March 14, 2013
About two years ago I conned Tom Mahood into hiking to the Captain Jinks Mine in the Hexie Mountains at the eastern end of Joshua Tree National Park. As part of the research for that hike, we identified two other remote mines in that area, the Ruby Lee Mine and the Combination Mine. We had been planning a stupidly long hike to see these mines, requiring a car shuttle, but the weather has warmed up a lot lately and this one might have to wait until fall. Still, we had set a day for the hike, so what else to do?
I suggested the Stubbe Springs Loop in the western part of JTNP. At about 13 miles this would not be short, but it is a well-defined route without much elevation gain. Also, my notes indicated a Tandy Mine in the area. Tom was skeptical, but still gave the hike a thumbs-up and Pete is always up for a hike.
We hiked out the California Riding & Hiking Trail, then followed a route of Tom’s off trail and up to Tandy Peak. We found the benchmarks there and a peak register. Though not much, peak-wise, this was once one of the Sierra Club Hundred Peak Section’s peaks. We had a quick bite to eat there, not far from the historic Tandy Mine, then headed down to Stubbe Springs.
The spring is pretty green and has lots of bighorn sheep skeletons. Lew Kingman tells me that NPS biologists confirm a big cat in the area, but the number of sheep skeletons tells the story even louder. Had any of us been alone there, we would not have tarried. Since the sheep remains were somewhat odiferous, we didn’t tarry anyway.
Also nearby are the remains of an old wildlife observation blind and what we suspect was a guzzler. There is supposed to be a guzzler there in any case, and we did not see any other sign of one. We did see the wildlife camera, though.
On to Fan Canyon Overlook for a pretty spectacular view, then we hoofed it over the ridge through a largish fire burn area and back to the dreary CR&HT, followed by a 2.5 mile slog to the car.
It was a good hike, almost exactly 13 miles, but we were pretty pooped as the temps were in the mid-seventies. Still, it was a fun hike with good friends and we saw something new in the desert. And we didn’t get eaten by a mountain lion. You can’t beat that.
Tom’s report on the hike is here.
