Old Gold Mines in Mojave Desert [Archive]

Crash9

May 18, 2007, 01:11 PM

This forum should be a good place to put the AP videos I take when my buddies and I go to the desert looking for old Gold Mines and Ruins in the Mojave Desert. We use my RC plane to get a look from above so we don't have to hike all over tha place in 100+ temps. Here's some ground pics. I will get the AP pics up when I locate them in one of my extenal hard drives :) . Heres a link to my photo album: http://scottzpics.spaces.live.com/ Look for Mojave Desert album

quailbird

May 18, 2007, 02:18 PM

Wonderful pictures. Are these old mines privately owned? Just curious about the mine you found with you AP plane, when you go inside one of the mines, is it cooler in there as you go farther back into them, or are they safe to enter? As hot as it is out there I would think it would be a nice relief. Thanks for sharing, I am sure enjoying this new forum thread!

Crash9

May 18, 2007, 03:49 PM

Hey QB, Most Mines are on BLM land so anyone can go there as long as you can find them (thanks to GPS it's now even easier). It's always nice inside (55-60o) to get out of the heat. Some Mines like in Death Valley can be tremendous in size and may take a day or 2 just to explore 1 level. Most Mines we visit are only an hour or two from my home.
At first we tried using a RC heli but it was to unstable along the hillside with wind so I started bringing my Slow Stick which has been replaced with a EasyStar that flys better in the desert breeze :) . I may have to bring my TwinStar and do some FPV piloting next time :D .

Tom Harper

May 18, 2007, 06:42 PM

Crash,

Great pics! Wonderful place. I'm surprised there are still tracks in place. Most tracks and even ties have been scavenged.

Are these mostly gold mines?

Fifty years ago my wife and I used to explore the Frenchman mine just above Las Vegas, NV. Solid rock and had some huge rooms. We'd usually run into half a dozen other folks doing the same thing.

The entrance was bull dozed many years back. Probably condominiums now.

Crash9

May 18, 2007, 07:30 PM

Crash9

May 19, 2007, 04:35 PM

Here's my latest AP plane for mine hunting after the death of my Slow Stick :( . For the unforgiving desert landings I chosed the MPX EasyStar since it belly lands and is easy to repair :) . I added ailerons and brushless out-runner motor with a APC 8x8e. I also moved the servos to the rear to help with CG. I have yet to take it mine hunting but test flights went without any problems and power is awesome, so wind should not be as much as a issue. The camera I use now is a Samsung Sports Camcorder 210sx with external lens (ex.lens not used for this platform). I went with this video camera for it's high resolution which is needed when trying to spot a mine opening from thye sky above. I don't use any pan or tilt on this plane either since I found it's easier to spot something if the plane is pointed and traveling towards the targeted area then flying by it looking to the side.

alex290684

May 20, 2007, 04:41 AM

Wow, I'm glad I stumbled across this thread! I think this sort of thing is so interesting. We don't really have that sort of remoteness in the UK.

Don't think I'd be brave enough to go down a pitch black mine shaft though!

Keep up the good work :)

Alex

kd7ost

May 20, 2007, 01:18 PM

Yes, very neat place and pictures. We have a lot of old mines here where I live but the rock is much different. There has been frequent cave in activity and its generally considered quite death defying to enter the old shafts.

It would be very interesting to see some more AP shots of those areas. Are there access roads and wagon trails away from the current access roads? That’s great that an AP mission allowed you to spot the two buildings that you couldn't see from the road. They look like dugouts. Places where people lived (miners) that were fairly easy to make and took advantage of the local resources. Wood was a rare commodity and used to shore up the mine shafts.

Additionally being partially dug in the earth like that, it helped control temperature to some extent by helping keep cool when it was 120 degrees outside and warmer when winter nights plunged below freezing.

Thanks for posting those.

Dan

Crash9

May 21, 2007, 05:15 PM

Don't think I'd be brave enough to go down a pitch black mine shaft though!

Keep up the good work :)

AlexYeah me neither, I perfer the mines that have stand up openings and then I like to stay on the main level, no going down a hole for me :) .

