Box Canyon
I was out in the desert north of Joshua Tree, CA scouting for a piece of land I had heard was for sale. The map was rather vague and I was having to do some serious "dead reckoning" to find it. Finally I came to a spot just past some rocky arroyos and took a compass reading - yep, this was it....
A nice box canyon! I'm not sure would you could ever build back here unless you went solar and hauled your own water, but I sure liked the solitude and look of the place. I'm always trying to find spots to camp and explore and this looked like a prime spot to get out the old metal detector and see what was about....trust me, as remote as this is, there was certainly many people poking about in the old days looking for gold (1860's - 1890's). Some of their old campsites can still be found and finding a dropped coin or nice colored glass bottle is always a thrill for the desert rat....like me;)
I spent the afternoon checking out the area and ended up blazing my own path back to civilization on the other side of the hills once I took my bearings with my GPS (always have one or a compass handy - check out my online store if you need one). I arrived back home just as the sun was setting and it was an excellent day in the desert.
...and no, I didn't end up buying the property, I got outbid at the tax auction.
DB
Posted: Friday 9th December 2005, 3:41 PM
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