Ashdown Gorge is a beautiful array of the finest scenery you will see in the Zion National Park in Utah. As the name very appropriately implies, much of the hike is downhill into a dark and dank gorge. Well, as you will see from our latest hiking adventure, the dark and dank applied specifically to us.

A current bout of mild weather combined with a forecast for cold weather in the near future, prompted us to adventure forth on another miniQuest while the good weather lasts. As we were researching where to go, we stumbled upon information for Devil's Hole and Ash Meadows. The area boasted of gigantic dunes, desert springs, exotic wildlife, and Devil's Hole. That settled it, Ash Meadows was the destination for this trip.

The end of an era was at hand. Westwood Studios was being relocated to Los Angeles. As a last hurrah to Westwood and before we moved out of town, we gathered our miniQuesting vehicles and headed into the desert. Ted was in charge of navigation this trip so we weren't exactly sure where we would end up. Fortunately, it turned out we visited very interesting places and returned safely!

A group of adventurous souls set forth on a quest to explore Christmas Tree Pass and to find ancient petroglyphs in the Nevada desert. Along the way they discover crusty miners, ancient astronauts, Dante's inferno, and a gargoyle! This is the true story of that adventure.

A group of adventurers decided to explore the area south of Red Rock canyon. The goal was to see some wild horse herds (reported to be in the area), test out out GPSs, and to give the 4-wheel drive vehicles a little workout. One of our party is an old hand at off-roading and was going to give us a few pointers

There is a ghost town called Delamar, north of Nevada. This ghost town is largely intact. There are buildings, mines, and paraphernalia still present there. Naturally, a group was organized to go visit this ghost town. Although a few of our group had visited Delamar before, we planned our trip to pass through a valley and along roads that none of us had traveled before. It would be an exploration adventure for all of us.

What lies north of Las Vegas (other than the Nuclear Test Site)? We wanted to know the answer to that question. We wanted to know right now! We quickly gathered a group to explore. Due to the short notice we had a small group and small groups have the advantage of being able to easily change their trip plan mid-trip. This turned out to be good because the only item on our trip agenda was to see if we could reach Dead Man's Canyon, that according to the map, was located to the north of Las Vegas within a large area marked Desert National Wildlife Range

There is a place near Las Vegas that is rumored to have many petroglyphs. What was life like before recorded history? With petroglyphs, if we can interpret them, we may find out. Heck, petroglyphs are a form of recorded history. So begins the story of what we like to call "The Day of the Petroglyph".

It was while looking for information on Devil's Hole (the subject of a previous trip) that we came across information regarding the lesser known Devil's Throat. It is located far off the beaten path -- clear on the other side of Lake Mead. This also looks like a good area to stash some buried treasure. There is also the ghost town of Gold Butte there.

On January 1st, 1998 a group of explorers journeyed in search of what may lie west of Jean Nevada. They discover mine shafts, an X-Files communication station, the Green Monster Mine, and cans cans cans. This is the true story of that adventure.

The miniQuest gang was on vacation. The weather looked nice. Heck, it was time for an impromptu off-road adventure. The question was, where to go? There were many choices, but Ted told us of a place that he visited decades ago that was a prehistoric Indian gathering place. He told us tales of endless fields of pottery fragments and Indian arrowheads. The location is south of Boulder City and Nelson. Not far.

As new paraglider pilots, we've heard legends of flying from the top of the radio tower mountain (lower Potosi) near Goodsprings. One saturday, the flying group decides to go there and possibly fly if the wind permits.

On July 5th, 1998 a group of paraglider pilots set forth to fly from Marshall Peak in San Bernadino county. Marshall is legendary for providing good thermal flying. This was to be the first trip to Marshall for three of the pilots and they were looking forward to an adventure

East of Las Vegas Vegas lies the Mojave Desert Preserve. We explore this area and discover trains, an old railroad depot, a ghost town, cactus flowers, snakes, cows, cinder cones, lava tubes, and even more surprises. The trip also revealed more options for future trips. We just didn't have enough time to see it all.

It had been several months since our last adventure, so a group (a big group) of us decided to explore the area around Nelson's Landing. This area is rich in gold deposits and has a long history in Nevada. It borders the Colorado river near the upper reaches of Lake Mojave. The area is rugged and peppered with mines -- just the place to go exploring.

Everyone knows about the fun that can be had in Death Valley National Monument, but few realize that the fun isn't bound by its borders. We decide to explore the lesser known area around Death Valley. Who knows what we may find? Actually, we heard of a place called Spooky Canyon. Naturally, we had to find out if it was as spooky as the rumors indicated.

It was time to go an a new off road trip now that the summer was over and the weather was getting quite pleasant. The roads into Death Valley were now open for tourist season so we decided to head up to Beatty and pass over into California to head down through Death Valley and back to Las Vegas. Who knows, maybe we might see some abandoned mines, ghost towns, spectacular scenery, and desert wildlife? The miniQuest Adventure Club wasn't disappointed.