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Mojave Trails

Mojave Trails National Monument, Old Woman Mountains, and the Turtle Mountains

7 posts

The Lost Arch

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 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

Railroad Tie Cabin (Old Womans)

Railroad Tie Cabin (Old Womans)

Back in the winter of 2019, my friend JP and I took a hike to a forgotten cabin on the northern end of the Old Woman Mountains out in the Mojave Desert of California. The cabin is inside the Old Woman Wilderness, but isn't a hard hike. It

Virginia May Mine

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

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

Lady Lou Mine

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 attempt to

Long Shot Mine

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