Sunday was bright and beautiful from beginning to end. And it was loaded with awesome sites, one after another.
Steve's Pass was kind of anticlimactic as it was relatively low and wide but the world opened up huge beyond it. It was a land of mines including an active gold mine.
Past that active mine were many old, inactive mines. At one time I thought that having seen one mine I had seen them all. Untrue. They are all unique, with interesting stories and histories. They are often a challenge to reach which makes them all the more fun. Here our friend and fellow Jeep Junkie has found a rock that is 'sure to be gold'. 
We decided to see if we could connect the dots - go from this mine to another without having to return to the 'real" dirt road.It would be a slight matter of crossing this boulder field. We had fully half of it behind us at this point.
We decided to see if we could connect the dots - go from this mine to another without having to return to the 'real" dirt road.It would be a slight matter of crossing this boulder field. We had fully half of it behind us at this point.
Almost the end. We made it through...... Happy boys to have met the challenge.
The first Indian Paintbrush of spring, 2009
This mine caught our eyes for its beautiful salmon color. 
So many questions come to mind about the geology of the region.
Views from Secret Pass - although now that I've posted these pictures I suppose it's no longer a secret? 
We could see this mine from Secret Pass so we felt the need to see if we could get here. It was as though a giant had taken a paintbrush and splattered the landscape. Previous opinion was that open pit mines are not nearly as interesting as others but this one is surely an exception
Our next surprise was this area of volcanic tuff and dune formation. We can't help but wonder why this small area is so unique while surrounded by landscape totally foreign to it
A pig?
A giant's foot?
Shirlee tells me I'm going to owe her for this one.
Vic calls this a shelf road. It continued for more than a mile - the longest of its type that we have experienced. The views around each curve were amazing. It's difficult to imagine the hard work that went into building these roads way back when most of it was done by men with picks, axes, burros and strong backs. Today they are maintained with heavy equipment
The finale was a drive of several miles along the Beatty Wash Rd. The walls on either side often soared to many stories high. This particular rock slide didn't tumble or roll but just slid down and remained upright.
Brilliantly colored lichen - variety unknown but quite common on the rocks in this area. 
Brilliantly colored lichen - variety unknown but quite common on the rocks in this area. 
