ADAM HAYDOCK

NEVADA RIDGE WALKING AND THE DISCOVERY OF FALSE HOPES CAVE, NEVADA

October 30, 2017

Ridge walking in Nevada.

All Photos were taken by Justin Bailey. Thank you Justin for producing some great images of the ridge walk and the cave that was found.

Adam Haydock searching for caves in Nevada.

Nevada has a vast back country high desert region full of ranges that are quite remote and desolate to modern day activities.

False Hopes Cave, Nevada

The remote ranges also have limestone mountains that have not been checked for caves and a overwhelming amount of opportunity can exist for the potential to find some significant cave passage.

Briana, Justin, Heather, and Adam in False Hopes Cave, Nevada

We headed out to one of the ranges that I have been working on and utilized drone technology to view a large amount of the range while recording the flight times on video.

False Hopes Cave, Nevada

This proved to be an invaluable resource to search for caves as I was able to cover an extensive amount of ground that would have taken multiple weekends and a lot of effort to check the ground.

Utilizing drone technology to search for caves in Nevada.

Although the boots on the ground approach would provide a more of a complete search, the drone can give a high level overview of the land to see if there are any holes in the ground and in the walls to merit a search.

False Hopes Cave, Nevada

I was able to spot multiple new leads that rendered new opportunities to check for cave passages.

False Hopes Cave, Nevada

One lead that we found was a hole in the wall so we donned out packs and headed up the desert and the mountain to the entrance.

False Hopes Cave, Nevada

This cave only went for 82ft before it ended and had some blind side passages, but those ended quite quickly.

Briana, Justin, Heather, and Adam in False Hopes Cave, Nevada

The passage is walking passage and the ceilings appeared to be covered in ash silt from previous fires. We did not find any other evidence of existence but the back of the cave did have a faint smell of charcoal.

Briana, Justin, Heather, and Adam in False Hopes Cave, Nevada

I named this cave, false hopes cave since it did not go anywhere and there were no other caves on this range. I cant wait to come back and check the remaining leads and check off this range.

Camping in Nevada

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FRISCO GHOST TOWN & CEMETARY, UTAH

Adam Haydock October 23, 2017

Frisco Ghost town, Utah

Frisco was founded around 1875 and the town became a booming precious metals mine operation that produced over 54 million dollars worth of material until the town closed down in the 1920s.

Frisco in 1880. NOT MY PHOTO.

The town of Frisco got its name from the San Francisco mountains which are situated just to the west of the town.

Frisco Ghost town, Utah

The mine caved in at the turn of the century which put the operation into a critical halt but people continued to dig new mines and generate revenue but the motivation to continue the dig dissolved and eventually the town was abandoned.

The kilns in Frisco Ghost town, Utah

This town had a population of around 6,000 people and the mining operation was in full swing by the late 1800s.

Jake Vasquez Frisco Ghost town, Utah

One of the main features of this ghost town are the kilns that produced fuel for the smelters to produce the minerals needed to keep the town going. There were over 20 salons, a newspaper, hospital, stores and many more amenities that kept Frisco one of the great booming towns of the west.

Jake Vasquez in Frisco Ghost town, Utah

It was difficult to get water to the town so massive amounts of water had to be hauled in so the railroad was also a critical point for the towns survival. Gun fights and crime were abundant in Frisco with little law and order but by 1885, a sheriff was appointed to keep the town lawful and the first night the sheriff was hired, he shot and killed 6 outlaws to bring order back into the town.

Jake Vasquez in Frisco Ghost town, Utah

There were over 10 murders a day in Frisco so it was a rough life and dark place where people tried to make money on the brink of their own survival.

Jake Vasquez in Frisco Ghost town, Utah

Frisco also as quite the unique cemetery. Among the deceased, the majority of the buried were ages ranging from less than a year to 3 years old.

Jake and Heather peering out the window in ponderence as to what the original settlers saw out this view over 100 years ago.

As I understood this, I believe that influenza struck the town really hard and killed a bunch of children and some entire families so they were buried here.

Frisco Ghost town, Utah

I also did some further research and found that there were a lot of children that worked in this mine and they died from unethical and a lack of safety regulations within the mine itself.

Frisco Ghost town, Utah

When we got to the town of Frisco, we parked and set up camp right next to the cemetery in a place where people have camped before. This was outside of the cemetery but close enough so we were able to get the effect of the ghost encounters if they were to occur.

Frisco Ghost town, Utah

We hiked around the down and saw a lot of broken glass that was left behind from when the town as active. There were also mounds of rusted cans and machinery that is rusting away in the desert.

Frisco Ghost town, Utah

We could smell a sulfur smell coming out of the main mine shelf which was professionally sealed to ensure people would not enter the mine. The gas that was emitting from the mine was rather acidic in nature so I am sure the caustic mix would burn the lungs of anyone attempting to go into this mine

Frisco Ghost town, Utah

We continued down around the town and back to the campsite to prepare for dinner and prepare for the long night we were going to have in hopes of capturing some ghost evidence.

We brought along some sage, black stones, and a recording device that we would hope would capture some sounds that we would not be prepared for could hear.

Frisco Ghost town, Utah

We set up the device and let it play out. We sat around the campfire and told some ghost stories while the temperature dropped and the eerie presence of a cemetery full of dead babies and children lurked in our minds

Jake and Heather in Frisco Ghost town, Utah

We went to sleep and woke up the next morning tired and drowsy from the long nights seemingly endless darkness.

The Cemetery of Frisco, Utah

Now the night before, we did go into the Cemetery to attempt to capture some of the sounds but we did not have success with any evidence of ghosts.

Jake in Frisco Ghost town, Utah

We did how ever cross paths with a tarantula when we went through the cemetery during the day. Nothing more unusual occurred except for the fact that heather and I felt a bit sick when we got back into town.

Could this be from the cold night or could it be from something else that might have brought families and children of the 1880s to their demise? regardless, Frisco is an incredible ghost town with a dark and interesting past. I am grateful that this place is kept up a bit and that we are able to visit this wonder bit of American History.

The Cemetery of Frisco, Utah

I know there are a lot more ghosts towns out there but this one was quite unique as it had a cemetery full of siblings, children, and babies that died in the late 1880s.