I had heard that the old timers who used to live in my house had found a coal seam up on the mountain. The story goes that they mortgaged the house and sold everything to fund their coal mining venture. I hear they got 1 or 2 truck loads of coal in the end, and it was a total disaster. I think I found the road they made. Its rough and impassable in some places, but had to be a tough trip even at the best of times. I followed it up to where I thought their mine might have been, but found no sign of coal (there are coal seams in that cliff up high, but not where I was exploring).
I did find their stone cabin. It had a broken-apart wood stove, some old metal cans, and the remains of the metal roof laying around in the rocks. I found some yellow tarp that is identical to some stuff that was part of my fruit cellar so I think it really was the 3 old bachelors that used to live here. The joke is that their relatives got rich leasing land to the gravel pit / cement company, meaning the plain old rocks they drove over were where the real money was to be made, not the coal. What a view they had from that cabin, though. Wow. I hear so many stories about those guys, I wish I could have met them.
This hike took place on the flat, sloping-up-to-the-cliffs ridges that look down into the wash I explored last week. You can see the scary boulder-cliffs in the background.
When the goats got near the edge of the boulder cliffs it freaked me out, since I absolutely do not trust the stability of round rocks packed in dry desert dirt. It was only a 3 hour hike, but fun to explore places I hadn't ever gone before. Finding some history was certainly rewarding. I'll ask more about what the story was on that project. Some of the elderly neighbors know all about it, and it'll be up to me to carry on the legend of Lloyd and Floyd and... I think it was Willard. I know, you're thinking it should be Boyd, but I guarantee thats not it.
I don't drink beer, but if I did, I'd prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friends!