Camp Granite Desert Training Center

For the past 10 days we have been camping and hiking next to one of General Patton's Desert Training Centers.  This one was Camp Granite, named because it was near the Granite Mountains.

Some days we would walk through the camp, and other days we took some spectacular hikes in the mountains.

In the early 80s a report was filed detailing the deterioration of these historic sites, and making many sensible recommendations regarding their preservation.  We found it online.

From what we can tell, nothing was done, and they continue to further deteriorate.

That feels wrong.

We have seen artifact hunters.  And all through this camp are the tread marks of OHVs.  Feels like that is desecrating a grave.

Here is the original camp:

And a schematic of it in that early 80s report:

Here is a map from our GPS showing the hikes here we have taken to date:

Some interesting findings.

There are little rock "gardens" where the men indicated their units.  A couple of these are very well preserved, and the BLM put fencing around them.

Many of the rock lined roads and walkways are still present.

Some of the artifacts.  After we find them, we photograph them, and then hide them.  They belong to all of us, just as the land does.  Someone from a future generation will hopefully find excitement by finding them later.

1940s series D Coke bottle:

An Owens medicine bottle:

Steel drum.

A 50 caliber shell.  We could tell it was WWII vintage from the markings on the end.

Absorbine junior bottle:

Mylar balloon.  (Just kidding)

And the item that caused me to examine how dedicated I am to the principle of not taking anything--a WWII instant coffee tin that was part of a soldier's mess kit.

It would look so great with my vintage coffee collection.  And I would imagine my father had one since he trained for WWII about 60 miles from here.  But it is still here where it belongs.

We found an old oven.

We found that on "Kitchen Road."  The roads apparently were named according to function--Kitchen Road, Access Road, Motor Pool Road, etc.  

Along the side of a mountain about a mile from the camp we found a series of these.  It looks like some type of rock encampment, but we weren't sure of the purpose:

 

All along the roads the men had built mounds.  We presume they were made to prevent erosion from rain.  At one of these someone had built this, for reasons unknown.  It was still in good shape after all of these years:

There are several other Desert Training Camps in this area.  We are going to explore more of them in the coming weeks.  We enjoy being here--probably more than those soldiers did!  No words can express our gratitude to them.