Don't Drink The Water!

DAY EIGHTY TWO

A couple of months ago I took my kids and one of their friends out to the General Patton Museum and Cottonwood Spring. Today, I skipped the museum and with the kids in school, headed out to Cottonwood alone.

Just south of the Southern entrance to the Joshua Tree National Park seems to be a very popular spot with RVers. It's freeway close, has a National Park in its backyard and is FREE.

I head over the Cottonwood but decide not to follow the trail but a wash that heads south. I come through this little gap and on the other side discover something very special.

Water! There's not a lot and it's not pretty but if you needed it to survive it would look heaven sent. Of course, a little further on I make a discovery that makes me think twice about drinking the water.

I doubt it was the water that done him in but you never know. Good thing I brought a couple of bottles of Dasani® with me in my pack.

After tromping around a bit I come to the trail to the Mastodon Mine. You can read about the mine here.

Some of the remnants of the mine are still there to see but the shaft itself is grated and cemented closed.

After leaving the mine, I hike down to another wash. I follow it for a little bit until the trail takes off to the right. I stay in the wash and soon find out why the trail goes to the right.

There are lots of boulders and dry falls to navigate. It's not bad for me but I'm glad I don't have the kids with me because some of the areas are kind of sketchy.

Now who put that there?

I work my way around to Cottonwood Spring in just the nick of time. A school bus is just getting there with about 17,000 kids.

This is a good time for me to leave.