojave Desert at the end of April after all! I'll keep walking upstream and see how much more water exists here.

I reach an old wooden box which houses a camera that takes photos of wildlife

Presumably, this means that Cottonwood Spring itself is right there in the grassy area ahead.

Old sign on the wilderness-camera box at Cottonwood Spring

This BLM (Bureau of Land Management) sign must be at least 15 years old because National Parks Service took over administration of this area from BLM in the early 1990s when Mojave National Preserve was created.