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Continuing On With all Matters Right and Relevant

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Do you know what this is? I saw one yesterday and broke off a stem simply by touching it. Saw another today and left this fragile assemblage alone. Termites! As Jim Boone of BirdandHike.com emailed me: Hi Tom, That is the work of termites. They have to stay underground, so they put mud on above ground stems so they feel like they are underground. The same could be said as: The workers think they need to stay underground, so the ruling class puts mud on above-ground stems so the workers feel like they are still underground. Stay well, Jim Jim Boone Las Vegas, NV birdandhike.com #termites#mojavedesert#desert#inyocounty#naturalworld#insects#mojave

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Limestone Chinese writing rock? Porphyritic something or other. Not igneous, fizzes when powdered. Marine rock country in the North Nopah. ID forthcoming. Rough cut for specimens, too soft for cabs since it can’t produce a high polish. I’m just experimenting, anyway. #geology #limestone#mojave#explore#desert#inyocounty#lapidary#rocks#rockhounding#geologistonboard

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This screamed “Garden rock!” when I walked by. My bad leg screamed “No way!” The rock won. The rock always wins. #o#roadtrip #inyocounty #madness #rockhounding#hiking#exploring#geology #geologistonboard #minerals#musthaveit#deathvalleyregion

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Marine fossils in the rock. I’m not a fossil guy. The paper I reference was behind a paywall. Twenty bucks. I paid it an still going through it. It does mention oolites and I think that’s responsible for the lizard skin texture seen in many of these pieces. #rocks#geology#marinefossils#mojave#desert#inyocounty #fossils#dolostone#nopahwildernessarea #lapidary#

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A Few Miles Up Wheeler Pass Road

My writing website is here: https://thomasfarleyblog.com/

A Few Miles Up Wheeler Pass Road

Wheeler Pass Road near Pahrump, Nevada. Not to be confused with Walker Pass Road in California.
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Pahrump has a really nice racetrack. #racing#motorsports#pahrump#wheelerpassroad#nyecounty#explore#roadtrip

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Heading up the hill. Not enough time to find the end today. ATV land. Road big enough for commerce but no pier lines of any coming in. #geologyrocks #geology #rockhound #hiking #pahrump#nyecounty#exploring

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Countryside. #springmountains#pahrump#explore#geology#wheelerpass #geologyrocks#nyecounty#

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The things I get into. Put on full gloves at this point, some sliding, some hand over hand, big knee lifting in the draw itself. Where am I going? Everything moving on this hill. #hiking#geology#outdoors #desert#mojave#pahrump#junipers#mojavedesert#

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My faded plant background always slows me down. #geology #geologistonboard #geologyrocks#rockhound#rovks#explore

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Now to get down. Most of the time I had to hold on to scrub as all rocks were moving. That’s one reason for gloves, you can’t get a tight grip on most desert plants without gloves. I had a hiking pole but it couldn’t grip the moving rock, some of this was crawling backwards downslope, hand over hand, one rock at a time. Met a sleeping rattlesnake. Left him be. #hiking#springmountainsnationalrecreationarea #pahrump#explore#rocks #geology

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On a personal note.

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Requiem for a dead lizard. Before pest control came out to spray the house I am now renting, I told the landlord that “there was a group of happy lizards around the house so the pest control people should be cognizant of this.” The landlord said he talked to them and nothing they used was poisonous to animals.” Two hours after the guy left I found this dead lizard a few feet from my back door. Maybe a coincidence but I haven’t seen the other two or three several hours later and they were always running around and present. When I worked in the green trade in California I had to get a qualified applicator’s certificate from the State so I am kind of sensitive about this. I know I shouldn’t be upset about the loss of a few lizards but I told everybody in advance. And I am upset. #lizard#wildlife#littlethings#pahrump

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In The North Nopah. Again.

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I walked the edges of the gully going up, walked in the gully going down. No sign of anything man made on the way up until I got to the top. Disturbed ground actually just bare, exposed limestone. What they did on top would have only taken a trail. Audio boosted on all of today’s videos, the good mike is packed away somewhere with the other stuff I am moving. #geology #roadtrip#geologyrocks#explore#pahrump #inyocounty#nopahrangewilderness

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Working up the canyon. Setting my go back point. Or, I was. #geology #quartz #rockhound #hiking #geologyrocks #nopahwilderness#inyicounty#explore#nature#adventure#outside

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This was my stopping point until I saw higher ground. I bag all peaks. But it turned out to be a fairly wide, broad area of ground with interesting things all around. Next video. #geology #roadtrip #rockhound #hiking #rocks#geologistonboard #outdoors#nature#pahrump#inyocounty

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Unknowingly at this point, I am probably a hundred feet or more above an old working of the Nancy Ann Mine. It has to be below my feet which I’ll get to in another video. Check out the lichen following cracks or fracture lines in these nearby rocks. #geology #geologyrocks #geologistonboard#nopah#pahrump#explore#hiking#mojave#desert#mojavedesert#rocks

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These limestone hills may naturally contain many voids. These were big enough to sleep in. Absolutely no litter anywhere. What I found next was undoubtedly the opening to an air shaft for a mine below, probably well below. I’m unaware of any caves in these hills but entrances these days are not publicized except to a few in the spelunking community or whatever they call themselves. #geology #quartz #rockhound #hiking #explore#outdoors#nopahwilderness #pahrump

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Sorry this isn’t in portrait view. Above the shelters I heard a continuous noise on this fairly windless day. Did not have my external mike. Huge amount of bees around this opening. Constant wind noise which I usually hear from a mine with an unblocked opening somewhere. You tell me, air shaft for the mine or from a cave? People were definitely up here and though it doesn’t look like a man made opening, I’m thinking it could be little else. Could not feel any wind because of the bees preventing me from getting close but that has to be wind noise, coming or going. I wonder if there is moisture below and hence the bees. You tell me! #mines#geology#rocks#caves#limestone#exploring#tunnels#nopah#bees#desert#mojave#inyocounty#geologistonboard#geologyrocks#adventure

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Moving Out and Up!

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Your complimentary summer desert rain footage. #rain#mojave#desert#clarkcounty#roadtrip

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Old Spanish Trail Marker on Sandy Valley Road off of HWY 160. These are close or near to highways. The one at the top of Emigrant Pass in the south Nopah is fully one mile off of Tecopa Road by foot trail. #nopah#clarkcounty#roadtrip#oldspanishtrail #history#

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Upcoming move. #moving#nyecounty#kingdomofnye#artbell#coastocoast#nevada#geology#movingishell#rocks#mojave#mojavedesert

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Two Minutes Walking in A Desert Wash

I’m documenting some different things at Wikimedia Commons for anyone to view or use.

Wikmedia Commons uses an odd video file format that may not play on your device. It’s called .webm. These videos open and operate reliably in the Firefox broswer, my iPad, but not my iPhone.

Editing or otherwise working with a Wikimedia Commons hosted video may prove fruitless unless you have a commercial converter. I use Movavi products for all of my video work. They are very cheap compared to anything Adobe and are far simpler to use.

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