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Just a quick update for you all on conditions in Rattlesnake Canyon. Our friends at the BLM have been busy. There is lots of shiny new barbed wire barricading the out of bounds areas, which I guess is okay as it does keep the hooligans out from where they should not be, but its a bit of an eyesore.
I was very disappointing by the actions taken at Two Hole Mine though. They did a pretty cool job creating a pedestrian only gate from the main canyon, leaving the mine to be a 1/2 mile walk or so. Finally, the MX and Side-by-sides have been kept out, which made the sandy wash quite easy to walk up, because the sand was relatively hard packed (no tires loosening up the sand), BUT, and this is a HUGE but, BLM pretty much destroyed the whole point of making the hike. They tore down the headframe on the main shaft, dynamited the main horizontal shaft, and then put up a bunch of barb wire all around both vertical shafts.
The irony is that they placed a shiny new sign at the trailhead that proudly encourages one to "Protect America's Resources". I can't quite figure out how destroying historic landmarks protects our resources... I really hate Land Use Nazisim.
The Mining Camp on the south end is crumbling a bit more each visit. The once proud Barn is not in good shape. The bunkhouse looks okay, and someone actually swept part of the floor which was nice. However, I had set up a Contest with the kids in our group to find the crane and bulldozer, only to discover that they have been removed! Not sure if it was "clean up", "salvage" or "collectors", but they are definitely gone forever.
The Barn:
Where the crane was:
There was a fair amount of water in the canyon, considering how hot its been. Lots of cows, but no snakes spotted this trip.
Pappy & Harriet's still rocks the town, and serves good food and cold beer (despite the signs)
I was very disappointing by the actions taken at Two Hole Mine though. They did a pretty cool job creating a pedestrian only gate from the main canyon, leaving the mine to be a 1/2 mile walk or so. Finally, the MX and Side-by-sides have been kept out, which made the sandy wash quite easy to walk up, because the sand was relatively hard packed (no tires loosening up the sand), BUT, and this is a HUGE but, BLM pretty much destroyed the whole point of making the hike. They tore down the headframe on the main shaft, dynamited the main horizontal shaft, and then put up a bunch of barb wire all around both vertical shafts.
The irony is that they placed a shiny new sign at the trailhead that proudly encourages one to "Protect America's Resources". I can't quite figure out how destroying historic landmarks protects our resources... I really hate Land Use Nazisim.
The Mining Camp on the south end is crumbling a bit more each visit. The once proud Barn is not in good shape. The bunkhouse looks okay, and someone actually swept part of the floor which was nice. However, I had set up a Contest with the kids in our group to find the crane and bulldozer, only to discover that they have been removed! Not sure if it was "clean up", "salvage" or "collectors", but they are definitely gone forever.
The Barn:
Where the crane was:
There was a fair amount of water in the canyon, considering how hot its been. Lots of cows, but no snakes spotted this trip.
Pappy & Harriet's still rocks the town, and serves good food and cold beer (despite the signs)
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