On November 13th we decided to enjoy the cooler weather and hike into an area I felt was worth looking into for any paranormal activity. Wouldn't it be great to be hiking and discover an alien body or see an unknown creature that you could film? This is why we do the things we do to bring you guys the story.
Now that it is cooler will be doing more day time explorations which some good mysteries and photography should follow the next few months to come. This place being Luvell Canyon and some mine ruins left over from the days when they built mills to process the minerals that were mined. This area actually is open to the public you can mine here as long as you only use shovels.
Tammy and I enjoyed a nice little ride along Lake Mead the water was blue the rocks around us were red. The sun was behind clouds most of the day on and off. We had packed some drinks and snacks as our hike would be a round trip of about 6 miles which would include some moderate climbing and things of that sort. We would have to pay money to get into the Lake Mead area which sucks considering i had no plans to even visit the lake. Whatever happened to not having to pay to hike its bad enough we pay high taxes on gas now we have to pay to visit the desert.
We would head on off after entering this dirt road and trying to find a place to park. The day was calm their was many other hikers in the area. We went down into a wash road it became to rough so we turned it around parked up on a bluff. The area was gorgeous with many black and red mountains. Keep in mind this area had volcanoes at one time being here is something you would see in some movie. It is very mystical looking of an area and is just starting to grab attention from the Vegas natives.
The sun was starting to set so some of the mountains had an orange glow while the shadow ones looked dark and gloomy. We would have to backpack a few miles back into this location and find our main goal the mine ruins it would not be impossible but we would have to hike steadily to get to them.
Luvell Canyon & Anniversary Mine
We packed our back packs then went down this dirt road which eventually would turn out to be a little less friendly. We had to get over a few times one for an SUV the second time around for a young girl in a jeep with a couple kids as she was laughing offroading. I know its fun you would be smiling to bouncing around in a jeep nonetheless the girl was cute shame shame could have just missed a UFO in the sky instead i am looking at tatas bouncing around.
I am sorry had to be said....anyhow after the excitement left the area to our left was a series of washes and mountains. Tammy spotted to our left Ore Cart mine not a huge debris pile but its twin entrances sat up along the side of the mountains.
During the day is much different and the desert is deceptive. Something might look a mile away and in fact be further or higher up the mountain. Just remember their are no woods or markings so after a few hundred feet of hiking I snapped a photo of the twin mine entrances then went back to the main mining road.
I found this sign that stated it was okay to mine in this region at your own risk. It also listed the oddest minerals that I never even heard of before like lavender and Christmas agate. These minerals are used in kitchen tiles and counters. One of them listed is also used in our floor tiles where we live so this mine definitely was new to us.
I had plans to make it to my destination and we only had a couple hours of sunlight. I decided to visit the twin mines later at night either that or not find the mill site. We would continue down this lonely dirt road for over a mile passing the gemstone sign and big tire. There was even a redneck grill made out of a tire rim on site should have brought me the burgers lol.
As we hiked down the road it dead ended at this narrow canyon perhaps a wash. We climbed down into it then cross it where the road would continue to go up a mountain and switchback all around the Anniversary mine and its debris pile which was huge.
The wash we crossed was amazing to as cliffs graced both sides and it was 50 feet across. I wish I had more time because further up that wash is allot of old mining equipment left from back in the day. Most mines used washes as a way to dispose their TNT boxes....and garbage so you can find anything just about including the cans of rusted beans...ore carts etc
We were in seclusion you could hear a pin drop and the road went all the way into the mountains then curved around to the mine. I decided to cut 15 minutes off the hike so we crossed this slope above us where the road intersected.
I did not climb the debris pile but you could see wood pilings protruding out from the rocks like it had collapsed. Hell maybe on top of it was an open shaft either way my focus was on the mill site.
As I came around the bend I could hear women giggling and people talking. I thought holy shit I just hit the jackpot....people throwing a party in the middle of nowhere.....maybe weed...fried chicken what the hell right? Well wrong I walked up on them and they were all just staring because you see they were camping right on the mine ruins.
Their was an open area with about 5 or 5 giant block sized foundations but in the very center was quite a few flat stone slabs. I had assumed that they chose the slabs to camp on for more comfort. It beats being on sharp rock or dry desert brush.
I walked around the ruins found a stone wall.....and another path where some strip mining been done. I had to be careful as beyond this little hill near the ruins is a cliff going down into a wash.
Tammy and I walked behind the hill could no longer hear the workers. We found many signs of mining such as wood....rusted pieces of metal.....stone lined walkways etc. Further off their was a canyon in back what a rough climb to get up into it as you have to edge a cliff then climb into the canyon itself.
It was getting to dark to venture into the narrow slot canyon but we enjoyed standing at the entrance here as you could see the canyon go right up between two mountains. At this point nightfall was setting in we were trying to find a way into the Anniversary Mine.
We went back to the mill people were partying and laughing. I had wondered how they got up into this area the road we took in had parts that were missing. When I say missing I tam talking about 5 feet of road missing and one fall into that hole meant rolling off the side of the mountain or having your vehicle tipped on its side in a hole. We did find tire tracks on the way back down the mountain you could see some tires glazed the edge of the washed out parts of the road by an inch or two.
Before we would however leave the area we followed a back road behind the mill site. As we followed it we found a couple mines perhaps just strip mines maybe blown shut mines you could tell that the operation here spread all over the hills along the road.
Ahead of us we could see a giant town below us but it was at least 10 miles maybe even more away. We ended up taking a break for food and drink on top of a small hill where it had been strip mined. So here we were sitting in the dark nothing but mountains and a dimly lit town miles away. We were in a fairly large canyon the road seemed pretty good perhaps this is the back way in to drive to thee ruins hard to tell.
