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I heat up a boil-in-bag Indian-style breakfast, happy that my tent survived last night's wind storm
The strong wind this morning persists in its attempt to extinguish the flame of my propane burner, so it's taking longer than usual to boil water. At least it's no longer rip-the-tent-apart windy like it was last night.
Date: April 30, 2008, 10h15
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After two cups of good strong coffee, my Tasty Bite spinach dal and rice breakfast is ready; mmmm
This Tasty Bite spinach dal and rice meal is quite a bit heavier than my dehydrated backpacking meals, but I like to bring one along anyway on longer trips because of the home-cooked flavour.
Date: April 30, 2008, 10h27
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Puncture vine, I hate you: here's one of the many nondescript goathead (puncture vine) plants that cover this meadow
I'm still amazed that I haven't had a flat tire yet from the sharp thorn balls everywhere here. The thorn balls are those white gravel-like pebbles on the ground that are practically unnoticeable.
Date: April 30, 2008, 10h48
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One other unavoidable item around the Butcher Knife corral is small droppings
They seem to be big enough to be rabbit droppings, or something like that. I've been hoping that they're too big to be hantavirus-carrying rodent droppings.
Date: April 30, 2008, 10h50
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I begin dismantling the tent by removing the large rocks that I placed inside at the corners
Staking down the tent here didn't work (and often doesn't in the desert), due to sand and gravel on the surface and hard-as-rock earth beneath that layer.
Date: April 30, 2008, 12h26
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Almost everything is packed up now, so it's time to take the tent down and make departure from Butcher Knife Canyon official
I find that one of my tent poles is quite bent, a victim of last night's wind storm, but it doesn't appear to have affected the tent's performance. Kudos to this low-end REI tent!
Date: April 30, 2008, 12h26
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I assemble the 10-ton bike just beyond the goathead-infested meadow at the Butcher Knife corral
I've been lucky so far to not get a flat tire, so I carry my belongings piece-by-piece to the edge of the meadow a few hundred feet away, beyond which there is only native vegetation and no goathead thorns.
Date: April 30, 2008, 12h55
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I ride down the Butcher Knife Canyon road, satisfied that I've managed to leave my campsite by 13h
With my heavy load, I find myself walking and scootering the bike along some stretches of the road, but it doesn't feel too strenuous yet. My confidence level is high because of the extra water I'm carrying, thanks to the springs I visited yesterday.
Date: April 30, 2008, 13h21
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The last mile or so before Death Valley Mine in the sand trap is tough again, so I drag the bike through parts of it
But it's so scenic that I'm enjoying the "down time" here nonetheless.
Date: April 30, 2008, 14h05
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After 4.5 miles, I stop for a short break at the old Death Valley Mine site at 4400 feet elevation
I wanted to stop here on the way to Butcher Knife Canyon, but had no time because it was about to get dark.
Date: April 30, 2008, 14h13
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I walk up the road to the old house at the Death Valley Mine site
It looks like a large old Craftsman-style house from around 1920.
Date: April 30, 2008, 14h35
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The front of the old house at Death Valley Mine has a row of joshua trees planted in front of it
What could be more appropriate than native desert landscaping that looks great?
Date: April 30, 2008, 14h15
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At the base of the joshua-tree grove are rocks and a few other native plants
Orange desert mallow and cacti were planted here as well. The residents here apparently understood native plants.
Date: April 30, 2008, 14h22
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Approaching the front door of the old house at Death Valley Mine
An old mailbox is still attached to the post. One thing that makes this house quite different from others of its Craftsman style that one might see in Detroit, Cincinnati or San José is the tin roof.
Date: April 30, 2008, 14h17
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Front porch of the Craftsman house at Death Valley Mine, Mojave National Preserve
The floor boards are very weathered and probably weren't painted too many times.
Date: April 30, 2008, 14h17
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The house is very warped, and a glance inside one of the "basement windows" explains why
The support beams of this old house rest mostly on the ground and don't appear to have much of a foundation beneath them.
Date: April 30, 2008, 14h18
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Behind the house at Death Valley Mine is a tank presumably for stove and furnace oil, and an exterior bathtub room
Note the "Shell Oil" engraving on the tank. Oil drums like these were once common on the east coast in towns where old stoves for heating, cooking and hot water burned oil.
Date: April 30, 2008, 14h19
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Vandals have removed the boards off the back door, so I walk in and see old stairs to the basement
My first concern is that perhaps the vandals are living here, but they aren't. I've already seen that this house doesn't have a basement, so I'm guessing that these stairs lead to a cold-storage room. I don't descend to learn more.
Date: April 30, 2008, 14h20
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