Crash9

May 21, 2007, 05:33 PM

Here's a video from a trip a few weeks ago to give you a idea of what kind of area you can cover with a AP plane. There turned out to be nothing in this area and the landing in the video is what you might expect. This spot was behind Big Bear mountain off of Coxey rd. This plane is a TwinStar with Panning, same DVR camera.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9i_6AL1ljoE

Crash9

May 21, 2007, 06:37 PM

Are there access roads and wagon trails away from the current access roads? That’s great that an AP mission allowed you to spot the two buildings that you couldn't see from the road. They look like dugouts. Places where people lived (miners) that were fairly easy to make and took advantage of the local resources. Wood was a rare commodity and used to shore up the mine shafts.

Dan Yeah most areas can be access through a graded dirt road from a major hi-way like innerstate 15 & 40 about 20-160 miles of off-roading. Most of the time we follow the Old Mojave Road that is a trail the Piute Indians used to reach the Pacific Ocean up to 600+ years ago. Then re-used by Gen. Patton and his troops for desert training before and During WWII. Not much out there now but alot of history and the Rail Roads still run through it. I love this stuff :) .

quailbird

May 21, 2007, 06:58 PM

I love this stuff too! Do you every take a metal detector along? I love to do that also but I haven't for a long time. But, if I lived lut there I would. My wifes mother and sisters live in Phoenix and I'd love to go out in the desert and do what you are doing, and Tom and some of the other guys. The only thing is I really don't know what I'm doing so I'd have to learn from some of you guys! Great pictures and "Show N Tell"!

kd7ost

May 21, 2007, 07:44 PM

Ah the Mojave in all her glory.

I love the Desert too. Thanks for posting more pictures. The stage stop looks to be in pretty good shape. The beer bottles, bullet holes and graffiti must not be there yet or at least are kept to the interior walls. Hopefully it will be left intact.

Dan

Crash9

May 23, 2007, 01:39 PM

I love this stuff too! Do you every take a metal detector along?I thought about it but still haven't yet. A good time for it would be after a thunder storm and flash flooding. All that freashly exposed earth has been known to give up some treasures :) .

Crash9

May 23, 2007, 02:00 PM

. The beer bottles, bullet holes and graffiti must not be there yet or at least are kept to the interior walls.

DanThat's what's nice about remote area's the only graffiti is from the indians that passed through in another time.

quailbird

May 23, 2007, 02:10 PM

You know what would be cool? If a guy had a night vision scope, a small one, and mounted it to the front of your video camera and tied a rope on it and sent it down some of the shafts. No telling what would be down there. or on a pole like we use to clean chimneys. They are fiber glass and screw together. Each one about 5' long. This way you could turn the camera and have control over it. Just a thought.

Rogerdoger

May 26, 2007, 07:25 PM

Crash9,

Great thread!! San Brdu County is rich!! It looks like you have found many of the treasures!!

Roger

Gray

May 28, 2007, 04:15 AM

Keep it coming Crash, Fascinating stuff and looking forward to more with some AP shots.

Cool video too,

Gray

louism99

Jun 04, 2007, 10:04 PM

yes, i have been in many of those mines too, great exploring times and Death Valley is littered with walk-in mine shafts in the remote canyon areas.

Just remember that rattlesnakes like to get out of the heat too :eek:

there used to be an old Tin mine in Corona, that you could climb down until you hit the water table, but i think that has been closed for quite a while.
So has most of the rabbit hunting - darn people and housing tracks.

Rick Masey (gold prospectors club) I think that was his name, had some good locations too, and being in that club allowed access to some claim sites and good topo maps with directions.

Crash9

Jun 25, 2007, 11:32 PM

I'm here in Ouray, Co. on vacation for a week. . Lots of mines here with alot of western history. I hope to go out tomorrow with a freind and check out some of the area with my E*,Twin * and my Trex heli. Friday we will head out on the Alpine loop jeep trail where there's a lot to see.

Rogerdoger

Jun 26, 2007, 01:08 PM

Crash,

What a neat shot of that town!! I need to visit there sometime. It needs some time to soak it up, it looks like. CO has always been a state to go through.

That is one of the best things about this BB, getting to see new places to visit and see.

