North New York Peak via Keystone Canyon

12-10-16 • Ken Eltrich

I have wanted to attempt this hike for some time but it never seemed to work out until now. With the weather cooling down I decided I would give it a go. I couldn’t get anyone else to make the trip with me so I figured I would see how far I could make it. I was pretty sure I could make the saddle above the mine then decide if I wanted to go on. I spent the night with family in Boulder City and got an early start to the trail head. I drove up past the group camping area to where the road pretty much stops at the wash then it continues up to the left. The wilderness boundary is in the area but I never spotted any signs indicating where it starts. There is a nice camp spot there for one or two vehicles and I had the option of staying the night if I needed to. Starting up the trail/wash the road comes and goes, it’s washed out in some areas then ok in others. As I started walking I’m thinking this is great not too hard. We’ll all that changed once I got to the end of the road at the mine! Small patches of snow in the shady areas the rest of the way up. It was pretty steep as I worked my way to the saddle. I just took my time and enjoyed the cool morning. I rested at the saddle and enjoyed the great views from there. If I remember correctly my GPSR showed .45 to the peak from the saddle. I thought that’s not bad I can do it. The problem was that was a straight line as the crow flies. It would take me another two hours to reach the summit from the saddle. Cold and windy at the top I took some pics and found some shelter from the wind behind a rock outcropping. The views are amazing from there. The South peak looked like a class 3 or better and there was no way I could get to the top of it so I took some pictures and enjoyed the views from the top. Pictures do not do this peak justice you just have to go there and experience them first hand. Keystone Canyon is worth several trips to explore and I will be back there are a lot more interesting sites to see.                         ~ Ken

(click Read more to see the photos)

West Ord Mountains

November 5, 2016 • By Nelson Miller

We had just three vehicles and five people for this trip: Nelson Miller, Dave Mott, Janet and Peter Austin, and a new member, Steve Richards. Thanks to Janet Austin for being our trip photographer! First stop was the remains of a miner’s cabin. Janet Austin observed what appeared to be a hand-dug well next to the cabin. Once again, I wish people would put dates whenever they pour concrete. LOL! Several hundred feet up the hill was the mine, which appeared that it might go all the way through the
   top of the hill, about 250 feet in length. However, we were only able to go in about sixty feet before we came to a cross tunnel that had a drop-off of six feet or so, therefore we turned back to the entrance.

We continued on to Quill Springs, where we found a large cottonwood, but no visible water. There was various evidence of occupation, here, including petroglyphs, hunting blinds, remains of a stone miner’s cabin, and some kind of concrete basin. We enjoyed lunch in the shade of the cottonwood.

Next stop was Indian circles and an Indian trail above Tyler Dry Lake. These circles are a bit unusual since they sit in a small depression along the ridge, rather than sitting on a fan having a broad view, as is more typical. Along the way, we picked up a guy who was exploring by foot after deciding his Subaru might not make it.

  On the way to our next destination, we explored a small hidden valley and dry lake. Passing on we arrived at tanks and a corral that apparently had been constructed by Shield Ranch, since their name was welded into one of the tanks. They called it Saddle Spring. This seems an appropriate name since this sits in a small saddle in the hills, however the topo map shows Joker Spring about 400 feet up the hill. There was running water at these tanks.

We checked a small mine, named Anita Mine, see below, which had some pretty colored rocks, but not a lot else to see there. Final stop was Granite Well, a series of several hand dug wells, not too far east of Highway 247. We attempted to explore Goat Spring and another cabin and tank, but were blocked by a locked gate and lengthy fence line. So, we ended the day and headed for home.

                                    ~ Nelson Miller

Photos by Janet Austin & Christopher Cook (Click Read more to see them)

Desert Explorers in the Gobi Desert

by Nancy Maclean

This year, Desert Explorers returned to the Gobi Desert, as Ron Ross and I travelled there with Overseas Adventure Travel to add one more Desert visit to our “bucket list.”

