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California

304 posts

Lost White Log Cabin

Lost White Log Cabin

In June 2018, we visited a remote log cabin high in the mountains. The cabin is built from amazingly long logs, but most surrounding trees aren’t that tall. So, those logs must have come from somewhere else, but where? I couldn't find any history on this place.

Ancient Tomales Wall

Ancient Tomales Wall

Out on Tomales Point, a peninsula that juts out into the Pacific Ocean in Point Reyes, is an ancient Native American rock alignment. The Coastal Miwok tribe, whose ancestors are believed to have built it, call it the “Spirit Jumping Off Rocks.” In a place where there are few other

U2 Joshua Tree

U2 Joshua Tree

I found what I was looking for... The famous U2 Joshua Tree. It fell over many years ago and now is a shrine to the band and the album. It is surprisingly easy to reach and not in Joshua Tree National Park. Directions

Green Scorpion Mine

Green Scorpion Mine

This is a small prospect I’ve wanted to check out for over a decade. I finally decided to track it down. I didn’t have an exact location, but I had a good idea of where it was. So I went out scouting the hills. I first became interested

Cary's Castle

Cary's Castle

Tucked away in the backcountry wilderness of the southern part of Joshua Tree National Park is a hidden gem called Cary's Castle. In 1935, at the tender age of twenty-four, a young man named Arthur L. Cary (sometimes misspelled “Carey”) moved from Colorado to the Coachella Valley. In

Peg Leg Smith’s Inscription

Peg Leg Smith’s Inscription

Sometimes, in the desert, you can find what you are looking for. It was already dark by the time we started our drive out into the desert. The sky was completely overcast, and the wind was howling. And after a few hours of driving on the highway, it started to

Jayhawker Spring Petroglyphs

Jayhawker Spring Petroglyphs

The Jayhawkers are famous for their harrowing journey through the unexplored lands of Death Valley in 1849 on their way to reach the fabled gold fields of California’s Mother Lode. They made it, but only after burning their wagons and ditching some of their possessions. They are likely the