Good luck on the ventures and I hope the weather is great for flying!! :D

Roger

Crash9

Jul 12, 2007, 01:52 PM

Because of the wind I didn't get as much flight time as I wanted. The area is covered with old mines that are visable from the road so my plane wasn't needed for searching them out like in the desert. I still got some flight time in and put together a video of the trip, enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YNl--PCdQc

Eric_N57105

Jul 12, 2007, 08:33 PM

Hi Tom, most of the Mines are Silver and Iron Ore with the occational Gold and Talc mine. With the off-road trucks we use (lots of wheel travel) allows us to get to the less traveled mine areas and most people don't want to travel that far of the beaten path :eek: but the gang I go with the more remote the better, so the mines are less picked through. Some of them still have ore cars, tracks and broken laterns that didn't get taken and melted down for the WWII effort. The War Eagle Mine is close to Nevada and California state line has some of the best largest, un-picked through gold mines in the area (at one-time the largest in Cal) and that's where I'm heading in a couple of weeks with my AP plane to help locate more mines :D .
Scott

Great stuff Scott. You reckon that dead cow was wearing those pants?

We used to explore opal mines up around Barstow with dirt bikes. They can be VERY hard to see until you are right on top of them. Most are a vertical shaft descending from the surface. An AP ship would be great for searching them also as it is very difficult to find some of them until you are right on top of them...then it gets spooky as it would be a very long drop on a bike.

Terrific photos.

Eric

Tom Harper

Jul 13, 2007, 04:10 PM

Eric,

That was a big problem down around Searchlight, NV. They lost some kids down mine shafts before they put up fences.

Tom

Crash9

Jul 15, 2007, 01:44 AM

Great stuff Scott. You reckon that dead cow was wearing those pants?

Erichehe I thought maybe those pants where to tight and they did the cow in :eek: :D .

Crash9

Jul 15, 2007, 01:57 AM

You guy's brought up a good piont ;) , you have to be very aware of your surroundings in a mine area :eek: . Better to send the plane up to get a look around :rolleyes: .
We had a trip planned for mine hunting but the 115 temps in the desert are affecting the dates. The high temps don't bother me (cool inside a mine) but I have a few whiner freinds that I need to come along.
What nornally happens now is I'll get a call on Friday afternoon when I'm not expecting it saying "Hey lets go out to the desert this weekend and get outta town" . So may planes are ready anytime.

Rogerdoger

Jul 15, 2007, 05:56 PM

Crash9,

I have been away for about a week and then got the note to check the thread. Neat video. Nicely put together! I like the music, too.

When will the next big trip be? I had to look up the town of Ouray, Co so I could get a sense of where that is. I have to go there sometime.

Roger

quailbird

Jul 16, 2007, 09:49 PM

Great video! Very enjoyable! I love your dog, I own a play-a-holic dog too. He'll fetch anything anytime, but he thinks the vacations and outdoor time is for him.

Rotozuk

Sep 24, 2007, 08:05 PM

What a great thread..

I live in So Cal and also enjoy poking around the mines via 4x4. Have not thought of using the A/P to help find the shafts though. I might have to put some thought to this now.

Also, it is a small world, I was in Colorado at the same time you were there. I had planned to hit several of the passes near Telluride but they had most closed as a result of the Blue Grass Festival. I was bummed to say the least. Seems the blue grass hippies tend to try and camp off the trails and end up needing rescue, so now they just close off the trails for the week. Argh!! Still had a good time up there, and then headed over towards Estes Park and checked out the surrounding areas. Great time over there... Snow drifts were still pretty thick though, even into July.

By all means drop me a note next time you plan to go on one of these trips. I love exploring and I love the history.

Attached a few images you might like.. Most of these were taken in the last year.

-Wayne

p.s. As a side note I'll be hosting a 4x4 run to Calico in October. I'm sure you have poked around the mine sites there. If not you should think about coming. The trip after that will be out to Saline/Panamint/Death Valleys. Have not decided on the plan for this one. But there is plenty to see there. (Panamint mines are the best preserved mines I have seen, right down to dynamite in a box.)

Crash9

Sep 27, 2007, 06:12 PM

Rotozuk

Sep 27, 2007, 06:38 PM

Those are Some great pics Wayne, There's a guy here looking over my shoulder say's I should tell you Scott from SterlingRovers.com said " :cool: Hey". He's going out to Johnson Valley to try out the Exo cage and front bumper we did on his Black rock-crawler (Land Rover) this weekend :) . Small World....

Yeah he put on a good show at Big Bear.. :D

How is that upper link holding up on the rear axle housing? It was an interesting design. His double coil setup in the rear is pretty neat.

