Starbuck's Exploring

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Guy Starbuck

Guy has explored the deserts and mountains of the southwestern US for more than thirty-five years. In that time, he has found a couple of hidden and remote locations that don't see many visitors.

506 posts

Bannack Ghost Town

Bannack Ghost Town

Over the summer of 2015, we visited the fantastic ghost town of Bannack, Montana, which has been well-preserved and turned into a state park. It is similar to Bodie State Historical Park but with fewer buildings. Still, ghost towns remaining from the gold rush days are rare, and this one

Jayhawker Spring Petroglyphs

Jayhawker Spring Petroglyphs

The Jayhawkers are famous for their harrowing journey through the unexplored lands of Death Valley in 1849 on their way to reach the fabled gold fields of California’s Mother Lode. They made it, but only after burning their wagons and ditching some of their possessions. They are likely the

Freightwagon Petroglyphs

Freightwagon Petroglyphs

It is a long and lonely walk into the wilderness of the Mojave Desert to get to this isolated petroglyph site. Hidden in the Cinder Cone Lava Beds of California's Mojave Preserve, the Freightwagon site contains a remarkable concentration of rock art. Most of the few hundred petroglyphs

Blackmail Mill

Blackmail Mill

There isn’t much left at this old silver mill, also known as the Moorelight. I had a fun time climbing around and through the broken timbers. The mill did custom work and once supported a cross-cut adit connected to a deep shaft. The adit is caved these days. GPS

Honeymoon Hill Petroglyphs

Honeymoon Hill Petroglyphs

In the summer of 2015, we visited a pair of petroglyph sites out in central Nevada collectively called Honeymoon Hill. They are close together on nearby hills and have fantastic views of the areas they overlook, which is probably why people were here, hunting and keeping watch over the surrounding

Adamson Mine

Adamson Mine

At 12,990 ft (3960 m), the Adamson is the highest mine in the Sierra Nevada. And as you might suspect, getting there is no easy feat. It is a strenuous climb up the rugged Wheeler Ridge to reach it. This is the top of the Sierras. Altitude sickness is

Bald Mountain Wash Petroglyphs

Bald Mountain Wash Petroglyphs

Brownie Sam and Emmett Rosse, two Shoshone cowboys, stopped alongside this huge volcanic boulder in late October of 1932. It is a place where their ancestors had camped many times. The ancients had carved numerous symbols on this rock; they decided they would, too. They stood on the backs of