A rare desert find!

[TerryC]

I went out onto the desert this morning. Terry Soloman directed me to where
I might find a crested cactus. I did not find it.

But the morning was not wasted! I found this marker.

I have learned never to pass up these signals.

I stepped out of the Jeep to find this guy, a rare desert tortoise!

He is LUCKY I did not drive over him so close to the trail.... he would have been mistaken for a rock.

I did not find the reason for the marker but DID find a vintage tie date nail.

They were driven into the (railroad) tie the year it was inspected.

It has a 7 on it. There is something near the left edge that looks like an 8 but possibly just rust. Can anyone tell me what year this nail represents?

I also found part of the OLD railroad bed that might have been a narrow gauge track before being replaced by today's standard gauge track. Here is pic of what I believe to be a standard size spike and a narrow gauge spike.

I did not find the crested cactus but consider the morning a SUCCESS! ╦╦C

(hmm, why are the thumbnails showing up?)

 

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[Professor of Engineering]

Beautiful area and some nice finds!

 

[smokeythecat]

Glad you didn't hit the tortoise. You wouldn't want to look for those markers in the northeast. They are everywhere. Some big, some small. Even up into a couple provinces in Canada.

 

[pepperj]

Great picture of the Tortoise, I wonder how old it would be?
I stepped out of the truck and almost stepped on her. Will have to provide a protective cover for the eggs now.

 

[1637]

could be 18,for 1918 ,they only but 2 numbers on them ,they were used to see when the tie was installed and then replace the tie after a sit number of years, i love finding these. allot of the bigger railroad parts like the rails and the flat plate that the rails sit on have dates. when i find more than one plate .i just keep the oldest one,i think my oldest is 1921 and the oldest nail is 01 or 10.
cool find. brad

 

[TerryC]

This nail only has one number. A seven. Could be an '07, meaning 1907. I am just guessing. I need a pro opinion. ╦╦C

 

[smokeythecat]

To clarify, in the northeast there are tons of glaciated rocks. Mainly granite. People everywhere make mounds, pyramids, and stacks along the roads for entertainment or whatever. I kind of like seeing them.

 

[TerryC]

To clarify, in the northeast there are tons of glaciated rocks. Mainly granite. People everywhere make mounds, pyramids, and stacks along the roads for entertainment or whatever. I kind of like seeing them.

These little tiny "cairns" usually mark something that this person will visit again. I recently found a similar cairn in the Catalina Mountains. I looked around the area and found a granite tombstone about 50 meters off the jeep trail. Others will point the route to an obscure mineral claim. ╦╦C

 

[smokeythecat]

Here accident markers are done much differently. Most of these are either made by really bored people but sometimes to mark property boundaries.

 

[TerryC]

Here accident markers are done much differently. Most of these are either made by really bored people but sometimes to mark property boundaries.

Please allow me to clarify. The tombstone was found on the open desert.... miles from any paved road. I know what the accident markers are next to highways. The granite tombstone found can only be seen by those that would know it was there. A small, three-rock cairn marks its nearby location. She may be connected with this property or may have been a hiker that died while hiking this trail, the Southerland Trail going up towards Mt. Lemmon near Summerhaven, AZ. Please don't feel offended... just trying to get us both on the same page. Take care, my friend. ╦╦C

 

[RGINN]

1637 is right about those date nails. I grew up with a guy whose dad worked for years for Rock Island all his life. We used to go out and find them on the railroad line.

 

[smokeythecat]

Oh no, no offense. When I was up visiting friends in Maine they say everyone does it, just for fun. Friend said they even made a few. I bet some actually do act as a marker like a property line or such. I never saw any off the roads more than 50' and never on the trails. Not much else to do out there in the deep dark woods but run from Volkswagon sized mosquitos. In many parts of southern Ontario and Quebec, you get off the road, you may not get back. Lots of land, not so many people.

 

[TerryC]

Oh no, no offense. When I was up visiting friends in Maine they say everyone does it, just for fun. Friend said they even made a few. I bet some actually do act as a marker like a property line or such. I never saw any off the roads more than 50' and never on the trails. Not much else to do out there in the deep dark woods but run from Volkswagon sized mosquitos. In many parts of southern Ontario and Quebec, you get off the road, you may not get back. Lots of land, not so many people.

Here in AZ, gold prospecting claims abound, especially around Stanton, where I prospect. Many of the prospectors have claims that can only be reached on foot. A small rock cairn is placed at the nearest road showing which way to walk. Other rock cairns here denote (possibly) Indian dwellings, petroglyphs, or which fork in a path to take.

The rock cairn pictured above was placed by a Quechan Indian POSSIBLY over a thousand years ago! I found it on a very remote section of desert north of Yuma, AZ. How do I know this? Along this same path are SEVERAL areas of agate flake chips that were chipped off a rock to form a lithic tool (arrowhead, axe, scraper). Ancient rock circles are also here. An archeologist saw pieces of pottery (photo) that I showed her and she said the pottery was over a thousand years old! When I see these small cairns, I MUST investigate! The archie told me that the 460+ rock circles I have recently found were, heretofore, unknown to them because of their remoteness. NEAT stuff out there on the desert! ╦╦C

 

[TerryC]

Just before you get to the path marker above, you will go past this rock circle.

╦╦C