I'll be working on my buggy this weekend. Need to finish installing a new gear set and full Detroit. I hate setting up gears! :censored:

Looks like the Calico trip is going to change as there is a BLM clean up at the base of Surprise Canyon in Panamint Valley. There is a lot of work to do there, and it would be good to be in attendance. Will probably run through some of the trails on the way home. :D There is a rather modern mine site that is open for exploring. Been wanting to spend some time there and see what there is to see. Last time I was there they had generators, compressors and mine tractors all on location. Someone had swiped the alternaotrs and turbos, but otherwise in pretty good shape. Even had batteries and diesel in the tanks. Don't know why they left so much high dollar equipment behind.

-Wayne

CenTexFlyer

Nov 15, 2007, 12:03 PM

We've gone out west of LA and into the Mojave on search and recoveries. We developed our "mine cam" to explore the vertical mines pretty safely. Attached are couple of pics of the cam in operation. We could go down 350 feet with two cameras, one a color CCD and the other a B/W near IR. We designed the torpedo shaped carrier so that we could easily slip thru cave in's and then get back up without snagging. It's kind of bizarre going down the shaft looking at the monitor. Kinda like a Jacques Cousteau effect.

CenTexFlyer

Nov 15, 2007, 12:07 PM

Here's a video snippet from a shaft that was 275 feet deep. Or not..... I'll see if I can get it up on the Tube.

Crash9

Nov 15, 2007, 11:12 PM

Here's a video snippet from a shaft that was 275 feet deep. Or not..... I'll see if I can get it up on the Tube.
Cool, some video from a shaft. Can't wait :) .

I went out to Mojave last weekend with the easystar and got some good video I'll get up on youtube this weekend and post it here :) .

Crash9

Nov 19, 2007, 12:33 AM

Here's a video of my flights over a old rail road stop in the Mojave desert just off the Old Mojave Trail. This area has alot of indian and old west history as a hunting spot because of the spring located here. The Rock Hills are covered with indian pictogliphs and the old rail road grade still exist but the rails where pulled up during WW2 for there steel.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tLt33NAef3s

Crash9

Dec 06, 2007, 10:17 PM

opps...

skymind

Dec 06, 2007, 11:23 PM

Darn neat Tex. And a more entertaining perspective of a historical site crash. Where in the Mojave is that?

Tom Harper

Dec 08, 2007, 07:49 AM

Crash,

Great video - thanks!

I haven't been in that area for years. Is that the old Kelso railroad bed?

FPVpilot

Dec 08, 2007, 01:04 PM

That is a cool video Crash, Thanks for sharing.

Crash9

Dec 08, 2007, 01:42 PM

Crash,

Great video - thanks!

I haven't been in that area for years. Is that the old Kelso railroad bed?Good eye's Tom :) . Yep and if you follow the grade around the rock hills behind where we camped it will take you across the Dry lake bed to Ludlow. The oppoiste direction will take you to Soda dry lake and then to Baker crossing the UP RR at the start of Afton Canyon. Did you hear the Kelso RR station has re-opened as a BLM information Center. Alot of history out there :) .

Crash9

Dec 08, 2007, 01:43 PM

That is a cool video Crash, Thanks for sharing.Welcome to RCG Mike, Nice to see your posting finally :D .

Crash9

Dec 08, 2007, 01:50 PM

Darn neat Tex. And a more entertaining perspective of a historical site crash. Where in the Mojave is that?Middle of nowhere :D . It's the Limited Use area just on the South side of the UP RR tracks from Rasor Road OHV area. If you or anyone else would like directions to the area PM me :) .

Tom Harper

Dec 11, 2007, 12:55 PM

Crash,

Great area - I spent time there 1951 through 1957. Mr. Mitchell still lived at Mitchell caverns. He used to read from the book he was writing. Six visitors was a big crowd.

At that time Big Horn Sheep were common.

May get over there next year.

