Hike Update – Late Night Trail (RRNCA)

On 09/27/2012, I hiked the Late Night Trail area inside the Red Rock National Conservation Area with the rock-hounds from the Heritage Park Senior Facility. Even though I have hiked this general area several times in the past, I explored some new trails with some new hiking partners and captured some great pictures. Check out pictures and a description of the day’s hike here … Late Night Trailhead At Red Rock National Conservation Area.

Highland Range Crucial Bighorn Habitat Area

On 09/26/2012, Harvey Smith and I decided to hike into the Highland Range off of US-95 as it heads south through the Eldorado Valley. This relatively short 3-mile hike ended up providing us with some of the best landscape views we had seen all summer. This area was so colorful, peaceful and tranquil, we decided that we would have to do it again. Check out pictures and a description of our hike here … Highland Range Crucial Bighorn Habitat Area.

Our 09/20/2012 Mt. Charleston Hikes

Robber’s Roost and Bristlecone Trails The Heritage Park’s Senior Faculties’ first hike of the Fall season was a well attended hike to the Bristlecone Trail in Lee Canyon and the Robber’s Roost Trail along the Mt. Charleston Scenic Byway. Part of the group hiked the 5.2 mile Bristlecone Trail, starting at its upper trailhead. The remaining half of the group hiked the Robber’s Roost Trail and a portion of the Bristlecone Trail from its lower trailhead. Click the following links to view pictures from each of these hikes. Robber's Roost Trail;  Bristlecone Trail. To view additional pictures and descriptions from some of our previous hikes to this area, go to the following page ... Mount Charleston Scenic Loop.

Recently I added a new category to my photography journal site called Photographic Musings, where I can place random thoughts concerning my journey to becoming a better photographer. You can visit it any time by clicking on the link My Photography Journal located under MORE BLOG & WEB LINKS found at the top left side of this page. Check out my latest musing titled,  Photography or Art?

Ratpalooza Car Show

On 09/08/12 I attended the 2012 Rat Rod Car show at Lake Las Vegas. What is a Rat Rod you ask? It’s a type of “poor man’s” hot rod put together using parts of cars salvaged from junkyards that are ingeniously joined together to create one-of-a-kind hybrid cars. If you have never attended one of these, this is a must see page. Having attend dozens of car shows around the area over the past 10 years, I have never seen anything like it. This unusual show not only provided me with many unique pictures, it was a lot of fun. Check it out here, I think you will be amazed … Ratpalooza Car Show At Lake Las Vegas.

My First September Hike

Black Velvet Canyon Harvey Smith and I decided to do a little 4-wheeling today through Cottonwood Valley. First we made a foiled attempt to head south towards Goodsprings Nevada in search of the 99 Mine and the Dawn Mine. Due to the recent heavy rains and washouts, this road was much worse than it was the last time I hiked it. Having driven 2-3 miles in I thought we must have missed the mine road turn off and we headed back to look for it. As I later learned, we turned around about 800 feet short of the road we were actually looking for. Oh well, next time we will bring the Rhino ATV. After this aborted attempt, we drove to the Late Night trailhead and headed north through Cottonwood Valley to the Black Velvet Canyon trailhead located inside the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. As it turned out, this ended up being an absolutly beautiful hike that led us up a boulder filled wash to a point just below the 2,000 foot high Black Velvet Wall, one of the most famous free climbing places in the entire U.S. Check it out here … Black Velvet Canyon.

Nature’s Pipe Organ

Recently I used a 1/2-off Groupon to purchased a 48” x 24” color print from Larger Than Life Prints (LTLprints.com) to hang on our bedroom wall. This picture of Bryce Canyon in Utah was one of Connie’s favorite places. To learn more, check out the recent post made to my web site, "Ken's Eco-Art Gallery”

New Photo Tip

Click here to check out some photo tips for producing better landscapes that I recently added to my Photography Journal site: Tips For Producing Better Landscape Photos

Daytrip – West End Wash (West)

10/01/2012 Trip Notes: Picking up a back road that led to here from the Anniversary Mine, we decided to follow the wash as it headed northwest to see what it offered. Along the way we observed a long eared jackrabbits and one of the largest lizards I have ever seen, but were unable to capture pictures of either.  The real fun of this drive, in my mind, was that I really felt like we were totally isolated from any signs of civilization. As you can see from the pictures below, along the way we were confronted with several scenic views of colorful ridges, outcroppings and rugged cliffs that beckoned for further exploration. Having already hiked about six miles earlier in the day, we were in no condition to do any more on this visit, but may go back to do some exploring in the future.

