- Location: Panamint Valley
- Travel Date: 2-23-2019
- Written: 3-5-2019
There are many volunteer cabins scattered across the desert but very few have the ability to impress me. This cabin has many neat artifacts inside, the views from the deck are amazing and the fact that it has a permanent fire pit and bbq puts this one on my top 5 favorites of all times.
In order to protect it from vandalism, I have decided to name her the “Minnie Mouse” Cabin. If you are familiar with the cabin and mine, you will know why Ive decided to name her what I did.
The volunteer cabin has a small deck with an amazing view, an anchored bbq grill, an anchored fire pit and plenty of parking! Did I mention the views are amazing? Please do not remove any of the artifacts found inside. Keep the doors closed at all times.
A short hiking distance East of the cabin, you will find a multi level mine. The mine shows signs of collapsing inside with several wooden structures set up to prevent such collapse. Entering mines is extremely dangerous. Please enter at your own risk! Plenty of other mines can be found on the hillside directly behind the cabin. Again, please proceed with caution.
Warning
The Antiquities Act is a U.S. federal law enacted in 1906. It is officially known as ‘An Act for the Preservation of American Antiquities.’ The provisions of the Act are codified at 16 USCS 431–433.
The Act authorized the President of the United States to designate land owned or controlled by the U.S. government as national monuments under two conditions: 1) that the monumentalized land be of “historic or scientific interest,” and 2) “That the examinations, excavations, and gatherings are undertaken for the benefit of reputable museums, universities, colleges, or other recognized scientific or educational institutions, with a view to increasing the knowledge of such objects, and that the gatherings shall be made for permanent preservation in public museums.”
Pursuant to the Act, any person who appropriates, excavates, injures, or destroys any historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any object of antiquity, situated on lands owned or controlled by the U.S. government of the United States, without the permission of the Secretary of the Department of the Government having jurisdiction over the lands on which said antiquities are situated, shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum of not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for a period of not more than ninety days, or shall suffer both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
Very cool!