Around Lake Mohave Pt 4 - "Crashed twin engine plane on the hillside"

After driving into Boulder, for lunch and fuel, we decided to head for another remote cove on Lake Mohave. It was late afternoon when we drove through the old mining town of Nelson, turned right onto Aztec Wash Road and began dropping down to the lake.

Beside the road Jan spotted a perfect example of how teddy bear cholla cactus propagate.

Deeper into the canyon the wash became a little sandy.

A "do not enter" sign on a locked gate is always enough to discourage me from entering. No need for armed guards.  But I know a couple of individuals who would consider this sign to be a personal challenge. (No names given here but you know who you are ;)

Daylight began to fade as we neared the lake.

Aztec Cove was our original destination but after looking around the site in the darkness with flashlights, we thought another cove might make a better camp.

 We drove back up Aztec Wash and found a connector that would take us south to the Powerline Wash Road.

 The power-line road had a 1950's sci-fi feel to it as we worked our way under towers toward the lake with the moon rising over distant mountains.

Moonrise over Lake Mohave at Powerline Wash Cove. The sci-fi mood continued at our camp as the power-lines hummed less than 100 yards to the south.

Dawn at Powerline Cove and the wind was calm. Maybe we could finally get out on the lake.

As we considered paddling the lake, the air began to move and the wind returned.

The return route through the power-lines seemed much less dramatic in the morning light.

There were a few prospects along Aztec Wash.

We decided to drive out to Fire Mountain Cove. The sign reads 4x4 required but this road was in great shape and could be driven in 2WD.

This was probably the best road to a cove that we drove during our entire time at Lake Mohave.

As we approached the lake the road became surrounded by a steel pipe and cable sheath.

There was a mile of this cable/pipe fence. (We measured it on the way out.) How much did this cost? Four inch pipes every ten feet equals more than 1,000 pipes. Upon our return I checked the price of four inch pipe and found a cheap price at $65, equals $6,500. 10,000 feet of steel rope/cable @ 55 cents a foot equals $5,000. The cost of this project was $11,500 before transportation and labor costs which would, at minimum, treble the total. Jan commented as we departed Fire Mountain Cove, "that was a lot uglier than some tire tracks." I added, "and those poles will be standing there for hundreds of years."

We found one spot where the shoreline could be reached but only on foot.

We considered driving down to Montana Cove but ...

... with no overnight camping most of the cove's appeal disappeared.

We continued on to Eagle Wash and drove down to the former site of Nelson's Landing. After looking around we gained pavement in a few hundred yards at the eastern terminus of Silverado Canyon Road.

Driving west up Silverado Canyon Road we stopped at the Techatticup Mining Camp.

A person could spend an entire day/night here with a camera. (I am thinking that my friend Ron will be making plans for a Techatticup trip after reading this post.)

Across the road was a crashed twin engine plane on the hillside. It was a prop used in the 2001 film "3000 Miles to Graceland" starring Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner. One of many movies filmed at this site which is only a 45 mile drive from Las Vegas.

This ancient bus, one of scores of old vehicles at this location, reminded Jan and I that we needed to motor on.