Great Basin Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis longipes)

I found this specimen in Cottonwood Valley, near the Late Night Trailhead. He was obviously enjoying his time in the sun, perhaps even dazed, as he never moved the whole time my hiking partner Tom and I circled closer and closer in an effort to capture a good picture.

Description: Western Fence Lizards (Sceloporus occidentalis) are medium-sized, rough-scaled lizards. Males have dark blue patches on the undersides of the belly, and the throat is blue. They grow to about 7 inches (total length). The dorsal scales are keeled and spiny, but less so than in Spiny Lizards. The dorsal coloration ranges from gray to brown to black with dark blotches or stripes on the back that continue down the tail. These are mountain lizards often found on or near the ground, but not in the low desert. These lizards are commonly seen sunning on paths, rocks, and other high places, which makes them an easy target for predation by snakes, birds, and even some mammals. They protect themselves by employing their fast reflexes, which is common in many other lizards. The western fence lizard eats spiders and insects.This species ranges from central Washington south into Baja California and from the Pacific Coast east to western Utah. In Nevada, this species occurs throughout the state except in the lower-elevation deserts.

The Corral

Title - The Corral

I captured this shot looking down the left fence line of the old corral in (Fig. 01) that was located about 7.5 miles past the Walking Box Ranch on Walking Box Ranch Road. It was just one of several that we passed along this road that were, as far back as the 1890s, part of a 400,000 acre working cattle ranch.

Though I didn’t think about it at the time I took the shot, after looking at the color picture on the computer, I felt that converting it to a black & white would not only add some ‘age’ to the photo, but it would also provide more depth.

Robber’s Roost Trail at Mt. Charleston

10/03/2013 – This was my third visit to the Robbers Roost Trailhead with the rock-hounds from the Henderson Senior Facility. Refer to the "10/03/2013 Trip Notes" section below for pictures and information on today’s hike.

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(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02) 10/03/2013 Trip Notes: Having hiked to "smugglers cave on a previous visit, I opted to take what looked like a trail that led to the east, several hundred feet downhill from behind the trailhead information signs next to the parking area on the east side of the road (Fig. 02). After descending this rather steep trail for several hundred feet I came to a road that led in either direction (Fig. 03). I turned left and chose the road that led uphill in a northeasterly direction. I later found out that had I followed this road further, it would have exited back out onto the main road, above the trailhead parking area. Looking back (west) about halfway up this road were some great views of the area surrounding the "robbers roost" caves (Fig. 04). From the upper portion of this road, there were some outstanding views of the mountains looking south (Fig. 05). Not having a lot of time, I was only able to capture a few pictures before I had to turn around and head back to the van.                       (Fig. 03) (Fig. 04) (Fig. 05) 09/20/2012 Trip Notes: On a hiking daytrip with the rock-hounds from the Henderson Heritage Park’s Senior Facility, half of the group decided to hike the Robber’s Roost Trail before joining the rest of the group on the Bristlecone Trail. This relatively short loop trail to a series of caves in the narrow canyon provided some moderate hiking up a 180-foot elevation climb. Though I never made it into the cave itself, it was easy to understand how it would have been a good hideout back in the day. Besides the nice views, fresh mountain air, and the chirping of the birds along the trail, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the hike was the fact that the temperature was nearly 25-degrees cooler than the 100-plus temperatures back in Vegas. Though the trail appears to be quite easy starting out at the trailhead (Fig. 06), it quickly turns into a trail filled with lots of loose rocks, causing one to be cautious of their footing. The higher you climb (Figs. 07, 08 & 09) the rockier it gets.

