I had planned a week long trip to the Grand Canyon, but as shifting priorities shrunk the time I had to five days and then four I realized I didn't really want to burn tons of gas money for a rushed trip to a crowded place I've already seen a few times. Instead, how about I take my time heading back to Los Angeles from Las Vegas and explore the trash-filled desert along I15!

Now, technically, a lot of that desert is the Mojave National Preserve, which is a great place to explore. But I was feeling too lazy to go far from the freeway and the days were getting hot. I decided to stop at Halloran Summit Road, which is about 4000 feet in elevation and so was a pleasant 75F. My campsite was a dirt lot in front of a graffiti-covered abandoned building with at least one used needle in the nearby bushes.

With a little over an hour before sunset, I picked a high point among the nearby hills to aim for and started hiking. My basic plan was to get to somewhere I could take photos of the sunset with the freeway in the background, but really I just wanted to see how the desert changed as I got further from the freeway and maybe stumble on something random.

After going only about 50 feet, the modern trash had mostly disappeared. Still, the landscape was pretty boring: Only a few flowers were blooming despite rain a couple days earlier and no sign of any tortoises which I'd also hoped might be out after the rain.

I eventually quit the cross-country bush dodging and started following an old, faint dirt road. Strangely, the road stopped at a large, flat clearing partway up the ridge that seemed as if someone had planned to build their dream home and just quit.

Continuing up the ridge, I had the feeling that the whole area might have been turned over by mining years ago. Sure enough, hidden behind the ridge was a bunch of mining remnants.

I descended into the small valley and spent a little while exploring. It wasn't the most extensive, but it was eerie feeling that I might have been the only visitor for months or years while thousands of people a day pass by on the freeway only a mile or two away.

The ruins themselves were unlike anything I'd seen at a mine site before: Some tracks leading to an abrupt end some 40 feet in the air, a short but thick section of concrete slabs, and an outhouse too big for just pooping but too small for living out of. I'd guess some heavy machinery was removed that would make it all make sense.

On returning, a quick Google search for answers lead me to some descriptions of the area but unfortunately no photos.