Exploring Quartzsite

Yesterday we took the truck out into the desert looking for old stone buildings and abandoned mines. We were not disappointed. This area is littered with old mine shafts, many wide open and just left as the miners gave up and walked away.  Come along with us as we drive the bumpy narrow trails to find these "gems" in the desert.

Click on this image to see how well protected this cactus is. When driving past these, we were often scraping them and had to make sure arms and hands were inside the truck.

Sequoya Cactus dot the desert here. Someone said the Sequoya have to be 75 years old before they start putting out arms. Amazing they can survive that long in this climate.

This was one of the better sections of the back roads we were following.

Mary, framed by tumbling walls.

Same cabin, different angle. I don't know how people survived in such a harsh environment.

Can you see the cribbing used to keep the mine shaft from collapsing? We didn't try to enter, just stood in amazement at the labour spent to construct the shaft and extract the gold.

Another entrance to an abandoned mine.

Could you climb down this ladder and work in the darkness and dust for 8 hours?
I think I wouldn't last too long.

Mine entrance, note the way the timbers fit together.

The day is getting late and we must soon head back down these trails for home................. but first......

Gillian, and Don help Mary carry rocks  back to the truck.

Soon we will be heading south to Yuma and the "Gypsy Rally" Thanks for keeping an eye on us and remember,  we love to hear from our readers.  Talk later.