BLM ????LOLOL Sure. 🤣

Oh yeah I've seen those before way way back in the day when I lived out in California I think so yeah that makes sense.

The bureau of land management moved all those rocks up there and stacked them?

He's talking about the small fenced in area at the beginning of the video.

Excellent share!

Bingo 👍

Agree

I think it unlikely those holes were for pot caches. Pot caches tend to be littered with sherds. To me this place looks built only for defense. It think it would be highly unlikely a population could survive up there for any length of time considering our severe summers and lack of water resources around that area. It was likely they lived and farmed down below near a spring. Another commenter suggested that it was one of the sources for stone. Perhaps after quarrying the stone there, the holes could have been used for storage or maybe even areas covered with a ramada of sorts to make the area more tolerable in the heat. In any event, they likely only visited there to augment the fortifications and as refuge when being attacked.

​@@SRLowther -- You're making an assumption based on today's climate. The climate may have been completely different when this place was built.

Actually, the first laws were passed in 1906.

I agree. It's always very interesting to read the comments whether they're guesses or more knowledge-based. Always food for thought.

They were hiding from the many groups of people trying to kill them off and take their land...They left the good places...the places where their homes were near water...REPLACED BY cities built right on top of their villages.

Suppose that one time that whole hill was surrounded by water?

Exactly! I don't think it is likely any population used that for anything but a refuge.

@@Notwoke7, that isn't likely. The history of this area being a desert far precedes its 30,000 years of human habitation.

You're making an assumption based on today's climate. The climate may have been much different when this place was built. There are huge dry lake beds here in the Eastern Oregon desert that were full of water just a few hundred years ago. I know of one dry lake that had water just 150 years ago.

I watch videos made by rovers in the UK for the same reason - you have some gorgeous landscapes, and standing stones will always fascinate me to no end 😀

I get that too! I could almost swear I got a rock in my shoe and had to rest after a recent virtual hike! I love his personality and I've learned much from him. I actually live on land that was once occupied by the native Cahuilla tribe in S. California. I have 20 acres on a mountain that overlooks the Coachella Valley, and my nearest neighbor is 2 miles away so I'm pretty isolated. The Cahuilla tribe still lives in the area, but they're land is now the wide valley below the mountain, where they have a very profitable casino. I love meeting members of the tribe and asking them history questions, THEIR history, and I'm fascinated by what I'm told about the plants used for food and medicine that grow wild here. My property is on Mt. San Jacinto (Peter Gabriel wrote a song about this magnificent mountain). I'm at @ 4000 ft above sea level, which is only about a third of the way to the peak. Several tribe members told me that they don't live on that mountain, and never would because of Tahquitz. Tahquitz is a demon giant thing that lives in a cave at the peak and devours any humans it can! There's a natural phenomenon that causes a very eerie sound, a loud, low growly moan kind of sound that makes my hair stand on end! I've only heard it a few times, but I could feel it in my bones! I suspect it's caused by seismic activity, or wind, but I can understand why natives went with "demon monster that eats people"! About 12 years ago, back when I could still hike for miles, I found a place next to a year-around stream that's @ 3 miles from my house, not accessible from the base of the mountain and not easy to find. I'm so glad it's hidden! I found a huge flat boulder next to where the stream turns into a natural pool that had several grinding holes all lined up, obviously made by humans. I sat down on the rock and pretended to time travel. I imagined a scene from several hundred years ago when this spot was a very busy work area! I can picture the women chatting while grinding acorns and manzanita meal, while the children played in the natural shallow pool nearby. Some of the women were likely soaking yucca leaves in the spring water, which were pounded into a tough fiber that was great for making sandals, baskets, mats, etc. I found a lot of soapwort growing there, too. A cool plant that can be easily made into a stiff cleaning brush that contains saponins (soap!). I realized that this site has probably changed very little, and I'm seeing how it looked hundreds, even thousands of years ago! I saw something else that I had no idea about at the time, those straight lines carved in granite boulders. Thanks to Jeff, now I know those were sharpening stones for making tools! I didn't even think to look for pot sherds, but if I am able to go back there, and if I find any, I promise to leave them there. I've never mentioned this place to anyone who lives around here, because I've seen how jerks destroy historical sites with graffiti. I also never tell anyone around here when I see mountain lions (about 6 times a year) because I don't want them killed. They were facing extinction and are still a threatened species. They were here first, I'm the one who's an intruder! I've lost several of my goats to the big kitties, and 4 times now I've been face to face and within 10 feet of one. Fortunately, they are afraid of humans and so far they have run away after I yelled at it through a megaphone. I built a stronger pen and added more security lights. I think Jeff is the only person I would trust to see this place because of his reverence for ancient cultures. Compared to the incredible sites he's shared with us, this one would seem underwhelming, though.

Welcome to my end of the world. There are mines all over all over here. The prickly green are Palo Verde the ones that are not green but still have stickers are doubtless mesquite.

Oops as usual I hit the send button before I was through talking I wouldn't wear that much about cougar or bear when you're not in the mountains. I'd be more worried about the Rattlers hanging out in the mine.

