October 2025 News

A Few Updates

As this site has grown to over 500 posts, I've been thinking about how to make it sustainable while keeping it ad-free and independent.

So I'm making a couple of changes:

Newsletter schedule: This newsletter will now be quarterly.

Base pricing: The base membership tier (now called Supporter) is $5/month ($50/year). If you're already a paid member, your rate isn't changing.

New Patron tier: For readers who want to support this work at a deeper level, I'm introducing a Patron tier at $10/month ($100/year). Patrons get:

• Everything in the Supporter tier
• Exclusive newsletter (every month or two) with updates, photos, and behind-the-scenes content that won't show up on the site.
• Year-end Top 10 list
• Book launch discount codes
• Who knows, maybe other stuff too!

As always, thank you for being here. None of this works without subscribers who care about obscure places and forgotten history.

New and Updated Trips

We've had a flurry of posts lately from guest authors!

Winner Mine (Atlanta, ID)

Field notes from forgotten corners of the Western backcountry

Starbuck's ExploringGC

Mammoth Consolidated Mine

Mammoth Lakes is one of the Eastern Sierra’s most popular recreation destinations, prized for its excellent skiing in the winter, ample hiking opportunities in the summer, and world-class scenery. Few visitors today realize that the town’s roots trace back to a late-1800s gold mining boom, which faded away by the

Starbuck's ExploringHugh M. Smith

Mexican-American Labor Camp, Death Valley Railroad

I came upon this site in a rather odd way: a video from an ultralight pilot flying over DV that came up on my YouTube feed last year. He passed over some odd looking ruins somewhere in the eastern part of the park that I glimpsed on the background. After

Starbuck's ExploringMatthew Venn

Stateline Mill

Late in 2011, we went on a trip around the Utah borderlands. One of the places we stopped at was the Stateline Mill on the Utah and Nevada border. It was a place I had wanted to check out for years, and we almost didn’t make it this time

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

Waucoba Line Cabin

In May of 2012, Micah and I took some time to go hiking and try and find a suspected cabin site high in the mountains. I wasn’t sure what we were going to find up there. I thought the only remains we would find of the old cabin site

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

Weather Station Cabin

After spending the night at one of our favorite places down in Panamint Valley, we drove up into the mountains and parked the truck along the road. We gathered up our gear, packed a lunch, and started our hike into the canyon. We knew we would be gone the rest

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

Exploring Joshua Tree Book

Don't forget to check out my Exploring Joshua Tree book. It features unique locations you won't find in any other book.