Rainbow Mountains

[zorgon]

Rainbow Mountains In China's Danxia Landform Geological Park Are Very, Very Real

Yes, we had a hard time believing that this insane mountain formation was actually real, because we haven't fallen down the rabbit hole. But, believe it or not, this technicolor range actually exists.

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The mountains are part of the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in China. Layers of different colored sandstone and minerals were pressed together over 24 million years and then buckled up by tectonic plates, according to the Telegraph.

Here's a photo showing some detail of the rich "layer cake" action going on.

There's a similar formation in British Columbia called the Rainbow Range formed from a mixture of volcanic rock and various minerals.

While the photos are certainly incredible, there could be some slight photo manipulation going on to make the colors pop a bit more than they would naturally. This Flickr photo could be a more accurate representation, but still, the mountains are amazing.

The formations were shaped into the flowing valleys after thousands of years of rain and wind, and the region has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2010.

Take a look at some more incredible photos of the range below, and tweet us @HuffPostGreen if you have any of your own!

Huffington Post

[zorgon]

This image is most likely what they really look like. similar to the Painted Desert out here in Nevada/Arizona



You can tell the other images are red enhanced by looking at the roads. Those are dirt roads that are PINK  so yeah 'some enhancement'

But still interesting

[zorgon]

Rainbow Range (Chilcotin Plateau)

The reds can be intense especially as the sun sets. We have a lot of red rocks out here that glow at sunset...  This is one shot of the Rainbow Range in British Columbia, Canada





Not to many images available on that one

[zorgon]

Painted Desert Arizona

[zorgon]

Whitney Pockets, Gold Butte, Nevada

This us right at the end of the pavement and the start of the grueling rocky road to John's old mine. The few miles between Whitney Pockets, an ancient Anasazi area with rock art and structures still just open to the public, and Gold Butte old mining area is filled with gorgeous rock scenes that change color depending on the time of day. Once I get wheels again I will do a photo tour of the area



Some of the Anasazi rock art;





Storm coming in...



It's called Whitney Pockets because the wind erodes pockets into the soft sandstone...



More art work;







The paved 'road' that ends at Whitney Pockets;

[zorgon]

The few people that do come out here ( its really off the beaten track) are usually hunters that will camp at Whitney Pockets (no facilities) where the pavement ends end continue on ATV's which handle the road a lot better than John's old mining truck with no shocks

The only way to get it relatively smooth ride was get up some speed






I need one of these once I get my wheels Though a two seater would do



Some of the old structures out here. There are early man sites in the caves created by huge boulders, Anasazi sites, 1800's gold miners, Depression era tent city remnants and 1900's miners and even Spanish Gold miners that enslaved the Anasazi.  All mixed together. There is an intact old cast iron stove in one of the Early man caves (John calls it the Party Room ) that has a table made of slabs of stone like you would find in the Flintstones with old enamel dishes still tossed around. The few people that do visit the area don't touch anything



This one is from the Depression Camps... was used as a cold storage



More wind erosion...



One of the trail markers from the BLM  Most people heed these... no one wants to lose access to this area

[The Seeker]

awesome pics, Z; perhaps my next visit we will have to rent a atv and go exploring...
would love to see the anazasi rock art...


seeker

[zorgon]

This view is coming back from John's Mine... that ridge in the distance can be extremely colorful in the right lighting, usually best just before sunset.

The road doesn't look so bad here but look closely at the size of the 'gravel'  It's really round rocks and these last few miles before getting back to Whitney Pocket are the worst. Tires pop, parts fall off the truck and the last few months the ride was murder on John's back after his surgery





The last road sign on the way to the mine  Devil's Throat is a giant sink hole in the middle of the desert that is growing  No one knows why it is there... this sign is about 2/3rds of the way in  13 miles to go to Gold Butte then 6 more to the mine



Devil's Throat



It has grown...



The most recent with the fence added... ground close to the hole is very unstable...



Some of the mining relics scattered all over the area... there are many old mines some with open unprotected shafts... I have quite a collection of old metal from John's mine collected over the years

[zorgon]

Road to Gold Butte... getting narrower



This old camper is still there...





The only civilization for miles around  the lone firewatch outpost...



View from the fire lookout...





Mt. Jefferson from the Gold Butte Fire watch shack...



