Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2009, Fall: Mojave National Preserve / Day 7: Bull Canyon hike, Granite Mountains, Mojave National Preserve 74
My first time hiking into a canyon in the Granite Mountains. I approach it from the Kelso Dunes area. Great rocky scenery worth another visit. 11.5 hiking miles, 2140 feet elevation gain.
Temperatures recorded in Baker, CA: high of 54F, low 41F.
- A brisk sunny morning on my camping mound with a view of Kelso Dunes
I still have a cold, but it's not as bad as it was. I didn't sleep well last night and woke up in the middle of the night with weird dreams and coughing fits. It's noticeably cooler than during other mornings so far. Winter is approaching. Breakfast is the usual two cups of strong coffee, tamari almonds, granola, cranberry vitamin-C drink, plus a big Chinese sesame cake for something different. If I look closely, I can see two people, smaller than ants, climbing up the Kelso Dunes a couple of miles away. - On the other side of my tent are the Granite Mountains, with the mouth of Bull Canyon, today's hike, in front of the hill
Several canyons penetrate the Granite Mountains in this area. I've randomly chosen Bull Canyon because it penetrates the mountains deeper than some of the others, but I probably won't have time to hike all the way up. - The hike begins with a 1.3 mile walk on the power-line road west of Kelso Dunes, which soon becomes quite sandy
I was hoping to arrive in the area earlier yesterday and set up camp a bit closer to the mouth of Bull Canyon, but a fun two hours of socializing at Kelso Depot yesterday afternoon delayed me a bit. - This road also serves as access to a gas pipeline, as evidenced by "marker 64" here
Signed "Pacific Lighting Gas Supply Company." Presumably the pipeline leads to Los Angeles. - The power-line road heads straight up a really steep grade ahead, but a detour to the left offers an easier way over the hill
Since I'm hiking, I'll take the shorter, steeper route. The power-line roads out here are notorious for their steep ups and downs as they trace straight lines across the desert, ignoring the topography. - The short, sandy hill on the power-line road is really steep, rising at about 15% grade, with poor traction
This would be tough to get up with the 10-ton bike. With the bike, I would have taken the more gradual detour road around the hill for sure. - Looking back down the power-line road hill that I just walked up, toward the Providence Mountains
Yup, it's as steep as it looks. Edgar Peak in the Providence Mountains is hidden by clouds this morning. - Heading down the other side of the power-line road is almost as steep as it was coming up
The power-line road continues for many miles, reaching the next speck of civilization about 25 miles further on at the village of Ludlow, CA. - A GPS check tells me that I can turn left anywhere here and start hiking up the fan to the mouth of Bull Canyon
Good, I'm tired of the power-line road! - Looks like I may have a rocky hike ahead me up into Bull Canyon, the gap in the middle of the two big hills
I haven't been to Bull Canyon before, so I'm not sure what to expect. A lot of desert canyons are quite rocky and sometimes densely vegetated. - Now that I'm about 1.25 miles up the rocky fan and 300 feet higher, the Kelso Dunes create a contrasty backdrop behind me
Of course, I'm more interested in the view ahead of me right now as I approach Bull Canyon with anticipation. - Approaching Bull Canyon, I'm happy when I stumble upon an animal trail like this one, to help me navigate the rocky terrain
These animal trails vanish sometimes as quickly as they appear, but they're always helpful whenever I find them. - Burned desert willow (chilopsis linearis) in Bull Canyon wash, Mojave National Preserve
Quite clearly, there was once a brush fire here in Bull Canyon. - Seasonal streams have done a good job of polishing this rock bed in lower Bull Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
It may be dry right now, but this place must get pretty wet after a thunderstorm... I take note of the trees (probably junipers and pinon pines) growing on the high hill in the distance. - I finally start to enter the foot of the Granite Mountains in Bull Canyon
The canyon is starting to have walls, albeit it low ones. - An interesting discovery!
Skull and teeth, probably from one of the area's well-known hillside warriors. - Skull close-up
The bone matter is quite weathered and is slowly returning to nature as things eventually do. - My, what big teeth you have!
