Hello, I'm Guy Starbuck. I’ve spent most of my life finding little-known places in the backcountry of the Western United States (particularly California and Nevada) and sharing them with you here on this site. Most of my adventures are hikes to historical mines, Native American rock art sites, or anything else with some history. The more remote the site is, the better.
Starbuck.org started way back in the dark ages of the internet (AKA 1997). Initially, I hand-coded HTML pages. Then, I rewrote the whole site in PHP. Later, I switched to WordPress when that came around. These days, I am on Ghost.org.
Some peaks. L: White Mountain. C: Langley. R: San Gorgonio.
I originally started this website to track my hiking and peak-bagging adventures. I had always preferred to hike to lesser-known peaks. Along the way, I passed countless historical mines and prehistoric rock art sites. Over time, I noticed some of them were being vandalized. History was disappearing. I decided to document and share what sites I could before they were gone.
I like to go out and find things
Although I can’t always reveal the locations of the places I go, I do hope to share some of them with you.
Please Tread Lightly and Leave No Trace. Take only photos and leave only footprints. Respect what you find. Give others the joy of discovery.
This website has:
- 18,000+ photos
- 500+ posts
- 320+ posts with GPS waypoints
- 90+ posts with directions
This represents a fraction of the places that I've been to. My photo collection contains over 120,000 photos.
I have a few books in my library.
I am constantly posting old and new trips. See News.
Please credit Starbuck.org if you use my website to find places. Don't use my photos without my permission.
Support my work
As of 2021, this is a reader-supported website.
- Free subscribers have access to the history and descriptions sections of the posts (same as nonmembers) but no access to directions, GPS waypoints, or photo galleries. See the Sample Trips page for examples of full-access posts.
- Paid subscribers get full access to everything here. This includes:
- History and descriptions
- Directions, GPS, and maps (as they exist)
- Photo Galleries
Not all trips have directions, GPS, or maps. I've been asked not to disclose some locations. I am also adding new trips and going back through old trips.
My goal is to keep this site sustainable, enjoyable, and ad-free. Supporting it will keep it going and prevent it from becoming yet another abandoned blog.
Thanks for supporting my work!
Guest Authors
Check out posts by our excellent guest authors:
Starbuck’s Exploring
Starbuck’s Exploring
Starbuck’s Exploring
Interested? You can contribute, too!
Published Works
Articles
Searching for Petroglyphs in the Cottonwoods. Panamint Breeze. June 2011.
Photos published in
- Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History. Flyer. 2013.
- Ecology Letters. Applying trait-based models to achieve functional targets for theory-driven ecological restoration by Daniel Laughlin. 2014.
- Religious Symbolism in Eastern California Ghost Dance Rock Paintings by Alan Gold. 2014.
- A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words by the Friends of the Public Land Cabins. 2015.
- Historical Sites in Joshua Tree Closed Due to Theft of Artifacts by David Halligan, The Survivor, Fall 2016.
- Ancient Universal Language of Man by Chris Hegg. 2015.
- TRACCE Rock Art Bulletin by Maarten van Hoek. 2015 & 2018.
- Tybo, Nevada by Robert McCracken and Jeanne Sharp Howerton. 2016.
- The Cosmological Connections to Rock Art in the Great Basin and California by Samantha Clark, Clara Ennis, Brittany Hormel, and Kaley Kelly. Western Carolina University. Poster. 2019.
- Skidoo, The true story of a mail-order bride in the mining camp of Reveille, Nevada by Jeanne Sharp Howerton. 2021.
- Pahranagat Mines, and the Settlement of Lincoln County, Nevada by Jeanne Sharp Howerton. 2024.