Desert Excursion - May 2015

Some shots from my weekend trip deep in the desert of Southern California. Nothing like hitting the back-country in a dune buggy at 45MPH to let you know you're alive! Thanks to our "pilot", Richard and his sidekick Billy, who was a wealth of information on the local history. Here are some of the high points of the trip...

Seems like even out here you run into traffic jams... Not sure who's responsible for all these sheep but by the gods there must have been a couple thousand at least.
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Motorycyclists often erect memorials to their fallen biker brethren at the most unusual cemetery you'll ever see. Memorials often include parts from the fallen's favorite ride such as their helmet or boot's or an article of clothing. Many memorials have boxes or chests you can leave mementos in or they hold a Memory Book you can write your thoughts in.
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The One That Started the Tradition​

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The Most Unusual Cemetery You'll Ever See​

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There are hundreds of abandoned gold, silver tin, boron, talc and gem mine scattered around the area. Many are simply large, open pits that would be deadly to fall into, though some of them have been covered with steel grates by the BLM. Many, like this one, simply look like "Hobbit Holes" and are actually very easy to overlook. This one was about a hundred yards deep and popped open at the other end letting daylight pour in. First one like this I've seen. I'm pretty sure that's an owl's nest you see on the left near the middle of the frame.
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Always a great find are abandoned mining facilities like this one. Every one I've seen has been stripped of just about anything worth taking (copper wire, etc.) but the buildings often contain machinery from back in the day too large to haul out or too much trouble to cut down and haul away for scrap.
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Abandoned Mining Facility​

There are a few different explanations for who made these symbols but they're probably thousands of years old. Oldest thing I've ever put my hand to.
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It's also not uncommon to run across tiny, unmarked graves this deep in the desert like this one. Some will have legible inscriptions but most have been obliterated. I find it sad how many I've run across are the graves of infants. These tiny memorials always give me pause.

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This is why I come to the desert. I can't get enough of this...
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Time to hit the road and start the long drive back to San Diego...
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Am I Going Home, or Leaving Home?​

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Wonderful photos

I'm going to try to get out again this week. Lots of space here in Vegas to check out.

Fantastic post, thanks for sharing with us.

siamthai1 said:

Wonderful photos

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Bourbon Neat said:

Fantastic post, thanks for sharing with us.

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Thank you both. It was an awesome trip and just I what I needed to decompress after a hell-ish week at work.
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Paul, thanks not just for the photos, but the interesting information you gave us. This makes me itch to get in the car and explore!

I really enjoyed the images and your write up, thanks for sharing!

Excellent.

Very nice set of pictures. And thank you for the stories as well. I've often wanted to get to the far coast for a vacation.