Lots of photos of our walk today....

Our Location: Near American Girl Mine Road, BLM, CA

 

A nice night, a bit on the cool side and I once again used my duvet to keep me warm and toasty. I didn't get up to greet the sun this morning, although I was wide awake, I enjoyed a few more chapters of my book instead. 

 

 One could still drive on this part of the road but we left the Dogsled and stepped onto the road way when I took this photo.

 A mine opening. We climbed up to it, not a far or hard climb but it was still a fair distance from the roadway. Easy to reach though.

I didn't go inside but turned on the flash and pointed the camera. It took me a few tries to get this photo, I kept pointing the camera too far to one side or the other, or too high and getting mostly ceiling. It doesn't appear to go any further than that pile of rocks off to the side but I can't say for sure. 

We decided we take a bit of a walk/hike this morning starting out near American Girl Mine Road. For those that know the area, we were back beyond where the road splits, right goes back to the current mine, and left goes back to the open pit mine no longer in use. We chose the left road of course, parked the Dogsled before the road narrowed to an off road vehicle type of road.

 

 You can't see the Dogsled from this photo but it is behind that small rise in the middle of the photo. A 5th wheel is off to the left and a small truck with camper is also a bit left and south of the Dogsled. We are standing atop of the hill over the mine photos above.

 Pretty awesome view. Those tan hills are the Imperial Dunes to the south. We are camped to off on the right of the photo but you can't see us. You can of course if you look to the middle right see the Dogsled waiting for us.

 We are camped off in this direction, toward the middle left in this photo.

We do a lot of walking in that area that looks so flat with the line of green growth through it. 

 

The Dogsled is down there but you can see it behind that pile of darker rocks to the left of center. 

 

 

 I have climbed and walked along a great deal of the area in this photo over the past couple of  years.

 Pale rock is of course tailings from that hole in the rock you can see above the pile.

 

 We are heading back toward the old open pit mine and the blue/green tailing pile but I turned to snap this photo. That would be to the southwest of us, those tan dunes show up pretty well.

 Shale like rock here, I would be afraid to hit with a hammer as I'm sure lots of chunks would splinter and fall. Not stable for mining for certain.

 The camera doesn't show the blue green of these tailings and the tailings themselves are now sliding down the sides with a great deal more brown showing through now.

 We are still heading toward the old open pit mine back in these hills but I turned around to snap this photo. We came through on the road that winds between the hills here. I love the edge of brown hill, looks the top of a tiki hut, don't ya think?

 We have reached the open pit mine now. You can see some of the sides are starting to fall now. Water, wind and time  has started to erode them and they are less defined. Along the middle bottom of the photo is narrow roadway which ends in a deep pool of water.

 This is the end point of the mine, you can still see the shelves here.

 A bit better view, the end of the pit in the photo above is directly to the right of this photo. The water as you can see has hollowed out under some of that side wall in the bottom middle of the photo. These photos are not the best as the sun is shining at us over those hills. It is too far a walk to do later in the heat of the day when the photos would be of better quality so we will make do with what I have.

 I would guess that is some kind of mineral leaching from the tailings but I don't know that for certain. You can see this hillside for a long way and it certainly draws your eye, catching your attention with the colour so evenly running down the hillside.

 Again, the sun interferes but it is what it is. You can see roads along the top of the mountains there but also see where the sides are starting to erode due to water, wind and time. 

 Down on the old road to the bottom of the mine but I think it has now become more of a wash than a roadway. You can see it is not easy walking down here, lots of course rock, stones and sand. Uneven footing and fairly steep high sides that you could not climb down or climb up.

 Turning around from the photo above, this is what lies behind me.

 It looks pretty rough down there doesn't it? The path to the bottom of the mine is off to the right out view of the photo.

 

 I think that is the side of a wash that comes off the multi coloured hillside. I think the wash is pretty deep there but I didn't walk far enough to check it out. Riley was having a rest back the path a short distance and I didn't want to keep her waiting too long.

 This leads to the area that is pictured in the photo above. I would have had to walk down this wash past those green Palo Verde trees to even begin to see the wash above. This was the farthest point for me, I turned here and headed back to join Riley at her seat on a large rock while she rested.  Can you see the 'spine'  or white line in the brown rock, keep that in mind as you continue on.

 Once damp dust now curling into mud curls as it continues to dry out.

 Looking behind us, we walked on this gravel roadway all the way to the wash I showed in the upper photos. It was a lot rougher than it looks. The open pit mine is a fair distance off to the right of this photo. Once again you can see the 'spines' or white line in the hills back there.

 I believe it is this kind of formation that causes the 'spine' look in these hills. It thrusts upward breaking the surface and looks like a spine or a serpentine chain against the dark of the hills.

 Heading back toward the Dogsled we can now start to see the desert floor and the Imperial Dunes between the edges.

 Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the walk! We travelled  just over 3.5 miles in 1 hour and 30 minutes. Did you break a sweat? 

 Yep, we are certainly going in the proper direction to find the Dogsled to take us home.

 Until next time.. take care, be safe,

 Who says the desert is brown and boring?

 

Deb 

A long walk again today.....

Our Location: BLM, Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, CA

(All pictures taken with my phone)

I slept better last night but still was up many times. I think I’ll have Riley knock me on the head with a hammer tonight to see if I can get through the whole night. 

Army type rig, could go about anywhere I think. It's off of American Girl Mine Road.

Looks like a mine shaft over there.

Much warmer this morning than it has been since we’ve arrived. At 7 AM California Time it was 56F/ 13.3 C so you knew it was going to be a nice day and in fact it proved to be true. It was a nice day if you could stay out of the breeze although during my walk I was happy to have it to help cool me off. 

Some very straight up cliff sides.

I took this path back into the hills.

 

My friend Linda called this morning to see how we are doing and to touch base after the new year. Always enjoy talking to Linda, she’s a sweet lady and I’ve known her for more years than I care to think about. Daughter Courtney also called today for the same reason, to check with us after the new year. Courtney is back to work with the Toronto School board now and I think glad to be back after the holidays, they sounded more exhausting than her regular working days. I also chatted with my sister Jan for a bit today as well. She’s doing well and sounds happy. Her significant other Rick (not to be confused with our brother Rick) is also doing well. They confirmed snow on the ground and milder temperatures but it’s still winter so what can you expect right? 

Yes I took this road.

Some cut rock here along the way.

 

Around 10 AM both Riley and I headed out for a walk. She to do her thing and me to do mine. She completed a square by using both cross country and roads, it took her about an hour to do her walk and she texted when she arrived home. Always nice to know she’s back safe and sound. My walk was a bit longer than I thought it would be but that is the way things go, isn’t it? 

The bluish mystery on the right of the photo.

Very good road back here, the Dogsled would think it's a highway.

 

I headed back to the same area that I visited yesterday. Lorne (A Place Called Away) told me of an open pit mine back behind the big bluish pile of gravel. So today that was my goal to see if I could find it. I walked cross country to the power line right of way, a short walk on that path, then cross  country once more to reach a road that comes off of American Girl Mine Road and goes back among the hills. From there I followed this road until it narrowed down to a nice well travelled but good road back to the open pit mine. I didn’t go into the pit but stood up above and snapped a few pictures. Interesting area for certain. I could have easily taken the Dogsled back here the road is fairly good and very few dips or bumps. Just some bigger stones poking up here and there. 

The sun is in a bad place to be taking pictures but oh well.

That green down there is algae growing on the water.

It looks like folks take their buggies, quads, etc down in there.

 

On the way back out I took a road way that lead me beside the big bluish pile of gravel or tailings and from there things got interesting. I rounded the end to find myself looking down at the same path I had taken yesterday. The only problem was finding a way down into the wash to get to the ’same road’ I had taken. Hmmmm….I scrambled a bit, looked around a bit more, climbed here and there, back down here and there and finally found a way down instead of continuing on the roadway which would add at least another 1/2 mile to the jaunt. I managed quite well and made my way back up the side of the wash which cut off quite a bit of walking or so I thought. In order to get around one particular wash I had to swing back toward the hills and when I looked up I sighted what I believed was a rig that sits just a short distance away from our own Igloo. I headed cross country for that rig. It wasn’t until I got closer, about 30 minutes later that I realized it wasn’t the rig I thought and that I had gone a long ways out of my way. I veered to the right when I should have veered to the left.

 

See the hand? There is a hole in there too.

I walked this roadway for a while.

 Oh well, I knew I wasn’t lost but would have a longer walk than I had wanted. Quickly I found the line of green indicating the wash that I wanted, headed off directly for it, called Riley to explain I’d be a bit later than I thought. I finally reached the area in which I knew would take me right to our door and started slowing to cool down a bit. My walk today while MOSTLY on roads or smooth washes, also included a bit of up and down that I wasn’t expecting, next time I’ll wear my hiking boots. Time was just over 3 hours. I will say I slipped myself a couple of pain pills, sat in my chair and enjoyed my book for a good while.   

Looking out over the way I have to go. 

We cooked lunch inside today, a small pork tenderloin roast, stuffing, cauliflower, Italian spiced white squash and Jello for dessert. I of course, had a salad before lunch. A good meal for us and enough roast left over for a sandwich or two.
 

More of the open pit mine.

 So there you have it, our day here off Ogilby Road. A good one, with sun and some wind, a bit coolish at times but with wonderful blue skies, and the sounds of quiet. No complaints from us. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.
 

Looks like waves, doesn't it?

  

Until next time......take care, be safe,

That is not slate but gravel.

 

Deb