The Lost Arch
No, there is another...
In 2022, while brainstorming for our annual Turkey Day Vacay, I recalled a saguaro that I’d seen in Vidal Valley and wondered if it was still there. The problem was that I’d never been to Vidal Valley, so I couldn’t possibly have seen
The Blueprint Petroglyph
The desert has gone silent. Where once it was inhabited by homesteaders, miners, and even ranchers, now it's a checkerboard of wilderness areas delineated by long, lonely roads. Surely many interesting and historic sites remain, but how accessible are they now that most of the roads have been
Virginia May Mine
The Virginia May Mine (also known as the Horn Mine) had been on my "To Do" list for years. It was never a high priority, but its remoteness called to me. Located in the southern Turtle Mountains of California, it is out in the middle of nowhere, and
Canebrake Skeleton Pictographs
Hidden in a granite rock shelter near an ancient Kumeyaay village site is a unique set of pictographs. Most of these pictographs are typical of the La Rumorosa Style, but what is unusual here are the skeleton figures. I have not seen them anywhere else in the Kumeyaay territory.
Palen Tank Petroglyphs
I recently followed an ancient Native American trail out to a water tank and petroglyph site. What got my attention to this site was the report of historical inscriptions and the fact that it is way off of other Native American trails I knew about.
Blue Sun Pictograph Cave
My friend Don Austin coined the name "Blue Sun Cave." The Kumeyaay people once lived here. And even though there is no water nearby, the shelters created by the massive granite boulders provided a welcome home in this harsh desert.