Tom

CrocEnd

Dec 28, 2007, 04:35 AM

Crash9

Dec 28, 2007, 01:49 PM

Crash
top pics as well for all other pics Thanx
Here in the N.T. Australia there's lots of old mines as well. In 79-80 I was prospecting for a company and we found lots of old sites.Un marked.
Thanx again
Cheer's
PS are any of your video's on full res. for down load please I'm working on a video download page on my website. www.FPVvideo.com and for now I use Vimeo for higher res videos. They allow 500mb videos with no compression :) . For best quality view at Vimeo ;) .

http://www.vimeo.com/398113

CrocEnd

Dec 29, 2007, 07:14 AM

Thanx Crash9 I can see why you use Vimeo
Guess I'll join to....
Cheer's

realtimerecon

Dec 29, 2007, 07:38 AM

Very cool thread,glad i found it.Im retired & do AP, wife & i are in process of moving from N.Y. to Va. Area called Smith Mt.Lake What i plan to be doing is fishing,doing A.P. & gold hunting.Never thought of combining A.P. w/ searching for gold.I watch a show on T.V. called "gold prospecting" sponcered by the G.P.A.(gold prospectors of america) .TONS of good info . Did u know that gold has been found in every state in the U.S. except two ! Membership is $79.00 & comes w/all the stuff needed for the searching for gold.Who knows what u might find...Real Time Recon...

Crash9

Dec 29, 2007, 01:28 PM

realtimerecon

Dec 29, 2007, 03:15 PM

I've seen a program on Discovery Ch where the GPA members take a once a year trip to Alaska for Gold hunting. I'm not much of a Gold hunter but when I'm in the desert I alway's have an eye out for shinning yellow metal :) .
A little tip from that show.When looking for gold look for a outcrop of quartz. Gold follows in same vein as quarts.

John O'Sullivan

Dec 29, 2007, 09:05 PM

I'm an exploration geologist, I have used Aerial photography extensively in gold exploration. In the 60's I built a motor drive box camera with motor drive based on a 70 mm lens from a twin lens reflex camera. It was 14 ozs, but it was much lighter than a Nikon F and motor drive (and an order of magnitude lower in cost). As a dedicated Free flight modeller with only a vague knowledge of R/C technology of the day, I never the camera in the air or got it to operate properly.
When I arrived in Australia in 1971, I worked in the West Pilbara desert in northern Western Australia geological mapping. The company had been kind enough to provide me with 200ft to 1 inch (approximately 1:2500 scale) specially flown airphotos of the area of interest. (you could read the labels on the fuel drums at the drill sites).
Quartz veins of 6 inch thickness could easily be detailed mapped and gave us a good control of priority gold areas.
Times have moved on and with our current model aerial photography, we have the capability of getting that or better resolution for prospecting. However, everything is dependent on surface vegetation (or lack thereof).
I have been active in Canada for many years since and because of glacial till cover and severe forest infestation, have not had the same degree of success as in desert areas.
Good gold hunting,
John

Crash9

Mar 11, 2008, 10:43 PM

Hey gang I still have not had a chance to go Mine Hunting with my FPV plane but I did get out to Afton Canyon agian for some fun watching trains. We have a Mine Hunting triped planed for the end of April. Can't wait.

I waited all morning for a train to come by so I could get some FPV flight video but none appeared even though they where going by all night. As the afternoon came along so did the 15-25mph desert wind and as we started to think about packing up we heard a horn off in the distance. The only plane I had that might handle the wind was my resently built Twin Boom and I wasn't sure about risking it in the wind this soon. But with all the excitement of the approching train as it blasted it's horn I decided, what the heck I'm here now and It's ready to fly, now where's my video goggles and don't forget to press the record button :eek:

Here's my Mojave part 2 video. Enjoy :)

http://www.vimeo.com/769037/

Pisaneli

Mar 18, 2008, 02:51 PM

Hello!

These are not the pictures taken from up above, but I took them with my wife on our honeymoon in California.
We went to see Bodie, the ghost town. This is a city lost in time (from our point of view). The town left a trace in our hearts. It is something you don't see every day, especially in my country.

We also saw Calico, but we didn't like it. Too crowded.

Rotozuk

Mar 18, 2008, 04:26 PM

Hello!
We also saw Calico, but we didn't like it. Too crowded.

Calico is kind of an amusement park, but was at one time an actual ghost town. Most of the original buildings were removed from the site and put into the Knotts Berry farm amusement park back in the 50s, and they are still there.

There are a lot of amazing places tucked away in the desert that you would enjoy, but you will have to do more research then the common tourist brochure.

