On a scorching late spring day in 2015, we journeyed out to a lonely cabin in the central heart of the Mojave Desert. This is a barren landscape of sand and lava. Any roads that once traversed this wasteland were wiped out by monsoonal thunderstorms long ago.

Interestingly, there are no mines here, and no other structures around for miles. This might get you asking:  Why would anyone (including us) venture out here?

Well, it turns out that scattered amongst a nearby field of broken lava rocks are chunks of chalcedony and agate. If you look carefully, you’ll find chunks of these semi-precious stones everywhere and were undoubtedly the reason for the cabin.

The cabin itself appears to have been originally built in the late 1910s and was probably fixed up and repaired a number of times over the years. Judging by the construction, the roof looks like it blew off sometime in the past and was added back on in the 1960s. I didn’t see any trash or artifacts more modern than the 1970s.

Please leave everything here for the next explorer.

"Chalcedony" Cabin
24 photos

Last Updated on August 3, 2020 by Guy Starbuck