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California

308 posts

Lost Pick Prospector's Camp

Lost Pick Prospector's Camp

While hiking way out in the backcountry wilderness of Joshua Tree National Park, my friend JP and I stumbled upon an old prospector’s mining camp. Hardly anything is left at the camp: a few cans, wood debris, a rock-stacked wall, and a fireplace. Hidden nearby in a pile of

Covington Falls Petroglyphs

Covington Falls Petroglyphs

There are a couple of very faint petroglyphs and pictographs out at Covington Falls. I think most hikers walking the route walk right past them without noticing.

Three Bachelors Prospectors Camp

Three Bachelors Prospectors Camp

In 2018, we found a small prospector’s camp out in the wilderness of the Death Valley region. I named it because three cabin tent pads are scattered around the site.

Cowboy Petroglyphs (Joshua Tree)

Cowboy Petroglyphs (Joshua Tree)

Back in 2017, we wandered out to this remote corner of Joshua Tree to check out an unusual set of petroglyphs. Unlike most of the abstract petroglyph panels I come across, these had a few human figures. A couple of them are a horse and rider, and another appears to

Par Value Mill

Par Value Mill

Late autumn of 2017 found us tracking down a very unusual stamp mill high in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. The mill was a unique hammer design called a Pratt Ideal Stamp Mill. Very few of these mills were ever put into use, and even fewer (if any!) still

Cary Ranch Pictographs

Cary Ranch Pictographs

I've been invited by Dick Cary to visit his historic Cary Ranch and examine some of the pictographs there a few times. The Mountain Cahuilla Indians first inhabited the ranch area. The site is near a natural pass and an old Indian trail that connects inland Southern California

Summit Mine

Summit Mine

High up in the spires of the Eastern Sierras, there lies a hidden and seldom visited gold mine perched on steep cliffs at 10,900 ft elevation. The Summit Mine is difficult to reach and is not for the fainthearted. To get there, you will have to follow a steep