The Ghost Town Of Helena, California

Since I began my adventure journey a few years ago, Iโ€™ve seen a number of ghost towns. On a recent trip through California, however, I was privileged to visit the most intact ghost town I have seen so far.ย  Welcome to Helena, California.ย  The story of Helena is similar to many towns like it. What …

Cave of Munits

While planning a recent California vacation, I came across a nameโ€”The Cave of Munitsโ€”I was intrigued, and so began the journey and the research. The Cave of Munits practically rides the county line between Ventura and Los Angeles in the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve. Amidst the urban sprawl, El Escorpion Trail takes …

This Charcoal Kiln Dates To The 1800s!

In a small town outside Prescott, Arizona, a monolith to a bygone era stands proudly amongst the pine and summer homes.  Created around the year 1880, by Jake and Joe Carmichael, this kiln was used to convert oak wood into charcoal to be used in the smelting operations of a nearby silver mine.  Using a …

Ancient Creek Ruins, Sierra Ancha Wilderness

These ancient dwellings are built into a small alcove overlooking a creek in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness. Their likely construction, sometime between 1280 and 1350 A.D., was determined, in part, by the tree rings found in the beams along the roof. I have visited a number of ruins in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness, much of …

Village Of Rio Puerco, Petrified Forest

This is the Village of Rio Puerco, thought to have been settled by the Pueblo natives (Anasazi) from 1250 to 1380 A.D. It is believed that a series of droughts led them from scattered living to congregating in large pueblo communities, such as this. The Village is located near the banks of the Puerco River. …

Crinoids, Ancient Marine Fossils

Found in the mountains overlooking a small town not far outside the Salt River Valley, these are the fossilized remains of an ancient sea creature known as a Crinoid. With a flower-like appearance, these are often referred to as sea lilies. In fact, the word crinoid is derived from the Greek word โ€œkrinon,โ€ meaning โ€œa …

Historic Bowen Ranch House

This Historic Ranch House, known as the Bowen Stone House, has stood tall in the canyons of the Tucson Mountains for nearly a century. Moving Southwest in the 1920s, Sherry and Ruby Bowen, transplants from Rockford, Illinois, hoped a change in climate might also result in better health for the increasingly sick, Ruby Bowen, who …

The Cowboy Prayer Rock

I LET MY SADDLE FALL, MY WEARY HORSE I TEND, DEAR LORD I HEAR YOU CALL, FOR Iโ€™VE REACHED THE END. Poetic and unsettling, whatโ€™s known as the Cowboy Prayer, reads more like a lament. Permanently transfixed along the divide between civilization and the Prescott Wilderness, sewn into a large boulder and overlooking a small …

Historic Clevenger House, Superior, Arizona

This lovingly-crafted stone and mortar home was once that of the Robert Clevenger family, in the early 1900s. Built in Queen Creek Canyon, the northern wall is the canyon, itself. The majestic Picketpost Mountain looms to the South, and the ghost town of Pinal once stood less than one mile to the east (as the …