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

Hecla Mining Camp

Hecla Mining Camp

In 1872, William “Billy” Spurr and James Bryant discovered the Trapper lode high in a cirque on Lion Mountain. News of the silver strike spread, and soon, other miners staked claims all over the mountainside. The barren slope got its name when a prospector thought he saw a mountain lion

Born Again Pictographs

Born Again Pictographs

The spectacular Born Again Pictograph site lies deep in the backcountry of Joshua Tree National Park. It is located in the granite maze wilderness of Queen Mountain and is a bit of a hike to reach. This rock shelter was once a habitation site and is covered with faded pictographs.

Robidoux Inscription and Pictographs

Robidoux Inscription and Pictographs

On a late autumn day in 1837, a fur trapper from Santa Fe, Antoine Robidoux, stopped along a narrow canyon in the Territorio de Alta California (what is present-day Utah). Beaver pelts were surprisingly lucrative at the time, and as hard as it is to believe today, the Uinta River

Red Hole Wash Pictographs

Red Hole Wash Pictographs

After a long hike across empty sand flats and through desolate canyons, we found a small alcove with a few Fremont figures and a six-color rainbow pictograph on the back wall. I’ve never seen anything like it. The site is way out in the middle of nowhere with no

Scallywag Mine

Scallywag Mine

The mine is really called the Jubilee Lead Mine but everyone calls it the Scallywag Mine because of a road sign mounted on the ore bin with that name at the mine. One wonders where that sign came from. The mine is more recently worked than many out in Death

Scratch Awl Mill

Scratch Awl Mill

Over this last summer, we visited a few old mining ruins in Montana. We went out of our way to visit the Scratch Awl Mine as I was hoping there would be some equipment left on site to see. The Scratch Awl was an old and long-lived mine. It was

Ames Camp

Ames Camp

Roy Ames located some fluorspar claims in the hills above this little camp in 1941, but it doesn’t appear that he produced much, if any, fluorite. I suspect some of the buildings were already here by that time, but he probably improved them. Roy passed away in 1966 and