Post by LarryS on Jan 13, 2014 12:05:08 GMT -5
We planned a north Cady trip this past Sunday with Shotgunner Scott & Bluesky Susan but Scott's parole officer wouldn't let him go. So we met up with Susan at the Basin Road off ramp at the I-15 around 6:30am. We were told that the hour long drive on the dirt road south was 4 wheel drive. Nah, I wouldn't hesitate driving a 2WD car or pick up on this road. Just watch out for a few big rocks & small dry washes. In spots we were going over 30mph. If I didn't have Goober in the back of my Jeep, I would have gone much faster.
Ok, I'll admit we got lost! I'm such a fool. I was the one who drew up the maps for Scott's party! Even though Scott & Tommy gave us great directions, we though we were still in the main Baxter Wash while we actually already turned into the side wash leading into Pepto Bismol hill. So we ended up way further north than planned. Both of us had GPS & after studying my TOPO map & landmarks, we got going in the right direction. Ending up coming into the fluorite mine canyon mouth from the west. But we still had fun searching around all the other countless side canyons. The huge canyon south of Pepto Bismol hill was awesome. Kicking myself for not taking pictures but it was like a Martian landscape. Great place to make SiFi movies.
Off in the distance is Cave Mountain. I-15 is on the backside and Afton Canyon/Mojave River flows on this side. We finally found the fluorite mine canyon. You can see rockhounder excavation digging on the side of the hill and Goober made himself home in one. While Susan & I dug all around the hillsides, Goober just stared back at the Jeep where his momma Diane was napping. He wouldn't take his eyes off it.
Susan playing scare crow. It worked because we didn't see any crows!
That whole area was full of very unusual rocks & minerals. Lots of crystals, etc. We found lots of nice material, all which we had to dig for. The float gave us clues of what lies just underneath the surface. Will post pics after the Advil kicks in so I can unload the Jeep. Found this goofy looking rock, about 2" in diameter. Looks like compressed baby shark teeth biscuit. Heck, I'm tempted to clean it up and just glue a bail on it!
Hiked back into the canyon and went way up on the east side of the fluorite mine. Found some unusual rocks that almost looks like Mexican Crazy Lace. Lots of color swirling around in a white matrix. Pics will come later and going to be interesting to slab it. Hope it holds together. This is a cool little juniper tree that looked like a bonzi tree growing out of a cliff face.
Ended up near a high peak and saw some gullies heading north east towards this valley where Scott & his group camped, we thought. Goober & I took a chance trying to search for it. It was fun searching the remote back country for rock but didn't find anything. Goober doesn't like walking near bush branches and didn't want to go under this creosote blocking our path. So I climbed up to the right. Was in a spot where I thought to myself that this is the worse place to slip & fall. Yep, I did! Like standing on marbles and went sliding down the hill on my side. No way was I going to drop my sack full of rocks! It was a long ways down and wow did that hurt but didn't draw any blood. As usual, Goober just stared at me wagging his tail.
Finally found Scott's group campsite. Saw the fire ring and broken beer bottles all over the place so we knew it was the spot! Nah, no broken bottles but sure was a great campsite. Ideal base camp to explore the whole area which would take a life time to do. And saw the cell towers in view too.
This whole area is loaded with unusual geologic formations. Think this is where they got the idea for the stepping stones in the Indiana Jones' movies. Step on the wrong one, down you go into a bottomless pit!
Goober led me back to the fluorite canyon. He sure was interested in all the pack rat nests in the area. He enjoyed sniffing around in all the piles of sticks and had to yell at him to get out of there.
Pepto Bismol hill. Can't miss the pink color from anywhere in that valley.
We decided to stop at the Mojave River bed and poke around. I know this part of the river was flowing for a couple months while we were there 3 years ago. They opened the dam gates in the San Bernardino mountains because of high snow melt & rain fall. Kept the dam gates open a couple months where the river was flowing from Victorville all the way to Baker, bank to bank. And washing out many bridges along the way. All the sand in that area was as hard as concrete. You can't just pick up a 2" rock. You had to dig it loose. None of us found anything worth keeping.