Old boilerat Gold Butte....



The road from Gold Butte to the mine.... only a few miles... the rest of the way is a wash that is not accessable during rains...

[zorgon]

awesome pics, Z; perhaps my next visit we will have to rent a atv and go exploring...

Good Idea  I need to get with John and get details and directions to some areas like the Spanish Aristas... I went once to all the spots but dang  memory is not enough out here when you only went once.

In the spring, after the snows melts the desert explodes in colors from the flowers. Gold Butte is at high elevation... from the 1200 feet at Lake meade level to the 4,618 ft peak of the fire watch station... John's mine was around the 4,000 ft mark





Spring in Gold Butte

















Nevada Wild Flowers

Out here the problems of the rest of the world don't matter much

[robomont]

great photo spread.i especially like the rock art.did i see a caduceus coil and a vortex in them pics.maybe the vimanas visited that area?lol.
i would love to run wild out there.4wheeler of course.

[zorgon]

Road from gold Butte towards the Wash

I should be sleeping Didn't know so many pics were available online Though none of John's secret spots have shown up yet











Some interesting old signs... usually with typical bullet holes







Glimpses of the road from Whitney Pockets to the last Cattle guard at Gold Butte

[zorgon]

http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/nevadawilderness/pages/71/attachments/original/1366571020/photo_goldbutte_kkuznicki_8607__96d_400x267.jpg?1366571020

The Locals ...







And of course THIS GUY... the reason John was booted off the mine claim...

[zorgon]

great photo spread.i especially like the rock art.did i see a caduceus coil and a vortex in them pics.maybe the vimanas visited that area?lol.

Well I was getting fed up with all the gloom and doom porn everywhere so I took a vacation

Rock art is all over out here, but a lot requires hiking which my legs frown upon   Though you can get close with ATV's

[zorgon]

This is the warning sign where the road ends just part Gold Butte and the wash begins... it is wise to heed this sign

The wash is flat hard packed sand but after a rain it changes and large rocks pop up. Generally though it is the smoothest part of the trip   Left turn to John's mine



Found this one by fluke... the photographer labeled it Radio Crystal Mine but this is actually John's mine Treasure Hawk. This is the last vein they were working in before leaving. It is a gold bearing quartz seam..  they run perpendicular to the land all through the area. Lots of quartz crystals too (hence the Radio Crystal Mine name)

The tunnel is there but can't see it in this shot (it's the black hole) but it is filled with water now. All the shafts are filled with water as the hydrolics of the region changed.  In fact just as we were making the last runs up there to remove stuff  a large sinkhole formed in the center main area of John's mine, right over the old tunnels that were now the well



john at the mine... you can see Lake Meade Overton Arm in the distance...



John and I in front of the maintenace shed



This was taken in winter... not that cold up there... standing by the collection of old mining stuff (most of that went to John's and my front yard, the big stuff to the scrap yard (we had to clean the site and scrap iron was 180.00 a ton)



Grapevine Springs

The big rock in the center from the right angle looks like a Native head. I will get pictures on the next trip up there. Below the head lies a trail up a few thousand meters. Here there are many native sights with cooking areas and arrowhead chips. There is also a Spanish Arista, one of three in the region. This one is a ring of flat stones with a wooden pole in the center. You tied a donkey to a rope and the donkey would drag a large stone with a hole in it around the circle to crush the ore. The stub of the pole, the stone circle and two drag stones are still intact, The Spanish used the natives to mine the gold. There is a long standing rumor of a treasure vault left by the Spaniards in these hills, expecting to come back. Another mountain top not visible from this angle has a carving of a turtle with no legs as a 'marker'
John has worked with the BLM, UNLV and the State of Nevada to document all the interesting sites from Early man, through Native and Spaniards, to the late 1800 early 1900 gold mining in the Gold Butte area of Nevada. I hope to have that available soon



This is the brand new walnut Woofer table that acts like a giant gold pan. It vibrates as the crushed ore from the ball mill flows onto the table. Gone now sold to a Mexican gold mining operation at the last minute... serendipity and they came to haul out the big stuff  whew....



Treasure Hawk Mine  Ore Crusher and conveyor belt to ball mill (in shadows)



Steel balls from the ball mill...



Assay shack...



Small ball mill/concentrator...