S Calif desert / American Girl Mine

More from the South California desert. I wanted to see the namesake for American Girl Mine Road, so one day I drove my SUV as far as I thought I should on a rough rocky dirt road and then hiked the rest of the way on a very windy desert day. My face was red from the wind by the time I got back.

Picturesque sandy hills along the way
Spotted this Volkswagen-sized rock…
…with a big hole in it
American Girl Mine – This is not how I pictured a mine at all. I guess I’ve seen too many movies but I picture a hole in the side of a mountain shored up with timbers. This looks like a quarry to me.
Timidly peeking over the edge of AGM – I am scared of heights, a condition that is very inconvenient for a hiker.
View from the other side of the mine, so I could see where I was peeking over.
This is always a welcome sight after a long–or very windy–hike. (Is it just me or does it look like a toy?)
We never did find out what was going on, but we routinely saw fires on the horizon. They were said to be in Mexico but we didn’t know what was burning.
A very big moon seen from our camping spot on this day.

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