White Tank & Grand Tank

/ Grand Tank/
White Tank & Grand Tank

Ok, so I enjoy wandering around the desert and finding stuff. Who doesn't? Could be giant rocks that look like sea monsters, or dried-out, sun-bleached bones of dead animals. Could be a forgotten gold mine or the remains of an old ranch truck. Could be shards of Indian pottery or a hidden petroglyph in a box canyon. Or, like today, it could be remnants of the cattle ranching days in Joshua Tree National Park. Because that's what White Tank and Grand Tank are.

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Ryan Ranch

/ Ryan Ranch/
Ryan Ranch

The Ryan Ranch Ruins at Lost Horse Well have intrigued me from the first time I saw them many years ago, whilst driving along Park Blvd towards a campsite at Jumbo Rocks. The stark, eroded adobe walls of the main ranch house have some kind of eerie allure that has drawn me to visit them many times since that first encounter.

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Gold Coin Mine

/ Gold Coin Mine, Joshua Tree/
Gold Coin Mine

I remember visiting this area when I was a kid and how excited I was to get out of the car, climb the hills and explore the tunnels and drifts that dot the Hexie Mountains. And now, many years later, it’s still the same. Even though I know hundreds of people have explored these old mines, places like this seem to renew that sense of adventure and discovery I’ve had since I was a boy. And that motivates me to hike the trails, climb the mountains and explore the backcountries. The gold I find are the pictures I take. 

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Johnny Lang Grave

/ Johnny Lang Grave/
Johnny Lang Grave

Johnny Lang first saw Lost Horse Valley in 1890, when he and his father dove a herd of cattle into the area and set up camp. One morning, they awoke to find their horses gone. Johnny tracked them to the McHaney brothers’ (local cattle rustlers) camp. The McHaneys informed Johnny the horses weren’t there and he’d better leave the area. Some time later, Johnny met up with a man named “Dutch” Frank. Now Dutch had a rich mining claim, but was afraid to work it because of the McHaney boys. So he sold the claim to Johnny and his father for $1,000 and they named it the Lost Horse mine.

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Hexahedron Mine

/ Hexahedron Mine/
Hexahedron Mine

I was heading out into the backcountry of Joshua Tree, to a place I'd never been before. I drove down the Geology Tour Road to the Pleasant Valley Backcountry Board, parked my truck, got my gear together and headed east into Fried Liver Wash. After about 100 yards, I went back to the truck and got some more water. I'd be glad later that I did.

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