Checking Out a Mining Claim

Some friends of ours bought a mining claim, sight unseen, about 36 miles south of the park. After checking the maps, we all decided to take a ride out to see what might be there.

We drove out Vulture Mine Road for many miles until it turned to dirt. Then, we drove across some desert roads until we came to this big wash.

The cars were unloaded and we started hiking into the hills to try and find the corner marker for their claim. Here is most of the group. That's Debbie, Bill, Wanda (with her hand in front of her face) and Doug. The other member is in the background, Roger.

Here's Roger.

After finding the corner post and deducing the direction of the rest of the claim, we all headed into the hills to test some of the smaller washes for traces of gold.

Bill and Wanda found a good spot.

Doug and I climbed higher and found another good testing area.

After carrying small buckets of dirt back down to the cars, the guys panned the soil looking for traces of gold. I photographed their best side!


They weren't too appreciative of my sense of humor.

It was a warm, fun day in the desert that resulted in zero gold. Still, we had a good time visiting and got to see a new area. Who could ask for more?