Wiggles & Ridges (Lower elevations of Lee Canyon) - 8/28/25

Joshua Tree trying to make a Come-back (Pinyon Pine Loop)

Bull Elk Remains

There is an area of trails located in the desert terrain below Sawmill Trailhead that is mostly ignored by hikers in the summertime. The trails for this route are located between 6800' and 7000'. This is similar to the elevations for Kyle Canyon trails and not as crowded. The trails were made for the use of equestrians, however, I don't even believe some of them are used by them. It appears that there has been ATV usage, especially on the Blue Tree Loop trail. This is illegal.

Starting up the Blue Tree Loop (Mummy Mountain in Background)

Blue Tree Loop (Macks Peak in Background)

Susan and Sue on the Blue Tree Loop

 Anyway, we parked where one of the campground roads turns off of Lee Canyon Road just below 7000' in elevation. Instead of following the road down to the right, we bushwhacked through the light desert foliage to where the road is at its low point. The main dirt road we connected with is called No Mads Road. This dirt road is steep and rocky so, if you want to try taking your vehicle on it, it better be a good one! We climbed the road a short distance and found the Blue Tree Loop trail to the left. I have hiked down this trail many times in the past but this would only be the second time that I hiked up. (BTW, I just learned that this is the trail that my husband helped build with REI and Nevada Wilderness around 10 years ago.)

Old Juniper Tree on Blue Tree Loop

Blue Tree Loop (Mummy's Nose in Background)

Spring Mountain Divide from Pinyon Pine Loop
 (L-R Macks Pk, Bonanza Pk, Willow Pk, Wheeler Pass, Wheeler Pk)

Pinyon Pine Loop eastern View

My favorite name for this trail is the Wiggles! The obvious reason is that it twists, curves and turns all the way up toward Sawmill Trailhead for over a mile and a half. We junctioned with a rocky dirt road, turned right and climbed the hill until we reached the top of No Mads Road that turns to the right at 2 miles into the hike. The road leads down a gentle slope for a quarter mile then turns sharply to the right. Here, the Pinyon Pine Loop trail veers off to the left. We hiked down this trail balancing on a narrowish ridge for ~0.8 mile. The ridge and views were beautiful. At this point, there is a gentle ridge descent to the right that we bushwhacked down, landing us gently into what we would later name Elk Wash.

Mysterious cairn on Pinyon Pine Loop (cross route?)

Mule deer Antler in Elk Wash

Elk Wash

Approach to bull elk Remains

We had no idea what surprise was coming! First, as we were walking down the game trail in the middle of the wash, Sue and I absently stepped over a deer antler. It was Susan that exclaimed, "What have we here?" It was a mule deer antler. We don't see that many of those. So, we continued and, not much further, "Oh, WOW!" All three of us were stunned with the remains of a large bull elk. He was huge! We tried not to think about the carnage that was involved as a mountain lion took down his / her kill. The bull's remains were mostly concentrated in one spot of the wash. We didn't touch any of the bones except to adjust the skull and antlers so that photos were made easier. We spent about 5 minutes there just saying, Wow! Wow! Wow! ... etc. Finding this poor elk's remains made the whole hike worth while, especially since it was just a beautiful desert trail, we were hiking. Leaving the elk behind, we continued down the wash and followed a game trail up to the adjacent ridge to the right. This eventually led us to No Mads Road. (No, the upper road and the lower roads do not connect anymore. I think these roads did at one time since they travel to Mud Springs and the Cold Creek areas. It must have been a very very long road!

"Look at all those teeth!"

The dinner table!

Elk Details

Huge head and Antlers

We arrived at the road where it circles at the end. First, we attempted to follow the road back to our car but the road is not very user friendly for hikers. Steep and rocky. So, we began bushwhacking more or less parallel to the road. The hills were much easier to deal with among the desert foliage. Finally, after about a mile of keeping the road in our peripheral vision, and a few other weird things (like never quite going far enough to find the Rocky Gorge Trail to cross until we gave up!), we descended the last hill and bushwhacked back up to the car. Fun day full of exploring and surprises!

Stats: 5 miles; 1100' gain; 4 hours

Another view of bull elk remains in Elk Wash

Unusual Lizard (maybe Spiny Lizard or Great Basin Fence Lizard or ...?)

Nearing off-trail bushwhack on Pinyon Pine Loop

No Mads Road on last leg of hike causing parallel Bushwhack