The majority of my trips this year seem to have been out to the more remote parts of Death Valley, and this one is no exception. I met up with my dad and Dan for a challenging hike to an old mine site. The hike took us about 8 hours to cover about 8 miles of rough terrain. The mine itself, the Blue Jay, seems to have also been known as the Queen mine. I haven't been able to find much history on it yet, but it is obviously old. The camp litter matches a rock inscription which dates to 1906. The area is full of old prospects and miner's trails, so we'll be back to explore them when the temperatures cool off a little. And hopefully, on a less hazy day.

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