My Rockhounding Pedigree Runs Deep

Today my mother showed me some images she recently received of herself and her parents (Dr. and Mrs. J. Vernon McGee) taken back in the 1930's and 1940's. The source of the images are the Dunn Family whom attended Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, CA, people whom the McGee's liked and respected. Amongst the images a member of the Dunn Family recently sent mom are three showing my grandparents out on the Mojave Desert on a rockhounding excursion with the Dunn Family. We already knew the McGee's liked to do that sort of thing back when my mother was a child. Mom had childhood memories of making such trips out to the Mojave Desert back in the 1940's into the 1950's including to Scotty's Castle back when it was still managed by the Gospel Foundation which repeatedly allowed the McGee Family to lodge there. What we did not know was that my grandparents went on rockhounding jaunts prior to my mom's birth and that they specifically visited the mining town of Calico, CA, in the late 1930's, something we realized as a result of viewing the images below. Calico is a place that has always been special to me and my parents as they used to take my brother and I out there when we were growing up in the 1970's into early 1980's. I visited the place again twice in the 2000's. Now that I know more fully my family connection to the place I feel compelled to get back out there as soon as I can make the trip. I also now know that my family rockhounding legacy goes back about 75 years. It is also worth noting that my paternal grandfather James Edwin Noyes also cast about on the Mojave Desert back in the early days around this same time and ultimately worked for Continental Conveyor which designed and built conveyor belt systems for mines and quarries around the world. Special thanks to my friend Mark Wiberg for digitalizing these images for me and to Lin Kerns for cleaning them up for me.

Grandpa McGee at far right and Grandma McGee second from left.

Grandpa McGee resting on a blanket while Grandma McGee snacks.

Grandpa McGee (foreground) walking out of the Calico General Store circa late 1930's.

  All photos by Gene & Alice Dunn or Luther & Helen Dunn courtesy of Margie Dunn (All rights reserved).

A Utah Trip In Nine Frames

The following images I captured over the course of my trip to Utah the past six days which saw me helping my friend Dave in his Rocks & Relics booth at Gem Faire in the Salt Lake City, Utah, area. This just past day started in the middle of last night when we hit the road after a short night's rest in Lehi, UT. Following a 14-hour drive home I attended a two-hour math class tonight at Cuesta College. As one might imagine I am a bit out of sorts but incredibly grateful to be home and that all went well for me throughout both on the road and on the home front. Actually, I feel rather euphoric tonight I am so happy to be home after a rather grueling work trip. The images below were taken over the course of the entire trip and are shown in the order in which they were taken.

This legendary tourist trap in Baker, CA, is more Hellenistic Mexican than genuine Greek.

Kim of Utah - I experienced a Kim Konvergence once again at this show.

Smokey sunset as seen from the valet parking area of the downtown Salt Lake City Hilton Hotel at which we lodged.

The source of all this smoke were all the forest fires in neighboring Idaho. This smoke has plagued the region for many days recently.

As we dined on the streetside at Cucina Toscana one evening an SUV pulled up adjacent to the restaurant having just caught fire within the engine compartment. Restaurant patrons and staff quickly stabilized the matter including your's truly. Shortly thereafter, SLC Engine #2 arrived having been called by the hysterical driver of the auto. Damage was minor but the vehicle had to be towed.

Pocket-sized chihuahua functioning as a "babe-magnet" for this happily married UVU science professor.

Sunrise this morning as seen from along side Interstate-15 approaching Cedar City, UT.

The latest view of one of the heliostat receiving towers being built in Primm Valley.  For more info on this check HERE.

Dust storm kicking up in the dry lake bed below Calico Ghost Town outside Barstow, CA.

Picture of the Day - Double Shot of Desert Wind

Today en route back home to the Central Coast from doing Gem Faire in Sandy, UT, we were frequently buffeted by headwinds or crosswinds which moved over the surface of the desert throughout the day.

Photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Far Eastern Mojave

This is an Interstate 15 southbound/westbound view of the Mojave Desert between Las Vegas and Mesquite looking northward.

Mojave Desert Mini-Rockhounding Adventure

On the way back from Utah this past Monday my friend Dave and I stopped at a road-side off-ramp and desert access way along Interstate-15 so he could nap for a short time. I took advantage of this opportunity to rockhound in the Mojave Desert there just a short distance from the nearby rockhounding locations known as Field Siding and the Alvord Hills. Predictably, I found some nice chalcedonys and jaspers as well as some flakes from some ancient arrowhead-making activities. I had fun for the relatively short time I was there and hope to make it back again to that area later this year. If that works out I also hope to revisit the Calico Early Man Site.

Alvord Mountains in the distance to the north.

Calico Mountains in the distance to the west.

The area abounded in various forms of cryptocrystalline quartz and basaltic rocks.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Primm Valley Solar Tower

Driving on I-15 in recent days to and fro between Paso Robles, CA, and Sandy, UT, it was hard not to notice how far along the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility at Primm Valley has gotten with its three dramatic-looking heliostat receiving towers thrusting up above the floor of the Mojave Desert just southwest of Las Vegas, NV. These solar power towers just inside the California state line look more like NASA rocket pads than heliostat receiving towers. Surrounding all three of these towers is a growing field of heliostat panels aimed at these towers. We have heard a lot about "alternative energy sources" in the public discourse in recent years and this is a wonderful example of such being built right before our eyes.

Note: At bottom is a National Geographic short video about this project that I have added on August 30, 2013.

UPATE as of February 14, 2014, from the The Weather Channel HERE. 

One of three heliostat receiving towers under construction in the Primm Valley area.

UPDATE:  Here are two more images I captured of this facility today, September 24, 2012, as I drove past it nearly six months after I captured the image above.

All three heliostat receiving towers shown here.

All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Boron Mine

This image shows part of the U.S. Borax Boron Mine as viewed from one mile south on Highway 58. This mine supplies half the world's supply of borates and is probably the world's largest borate mine. This open pit mine of which the pit is not visible from the highway outside of Boron, CA, is California's largest open pit mine. Me being my inimitable self upon noticing the two white domes immediately thought of the two concrete containment domes at San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant and the brief, but humorous and off-color role in which they played in the movie The Naked Gun wherein Leslie Nielson's character Frank Drebin is reminded of how much he misses his ex-girlfriend upon noticing the domes.

Picture of the Day - Folded Strata

Folded strata adjacent to the lower parking lot at Calico Ghost Town, San Bernardino Co., CA
Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - Calico Bottle House

Bottle House, Calico Ghost Town, Yermo, San Bernardino County, CA,
Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).