What caught my eye though sitting in the canyon was we had hills on all sides of us and as soon as the night set in that is when I noticed something strange. Behind us at the tops of the hills sometimes in the canyon with us were white sparkles of light. These were not flashlights or anything like that but rather they looked like lightening bugs moving around across the hillside.
I knew I was not going crazy as Tammy witnessed this also. Tammy said maybe it was static then she said lightening bugs. But their is no lightening bugs in the desert and if their are they usually come in a variety of colors. These dancing lights gave me the sense we were not alone I had no explanation for them just that I enjoyed a good smoke.....some food....and the solitude of watching them.
We would head back it was getting late and we now had to bust out the flashlights at times. It was a quiet walk under the stars till we reached a marker that I made near the road. If we followed the direction of the marker it would lead us to the ore cart mine entrances.
Well little did I know that as we crossed the desert we would encounter three washes the third being the worst. Due to this factor we spent two hours hiking and looking for the mines. The sky was so dark that we could not see anything but we were close real close just not high enough.
I had realized that we were on a very large hill which put us level with the mines but once we climbed into the wash we could have to climb up the mountain to find them. During the day it looked like a straight even walk over but once we arrived near the mountain where these mines resided we realized we were small fry.
The wash we climbed down into was about 20 feet deep. We found a smaller opening that led us down into the wash but it was a moderate climb and our only way down into it. Inside the wash the rocks were very smooth you could tell that rushing water came through here more then often. I felt like I was walking inside a giant dry river.
We found some of the mineral gemstones that were listed on the sign and I broke one of them open. Tammy and I found an old plant fossil inside could be from the days when the dinosaurs once roamed this planet pretty cool stuff.
The banks of this wash were pretty steep we had to go across the wash then find a way to climb up the giant mountain range in front of us which somewhere within its hills held two mine entrances. We climbed up another steep wash with walls of rock on both sides which led me on top of a giant hill. To the one side we had more cliffs behind me more hills leading up to the peak area.
I could not see any mines....just three major washes I had known that this mine sat on each side of the wash. I just did not know how high or how deceptive in height they would be considering a half of mile away we were level with the entrance now we were just hiking further up this steep mountain looking for them in the dark.
It does not matter how good of a hiker you are at night the desert is nearly impossible to find destinations at. You can spend three hours hiking in just a 1 mile area and still never find a certain mine your looking for. In this case we were within a few hundred feet of it and still could not find the ore carts or entrances.
I had Tammy stand on this hill we were a good 100 feet up above the wash when I climbed up another wash to a ledge with a wall of rock. I followed it then eventually climbed up a bit higher. I could make out with my light allot of steep drop offs...ledges....and sharp rocks. This series of mountains was no joke one wrong bounce met falling into the abyss below.
I studied day photos and it appears that we were so close to the entrances that they just sat further back on another tier beyond me. Even though I did not find the mines I did find a couple burial markers perhaps miners who perished here but it was not uncommon with mining operations. If a man died in the mine they often carried him out buried him right by the entrance or in the desert out front. There was no fancy caskets....or funerals....some were even forgotten except by the locals who worked along side their fellow man in the dark depths under the desert.
Tammy and I made our way over to a hill next to the hill we were on then we rock climbed down back into the wash after trying to find the mine we decided that this would be like winning the lotto. We thought about coming back the next day to explore the mines but they were not very large that is probably why we never found them. They were just two holes in the side of the mountain seen from a half of mile away.
I was a little disappointed but I also knew that at night it would be a long shot trying to find these things. When your level with something in the desert once you get up to it you find out its a 300 or 500 foot climb to tt boy I sure miss my spotlights that does make all the difference however they are also very heavy to carry.
Tammy and I decided to not end the night just yet so we followed this wash for a half of mile. The walls were so steep their was a foreboding feeling. Their is flash flooding in these parts of the hills a hike in the rain here could mean death as one could tell when the water rushes through here it rushes in with tidal wave force. The banks and smooth rocky bottom are two tall signs of this factor.
Eventually we turned around climbed up a steep wash crossing the desert to the gravel mining road which would lead us back to the car. We were tired we just spent the last two hours climbing sharp rocks searching for a mine.
There is no greater rush then coming out of a wash and standing on a hill in the middle of the night having cliffs....mountain lions....and miles of seclusion around you. We may have not found the mines but we did witness near the ruins just a mile away sparkling white objects that moved without hesitation. What they could have been remains a mystery!
When we arrived back at the car I was thankful you never realize how many bruises...cuts and pains you have till you sit down for a moment to rest. We were both pretty tired we explored allot of the area and we got to view some pretty awesome meteors burn up. So that goes with the saying you win some and you lose some as a paranormal investigator.
Not every place you visit is going to have hot supernatural activity just like you will not find every hidden location. Some spend years chasing legends we spend our years chasing the truth. Being here made me wonder what was going through these peoples heads trying to mine back here. There are no stores for miles.....or gas stations....or even houses.
We sat in the car for a half hour in the dark overlooking the desert and mountains a couple miles away that were in front of us. Their was a dark parked car next to us the same campers we probably seen waiting for their ride on in considering they had a car like us their wasn't no way it would make it deeper into the Luvell Canyon area.
After vegging for awhile discussing the mystery lights we decided to head on out of here. It doesn't matter where I go their are so many paranormal happenings in the desert. You never feel small in the world till you step into the desert when you stand on ridges seeing entire cities miles away or terrain that looks as if it is eternal.
It is so vast that sometimes you could be standing next to ruins....caves....historical sites and hike right past them. Ill be looking forward to sharing some of our work we did up here in the future please show your support for our cause we work very hard at what we do each time.
Lord Rick
Founder, Author & Talk Show Host
www.paranormalghostsociety.org Ps Report is only a draft copy more may be added later or revised
