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Box Flat and Prickly Pear Flat Cowboy Camps

Box Flat and Prickly Pear Flat Cowboy Camps

I went out to the Utah desert in 2016 to hunt for a few pictograph sites. Instead, I came across two cowboy camps. Not much is left at either of them: a broken stove, bed springs, dishes, and utensils, but I found them interesting. I don’t know their age

Covington Falls Petroglyphs

Covington Falls Petroglyphs

There are a couple of very faint petroglyphs and pictographs out at Covington Falls. I think most hikers walking the route walk right past them without noticing. The petroglyphs are located at a granite dry fall that collects water after a good rain. This is a scenic spot. Shaded by

Three Bachelors Prospectors Camp

Three Bachelors Prospectors Camp

In 2018, we found a small prospector’s camp out in the wilderness of the Death Valley region. I named it because three cabin tent pads are scattered around the site. Interestingly, there isn’t a mine nearby; instead, a few prospects are spread out in the hills. The area

Cowboy Petroglyphs (Joshua Tree)

Cowboy Petroglyphs (Joshua Tree)

Back in 2017, we wandered out to this remote corner of Joshua Tree to check out an unusual set of petroglyphs. Unlike most of the abstract petroglyph panels I come across, these had a few human figures. A couple of them are a horse and rider, and another appears to

Par Value Mill

Par Value Mill

Late autumn of 2017 found us tracking down a very unusual stamp mill high in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. The mill was a unique hammer design called a Pratt Ideal Stamp Mill. Very few of these mills were ever put into use, and even fewer (if any!) still

Cary Ranch Pictographs

Cary Ranch Pictographs

Back in 2013, I was invited by Dick Cary to visit his historic Cary Ranch and examine some of the pictographs there. The Mountain Cahuilla Indians first inhabited the ranch area. The site is near a natural pass and an old Indian trail that connects inland Southern California shrublands to

Sound Democrat Mill

Sound Democrat Mill

The Sound Democrat Mill is an awesome find and one of the highlights of the San Juan Mountains. The mine was first discovered in 1899. Gold and silver ore from the mine was packed on mules over a 13,000 ft ridge to the Sunnyside Mill in Eureka Gulch. In