Curtis Canyon Cabin
In February of 2014, I visited the fairly remote Frank Curtis Cabin. I found Boxcar and Ed were already there and busy cleaning and restoring the cabin to a habitable condition. Follow Backcountry Cabin Etiquette when visiting.
Lady Lou Mine
Occasionally, a friend will email me and ask if I have been to some old remote and obscure mine that has been long forgotten by normal, non-desert-obsessed (read: sane) folks. Usually, I haven’t. But occasionally, I actually have. Then, I sort through my photos and books and
Jake’s Cabin
We’ve been going to Jake’s Cabin for over twenty years. It is a great place to camp out in the middle of nowhere. The cabin is part of an old prospecting camp. A tin can dump is scattered nearby, and a small shaft is hidden down the wash.
Brannigan Mine Camp
While heading out on a trip to Nevada, we rendezvoused for a quick exploration of the Brannigan Mine, also known as the Oro Fino. The mine is in the Old Dad Mountains of the Mojave Preserve. These days, the mines are closed by iron bat gates. The cabins, however, have
Alta Silver and Rock Eagle Mines
Way back in 2004, I met up with Dan, my dad, Micah, Lewis, his son Aaron, Werner, John, and his cousin for a trip to some out-of-the-way mines out in the Mojave desert. Some of these are very old mines. This mine was discovered by Frank Riggs,
Long Shot Mine
Back in 2003, Alysia and I met up with my dad, Brad, and friends to hunt for a remote old mine out in the Mojave desert. Several quartz veins here worked for gold as late as the 1950s. The mines aren’t deep but don’t seem to be played
Rosalie (Valley Wells)
Just off Interstate 15, in the shadow of Clark Mountain, lie the scattered ruins of Rosalie, also known as Valley Wells.
Rosalie's tale began in 1898 when the Ivanpah Smelting Company of Los Angeles recognized the potential of nearby copper deposits. They sank two wells at a site