My date with Dilbert

Friday was FUN. Besides having M's birthday party here, Dilbert took me on an adventure. We went west of Tooele, to the old California Trail where pioneers passed through the west desert on their way to California. It was so remote, I can't even tell you! We could see for hundreds of miles and there was no one, not a town or a house or a road to be seen. All there was was dessert and trails. And the quiet... It was amazing there are still places so remote. I took some pictures but my camera was being weird and the pictures didn't make it home with me. I viewed them while we were up there, but when I got home to put them on the computer, they were gone. Sort of like a Twilight Zone, isn't it.

This is google earth's satelite picture of where we were...



Dilbert took his fancy metal detector and we went out in search of relics. First we stopped in a steep canyon. Dilbert's thinking was if they were coming through that canyon, the steepest parts would be places where wagons would have rolled, and that would be a good place to look for evidence of their passage. We didn't find much of anything except barbed wire and bullet casings so we continued down the trail. We came to a little canyon with a large, flat open area. We figured a wagon train would stop there for the night so Dilbert went out in search... It didn't take him too long before he found a large "oxen" shoe (we are assuming it is oxen because it is way too big to be a horseshoe). We searched the rest of the area but only found a few horseshoe nails, some sort of tie-down (in the picture with the shoe), a 1998 nickel, some tent stakes and a piece of costume jewelery.

But we did find a tailing pile from an old mine. With some careful inspection, we were able to find the mine shaft, mostly caved in, but still accessible. There was a strong, cold draft coming from the opening. Dilbert threw a rock down the shaft to see how deep it was, but it was too hard to tell how far down it went. I couldn't be persuaded to explore it any further i.e. go in it (I have children at home, for pete's sake!).


What do you think... was I being a scaredy cat?

It took us about 2 hours to cover the field and by then it was time to head home for M's party but it was a nice day. The biggest thing I learned, though, is I am EXTREMELY glad I wasn't a pioneer. It was hot and dry and barren and rocky and extremely buggy and I wouldn't want to have to walk through it, let alone camp there. I was extremely grateful to get into my comfy air-conditioned Pilot and drive home!