Sunday morning Denis stopped by and mentioned that Diane wanted to find some Quartz. He said that he knew about a mountain of Quartz but wasn't sure where it was and asked if I would lead them to it.
I agreed to lead them since I knew of one such area.
Mountain of Quartz.
Monday morning we met up at Dave and Jo Ann's at 9:30. From there we headed south on 95. At the BLM long term visitor area (LaPosa south) we turned east and followed the road into the desert.
We wandered around taking several trails going in and out of washes.
Along the way we saw that the Ocotillo's were turning green and some had bloom's.
We passed this Saguaro with a huge nest in its arms.
When we got to the Livingston Mine which is at the northern border of the KOFA Refuge I knew that we were on the right trail to the Quartz Mountain. We stopped here for a peanut break.
After our break we continued along the trail until we came to the Quartz area.
It was lunch time when we arrived so that gave the rock hunters plenty of time to gather all the white rocks they wanted while the rest of us sat around eating and BS'ing.
The yank's
The Canadians.
The Hogback.
After lunch and rock hunting, we headed for the Hogback. The Hogback is a steep trail that follows a ridge to the top of the mountain.
About halfway up the ridge someone has placed a flag.
From this point the trail becomes even steeper.
We stopped on top to watch the others climb the hill.
Everyone made it over the top.
There is a flat spot just over the top with a large Ocotillo in the middle. Here we stopped to wait for the rest of the group.
From here it is all down hill to the Mailbox Cabin.
Here we are looking back at the others as they work there way down through the ledges and rocks.
The Mailbox Cabin.
The Mailbox Cabin is so named because of the mailbox on the roof.
The cabin is what is left over from a mining camp for the Apache Chief Mine and is still in pretty good shape.
Over the years people have been decorating the cabin. Sometimes it gets pretty overdone but this time it looks like someone has cleaned it up a bit.
Here are a few pictures of what has been done.
The Inside.
Stuff on the ceiling.
Laundry on the line.
After checking out the cabin for a while we headed for the towers.
The Towers.
The towers are on top of a steep hill near I-10. The road going up to the towers is very steep with several switchbacks.
Part of the roadbed is so steep that it has been cemented to allow better traction.
Eventually we get to the top and the towers.
There is a good view from here. To the west you can see Quartzsite.
To the east you see I-10 and the town of Brenda.
After checking out the views we headed back down the mountain, got on I-10 and headed for Quartzsite.
We had dinner at the Mountain Quail with Jo Ann, Dave, Diane, and Johnie.
It was a good run and I think everyone had a good time.
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