(Fig. 06)

(Fig. 07)

(Fig. 08)

(Fig. 09)

By the time you reach the base of the caves (Figs. 10, 11 & 12), you are required to scramble over some jagged and slippery rocks in order to actually enter the caves. At the very top of the trail you are confronted by a very narrow slot filled with large boulders (Fig. 13) worn smooth by hundreds of years of pour overs that pretty much put and end to any further advancement without some serious scrambling.

(Fig.10)

(Fig. 11)

(Fig. 12)

(Fig. 13)

From the top (Fig. 14) and from several vantage points on the way up (Fig. 15) and down (Fig. 16), you are presented with some very rewarding views.

(Fig. 14)

(Fig. 15)

(Fig. 16)

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2012 SuperRun Classic Car Show

09/20/2012 Show Notes: Billed as the largest car show in Southern Nevada with more than 1,000 hot rods, muscle cars, classic and vintage cars on display, this annual four-day event opens at the District at Green Valley Ranch and concludes on Water Street near the Henderson Events Center in downtown Henderson on Sunday. In addition to “Best-in-Show” prizes in several categories, there are slow drag, roaring engine and burn-out competitions. It’s a full weekend of live music, food and beverage, and dozens of merchandise vendors. This year I only attended the opening day display at The District. Because I was tired from having hiked for seven hours prior to attending, and the fact that it was over 100-degrees, I made a quicker than normal appearance. I was still able however, to capture some nice photos. Many of these cars have just “awesome” engines, which prompted the collage above titled, “Start Your Engines”. In the collage below, titled “Encased in Leather”, I tried to capture some of the nicer interiors.

The pictures below represent some of my favorites cars. Be sure to view the slide show at the end; it contains all 58 of the pictures I captured today.

The slideshow below is designed to run automatically in place. Clicking anywhere in the black background area that surrounds the picture being shown will PAUSE the show and bring up the Pause, Forward and Back menu at the bottom of the slideshow window, allowing you to start, stop or manually forward pictures one at a time. To view the slideshow full-screen, click in the middle of the running show. When the new browser window appears, click on the left side of the menu where it says "slideshow".

Slideshow Description: The slideshow above contains all 58 pictures that I took today.

Posts for September - 2012

September Posts:
UPDATED - Daytrip - Late Night Trailhead at RRNCA
Various Animals & Reptiles - Great Basin Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)
Butterflies & Insects - White Lined Sphinx Moths
Plants & Flowers - Manybristle Chinchweed (Pectis papposa)
Daytrip - The Highland Range
Places & Events - 2012 SuperRun Classic Car Show
Daytrip - Robber's Roost Trail
UPDATED - Daytrip - Bristlecone Trail
UPDATED - Cactus - Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia phaeacantha)
Places & Events - Ratpalooza Car Show at Lake Las Vegas
Daytrip - Black Velvet Canyon (RRCNCA)
Relics From the Past - Farming Relics From the Past
Various Animals & Reptiles - Wild Burro (Donkey) (Equus asinus)

Anniversary Mine

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This page last updated on 04/16/2018

(Fig. 01)

(Fig. 02)

