Getting lost half the fun of exploring desert back country

leslie payne/special to viewFour-wheel-drive trips into the desert along rough roads yield spectacular, unexpected treasures, such as hidden petroglyphs, king snakes and green copper streaks.

I want to apologize if the mileage in my stories is sometimes off, or if the roads are rough or even not visible at all -- but that is the way of the desert. A road or trail may be easily passable one month and the next month it is obliterated, either by nature's forces or by man. I cannot count the times I have never arrived at my planned destination because the trails were gone and my landmarks had disappeared as well. But, for most back country explorers, half the fun of the trip is what they find along the way, whether they reach the set destination or not.

One of my trips to find an old cabin I was told about and given a detailed map to was disastrous. I lost the tailgate to my Jeep, broke a windshield and lost my spare gas can. I was told the road was "a bit rough." I never found the old cabin until five trips later.

Was it worth it? You bet! I discovered a wonderful rock shelter with a small spring nearby. I saw a flock of wild geese in their typical V formation. I watched two lizards have an altercation and found a wild currant bush loaded with delicious berries. All this was because I wasn't able to find the road to the old cabin.

On another trip, I went armed with specific directions to a "fabulous" spring in the Cima Dome area, where petroglyphs were said to be abundant. The road was washed out at the fork I was supposed to take and this detour led me miles out of my way, but I persevered for many more bumpy bad miles. Finally, I had exhausted every detail on the map, so I stopped my Jeep by a huge rock outcropping to eat a bite of lunch. As I leaned against a rock, to my astonishment it was entirely covered with wonderful petroglyphs, far better than the ones I had originally set out to find.

Several years ago, a friend and I were searching for an obscure mine in the Providence Mountains. Many new roads had been graded and the rather vague directions given by an old prospector friend weren't much use. After hours of driving up canyons and following dead end trails, we spotted a tractor off in the distance.

"Aha" we thought. "We'll ask for directions." The tractor had been abandoned some time in the 1940s and its only inhabitant was a pack rat. We then headed for a sign that got larger and larger as we approached. The sign informed us that "cutting of trees prohibited."

I'll bet there wasn't a tree within 50 miles or more, as we were smack in the middle of a vast sweep of desert. We got a good laugh and ended up in Pinto Valley, where we'd seen some spectacular country.

One of my most unusual trips was to search for a lost silver mine in the Funeral Mountains in Death Valley. The road was all gravel and it twisted and turned up a narrow canyon. It seemed dark and mysterious and lonely. After what seemed an eternity, I came into a clearing. Here was a woman wearing a lovely silk dress and high heels, and a gentleman in a suit. Did I mention it was Easter Sunday and they had gone for a little drive? Right behind their car was a smooth road they had driven in on. Oh well.

A friend once gave me a map he had drawn after finding a huge cave located up a canyon in the Meadow Valley Wash north of Las Vegas. I told some other friends who also had Jeeps and four-wheel-drive vehicles and loved exploring, so off we went early one morning.

We followed the map, each of us checking the mileage for turns and landmarks, which I confess were never right. Toward mid-day, we were lost. Lost -- eight Jeeps on a narrow road leading to guess where? The Salt Lake City/Interstate-15 north. My expert leadership had failed.

We all turned around just as it began to rain. We stopped near a cliff because my Jeep's windshield wipers went out. One of the other drivers told me to take a raw potato (we were going to roast them for lunch), cut it in half and rub it on the glass. The water was supposed to run right off, but it turned to sticky, gluey starch that we could not even see through. We never did find the cave, but it was a wonderful trip I'll never forget.

The trips I write about and the mileage given is as accurate as can be. But, in the desert, everything changes with every storm, with wind and rain.

I find wonderful sights in the mountains and back country whenever I go. I've found green copper streaks in the hillsides, gnarled old trees with owls living in them, an old stove in a wash where a family of ground squirrels had made a nest. I've had king snakes follow me as I searched for Apache Tears.

Don't rely on exact directions and mileage, as there is no such thing in the desert. The landscape changes every hour, so look for the wonders along the way. That's the adventure.

Happy travels and good luck.

Florine Lawlor is a native Las Vegan and a former writer for the Las Vegas Sun and Senior Press.