Came across this huge pile of animal dung. I swore it was the size of an elephants. Even looked for elephant tracks. If it came from a wild donkey, he needs to see a vet soon!
We decided that our next stop would be at the Green Monster mine. When Susan was there during Thanksgiving with her mom, the dry lake bed was full of water. Now it only has water in the center and you can drive all the way to the mine. But it looks like the BLM closed the iron gates and buried them shut. In the past you could drive inside the quarry. Probably wanted to keep people/vehicles out due to rock slides. I know of a road that heads east which leads to another, even larger green quarry. I drove most of the way 3 years ago but turned around. When Susan was there this past Thanksgiving, the road was under water. Now it's high and dry. I saw this second quarry which is a couple miles east of the first quarry on Google Earth. Always wanted to explore it. Nice road all the way but towards the end the BLM put a "Wilderness Study Area" sign up. Yep, they'll be closing this area off soon. This Green Monster Mine #2 is much larger than the first. Plus the rock was much more interesting. Larger variety, more green shades mixed in with layers.
Goober was so excited that he found one of his favorite play toys. A brand new tennis ball. He ended up finding 4 in all. Guess someone was using them as target practice but missed these. You're not very smart if you use a rock cliff face as the backdrop while target practicing!
And he had to show his momma his new tennis ball.
We were like kids in a candy store going through all the rock. So much variety to choose from and sizes to fit all saws.
There was huge white quartz stringers going through the quarry walls. The whole darn mountain was green rock. Just had a light coating of brown volcanic stuff on top. There is a small valley which you drive up that separates the first and second quarries. So this area is another set of hills.
Susan found this nice green rock. Would like to see Scott make a sphere out of this!
Here's Diane trying to get Goober away from Susan. Goober adores Susan and they had fun playing with each other all day. Plus Susan fed Goober his favorite food, fried chicken. Goober even knows the word chicken and gets excited by just mentioning that word. So it was a good day for Goober, fried chicken & tennis balls.
While driving on the I-15 near Stoddard Wells, saw this crazy lady driving with a car loaded down with rocks. We had a fantastic time exploring the north Cady's and Green Monster. Found many sites that need further exploring. We'll be back!
Larry, Diane & Goober
Ok, I'll admit we got lost! I'm such a fool. I was the one who drew up the maps for Scott's party! Even though Scott & Tommy gave us great directions, we though we were still in the main Baxter Wash while we actually already turned into the side wash leading into Pepto Bismol hill. So we ended up way further north than planned. Both of us had GPS & after studying my TOPO map & landmarks, we got going in the right direction. Ending up coming into the fluorite mine canyon mouth from the west. But we still had fun searching around all the other countless side canyons. The huge canyon south of Pepto Bismol hill was awesome. Kicking myself for not taking pictures but it was like a Martian landscape. Great place to make SiFi movies.
Off in the distance is Cave Mountain. I-15 is on the backside and Afton Canyon/Mojave River flows on this side. We finally found the fluorite mine canyon. You can see rockhounder excavation digging on the side of the hill and Goober made himself home in one. While Susan & I dug all around the hillsides, Goober just stared back at the Jeep where his momma Diane was napping. He wouldn't take his eyes off it.
Susan playing scare crow. It worked because we didn't see any crows!
That whole area was full of very unusual rocks & minerals. Lots of crystals, etc. We found lots of nice material, all which we had to dig for. The float gave us clues of what lies just underneath the surface. Will post pics after the Advil kicks in so I can unload the Jeep. Found this goofy looking rock, about 2" in diameter. Looks like compressed baby shark teeth biscuit. Heck, I'm tempted to clean it up and just glue a bail on it!
Hiked back into the canyon and went way up on the east side of the fluorite mine. Found some unusual rocks that almost looks like Mexican Crazy Lace. Lots of color swirling around in a white matrix. Pics will come later and going to be interesting to slab it. Hope it holds together. This is a cool little juniper tree that looked like a bonzi tree growing out of a cliff face.
