Ireteba Peaks Wilderness Area - 04/16/2019 Trip Notes

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This page last updated on 04/20/2019

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04/16/2019 Trip Notes: Even though today's weather predicted rain, it turned out pretty good. We spent about 4 hours driving along Rockefeller Road on our way to the Rockefeller Mine (Fig. 02). We made a few stops along the way for some scenic picture taking and exploration of some old abandoned mines. This entire area has the most jumping cholla cacti you have ever encountered. There are literally tens of thousands of these plants. Jumping Cholla (Cylindropuntia fulgida) The view in (Fig. 01) is of Copper Mountain. A little further along we spotted a large cave (Fig.03) on the side of a mountain side and decided to stop and climb up to it. As we climbed up this rough, rocky, jagged hillside, there were hundreds of small wildflowers and cactus. Howard Saxon, in (Fig. 04), and I hung behind the rest of the group taking our time as we tried to get pictures of the many small wildflowers and cacti we found along the way (Fig. 05). Eventually the rest of the group reached the cave. Jim was the first one to reach it and took this picture looking out and back down the hill and the road we traveled to get there (Fig. 07). After the three of them all entered the cave they ended up confronting the following. (Notes Continued below)

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Notes Continued: They found a large snake. It was a California Snake that was up on a ledge that finally came out and slithered its way to the ground (Fig. 08). For additional pictures and info about this snake click here ... California Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula californiae). Bob Croke also captured this picture of a colorful Blister beetle (Fig. 09). Click here for more info ... Master Blister Beetle (Lytta magister). Climbing up the hill we came across a couple of caterpillars (Fig. 10). Click here for more pictures and information ...White Lined Sphinx Moth Catepiller. The view in (Fig. 11) was taken about halfway up the hillside looking north toward the Ireteba Wilderness Area. From here we continued driving up the road toward the Rockefeller Mine stopping at various mines along the way (Figs. 13 thru 18). Eventually we came to a barricade in the road and had to turn back. After this trip we drove to Boulder City and had lunch at a barbecue restaurant before turning home.

(Fig. 08) picture by Jim Herring

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05/07/2013 Update – Irebeta Peaks Wilderness Area

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This page last updated on 04/20/2019

(Fig. 01) Click to Enlarge

05/07/2013 Trip Notes: After a disappointing trip to this location last week, Harvey Smith and I decided to visit this area again to see if we could drive to the Rockefeller Mine that is located on the edge of the Ireteba Peaks Wilderness Area deep into this wild and remote part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. After passing Copper Mountain Cove Road (#34) the drive up Rockefeller Mine Road towards Copper Mountain (Fig. 02) and the Ireteba range provides you with some very unique geology (Fig. 03). Beginning about 8 miles out on Rockefeller Mine Road (NPS Road 32) from Cottonwood Cove Road (NV-164), the hills on the west side of the road are filled with dozens of abandoned mine adits, shafts and tunnels. We must have hiked to and explored nearly a half dozen of these abandoned prospects (Fig. 04). At the base of a small hill just north of Dupont Mountain, there is a played-out adit that was used by miners as living quarters (Fig. 05). I find these old sites fascinating. The miners came here under ridiculous hardships from the elements, hostile locals, hostile animals, very little local sources of water or food and dug these tunnels out of hard rock mostly using hand tools. They also didn’t mind littering as evidenced by the hundreds of cans (Fig. 06) and other trash items strewn about the area. This area also contained what looked like malachite (Fig. 07) tailings from several additional adits (Fig. 08) in the area.

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At about 9.7 miles out there is a four-way intersection with the Dupont Mine Road (NPS Road 34A) heading west and Opal Mountain Road (#33) heading east towards Lake Mojave. Taking the Dupont Mine Road, we drove about .75-miles northwest into the Rockefeller Mine area, just north and west of Dupont Mountain (refer to Fig. 01). At an elevation of 1,886 feet, the road ends in a wash, about a third of a mile short of the Dupont Mines (Fig. 08). From what I have read, it appears that the Dupont Mines mainly produced copper ore. We spent nearly an hour here hiking up to and around three mine shafts (Figs. 09 thru 12) on the north side of the road. We also had some fun putting together some pieces of an old pickup truck (Fig. 13 & 14) that were strewn about the area. Loaded with hundreds of Jumping Cholula and Red Barrel Cactus (Fig. 15), hiking the area along this road provided some excellent sightseeing opportunities (Fig. 16).

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Continuing up Rockefeller Mine Road, about 10.47 miles out, an old white travel trailer (Fig. 17) can be seen up ahead on a hill. At an elevation of 2,067 feet, this trailer marks the edge of the Rockefeller Mine claim. The main production of this mine was gold, along with some silver and copper. At a fork in the road the road to the left runs past two "no trespassing" signs to the trailer, while the Rockefeller Mine Road curves hard to the right and ends shortly at some wooden barricades in the bottom of a wash. This is the edge of the Ireteba Peaks Wilderness Area. From this point, the Ireteba Wash Hike runs north into the wilderness area. At this point we turned around and headed back. Because it had clouded over and was threatening rain, we decided to skip Opal Mountain Road (NPS Road 33) (refer to Fig. 01) which follows along the southern edge of the Ireteba Peaks Wilderness Area, running 5.8 miles to the western shore of Lake Mojave. Farther out, Opal Mountain, a large ridge of dark volcanic rock, dominates the landscape ahead and left of the road while the deep blue waters of Lake Mojave dominate the view straight ahead. We decided to bypass this road, saving its exploration for another day.

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