Here are some images of a recent trip, and some of of the area for our next trip.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh272/gearheart199/3-8-083-9-08DeathValley168.jpg

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3082/tramnov07073es0.jpg

http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/947/tramnov070831ux7.jpg

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/5003/tramnov07135xs2.jpg

-Wayne

Pisaneli

Mar 18, 2008, 04:39 PM

Calico is kind of an amusement park

Yes indeed. We saw a 'cowboy-wanna-be' shooting with blank bullets up and down the street.
If we had more time we would probably do some exploring on our own. But three weeks is not enough to see everything.
But it gave us that Gold Rush feeling.

Rotozuk

Mar 19, 2008, 03:12 AM

Yes indeed. We saw a 'cowboy-wanna-be' shooting with blank bullets up and down the street.
If we had more time we would probably do some exploring on our own. But three weeks is not enough to see everything.
But it gave us that Gold Rush feeling.

The mine up the Canyon from the Calico ghost town is one of the bigger tunnel systems on the west coast of the U.S. You can spend days underground in that one. (or so I have been told.)

-Wayne

Xanadu

Mar 19, 2008, 08:06 PM

We were down at Calico last part of July, and it was very quiet.....not much traffic, or people. Mind you, it was on a Thursday as well.
Interesting for us Canucks anyways.

Rotozuk

Mar 19, 2008, 11:51 PM

We were down at Calico last part of July, and it was very quiet.....not much traffic, or people. Mind you, it was on a Thursday as well.
Interesting for us Canucks anyways.

Thursday in July... Probably had the place to yourself! Gets a bit hot that time of year.

-Wayne

p.s. Calico is one of my favorite places to go wheeling. Some fun trails, and a BUNCH of old mines to poke around in.. Not to mention all of the great geology in the area. Most of the history is gone now, but still some good stuff if you are brave enough to go down the vertical shafts in the mines.

Xanadu

Mar 20, 2008, 09:26 PM

Not too bad, was only around 105........still somewhat tolerable for a crazy Canuck.
Don't think I would want to wander across the desert on a hike, but just around there it was fine.

quailbird

Jul 21, 2008, 03:06 PM

Great pictures guys! I'd sure like to see some of that country myself! Someday maybe!

Rogerdoger

Jul 21, 2008, 03:49 PM

QB,

You had better set a date and get it on the calendar so you hit it.

You would love it out this direction. No Storms!

Roger

realtimerecon

Dec 07, 2008, 06:25 AM

Panning here in Va. i'm finding some...RTR

Littlescreamers

Dec 13, 2008, 10:45 PM

We have found a little here in Washington too!

Scott

bwalt822

Dec 15, 2008, 02:10 PM

Jesus, where in Wa did you find that?

Rogerdoger

Dec 15, 2008, 04:39 PM

I am confident that is work! :(

The mental picture is all about fun!! :eek:

Roger

Crash9

May 23, 2009, 01:57 PM

Haven't givin up on the Mine Hunting with my FPV aircraft ;) ...just takin sometime to prefect my set-up and make it simple and user friendly for off-road travel...nothing worst then getting to a location and spending 1/2 hour setting up, plugging in everything only to forget something at home :( ....I now have my gear ready to fly in under 5 minutes and everything mounted on a tripod for a ground station so it's very simple...just extend the legs, plug in the battery and push record :). So it's time to use it for what I wanted to do 5 years ago when I first started doing FPV piloting.

Went to Oatman Az. to meet up with some old friends and flew my FPV Trex 600 around for a buddy who wanted to find a mine that he use to explore 20+ years ago and now the road and area look abit different to him. Time to test my gear and skills for Mine Hunting. I got the Trex up in flying in no time but i had a little trouble getting the feel for the area along with trying to keep the heli level.....Note to self: it can be hard to fly low VFR by video if the horizon is odd shaped rock mountains but is do-able. Hopefully one of the OSD companies like Eagle Tree will release an AH to go with their new OSDpro soon so this will be a little easier :cool: . Having a good spotter with me helped a lot too...

Within a couple of minutes I located the mine just on the otherside of a hill from where we thought it was. We went over for a closer look but we did not go in with the sun going down. This mine once had a larger opening on the otherside but it has been blocked in with large rocks and sediment over the past hundred years or so. We marked the location with GPS so we can return another time. We plan to spend in a week here in Needles area and explore some more along with the Desert Bar in Parker Dam area :D .

I'm putting a Heli video together and will post it later :) .

Here's a few pics lifted from the wireless video feed.