What a lovely comment :-)

I didn't know I loved saguaro until this trip haha Thank you for joining with me on this hike! 🙂

Cattle need water.

Looks way small for a range test site

Yes, it does. @@user-gf3lw5pi4t

Wow! I don't know what to say, but thank you! You are incredibly kind! I love doing this and the fact that we all get to share these places together brings me so much joy! 🙂

I really appreciate your comment, McGiver! Thank you kindly! 🙂

​@@TheTrekPlannerlook into getting an electric dirt bike for better terrain coverage and comfort.

I think I should add more info into my videos like this to help! It's a great idea! It was quite dry, a very slight breeze, somewhere around the 70s for temperature. Really perfect weather for hiking!

2nd that 💯

I agree, it looks like there is old walls around the holes. Maybe a protected area for children also

or excrement!😮

Yes. It would have been easier to quarry the rock on location than to haul it up the mountain. If they were made by miners (or more likely prospectors,) they would be called "prospects." True mines have tailing piles where the miners would have hauled the muck from the mine face.

I wish I was looking at the holes more objectively when I was there. Once I saw them I thought "those are just mines", peeked in, and moved on. I should have really paused and thought why 3 or 4(?) of them were there.

@@TheTrekPlanner Locals in my area do the same thing when they are building. They mine the rocks and dig pits in the limestone to mix with cement.

I am honored to have you with me, Joan! And so grateful for your comment! 🙂

The lookout forts don't seem to have much, they didn't live there so they wouldn't have all the pottery like back at the main dwelling areas.

They are older is how the walls are field with rubbel something you see in other parts of the world not something you see in the United States. That's a lot of work to make the walls so thick but no can dump or things to get a idea of it's age . You ask me it's very old a strong hold for a reason it stay alive and put up a fight they knew was coming. The ports are for cannons I think . It's so old the that should be there is long gone. I am sure there is more going on there than if only spend more time to find it.

If ancient, where are the potsherds? Feels more modern to me. And if 18 or 19 century where are tin cans or garbage pits? Jeff really does know how to keep the mystery in his presentation.

It is not likely the site of a mine. There are no tailings coming from it.

I'm voting it was built by exploring Spaniards as a defensive fall back position and look out

Tin can garbage?​@@rumakingthatup

I did think it looked spanish. I saw the spanish terrace walls built all over spain's countryside. Also, spanish missions built in North america ​@rumakingthatup

Love ya, got anything special in Utah in March ?

Really appreciate that! Thank you! I really need to get over to the UK for exploring!

You should spray your bike bright orange and leave a little "emergency if this is here on (next day)*

This was such a fun place! Might be back in the future ;-)

I agree. I believe the holes/mines were made by the occupants for some reason, to help them in some way, and that this was built a long time ago. Maybe the holes were there first. My first thought was that the holes were for collecting water. Because the people had everything they need up there, or around there, but water. We had something similar, Ft Mountain back home (N Georgia), and they did not appear to have a water source there, yet they built a rock wall around the top of a mountain. I like the idea that they were dug for getting the wall stones out of.

Or they were done by ancients who actually used the "mines" as a way to stay cool from the hot sun? Dunno.

I hope you enjoy this one!

You don't disappoint,Jeff ,you're one of the Best!!

Love to watch your adventures thank you

Those holes are ancient refrigerator's / pantries to keep food cool and a great place to escape the heat of the day 😳😎

It does seem reasonable to assume the window openings are typically purposeful and not random. I agree fully that it would be an interesting pursuit to try and figure out what purpose any openings had.

Unless there is water up there it is not that great of a fortress.

@@jimderksen1653I was thinking that, too. But it could have been built 2000 years ago- when there was a lot more water there. You can see a river bed down below. If that had running water, it could have been hauled uphill, stored in deep shafts…? It’s such a strong vantage point, it might have been worth it.

I agree. Miners don’t put that much work into their homes. Those walls took a lot of people to build.

Glad you enjoyed it! :-)

Great find. Looks like a defensive fortress with sleeping quarters in those caves. Probably why they built there. Thx for sharing.

Me too.

I would love to know more about the flora, fauna, and geology also! 19 years ago, I bought 20 acres of mountain wilderness in S. California for very cheap, so I bought it as an investment. After spending a year exploring the place, I knew I had to find a way to live there full time. I've lived out here for 17 years now, on solar/wind/battery power. I'm fascinated by the "birds and plants and rocks and things" (as the group America wrote songs about SoCal desert life). I buy every book I can find on Southwest desert plants and their many uses. When I watch these wonderful videos, sometimes I recognize certain plants and wish I could point them out, especially the ones that are edible or medicinal. "See that pretty blue flower that looks a lot like a Bachelor's Button flower? That's a Blue Dick, and the roots (corms) are good to eat! Now, everybody, stop laughing! That's what it's called!"😄 It's sad that much of the knowledge about medicinal herbs that were used by tribespeople hundreds of years ago is lost to time. What I've learned is a mere drop in the bucket, but I love learning what I can.

How old do you suppose those cacti are?

Thank you so much for your concern for my safety! If my gut says, "don't do this", I don't do it. Thank you for your comment!

I did too.😢😊 Watching now