Day 2: Eight-mile day hike from campsite on middle fork Globe Mine Road to Tough Nut Mine via Good Hope Mine and back
I won't see any people today. Perched on a hill at 4100 feet in the shadow of the Providence Mountains, about 4 miles from my campsite at 3000 feet, the old Tough Nut Mine sits in a Wilderness area and can thus be reached only by foot or horse.
I fumble cross-country over hills and into washes and eventually find the old grown-in road leading to Tough Nut Mine. However, I only have enough time to visit the lower mine ruins when I get there.
The round-trip hike will take a little more than six hours. Distance is estimated at eight miles, but is probably longer than that because of constant zigzagging to avoid often-spiky plants while hiking cross-country.
Unfortunately, some of today's photos are overexposed due to a camera-setting error.
|
Date: April 24, 2008, 10h00
Size: 58 items
|
|
Bluish turquoise glass
I'm noticing a number of broken glass pieces of this colour around this site.
Date: April 25, 2008, 18h06
|
I see what looks like an old road up on the hill above, which is not on my maps
Back to my overexposed photos. I'm finished exploring the Good Hope Mine site, though I could linger much longer, so I'll walk down the gulley and up over that hill as part of my hike from here to Tough Nut Mine.
Date: April 24, 2008, 13h28
|
The old remnant of a road ends here on the crest of the hill at a small mine shaft; I continue walking cross-country
I continue hiking past the end of the road, down into the next wash, then up the next low ridge. I could have chosen a slightly longer, but easier, route that skirts the base of the hills down on the fan, but I like these little ups and downs.
Date: April 24, 2008, 13h51
|
|
From the top of the next low ridge, I look for an easy descent down to the next wash
The Providence Mountains sit behind me and Tough Nut Mine is somewhere between here and there: closer to there.
Date: April 24, 2008, 14h02
|
I walk a quarter mile up the wash, looking for signs of the old road to Tough Nut Mine
The old road should be here somewhere, perhaps just beyond the big hill just ahead.
Date: April 24, 2008, 14h25
|
A pair of butterflies are having a great time in these sage blossoms
Several of these sages (probably salvia dorrii) are blooming profusely in this wash.
Date: April 24, 2008, 14h34
|
|
I stop at this small side wash and get out my map and compass to see if this might be the old road to Tough Nut Mine: wrong!
Things aren't adding up... After a few minutes, I realize that I need to be in the next big wash south, not this one. I use this small side wash as a route over the hill to reach the next wash, where I'm supposed to be.
Date: April 24, 2008, 14h46
|
I climb over the next hill and recognize my location as the end of the south fork of Globe Mine Road
At least I know where I am now, but after hiking for a bit over an hour, I was expecting to find that I'm half a mile east of here, beyond the end of this road.
Date: April 24, 2008, 14h59
|
After hiking 20 minutes up the big wash, I'm again getting that feeling that I may have missed the road to Tough Nut Mine
I leave the wash behind and am on my way hiking cross-country up an adjacent hill to get a better view of the area (looking behind me now).
Date: April 24, 2008, 15h44
|
|
It was a good decision to climb to this crest; I can now see part of the road to Tough Nut Mine in the distance on my left
According to my map, the low area ahead on my right should reveal the vestiges of an old road that connects to the road to Tough Nut Mine. I'll walk down that way and see if I can locate it.
Date: April 24, 2008, 16h05
|
Down at the bottom of the hill live many happy yuccas, some blooming, and spiky cholla cacti
Hiking cross-country through this area traces a very curvy line due to the constant need to edge past and between patches of yuccas and chollas. So far, I've managed not to get stabbed.
Date: April 24, 2008, 16h26
|
After climbing a gap between hills where the old connector road should be, I've ended up above the road to Tough Nut Mine
Yes, that is a pine tree in the desert. I didn't spot any tracks of the old connector road, but I know I'm in the right place, albeit higher up the hill than envisaged. From here, I'll be heading off to my right up to Tough Nut Mine.
Date: April 24, 2008, 16h49
|
|
I hike up the old road to Tough Nut Mine, which hasn't been used by vehicles in many years and is slowly returning to nature
The road was cut out of the hillside, so it rises gently. The old stone support walls that prevent the road from washing out are still in fairly good shape. I check around the pine tree for signs of spring water. Nope.
Date: April 24, 2008, 17h01
|
There aren't many pine trees up here, so it's odd to see that some of them burned recently
I'm guessing that this damage might be part of the 2005 "Hackberry Complex" fires that burned some of Mojave National Preserve.
Date: April 24, 2008, 17h00
|
It's a bit past 17h when I finally arrive at the Tough Nut Mine ruins
My meandering through the desert during the past four hours has been fun, but now that I'm here, I don't have as much time to explore as I'd like. I'll limit my visit here to 20 minutes in order to get back to camp before sunset.
Date: April 24, 2008, 17h08
|
|
Overview of the Tough Nut Mine area, Mojave National Preserve
There's a fair amount of debris scattered around here to entertain those of us who like looking at such stuff.
Date: April 24, 2008, 17h08
|
An open tunnel at the Tough Nut Mine
I think I'll get a little closer to see what's inside.
Date: April 24, 2008, 17h08
|
Entering the Tough Nut Mine tunnel
The entrance appears to be made of some kind of poured concrete, which leads to the excavated tunnel into the earth inside. I wonder if that drum of acetone still contains acetone... I don't continue any further into the tunnel, as alluring as it may be.
Date: April 24, 2008, 17h09
|
|