The Anniversary Mine: The Lovell Wash, a tributary of Callville Wash, cuts into a ridge in the Gale Hills at the south edge of the Muddy Mountains. The rocks here are composed of numerous thin sandstone and mud-stone layers angled around 45 degrees, These seemingly barren, grey-brown hills conceal a variety of hidden, scenic sites and landscapes including Anniversary Mine. On both sides of the wash you will find several mountain-sized ridges of sedimentary materials (sandstone, limestone, and mud-stone of various colors including purple, red, green, yellow, and gray) that have been steeply tilted up; some nearly vertically.Once the road drops into the wash, remnants of the old mining operation become much more visible. Just after entering the wash, a mile long road branches upward to the left toward the  remains of the processing area of the Anniversary Mine (click Fig. 02). This area is littered with a rather large processing tailing pile, several mining shafts and adits, foundation ruins of dozens of mining buildings as well was what look to be the stone foundations of several buildings that may have been houses. Active in the 1920’s when the mine was a colemanite (borax) mine, more than 200,000 tons of materials were removed. Besides the foundations located here, down in the wash there is evidence of an old dam, an ore cart railroad with three tunnels and one of the main shafts. It is rumored that the name supposedly came from the signing of the claim on the anniversary of the owner. 02/07/2013 Trip Notes: On my last visit here, we referred to some type of construction activity that we observed in the middle of (Fig. 19) below. Curious as to what this activity was, Buster and I hiked over to and into the hills behind this area, (Fig. 03) below, to see if we could determine what was going on. It was obvious that the area was being used to pile various types of refuse. We also found and area (Fig. 04) where someone was quarrying stone that could be used for landscaping. As we continued to follow a road, running through the middle of (Fig. 05), near the base of the mountain, we ended up with a southeasterly view that actually gave us a glimpse of Lake Mead (Fig. 06) and the Arizona mountains. In addition to some very interesting geology (Fig. 07), we found several “test shafts” (Fig. 08) and two Anniversary Mine boundary markers (Fig. 09). On our return we ran into the caretaker of the property who informed us that part of the area was being used for “green” trash storage that was going to be shred and used as mulch by some Las Vegas landscaping companies. He also noted that they had been fixing up the roads in preparation for re-opening the original mine (Fig. 10) for extracting some type of crystallized ore used in jewelry making. (Fig. 03) (Fig. 04) (Fig. 05) (Fig. 06) (Fig. 07) (Fig. 08) (Fig. 09)

01/01/2012 Trip Notes: Harvey Smith and I spent a couple of hours touring the area of the old Anniversary Mine. It's nearly a two-mile ride in on the Anniversary Mine Road from Lake Mead's Northshore Road. Having arrived just around sunrise, I captured the picture in (Fig. 01) top, with the full moon still showing. Once we reached the wash, we drove to and investigated the main mine adit (Figs. 10 thru 14). Adits are driven into the side of a hill or mountain, and are often used when an ore body is located inside the mountain but above the adjacent valley floor. The use of adits for the extraction of ore is generally called drift mining. Knowing how dangerous these old adits can be, we only entered a few feet, just enough to capture a few pictures and get a feeling for what it may have been like to have worked here nearly 90 years ago.

(Fig. 10)

(Fig. 11)	(Fig.12)
(Fig. 13)	(Fig. 14)

Next, we drove up a fairly long road that led to a large tailing pile (Fig. 15) at the top of a hill on the opposite side of the wash. Once we reached the top of this hill we realized that this was probably the main processing area for the original mine operations that went on here more than 90 years ago. This area was loaded with dozens of cement footings, slabs and stone foundations that supported a variety of structures, including what appeared to be several one-room houses. The slab in (Fig. 16) looked like what may have been an ‘oil pit’ in the middle that could have been used for maintenance of various mining vehicles and equipment. The center picture, (Fig. 17) appeared to be a ventilation shaft. The large stone foundation in (Fig. 18) had pipes running from it and may have supported some type of large water tank. The top of this hill provided some outstanding views of the wash and valley below. At the end of the road up, standing next to the tailings pile, is a view (Fig. 19) looking to the East. On the right side of the picture you can see the Lovell Wash; to the left of the wash is the Anniversary Mine Road as it snakes it way in from Lake Mead’s Northshore Road. In the center of the picture, towards the rear, there was some active construction that we weren’t quite able to identify. The view shown in (Fig. 20), is looking down towards the bottom of the wash, and shows, at the very center, the opening of the adit we had previously entered. The final picture (Fig. 21) is a short, but extremely colorful side road that we drove, that branched off the wash just prior to reaching the main adit.

(Fig. 15)

(Fig. 16)

(Fig. 17)

(Fig. 18)

(Fig. 19)

(Fig. 20)

(Fig. 21)

Because this is such a popular location, I have visited here on several occasions. Clicking the link that follows will take you to a page with pictures and trip notes from two previous visits ... Daytrip - Lovell Wash.

[Click here to Return to the Lovell Wash Summary Page]

Glossary of Mining Terms