Ended up near a high peak and saw some gullies heading north east towards this valley where Scott & his group camped, we thought. Goober & I took a chance trying to search for it. It was fun searching the remote back country for rock but didn't find anything. Goober doesn't like walking near bush branches and didn't want to go under this creosote blocking our path. So I climbed up to the right. Was in a spot where I thought to myself that this is the worse place to slip & fall. Yep, I did! Like standing on marbles and went sliding down the hill on my side. No way was I going to drop my sack full of rocks! It was a long ways down and wow did that hurt but didn't draw any blood. As usual, Goober just stared at me wagging his tail.
Finally found Scott's group campsite. Saw the fire ring and broken beer bottles all over the place so we knew it was the spot! Nah, no broken bottles but sure was a great campsite. Ideal base camp to explore the whole area which would take a life time to do. And saw the cell towers in view too.
This whole area is loaded with unusual geologic formations. Think this is where they got the idea for the stepping stones in the Indiana Jones' movies. Step on the wrong one, down you go into a bottomless pit!
Goober led me back to the fluorite canyon. He sure was interested in all the pack rat nests in the area. He enjoyed sniffing around in all the piles of sticks and had to yell at him to get out of there.
Pepto Bismol hill. Can't miss the pink color from anywhere in that valley.
We decided to stop at the Mojave River bed and poke around. I know this part of the river was flowing for a couple months while we were there 3 years ago. They opened the dam gates in the San Bernardino mountains because of high snow melt & rain fall. Kept the dam gates open a couple months where the river was flowing from Victorville all the way to Baker, bank to bank. And washing out many bridges along the way. All the sand in that area was as hard as concrete. You can't just pick up a 2" rock. You had to dig it loose. None of us found anything worth keeping.
Came across this huge pile of animal dung. I swore it was the size of an elephants. Even looked for elephant tracks. If it came from a wild donkey, he needs to see a vet soon!
We decided that our next stop would be at the Green Monster mine. When Susan was there during Thanksgiving with her mom, the dry lake bed was full of water. Now it only has water in the center and you can drive all the way to the mine. But it looks like the BLM closed the iron gates and buried them shut. In the past you could drive inside the quarry. Probably wanted to keep people/vehicles out due to rock slides. I know of a road that heads east which leads to another, even larger green quarry. I drove most of the way 3 years ago but turned around. When Susan was there this past Thanksgiving, the road was under water. Now it's high and dry. I saw this second quarry which is a couple miles east of the first quarry on Google Earth. Always wanted to explore it. Nice road all the way but towards the end the BLM put a "Wilderness Study Area" sign up. Yep, they'll be closing this area off soon. This Green Monster Mine #2 is much larger than the first. Plus the rock was much more interesting. Larger variety, more green shades mixed in with layers.
Goober was so excited that he found one of his favorite play toys. A brand new tennis ball. He ended up finding 4 in all. Guess someone was using them as target practice but missed these. You're not very smart if you use a rock cliff face as the backdrop while target practicing!
And he had to show his momma his new tennis ball.
We were like kids in a candy store going through all the rock. So much variety to choose from and sizes to fit all saws.
There was huge white quartz stringers going through the quarry walls. The whole darn mountain was green rock. Just had a light coating of brown volcanic stuff on top. There is a small valley which you drive up that separates the first and second quarries. So this area is another set of hills.
Susan found this nice green rock. Would like to see Scott make a sphere out of this!
Here's Diane trying to get Goober away from Susan. Goober adores Susan and they had fun playing with each other all day. Plus Susan fed Goober his favorite food, fried chicken. Goober even knows the word chicken and gets excited by just mentioning that word. So it was a good day for Goober, fried chicken & tennis balls.
While driving on the I-15 near Stoddard Wells, saw this crazy lady driving with a car loaded down with rocks. We had a fantastic time exploring the north Cady's and Green Monster. Found many sites that need further exploring. We'll be back!
Larry, Diane & Goober