bike riding mostly
Only around 10,000 years old. Up on the plateau above Searles & Panamint Valleys in the Coso Rock Art District of the Mojave Desert. It’s a steep climb and there’s a bit of bouldering and scrambling and bushwhacking and stud piles dodging.
Hike to the Russian Miner’s Cabin – Argus Range, California
The story I heard on this place is it was the home of a German (or Russian we’re not sure) fellow who was employed by The Plant in Trona to keep the water pipes from the numerous springs flowing to the plant. The hills were laced with 3 inch steel pipes that kept the plant operations running to extract mineral from the Searles Valley lake bed. At some point the plant’s water source was switched to a series of wells that were drilled north of the lake bed on the valley floor and I think they get water from Ridgecrest too via a large pipeline. Over the years people harvested the abandoned water lines and sold or re-purposed the material for home improvement projects such as fence posts.
