May 2024 (One Month - One Picture)

Explore Landscapes #36

May was a month of much hiking, leading workshops, volunteering on JTNPA field classes. Oh, and a quick trip to the ER.

Desert Queen Mine Ruins - Joshua Tree National Park

The Desert Queen Mine was one of our destinations on our quest to find each of the 15 species of cacti in Joshua Tree National Park.

Desert Queen Mine had quite a checkered history. A prospector called Frank James discovered gold at Desert Queen in 1894. A local cattle rustler, Jim McHaney, decided that he wanted the claim for himself, and his men strong-armed James to give up the claim and, in the process, murdered him.

McHaney only lasted a few years at the mine. He squandered the money he made from the gold, forgot to make a few payments, and the bank foreclosed on him.

In 1915, Bill Keys (a local rancher and homesteader) took over the mine in lieu of back pay owed to him by the then-owner, who had passed away. The mine operated until 1961, when it had produced almost 4,000 ounces of gold.

Cow Pie Mesa from Schnebly Hill Road, Sedona, AZ

May 2019: I’ve lived in California for almost five years, and even though I’ve traveled a lot, I haven’t had the chance to visit Arizona until this May. I traveled to Flagstaff with a friend to attend and camp at the Overland EXPO. After the cramped camping on-site, we were desperate to get out into the wilderness and find a dispersed campsite.

Schnebly Hill Road runs from just outside Flagstaff to Sedona, and it’s a great drive, rough and rocky for the most part but the views are incredible. As you drive towards Sedona, the view opens up as you reach the plateau's edge, to see amazing rock formations and mesas. We found a great dispersed campsite on one of the forest roads and got a good night’s sleep.