Providence Mountains

[Sandman]

Nice trucks Steve , Don and Linda. I'm getting ready to replace my well worn stock 4x4. It's taken me so many places but at 170,000 miles, it's feeling it's age. Here is a picture of the view from the campground at Hole in the Wall. This sombrero plug has some very interesting geology. The "Hole in the Wall" slot canyon that has the ring bolts is on the right side of the formation.

[Sandman]

This picture was taken in Caruthers Canyon up in the New York Mountains within the Mojave Preserve. Up in the higher elevations, the forest holds many great sites for dispersed camping. It's a short side trip off the Mojave Road and well worth a visit.

[Desert Cruiser]

Nice shots Sandman. Thanks.

Don...

[MMM]

When I was a lot younger I was with a group of cave explorers who visited the area. There is a cave called "Cave of Winding Stairs" on the perserve. You MUST have a permit, have someone who has been in the cave and be fully qualified on VRT. (Verticle Rope Technique) The cave is basicly a repell down and ascender up. A lot of cave popcorn. Very dry and small, except for its verticle relief. Anyway we decided back in 1972, to see what else the Providance mountains held as far as caves went. We climed to the top of the mountain and signed the regester on it. On the way up we discovered several small "shelter" caves and one near the gap, that had about 100 feet of passage. The gap is someting I will never forgit. We could hear the sound of the wind blowing through the pass and it sounded like jet taking off. Then as we got closer, the sound of tinkling glass could be heared. The "glass" sound was actually ice forming in the wind on trees and then breaking off. The mountains have unique features as as you ascend, and desced you will find terraces. That is verticle cliffs and then more gentle areas. On the way back to the cars, it was already dark, and we went down the draw, only to be stoped by one of these 150 foor cliffs, so back up we went to find a gap in the cliff, go down to the next ledge and repete. We had a small dog with us and on one decent we had to make a chain of people on the cliff face to hand the dog down safely to the person below us. We reported to the people at Mitchles the caves we found and filled a report as they requested. About a month later, we were told the area was closed to all exploration and we were expressly forbidden from entry into any cave in the perserve. No reason was given. I have never been back sence.

Mike