JEFF'S EXCELLENT GALENA ADVENTURE, JULY 4, 2006

I apparently wasted the whole morning on who knows what. Then I went to Roubaix and explored the old mine ruins there. Not much left, but I took a few photos. Then I went to Brownsville to get AA batteries. On the way back, I went up the road behind the new gas station. It wound up to the top of Strawberry Hill to a junction of several roads, so I'll have to go back there.

I drove up Lost Gulch to where you can park and climb to Pillar Peak. I sat up there waiting for the B-1 bomber to buzz Deadwood. While I was waiting, I could hear the B-1 kind of loitering in the north. Finally it showed up, but since it came from the north, I wasn't that close to it. The photos are just so-so. The bomber went past Terry Peak and headed south, then I lost track of it.

Then 4 vultures started circling just about 20 feet overhead, so I got some reasonably good shots of them. The farthest feathers on one of them were bent. They came by a second time, too. I might go back just to try to get vulture photos. I took a 360 degree series of photos so I'll make a panorama of that.

After looking around from Pillar Peak for other back roads, I went to Boulder Canyon road and went up a few side roads that I had seen from Pillar Peak. One road I saw was from the radio towers, but it had a locked gate. I then went to Two-Bit road and came up to the Golden Crescent from there. Then I did a few side roads off Anchor Hill road (which ended at houses), and came home since it looked like it might rain.

My watch died so now (after a chilly shower - it's about 65 degrees out) I'll go into Rapid and buy a watch, and maybe view fireworks.

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