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| Black Mountains near Oatman, AZ | |
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| | Black Mountains near Oatman, AZ | | | |
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Black Mountains near Oatman, AZ
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| Hiking | 5.49 Miles |
896 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.49 Miles | 3 Hrs 51 Mns | | 1.53 mph |
| 896 ft AEG | 16 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | With a new hiking pal, I went to this area off Rt. 66, between Golden Shores (Topock) and Oatman, very close to Boundary Cone. My pal knows the area somewhat, and has done some prospecting around there with her husband. We saw lots of open mine shafts, both vertical and horizontal. They are not gated like the ones in other parts of the state. We mostly followed roads I could have driven in my Jeep, but we also cut across a saddle and down into another drainage off trail.
It was kind of a drab, overcast day. This time of year there are no wildflowers, so it was hard to make interesting photos, but hopefully I succeeded somewhat. I am not very good at taking photos of colorful rocks, but there are plenty of those, if you want to go look. It's easy to see why rock-hounding and prospecting are popular hobbies in the area. And hobbies they are, because no one is going to get rich out there. It would cost more money than it's worth to extract the gold from the rocks.
It was my first hike in this area, and I plan to go back. It's not too far from where I'm wintering.
Mine shafts are inherently unstable. My friend said there had been a cave-in when a family was far inside a horizontal mine, and they were lucky to get out. |
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There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life. |
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