There's some gum recession happening as well. - The teeth obviously outlast the supporting bone matter when subjected to decomposition
Numerous other bone parts are scattered about in the area. - A horn fragment nearby
I wonder where the rest of the horn ended up. It doesn't seem like a horn would have disintegrated so quickly ... - Another jaw fragment rests nearby
Flakes of decomposed tooth and bone fragments litter the ground. - Another burned chilopsis linearis (desert willow) in Bull Canyon
I've seen several of these here, and a few of them were still living, presumably just scorched by the brush fire, and not burned to death. - Looks like a bit of bushwhacking will be needed to get through this segment of Bull Canyon
But I won't bushwhack through that big thorny green bush behind me, commonly known as cat claw (acacia greggii). - Coyote melon in Bull Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
Humans can't eat these, but apparently coyotes can. - Walking up Bull Canyon, I pass through a short narrows
The dry water pool here would hold water after rainstorms for animals to drink. - A tuft of grass grows in a tinaja (rock water basin) in the narrows in Bull Canyon
There's no water there right now, but the sand in the tinaja is still moist. - Bull Canyon widens a little after passing through the narrows
I keep walking up the canyon, wondering what might be around the next corner. A large covey of quail is frightened by my passing and their noises are quite alarming due to the echo effect in the canyon. - I step up another slick rock to the next level in Bull Canyon
Relative to the the more brush-choked or rock-strewn stretches of the canyon, the smooth rocks here are as easy to hike as pavement. - Water remains in this tinaja in Bull Canyon from the last rains
I've brought my own water today, since wasn't counting on finding any up here, but I could filter drinking water here if I needed it. - Bull Canyon winds around another interesting bend
Lots of exposed rock layering here. - Another tiny dry waterfall and tinaja in Bull Canyon
I climb over it toward the rockslide in the background. - I stumble upon a big patch of fairly fresh scat in Bull Canyon
This spot apparently gets frequent non-human visitors. Is one of them perched up on the rocky hills above, watching me? Maybe I'll find another horn on the ground around here. - At this time of year when so many plants are going dormant, it's surprising to come across a lone yellow flower in Bull Canyon
I'm not completely sure, but I think this is evening primrose (oenothera hookeri). - Gnarled root or trunk, probably from chilopsis linearis (desert willow), which seems to be the only tree in Bull Canyon
Perhaps this has been pushed down the wash by flash floods. - Even way out here in Bull Canyon, I again come across an old balloon; I doubt someone had a birthday party right here
I keep finding balloons in the most remote places! I stuff it in my backpack for later disposal in the trash. - I climb over a granite platform as I head further up Bull Canyon
The canyon should bend to the left somewhere soon, but I can't yet see the turning point. - There is rabbitbrush to push through, and rocks to climb over, in this section of Bull Canyon
One good thing about desert hiking in the cool season is the much-reduced possibility of accidental encounters with snakes hiding in brushy areas like this (they hibernate). - I like the exposed rock areas in Bull Canyon that allow me to get out of the brush for a few minutes
This is "avoidance hiking" at its finest: I'm always walking around some rock or shrub! - A few dried red buckwheat flowers from this past summer remain in Bull Canyon
I've only noticed a few of these plants in this canyon. - At times, an imaginary corridor along the canyon wall provides a best way to squeeze past heavy brush
At other times, it's easier to just bushwhack from one opening in the rabbitbrush to another. - Ah, more rabbitbrush to get past in Bull Canyon!
The rabbitbrush is dusty enough that bushwhacking through it sometimes sends puffs of dust into the air. - I'll get past this patch of rabbitbrush by walking up the rock steps at the base of the canyon wall
It's 14h now: let's see how much further I can get up Bull Canyon before I have to turn around and go home for the night. - Walking through an open area in middle Bull Canyon
After a few more bends and perhaps half a mile is a major fork in the canyon, and a couple of springs beyond that. Due to the short days, I won't have time to go that far today, unfortunately. - More rock ahead to climb over in middle Bull Canyon...
It looks much bigger than anything I've hopped over or around so far today. - How cool, a little dry waterfall in middle Bull Canyon; it must be 15-20 feet tall
It's odd that I should encounter a natural obstacle just at the time that I'm thinking of turning around and returning to camp. It looks steep and slippery, but I could probably make it up if done carefully. - I take an energy-bar break up on a rock pile overlooking the Bull Canyon dry waterfall, at about 3450 feet elevation
There's no water here right now, but stains on the rocks indicate that a large pool of water often sits at the base of the waterfall. - OK, time to start walking back down Bull Canyon, between a couple of boulders
I generally prefer loop hikes over up-and-back hikes, but the varied scenery should make this a good one in the reverse direction. - The lines and textures in Bull Canyon change constantly
I wonder if upper Bull Canyon, which I didn't get to see, is just as interesting. Perhaps even better? - It's nice to be hiking Bull Canyon in the downhill direction now, instead of uphill
After walking on a gentle uphill for a couple of hours, you get used to it and almost forget that you're going uphill. - I bushwhacked through some of this brush on the way up Bull Canyon, so I'll do it again on the way back down
From the water stains on the rocks, this looks like a wet area after water events. By happenstance, I may timed this hike at exactly the right time, when things are dry. - More rocks to avoid in Bull Canyon
Walking here allows me to avoid thick brush on the other side of the boulders. - I'll try climbing a bit up the rocky ledge at my right to avoid another brushy area ahead in Bull Canyon
Not sure if this will help, but it's worth a try. There's no clear-cut best way to hike this kind of canyon. - The rock ledge keeps me above the thick brush of Bull Canyon for a few minutes
But it's back down into the wash when I reach the boulder piles ahead. - Dried cattails in Bull Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
These cattails grew in a puddle of water in the rock. - Another discovery in Bull Canyon!
