The weather out at Red Rock Canyon was perfect for hiking, yesterday. My friend Gary wanted to have some photos taken, so I made him hike out to the La Madre Spring, near to the La Madre Wilderness Area border with the Red Rock Conservation Area. I've done the hike a couple of times before, and figured that the old miner's cabin past the spring would be a great place for portraits. Most people who hike the La Madre Spring trail never see the cabin, because they stop at the dam, about 1.2 miles from the trailhead. The trail to the dam is wide and well maintained, but most people are too distracted by the dam and the small spring-fed watering hole that they don't notice the smaller footpath continuing on past it. It follows the creak up for a short distance, to the springs, and about six-tenths of a mile past the dam, it reaches a dilapidated stone cabin. A nice locale with very few visitors-- perfect for photos. It was quite sunny, though, and I didn't wear sunscreen, so I'm a little pink today!

The hike begins west of the White Rock Hills, off of Rocky Gap Road, just past the Willow Springs campground. It shares it's first half-mile with the loop trail around White Rock Hills-- which you can see here on the left side of the photo.

About a mile from the trailhead, about four-tenths of a mile past the signed fork where La Madre Spring and White Rock Hills trails split, you'll come across a small grove of trees which provide a nice spot to rest from the moderately steep incline you've been climbing. To the left and right of this spot in the trail, you'll find the foundations of two old homesteader houses. They're not easily visible from the trail itself, but there are a couple of smaller footpaths that lead up to them. This one sits right on the edge of the wash, which is pretty steep in this spot. It overlooks the White Rock Hills. The other foundation is on the other side of the trail, just a hundred feet or so uphill.

Karsten (me) resting in the shade along the La Madre Spring Trai.

The easiest type of animal to find in the desert? Ants. Big, small, red, black-- they come in many varieties. I don't really know enough about them to identify the species... but I know not to touch the things because they pretty much all bite. These ants have an entrance to their underground home right in the middle of the trail.

Another common type of wildlife here in the desert is the prickly pear cactus. There are several varieties that grow here at Red Rock, but I am unable to identify the species. The only one I can recognize is the Beavertail, which has magenta-colored flowers. The flowers on this species looked to be yellow when young, but more orange with age.

After a short 1.2 mile hike from the trailhead off Rocky Gap Rd, you reach this watering hole which was created by damming up the spring-fed creek. It is amazing to see this riparian stand of reeds growing thick around this little stream in the middle of a desert.

A closeup shot of the small concrete dam which helps to create this tiny little oasis in the Mojave.

The sounds of the wind blowing through the reeds, and the water flowing over the rocky stream bed, create one of the most tranquil auditory symphonies in nature.

My friend Gary was hiking with me-- the purpose of the hike was supposed to be to reach the miner's cabin to take new portraits for him. Here he is looking over a small pool created by the spring as it's waters flow the rugged landscape in the La Madre Wilderness Area behind Red Rock Canyon. This spot is just a few hundred feet upstream from the dam, on a little-used footpath. It's about one-half mile from the cabin, but he decided to stop here and not continue the hike.

I saw several hummingbirds along the trail, and they were all feeding on the nectar from the bright orange flowers of the Western Columbine. The hummingbirds were much too quick for me to photo while walking. Luckily, the plants don't move as quickly.

A close-up photos of the small pool mentioned above, in the photo with Gary. This is just a few tenths of a mile from a larger waterfall and the source of the spring itself.