Field notes from exploring backcountry locations of the Western United States

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Southern Nevada and Tonopah Basin

Super Cave Pictographs

This is a sandstone rock shelter in southern Nevada with an interesting assortment of pictographs. Native American Southern Paiute and Mohave made their homes here and either could have made these markings. The site itself looks like it could have been a small encampment above a wash.

Triangle pictographs

I explored a few different canyons before I found this rock shelter.

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Oakland Mine

Oakland Mine

The Oakland Group of mines never produced much. The mines were worked for gold from 1922 to 1934. A vertical shaft is reported to have gone down to at least 75 ft with drifts and a separate incline shaft that dropped to 85 ft. Water was encountered at these depths

Crescent Peak Arrastra

Crescent Peak Arrastra

I visited a fairly modern arrastra in Southern Nevada in 2019. It is mostly intact with the drag stones still in place. That is a rare find! The district was worked prehistorically for turquoise but there are some small gold deposits here. A shallow shaft and other prospects are behind

Hidden Forest Cabin

Hidden Forest Cabin

Tucked away inside a canyon of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge is the Hidden Forest Cabin. Built around 1900 by folks unknown, the rustic, single room log cabin was once used by Nevada game wardens in 1936 when the Desert NWR was established. More recently, in 2008-2010, the cabin underwent