This location has been on my "to do" list for years, but I never took the time to check it out because it's so remote and far removed from my usual destinations. So when my friend JP and I were talking about possible hiking spots, and I mentioned I've (still!) never visited, he said that's it, gotta go!! JP knows the area well and acted as both guide and hiking companion on this adventure (if you read this JP, THANKS!). I won't mention or otherwise give away the location for obvious reasons.
Before getting to our primary hiking destination, JP stopped to show me some glyphs on some boulders at the mouth of a wash.
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| A closer view. |
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| MJD was here in more recent times (Jan (?) of '31). |
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| Interesting mix of old and new(er). |
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| The petroglyphs in this area are so clear! |
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| I'm not used to seeing glyphs carved into stone right on the ground like this! |
There are a couple small mines in the area, and the initials carved in the rock were probably made by miners back in the day. It's a fascinating area, and easily deserving of it's own destination, but we didn't have time to explore and moved on quickly to our primary destination. I was to later find out that this was just a small taste of the main event (to be shared next week). Call it a sneak preview!
To avoid petroglyph overload, I'm going to fast forward to the end of the day. We still have about an hour of daylight left, and there is supposed to be an old mine in the area, so we go looking for it.
We are exporing one wash over from "petroglyph wash" and it's an interesting area. No human footprints and it appears to get few visitors. A curious old circular tree trunk or branch, and some rusty metal tell us that something was here.  |
| Lumber and pieces of brick confirm it. |
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| Miner's cabin remains? |
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| Old tent site? |
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| This low rock wall looks man made. |
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| ? |
As we explore the hillside, we look down on the wash we had been climbing up earlier. It's in the center of the photo, and it's full of boulders. No wonder my legs are so tired! Somewhere up in these boulder-covered hills is a mine, and perhaps a couple of mines, but we're just not seeing them. It's steep and my legs are tired, so I'm content avoiding the steep boulders (where the mines are likely hiding) and continue exploring the less steep areas.  |
| Strange place for an old bedspring! |
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| Old tent site with some poles still in place. |
As the sun sinks low on the horizon, it's time to make the hike back to the car.
Thanks for joining me on this adventure!
We didn't find the mine(s), but we found lots of other cool stuff including some amazing petroglyphs. I know this is an area I will be returning to at some point, so it's not goodbye, rather it's happy trails until we meet again!
