Starbuck's Exploring

Sign in Subscribe

Latest

Motte Rimrock Reserve Pictographs

Motte Rimrock Reserve Pictographs

These are a spectacular set of pictographs located inside the University of California Motte Rimrock Reserve. The Reserve is private and set aside for study and research only. I was lucky enough to be invited on-site. There is a caretaker living here at all times. Please do not trespass. We

Jefferson Ghost Town

Jefferson Ghost Town

Jefferson is a very scenic area and usually has a nice little creek running down through the trees. Once an old mining town, mainly in the 1870s, it is split into two sections – Upper Jefferson and Lower Jefferson. The lower part of town had stores, houses, and two mills: the

San Antonio and Cimarron Mines

San Antonio and Cimarron Mines

Discoveries were first made here in 1863 by Mexican prospectors, possibly outfitted by Emanuel San Pedro. This camp never struck it rich, even though it had a few revivals over the years. The workings here look pretty poor, and I didn’t go underground. One interesting find was the arrastra,

Blackrock Well Historic Writing and Petroglyphs

Blackrock Well Historic Writing and Petroglyphs

In 2006, Dan and I hiked out to this petroglyph site we’ve wanted to check out for a while. It was a bit of a hike, but we were well rewarded. We were very surprised to find historical inscriptions by cowboy and miner Bill Keys (of Joshua Tree fame)

Rhonda Mine

Rhonda Mine

Back in 2007, a friend told us to check out this semi-modern gold mill tucked away in a seldom-visited canyon of the Mojave Desert. The mill with most of the equipment still there was a great find. Up on a high and steep slope, the Rhonda mill looks like an

Roode Rock

Roode Rock

While wandering around in the wilds of Death Valley National Park, we found a historic inscription by William Roode (also Rood or Rude), who was one of the Jayhawkers who escaped Death Valley in 1849. There is some debate as to if the inscription was really made in 1849 or

Bass Camp

Bass Camp

I first read about this site years ago in a book about mine camps in Nevada. The book didn’t give its exact location, but it did give me an idea. With a little bit of research, I narrowed the camp down to two possible locations. I put them on