Mojave National Preserve: Hike to Rex Mine and west edge of the Providence Mountains (Day 5)
Camp stays set up while I go for a hike over to the old Rex Mine. I improvise my route after that and end up in "West Edgar Canyon #3" on the west edge of the Providence Mountains. Great scenery all day long and I still have a bad cold.
10.8 hiking miles and 1575 feet of elevation gain. I drink only 2.5 litres of water while hiking (in warmer weather I could drink double that) and eat two energy bars.
Temperatures recorded in Baker, CA: a high of 69F, low 37F.
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Date: November 26, 2009, 10h16
Size: 81 items
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Another sunny morning on Cornfield Spring Road; I'm still coughing a lot from my cold, but am ready for another hike anyway
After studying my maps a bit last night and considering options, I decided that today I would hike up to the old Rex Mine site, which I haven't visited yet.
Date: November 26, 2009, 10h16
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To get over to Rex Mine Road from my campsite on Cornfield Spring Road requires a 1.5-mile hike across the rocky fan
We'll see how this goes... I'm literally forcing myself to hike today because I still feel terrible due to my cold. I expect that the sunshine, great scenery and mild exertion will be a remedy as the day progresses.
Date: November 26, 2009, 10h20
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The dense scattering of rocks on the fan east of Kelso induces what I call, "avoidance hiking"
Here, one hikes not in a straight line, but in a constantly weaving pattern created on-the-fly to avoid the largest rock patches.
Date: November 26, 2009, 10h27
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Oh look, a lost set of four bright-blue ballons tied together, stuck to a young creosote bush, framed by a Kelso Dunes backdrop
These balloons might be forgotten garbage today, but there once was a time when a group of smiling, laughing people stood around them. I stuff the balloons in my backpack for disposal tomorrow at Kelso Depot with the rest of my trash.
Date: November 26, 2009, 10h40
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Numerous gulleys need to be crossed while hiking the fan betweeen Cornfield Spring Road and Rex Mine Road
A ribbon of yellow, desert willows about to lose their leaves, crosses the landscape in the biggest wash through this area.
Date: November 26, 2009, 10h53
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The sides of the drainages coming down the fan are mostly not very steep, but they do make for clumsy hiking
After a few more of these ups and downs, I'll arrive at Rex Mine Road.
Date: November 26, 2009, 10h56
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I finish the hike across the rocky fan and begin the easier walk up Rex Mine Road
The old mine site sits about a mile up the road at the edge of the Providence Mountains.
Date: November 26, 2009, 11h05
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The only signs marking one's arrival at Rex Mine are these no-camping and no-campfires sign
So far, the National Parks Service has done a great job keeping signage minimal and non-touristy. Let's hope that continues. Rex Mine Road, like Cornfield Spring Road, is an unsigned dirt track that you'd never notice if you weren't looking for it.
Date: November 26, 2009, 11h27
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I check out one of several debris piles at Rex Mine and find an ornate electrical socket
This quasi-Victorian design seems rather fancy for a place as utilitarian as this.
Date: November 26, 2009, 11h32
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An old Copenhagen tobacco lid rusts quietly amongst other, less identifiable, cans at the old Rex Mine site
Copenhagen satisfies...
Date: November 26, 2009, 11h33
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The old "cabins" at the Rex Mine site are actually old railway boxcars
The cars were probably removed from service down at Kelso, the nearest train station, and brought up the hill to this site.
Date: November 26, 2009, 11h38
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It looks like a tiny flat-roofed addition, just big enough to be a closet, was built on to the near cabin
Judging by all the scattered wood debris in the area, there were apparently once more buildings here at Rex Mine.
Date: November 26, 2009, 11h39
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The boxcar cabins at Rex Mine have a board-and-batten exterior
Weather and vandalism are taking their toll: the exterior wall of the boxcar at left has been almost completely removed.
Date: November 26, 2009, 11h40
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This boxcar cabin at Rex Mine leans to one side, anxious to collapse one day
The interior space is quite constrained, even before bringing in furniture.
Date: November 26, 2009, 11h41
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This boxcar cabin at Rex Mine had electricity
The "safety switch" is copyrighted 1922 by the Square D Company, Detroit, Michigan: "Making Electricity Safe for Everyone."
Date: November 26, 2009, 11h43
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