Near the cattails is a skull-and-bone set, which I missed on the way up the canyon. - Skull close-up
Some fur remains on the head. - Horn-and-skull close-up
It seems that one of the horns has detached from the inner base material. I didn't know that there is an inner and an outer horn (my anatomy lesson for today). - Ribs close-up
The meat has been freshly picked off, but is mostly dry. Still, the residual meat is moist enough that I recognize the unmistakable scent of lamb meat in the air. - Nearby lays that second horn that somehow got detached from the skull
Why isn't this horn still attached to the head? Were the turkey vultures and other scavengers simply too aggressive when picking meat from the bones? - I take another detour to avoid a brushy area in Bull Canyon and now need to climb back down to the wash
The afternoon has been rather grey so far, but some sunshine is starting to poke through the clouds. - Heading downhill in Bull Canyon, Mojave National Preserve
I'm out of the most brush-choked parts of Bull Canyon now. - Up above me in the rock wall at my left is a protruding rock structure
It's amazing to look up at, but it wouldn't be quite so amazing to be standing at this spot in Bull Canyon when the next chunk of it breaks off. - Time to pass through the Bull Canyon narrows again on the way back down
It has probably taken thousands of years for the seasonal water running through here to create this short polished staircase in the Granite Mountains. - At the end of the Bull Canyon narrows, coming down
I'd like to be looking down into this area during a rainstorm to witness the pressure of all the water from higher up Bull Canyon being forced through this constricted area. - These yellow-leafed trees in lower Bull Canyon...
I've seen several of these trees in Bull Canyon today, with reddish stems when young. At first I just thought they were young desert willows, but now I'm not so sure. They don't have the same sprawling habit, and the leaves seem different. - As lower Bull Canyon winds about, the "seam" of Kelso Dunes comes into view briefly, which I can also see from my camp
I'm enjoying the variations in the differently coloured layers of hills between here and there in the late-afternoon sun. - The last downhill-hiking mile or two on the fan above the dunes is an ankle-breaker with all the small rocks scattered about
But at this time of day, the views are so good, and the effort worth it. - The open space at the bottom of Bull Canyon is easy to hike after all the dense brush and large rock in the upper canyon
Sure, there are still some rocks and creosote bushes to dodge here, but not nearly as many. Still, I'm not sure I'd recommend this hike to a newbie hiker due to the ankle-breaking potential. - Thick clouds over the Kelso Dunes are picking up any yellow late-afternoon light that manages to get through the clouds
A little more hiking over and around rocks, following animal trails here and there, remains. I've only slipped on a rock once today, and managed to not injure myself. - Almost back at the Kelso Dunes power-line road, with about 30 minutes of daylight left
I've achieved my goal, which was to be completely out of Bull Canyon by sunset. I didn't want to be walking over and around the ankle-breaking rocks here after dark. - I catch the last vestiges of sunlight as I walk the final 1.3 miles down the power-line road back to camp
Looking westward toward Kelso Dunes Wilderness and Bristol Mountains Wilderness as I hike east on the power-line road. - Full moon over Kelso Dunes power-line road at almost 17h; I'm back at camp by 17h20
Supper is a 3-ounce pouch of Trader Joe's buffalo jerky and Backpacker's Pantry Kathmandu Curry (vegan). Tasty! The temperature drops predictably during the evening, and all my extra layers of clothing, and winter jacket, go on, one by one. The early-evening wind dies down and everything is peaceful under the full moon, except for occasional distant noise from campers over at Kelso Dunes, almost a mile away. I consider going for a moonlight walk up the Kelso Dunes, which I can see clearly from my tent, but I feel satisfied enough with today's hike up Bull Canyon. As I sit writing my notes, I hear an owl hooting from somewhere nearby, and a train coming up the tracks across Devil's Playground, hidden by the Kelso Dunes. The nearby power lines crackle loudly, though they were almost silent last night. Just as I'm about to go to sleep at 23h, a thunderstorm begins, which I must get up and watch. Fortunately it lasts just an hour and nothing gets wet except the outside of the tent. - Bull Canyon hike route from campsite on Kelso Dunes power-line road
11.5 hiking miles, 2140 feet elevation gain. - Elevation profile of Bull Canyon hike route from campsite on Kelso Dunes power-line road
11.5 hiking miles, 2140 feet elevation gain.