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Nice trip Tommy / Daren. The bird is a Dark-eyed Junco and yes, the black-n-red insect is velvet ant. Very painful sting! I wandered over in that mine direction a couple of times. Lots of ranching artifacts for sure.

tommy750 wrote:

Britain wrote:

Have that on my radar. They actually have parking now just south of the runway next to the Troutman Mountain. Looks like a nice pack.

Not sure whether that lot allows more than day parking. Only time I was ever over there, the gate that led out to the lot was closed.

Well, the equestrian parking would work. On another note, it's been reported that someone has been cutting off valve stems out there. A few reported being stranded.

rockhopper wrote:

The main entrance to Toro peak off the Hwy 74 was locked. :-o

That is interesting....hummm...

Auga Alta spring update: We passed 3 fellow hikers that said they were out at Agua Alta and cleaned out the pipe into the spring and the water was flowing real good. I thanked them very much!

tommy750 wrote:

dsefcik wrote:

rockhopper wrote:

The main entrance to Toro peak off the Hwy 74 was locked. :-o

That is interesting....hummm...

Still closed due to winter storms: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/sbnf/recarea/?recid=81714[/quote]


Have you seen the new gate? It is truly Massive and closer to the Hwy than the old one. The old gate has never been closed in close to 40 years I have been going up there even in the Winter. We thought it was closed due to the Coachella concerts. Thanks for the link. You always chime in with great info. Thanks!

This site has indicated the road was closed multiple times in the past few years. But, I've never actually drove out there and checked...

Love the film photos. Didn't you guys do oriflame up and over to cottonwood a ways back?

tommy750 wrote:

Looks like a nice trip. Assuming Utah Arizona? Great pics. Thanks.

Correct, Arizona and Utah. Nothing too far off the beaten path.

Some national parks, some blm land, some GSE, some NSF lands.

Buford wrote:

Most SUVs and trucks should be able to get to the Butler/Rockhouse junction. The final 3 miles to the end of Rockhouse Truck Trail can be a mess. It depends on how bad the monsoons were, how armored your vehicle is, or how tolerant you are of body damage.

Very tolerant....this was from back in 2013, just didn't see that boulder...

Will be getting some time off soon and I'd like to try this route https://caltopo.com/m/S0R8 as a day hike. The majority of it appears to be on BLM. Anyone see any issues with this and the possibility of it crossing private land?

Here are last years winners.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmzXErx4

My favorites are the smoke tree and the rattler with the mosquito.

Most are really good. Others

Nice pictures on your other site too. That's a serious vehicle by the Trona Pinnacles. Do you happen to know what it was for? Looks like someone was on a serious mission.

Awesome! If that's the hill up the blocked off road north of Montero Palms been up there a while back.. Crossed over to Puff and down.if not cool hike!

Very nice. Did you get up there north of Palm Canyon Wash?

Thanks Tom,
Still love the roof top tent but you are right, the popup camper is a whole different level of glamping

What kind of tent did you get?

E-Bike? Hmm now you have me thinking

tommy750 wrote:

surfponto wrote:

E-Bike? Hmm now you have me thinking

Fat biking with a little boost is really nice out in the sand and rocks. Haven't used it as much as I'd liked but sure is fun. Did a 21 mile ride out in Canyon Sin Nombre and Vallecito a while back and was a decent workout but much easier and more fun with a little help. This trip was probably only about five miles on the bike and a few miles hiking. Would definitely look into it!

So it does ok in softer sand?

Did you see this post?
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/california/80018-hanks-mine-found.html

Here is Magazine
https://archive.org/details/Desert-Magazine-1966-07/page/n7 You can download PDF on lower right side of that page.

My dad used to fly a version of that plane. Vid of him putzing about over San Diego Bay.
https://youtu.be/B5HbHBeOUFA
edited by Britain on 12/28/2019

Nice find. I love looking for well worn trails that are not from modern use. This one on the south east side of Chariot has intrigued me.

edited by Rocko1 on 2/3/2020

edited by Rocko1 on 2/3/2020

tommy750 wrote:

Nice TR Rocko1. Daren and I were down the mountain from you in Canebrake on Saturday and I was complaining about the wind that night in June Wash---in front of the propane fire pit. Guess you had way more type 2 fun than we did Great pics especially your 4th and 5th ones.

