Starbuck's Exploring

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California

317 posts

Skelton Mill

Skelton Mill

Hidden in a dense forest about a mile above Lake Mary (in the Mammoth Lakes area) lies a mysterious mill site dating back to the late 1890s. Although the passing years have not been kind to the mill, old foundations and a few unique mill artifacts remain today. The site

Hondo Wash Pictographs

Hondo Wash Pictographs

The Hondo Wash pictographs sit where granite boulders narrow the canyon to a passage. Rock art on both sides of the wash, exactly the kind of spot where people would pause as they moved through. The site features both petroglyphs and painted images in red and black. What's

Grass Canyon Petroglyphs

Grass Canyon Petroglyphs

Native Americans passed through Grass Canyon thousands of years ago and left their marks on the basalt. I am not sure why they picked these rocks, though. There are plenty of other surfaces around that don't have anything on them. But this spot where a basalt butte meets

Parson's Ranch Petroglyphs

Parson's Ranch Petroglyphs

Cary's Castle North Petroglyphs

Cary's Castle North Petroglyphs

In 2016, on an adventure north of Cary's Castle (one of many), I stumbled upon these petroglyphs hidden among the granite boulders of the Eagle Mountains. The abstract designs appear to be Desert Archaic in style, likely created by indigenous peoples who traveled these washes for thousands of

Mammoth Consolidated Mine

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

Mexican-American Labor Camp, Death Valley Railroad

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