As we flew from Mongolia’s capital, Ulaan Baataar to Dalanzadgad (DZ) in the Gobi Desert in our little Hunnu Air propjet, the landscape looked like we were flying over the Arizona or Nevada desert. It is a desolate area with no roads and no signs of civilized life for a long time; it gives you a feeling of just how big this desert area is. As we got closer to our destination, I began to see pockets of water…what looks like muddy lakes. And as we start the descent, we see some greenery in the valleys, potentially some creeks or ground water for plants to survive on.

We collect our luggage and exit the tiny airport where our nice four-wheel-drive vans are waiting for our group. We are all excited to see what kind of adventure awaits us here. Down on the ground, the place looks like the foothills of Wheeler peak in Nevada: fairly high mountains with broad flat valleys. DZ is a town of 15,000 inhabitants with traditional ger tent districts. Many families have a small brick home and a traditional ger tent right next to it.                   

Shortly, we are out of town and turn off on a bouncy two-track dirt road. In our thoughts are 40 miles of this to our camp!!! Soon we stop at a guest ger camp for lunch. It is a nice lodge with beautifully carved bar and crystal chandelier and sconces on the walls.

(click Read more for the rest of the story and photos)

Thanksgiving on the Desert

by Bob Jaussaud

Sure hope that you all had as wonder.ful a 2016 Thanksgiving as we did.

Following kind of a tradition, a small group of Desert Explorers gathered again on the East Mojave for Thanksgiving. Our hosts were Leslie and Chris Ervin and Leslie’s folks, Shirley and Kib Roby. They filled us with turkey, ham and everything else one could expect. How did we get so lucky?

There were 15 of us around the festive table including Neal and Marian Johns, Mignon Slentz with her son, Joaquin, Debbie and Steve Marschke, Glenn Shaw, Cheryl and Rich Dodsen, plus Bob and Sue Jaussaud. As usual, we ate too much turkey and too many pies. Everything was wonderful.

Two days of field trips and left overs followed. Friday, we worked our way over a rough road to the Keystone Mine. Believe it or not, Neal and Marian Johns had never been there before. They almost didn’t make it. Part way there, Sue saw smoke coming out of their camper! Steve’s quick action is the only thing that saved their rig. Too bad, Neal. The new camper will have to wait.

Saturday was our day to explore the Hackberry area and we hiked into a little known spring and old mining area. Then we headed to some abandoned claims. Steve showed us an old drilling rig he and Deb had discovered. We continued exploring until the sun went down and we, sadly, had to call it quits.                                                                                ~ Joso

– Fire! – Fire! – Fire! –

This past Thanksgiving, we and several other Desert Explorers joined Chris & Leslie Ervin (Archivist of the Library at Goffs) for a turkey feast at Goffs. Then Friday, Steve and Debbie led us on a trip to the Keystone Mine in the New York Mountains. About a half hour after we left Goffs, Bob and Sue Jaussaud, who were the sweep right behind us, noticed smoke coming out of the camper and via the CB said we were on fire. We immediately stopped and sure enough - smoke was pouring out of the back of the camper. It could have been so much worse if we, rather than Bob and Sue, had been tail end; we wouldn’t have discovered the problem until it was too late.

While I fumbled around, quick-thinking Steve got his fire extinguisher and put out the fire inside the camper. Thank you, Steve! Damage was a hole in the canvas over the stove burner (some idiot left it on when he put the top down). All four of our blankets that were stashed under the table were burned and the table itself was scorched. Two of our four cushions were partially melted and the big catch-all box on the floor and part of its contents were ruined.

After all of the excitement we gathered our senses and decided we might as well continue on. Back on the road again, we drove over a “good” (DE term) road to the mine and found lots of new lumber that Dave Nichols, the Mojave Preserve’s Archaeologist, has hauled in for further rehab of the cabin and loading dock.

After returning to Goffs that evening, we all pigged out on left-overs and then, since we no longer had a usable camper that we could sleep in, we drove on home that night.

Thanks again, Steve.     ~ Neal 

(click Read More to see the photos)