Quail Springs Pump House

I think this location qualifies as one of Joshua Tree National Park's "secret spots". I won't give away the location other than to say it's a mile or less from Samuelson's Rocks (which is itself somewhat of a secret location). No signs, no trails, no mention in any NPS brochures. Just a water pump out in the middle of nowhere! I had seen pics and a blog post or two, and knew the approximate location, but it was still like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. After scouring Google Maps, I noticed a very small square object and thought that might be the pump house. Then again, it might just be a square rock!

We had some dramatic skies for the hike to the pump house. The hike also included a visit to Samuelson's Rocks and an old homestead location, but those have been covered on previous posts.

I think it's somewhere over there!!

 In our search for the pump house, we crossed this wash which contained all kinds of interesting old pipe and other debris. I knew something had to be "upstream" from here!

Eureka! We found it!! 

Cousin Scott checking out the pump and mechanism. It appears it might have been belt-driven, with a belt turning the wheel on the pump (left side) to pump the water.

The really cool thing about this pump is that it still works!! Move the pump handle up and down and it pumps water out the black pipe to the metal water holder you see here. There was water in the container and I'll bet critters come by after dark to get a drink here on a regular basis. I was tempted to taste the water but decided it might not be too clean once it passes through the rusty pipe. Had it been a typical hot desert day, I could have soaked my head with genuine Joshua Tree well water!

I'm sharing a video from my friend Elliot Koeppel's blog post, which you can check out here. 

I took my fisheye lens on this hike, so I'm required to share a couple shots. One is barbed wire in the Samuelson corral area, and the second is the signed rock. Such an interesting and bizarre area!

Time to start the hike back. Look at these beautiful desert skies!!

During part of the hike, you can follow the old double-track trail. But it disappears after a while.

A final parting shot.

"Leave only footprints, take only photos"

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!!