This is a burro trail cut into the Mojave Desert. Trails this deep usually lead to fresh water (which this one did). Trails not this deep are usually from single burros wandering around pretty much aimlessly.

Coyote Holes is kind of hard to find, as it is burried behind these bushes. Coyote Holes is located in Kingston Wash, along the Heritage Trail. It is a source of fresh water, though not a large volume.

A closer look of Coyote Holes. When one sees growth like this, one may assume there is either a source of fresh water there, or a gully where water temporary accumulated via rain water (such as in a natural rock basin).

An even closer look of Coyote Holes, showing one of the small basins of water. The basin is made out of native rocks, with mortar. Fresh water trickles out of the side of the hill and into this basin, which desert animals then drink.

Halloran Spring is a source of water all year; this image shows a steel tank that is down-stream of the springs. The tank is fed via an undergound hose.

Kingston Spring from one angle, showing the mineral deposit around the spring. The white stuff that looks like snow is actually travertine, which comes from the limestone aquifer. This stuff is what stalactites and stalagmites are made out of. This also means that the water at Kingston Spring is probably several thousand years old.

Kingston Spring from another angle. The cottonwood trees were burned to death many years ago, probably due to a careless camper with a camp fire. I plan on planting new cottonwood trees here so that decades later there will be plesant shade here once again.

Kingston Wash makes up part of the Heritage Trail. The route is very dry and very rough, and not to be traversed without considerable preperation. I hiked this road on foot since my vehicle could not travel the road. It is often the case that even all-wheel-drive vehicles get stuck in the deep sand and they have to be dug out or pulled out by another vehicle.

The Mojave Desert is riddled with mines: mostly silver, but there are also gold mines, gypsum (used to make plaster), talc (for body powder), mercury (guick silver), turquoise, and copper. This image shows the railway path through the mine, leading to the Union Pacific's main line. On the right is the ore chute.

Walls at mines such as this one took a great deal of labor to construct. Note how well the rocks were fitted together, and how flat the face is. In the early 1900s there were many Chinese laborers working at mines, as well as Irish and Native Americans. The work was (and still is) very dangerous. The ore chute often got jammed with ore and it had to be cleared by someone: this was a very dangerous job, as the person had to climb into the chute and work the ore free.

Most of the Mojave River travels under the ground, though there are places where it is on the surface during some parts of the year. In this image one can see the river flowing during February 2001. The water spans about 11 feet at this point, and it is roughly an inch deep.

This is all that is left of the town of Riggs, California, not counting their trash dump. The Mojave Desert has many such ruins.

Often all that is left of a town in the desert is its trash. Or more specifically, it's tin can trash. One generally finds broken glass and ancient car parts.

Turquoise was and is mined by the natives of the area. Some turquoise mines were perhaps as much as a thousand years old, but when the 'white man' came those mines were taken away from the Native Americans and depleated. One can still find good pieces of turquoise at these mines, usually in the tailings pile: the best way to find them is with a broom, sweeping away the dirt.

A lush growth of green in the desert does not always mean there is water at that location.