I have a Zpacks Altaplex (discontinued) and really like it (especially the 1.5 lb weight) but it does get pretty noisy in the wind even with all ten guylines as taut as I can make them.

Nice. Things starting to bloom in June? I saw a couple of fires on the west slope of Whale and wondered if anyone here was out camping. I wish I had a gauge to tell the true wind speed.

They just re-released the Altaplex a month or so ago. Looks like a great tent. I had to put a sort of knot behind the Lineloc to stop it from slipping through the night. Do you significant pressure changes inside your tent during wind? It was enough to rock us back and fourth like mini-sonic booms.

Wow! Some fantastic finds. I would assume the spring would have some dampness/trickle with the weather we have had.

Looks like you covered a lot area on foot of that vastly in under explored place in our county. 45 miles. Wow! Good eye on the arrow points. The fact that the points were not made of the preferred obsidian means that most likely Lake Cahuilla was full thus covering the locals preferred obsidian source. Good point on the ranchers / miners building atop of older habitations. I've noticed that too.

Thank you for a great trip report. I have backpacker in over night from the North Fork of Indian Valley not to bad. Great area to explore

Seeing artifacts - even relatively recent ones like the ejection strap - always makes me think of the event that caused that object to be there and how it has been undisturbed and mostly unobserved since. It gives a sense of the scale of time. It's one of the things I love about the desert.

Fantastic trip! Couple questions. Do you think you ended up tracing the actual ''trail' up most of the way? I assume it's just disappeared over the years do to little to no use? What was your time up to the spine from base camp?

Nice. Good to get the last hike in at the Park.

Nothing better than an old-fashioned easter egg hunt! I think your snail may be a 'shoulderband' species, and probably rarely-documented from that area. If you ever use iNaturalist.org, post a photo and location of it there. Great trip report!

Cool trip, pictures and finds along the way.

Funny, I have been planning a trip up that ridge for a while to access Rabbit. Wanted to bypass the ramp and see new ground. I was supposed to do it last month but things got in the way.

Nice pics Tom, I like them..!

No real good place to carry a stray 6" blade up and down the side of a rocky desert mountain, but the shoulder strap worked...mostly

Amazing trip! That trip had everything in it and a cool way to get to Rabbit.

I am curious about that cement cylinder with the benchmark in it. Was it stamped with a name? Seems like an odd place.

I am itching to get back out there in some remote place, but the park is officially closed. From what I read, even dirt roads and washes are closed. Gonna hunt online for a national park that is still open. Going crazy sitting home. (edit to check notification box)
edited by tekewin on 4/11/2020

Great expedition Daren, Gary, Randy and Tommy. I always wondered if there was a another old Native American trail over to the East side of the ridge besides the one to the north heading up and out from the Rock house Ruins. Nice find. Nice petroglyphs too. Definite trail.
I've seen those same Petroglphs elsewhere in the region. Pic. No.2 I've seen the same style only in a few places.

Pic. No 17. Try to image there was probably a shady Pine near the slicks a thousand years ago. What a view.
Oh, Thanks for your service on the collar retrieval and enjoy your Buck Knife. That knife sheath looks like it has been there 30 years!

Cheers
edited by rockhopper on 4/10/2020

tommy750 wrote:

Were you able to find anything out about your new knife from serial numbers etc?

It only says "Buck 121 USA" on it.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/information-on-this-buck-121-knife.785893/

https://www.ebay.com/b/Buck-Knife-121/43322/bn_7023228743

BTW, I think we had 2 or 3 balloons on this trip.

--
edited by dsefcik on 4/11/2020

Tom, yeah that has to be the species, nice find! Coachella Desertsnail. 'Imperiled in the United States'.

Is there a benchmark there? Not familiar with this spot.

tommy750 wrote:

Yesterday it was closed when we passed heading north but was open with the barricade in place stopping traffic when we returned later in the afternoon.

Never been stopped at that checkpoint even when it was manned. I assume they are now since the 8 fwy checkpoint is closed.

I have a few Datura plants in the garden, grown from seed. A great plant that attracts weird pollinators and Sphinx moth caterpillars. The plant itself sort of smells like peanut butter and the flowers are spectacular.

Well, isn't tommy750 full of surprise botanical medicine information!...where did you say I could find those ICU carts, by the wind caves..??

I am getting kinda itchy to get out....maybe this weekend, especially now that gas prices are down, it will only cost me $30 in gas instead of $50

Thanks for the flower update.