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The most complete guide to Southern Nevada's mining history.

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Our only underground adventure for the day was at the Gold Bar Mine which broke into the water table. Not sure if they were unable to control the water which ended production or if the flooding occurred when it was finally abandoned. Normally, the opportunity to dive another flooded mine would be exciting but if you saw the condition of the water, you'd know why we were less than excited.

A few of you were able to see a large birds nest above the mine portal. Judging by the size of the nest and the small rodent remains, we suspect it to be an owl, but have yet to narrow it further. First image of the second row is the best image of the nest. The remaining unhatched egg appears to be green with and dark speckles. The hatched birds don't even have their down feathers yet, so they probably hatched within a few days. They look like a handful of chicken gizzards to me. In the last row of images in the gallery, you'll see the second bird nest found that day. No idea what those guys are either. We originally found that nest a month ago when we were scouting the route, but the nest was empty at that time.

Just as we were arriving at our final stop for the day, we come across a vehicle at the Vanderbilt Mill. Normally, we would have waited until they left, but they appeared to be wrapping up their visit, so we drove to the other side of the complex and began there. When exploring, it's proper etiquette to give people their space. People get remote for many reasons, so it's also a good idea to keep your distance for your own safety.

As we were all exiting vehicles and gearing up for the mill exploration, the vehicle came around to meet us and they knew me by name. Everyone who really knows me knows I have the memory and attention span of a slow toddler. After a few reminders, I remembered them from an event we held over a year ago to North Ivanpah.

I haven't heard from them since then and they didn't know we were holding an event there on that day. Over 55 miles from town, and over 10 miles from pavement our paths met again at that moment. Maybe there's a reason other than coincidence. I should have asked for your contact information. If you happen to revisit the site, please keep in touch so we don't have to wait for the next coincidence to meet again.

Just as we thought the event was about to wrap up, Jeff spots something out of place. A large bottle that appears to be cobalt blue glass way up near the ceiling, on top of the structure of a tall workshop. Someone put a lot of effort into placing that bottle up there and since it was just on the other side of their gold refining room, I think we all shared the same thoughts. Someone was stashing gold up there.

Never passing up an opportunity to climb something, Sonya gears up and carefully climbs the lattice supports up the wall. She picks up the bottle, stows it in her pack saying it's heavy. Since Jeff spotted it, he got the honors of opening it. Nothing. Other than the smell of alcohol, there was nothing in it. The next logical interpretation of the bottle was that it held an evil spirit or deadly disease. Thanks for releasing it, Jeff. The bottle had some age to it, so still, a good find.

More than the others, I was looking forward to this event. Again, my apologies for not being as social as I usually am. I'm hoping to feel better by the next event and look forward to meeting with everyone again. See you soon!

April 23, 2017

Vanderbilt, California

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