We had a great trip today, since it was sunny and in the low 70's. We left our usual meeting point (Westwood Studios) in Las Vegas at 9:30 AM. We drove up to the Valley of Fire turnoff and followed it toward the VOF state park. We veered off onto the "Bitter Springs Trail Back Country Byway", and first headed for Buffington Pockets. This was my second vistit here. There was plenty of water pools in the sandstone pockets to poke arouind in, as well as quite a few Anasazi Indian petroglyphs adorning the canyon walls. We didn't see any wild horses, big horn sheep, wild burros, coyote, or desert toroises today. Brothers Ted and Chris Morris also hid a cool geocache in this vicinity, see be sure to look for it on this website. They should also have information on www.outdoornevada.com.We stopped in and around the nearby "Opal Fields", and found some pieces of Chalcedony Quartz, as well as colored agate. I don't think anyone found a pearly white quartz opal. Maybe next time. We munched down some lunch and hit the dirt road, continuing our journey through the Muddy Mountains toward Bitter Springs.
We stopped off at the old remains of the old American Borax Mining Operation. There were remains of old structures, mine shafts, and cisterns. There was lots of rusty metal stuff all over the place. Be careful for holes in the soft ground, and possible vertical shafts. Watch your step. There is, what we think, Gypsum glittering all over the ground in this area. The geocache stash is hidden in this vicinity.
The loot is hidden in a round, white Rubbermaid container which holds 1.5 US gallons - about 11" wide and 4" tall. There are over 30 items packed within (see encypted spoiler below), so it's a tight squeeze. (This seems to be the case with each treasure stash I hide!) Bring something small with you if you want to leave it behind. Of course, please leave the log book, pencils and sharpener behind. The stash is buried at ground level, and hidden under a cairn of flat rocks. Please be sure to tightly reseal the container when you leave, in case of rain. More info is listed below.
We never made it to bitter springs, but passed it's turnoff on route 167. It was getting late, but we made it home right after dark, around 6:00 PM.
If you are travelling the Bitter Springs Byway (from I-15 or from route 167, here's some other interesting waypoints along the way, which you'd probably see as you were driving along:
Buffington Pockets
N 36 degrees, 23.164'
W 114 degrees, 41.454'
American Borax Mining Operation - Part 1
N 36 degrees, 20.043'
W 114 degrees, 34.494'
"Rabbit Rock"
N 36 degrees, 18.041'
W 114 degrees, 33.035'
A Mysterious Shelter
N 36 degrees, 19.442'
W 114 degrees, 33.107'
"Redstone" Picnic Area
N 36 degrees, 14.530'
W 114 degrees, 30.942'
We hope that you have fun finding the geocache. It's in the middle of nowhere on lightly traveled (or maintained) dirt roads, so use common sense. Have fun! Encrypted spoilers follow...