October 2023 News

Here are the news and updates since the last newsletter in August.

I've been focused on Joshua Tree lately. That will continue a bit more, and then I will move on.

The next newsletter will be at the end of the year (with the year-end update, if I remember!) I will try and return to a quarterly newsletter schedule unless something else warrants an update.

New Trips

Ryan Mountain

Ryan Mountain is one of the best and most popular hikes in all of Joshua Tree National Park. It is a signature hike. The mountain rises above the boulder-strewn plains of Lost Horse and Queen Valleys and has fantastic panoramic views only available elsewhere in the park by long, cross-country

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

Ryan Ranch

Ryan Ranch was founded in 1895 by three brothers - Jepp, Tom, and Matt Ryan, who were cattle ranchers and entrepreneurs. They homesteaded at Lost Horse Spring, originally known as Witch Spring, to gain control of the water source. Initially, James McHaney had claimed the spring, but he later transfe…

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

Bronze Mine (Live Oak)

The Bronze Mine, also known as the Live Oak Mine, was a lead-silver mine that also contained some tungsten and fluorite. The vein is in a contact zone on the eastern side of the New York Mountains between the Goodsprings dolomite and a quartz monzonite intrusion. The mine was first

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

Maverick Boulder Petroglyphs

Like the Lonely Stones Petroglyphs, this is another isolated boulder outcrop that makes you ask why Native Americans would pick this particular boulder to leave their markings. The answer to that question remains a mystery. I did find a small tinaja, however, that makes me think they would have sto…

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

Diamond Solstice Pictographs

Nestled in the Wonderland of Rocks and just around the corner from Alister’s Cave in Joshua Tree National Park is another rock shelter with pictographs: the Diamond Solstice Pictographs. The main symbols here are a sunburst arc, diamonds, and diamond chains. Their meanings have been lost to time, bu…

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

Aiken’s Arch Pictographs

The pictographs inside of this arch which formed from a collapsed lava tube are some of the oldest, if not the oldest, in the East Mojave, and have been dated to 9,300 BP. The symbols are mainly in red ochre and they depict a variety of figures, mostly abstract,

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

Updated Trips

This has been an unusually busy two months for email updates:

I got an email from the grandson of a miner who was looking for his grandfather's mine. We found it, and he sent me some old family photos. See the updates:

Rhonda Mine

Back in 2007, a friend told us to check out this semi-modern gold mill tucked away in a seldom-visited canyon of the Mojave Desert. The mill with most of the equipment still there was a great find. Up on a high and steep slope, the Rhonda mill looks like an

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

I received an email from the former operator at the Atlanta Mill. He kindly gave me some first-hand information on that operation, causing me to look more into the history of the place. It was really interesting to hear from him. See my updates:

Atlanta Millsite

This was a modern gold and silver mill out in Eastern Nevada. It had been on operational stand-by for the last few years and was last operated by the Standard Slag Company. The Atlanta mine district is an old one. Gold and silver were discovered in the area around 1869.

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

I got another email from a subscriber on the current condition of the Mexican Mine in the Sierras. I added his photos and updates:

Mexican Mine

On a trip in 2005, we were hiking through the thick Sierra Nevadan Forest in search of an old mine with a long tramway. It turned out to be a bit of a longer hike than we thought it would be, and we weren’t seeing a tram.

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

If you have updates on sites, please let me know.

In late September, I went out to revisit the Sagamore Mine Camp. I was worried it burnt down in the York Fire - It had. See my new photos at the bottom of the page. What a loss.

Sagamore Mine Camp Ruin

The York Fire burned the camp. See below. The Sagamore Mine, also known as the New York Mine, was a silver, lead, copper, zinc, and gold mine. It was first discovered in the 1870s by Mormons who found rich silver veins in the foothills of the New York Mountains. It

Starbuck's ExploringGuy Starbuck

I've updated more than a few Joshua Tree posts as well.