Death Canyon, two trips

[konigstigerii]

last time we went out we went shooting in gravel pit that is a ways from there, we did shoot in death canyon but only like 30 .22lr rounds, but good to know. I'm sure he doesn't mind those of us who can to carry to be armed for personal protection, right?

I think we are going to go out to spor mountian in mid march-ish (spring break) and maybe do a 3 day weekend, and with 3 days we may go up to death canyon as well. I dunno exactly, I haven't heard from my other buddies about that date, so its still in the air. But if that sounds like it would fit in your schedule, you are more than welcomed to join us, as well as anyone else.

[one_bad_rover]

Im sure that Floyd would be fine with the shooting as long as its not in his general direction, or that of his dogs. thats the main concern. His claims are at the end of the main trail, if you remember where the "water mine" is (the one on the west side of the canyon, just across from where the road spurs to the east), his claim starts right about there, and then covers most of the rest of the way up that canyon. The mines are all included in that. As to other people in the area:
There is a great guy named Roger that owns the claims up on off the west spur of the road. these are the mines that have their entrances closed up.
A guy from LV, owns the claims on the mines up on the west face of the canyon, just south of Floyds claims. these are the ones that dont have any road up to them.
The big mine just across from the spur east (see above) that has water coming out of it is also owned, but I dont remeber where that guy was from.
Just to the east of Death Canyon is another road that goes up to a great site with a bunch of old buildings and a hell of a lot of gold.. (look for the flowers), that is also privately claimed by a guy up in Oregon.
Floyd also has the claim on the mines on the south, western edge of the canyon. This is a great claim and has a ton of fossils in it.
As a side note, the Bar X mine is privately owned and patented... but a few not so bright individuals have laid a bunch of placer claims over it. While the BLM will let you put a claim there, they also acknowledge that the claim is basically worthless as the minerals and the land is owned by the patent holder. When I chatted with the lady that owns the Bar X she indicated that she would be more than happy to put "two barrels of double ought in their ass" if she caught them up on her land.
She quite a character and determined that one day that mine is going to make her a billionaire.
Hopefully that info is helpful.

PS... just a note, that just because a site is claimed doenst mean you cant access it, if a claim owner is working in the area, they can secure the site... (fence, gate, etc..). But if the site isnt marked as private, then you can walk around, just dont pick up any minerals or you could be held liable for up to 3x the value of the minerals taken.

The Spor mountains would be fun to visit again.. I would like to get up to the lost sheep claims but Id like to have some backup to do it with...if you have seen "the hills have eyes" and been in that area, you might know what Im talking about.

[konigstigerii]

Thanks for the info... I haven't seen the hills have eyes, but I realize that if the victims in scary movies had a ccw, then many of the stories would be cut short lol. I always carry, even going out in the desert, and we typically have some rifles with us as well, as I would rather defend myself with a rifle vs a pistol. Far as the private signs and what not thats about what I figured, didn't think about taking rocks though, though we don't normally, but is good to know. Far as a spor mountain trip, we are planning one for march if youre interested

[Mike]

Thanks for the info... I haven't seen the hills have eyes, but I realize that if the victims in scary movies had a ccw, then many of the stories would be cut short lol. I always carry, even going out in the desert, and we typically have some rifles with us as well, as I would rather defend myself with a rifle vs a pistol.

Guns are dangerous. All it takes is one gun to kill lots of people. How could you be so irresponsible by owning a gun and wanting to defend yourself. lol jk Good for you!. I just retook the CCW class with Crystal today to brush up on the laws and all that shaz. Neat to retake the course after almost a year of carrying. We all carry 99% of anywhere we ever go, for those 'Hills have eyes' scenerios. Although I think in that film, many were military personnel armed with automatic rifles. It was pretty much a gay movie.

[konigstigerii]

oh see,I haven't seen that movie. I'm not to worried about some supernatural or paranormal monsters attacking us. I'm more worried about a lion stuck in the end of the tunnel or some other animal attacking us, and not to mention if there are any weirdos floating around. And only carry 99% of the time where you go? slacker! lol

[Stuart]

And only carry 99% of the time where you go? slacker

Well you see, some places have metal detectors

[konigstigerii]

excuses excuses... lol I guess I don't either... yesterday I was so hung over I could barely order food....

[one_bad_rover]

the lost sheep is definatley Hills have eyes.. with the auto weapons. When you go up there are two gates so you have to walk the road, as it comes around the first bend you see a neat cabin, and then you get closer and realize it looks very much inhabited. curtains drawn and locked up tight... then as you head up there are 3 trailers, all same thing. Blinds and windows closed up. But there was just that feeling that there were some people up there, just hanging out behind the blinds waiting for you to do something that would validate their shooting you. We went up with the AR and the XD but still didnt feel all that safe. in that type of area, a person with a scope and a few bullets is more powerful that a whole group of people with weapons, they can pick people off all day.
That said, the claim on the area is no longer valid... so we claimed it, but I want to go up and cut the gates open and drive up and explore... without being shot at.

[Kelly Rees]

Corey,

Let me know when your heading out there, I would love to tag along if possible.

[Mark1955]

I'm more worried about a lion stuck in the end of the tunnel or some other animal attacking us, and not to mention if there are any weirdos floating around.

Same here! For protection while exploring in the wild or in a mine... that sort of thing. I grew up around guns, reloading, shooting matches and so on. Dad ran a gun store a good deal of his life in the Chicago Burbs and I actually find guns to be very boring since that was all I was exposed to when I was growing up. I'm also not that paranoid about going to Wal-Mart or the Movie Plex and getting shot by some loonie. We all have to go bye-bye some time or other and for some of us it may be sooner than later by some means. And besides I don't want to be the next one responsable for droping his gun in the stall and taking out another innocent commode!!

Mark

[Kiel]

What ever happened with this? I just saw the hills have eyes

[Danb]

Are your sure we are talking about Death Canyon (N 39° 54’ 53” W 112° 43’ 41”) ? Or, Hard To Beat Canyon. (N 39° 55’ 54” W 112° 31’ 6”). I was there (Death Canyon) 20 years ago, 10 years ago and 7 years ago. 3-4 cabins at the Bar X Mine, a white cabin at the end of the road. They are all gone now and it never had gates. Hard To Beat Canyon is gated and we never found a way around even on ATV’s. We could see a house/cabin and vehicles from the gate and didn’t want to trespass and get in trouble. Topo map shows adits up the canyon and we wanted to get to them but turned around at the gate. Either place my AR is locked with a 30 rnd mag, 20 rd mag on the tele-stock and 2 20 rnd mags on the ATV. HU AH

Dan

[one_bad_rover]

Sorry, the lost sheep detour is confusing. We diverted to the Lost Sheep mine, a bit south of death canyon in the Spor Mountains. Extreme north end.

[Danb]

Thanks for the clarification Corey. That’s the range with the school bus up on the hill. We explored those adits on ATV’s. It was a blast. I’ll post video when I get it edited. There are a few more on the west side of the range. We made it up the road to the Oversight Mine just north of the Lost Sheep. That is a very cool area.

Dan

[bobmed]

I was up Death Canyon last year and stopped and talked to someone in a fenced off area staying in a motor home towards the top.
He was pretty friendly and asked what I was doing up there. I told him I was just up checking out the area and he told me a little about some of the places.