RonnieAdventures: RonnieAdventure #0022 - Mt. Charleston, Raiders of the Lost Arch, Clark Co., Nevada

Nevada is known for its lost gold mines and other treasures; so when I heard the story of the lost treasure that was buried under a large arch on Mt. Charleston, I knew it was time for another RonnieAdventure!

It all started when a friend at work told me that his ancestors were pioneers in the area and his grandfather had known an old lawyer that had a friend who was a dentist and on dentist’s death bed he told his lawyer friend the story of a lost treasure on Mt. Charleston. It seems that a number of years before the dentist died an old prospector had discovered a rich deposit of gold on Mt. Charleston that was located on the other side of a hidden passage and after filling his knapsack with gold nuggets he started for the small community of Las Vegas. However, during the trip he encountered a bad hail storm that dropped so much hail in a few minutes that the hail stones became knee deep, drifting like snow, and made walking extremely difficult. He tried to take shelter under a large arch, but the temperature was dropping so quickly that he could not keep dry and there was no possibility of starting a fire to get warm. He knew that the only way to survive was to lighten his load and get to a lower elevation. So, he buried the knapsack full of gold under the arch and had planned to come back for it at a later time. However, while descending a steep trail, it was so slippery that he lost his footing and fell from small cliff into a raging stream. After being washed downstream for about a mile he somehow managed to pull himself from the stream and then realized that he had broken both legs and his left arm as he went over a waterfall. He knew that he needed to get to Las Vegas for medical treatment, so he started to pull himself down the mountain on his stomach using his one good arm. When a rancher found him five days later he was near death, but the rancher put him in a buggy and drove him into Las Vegas where there was a local dentist that also practiced medicine. There was nothing the dentist could do for the old prospector; but before the prospector died. he told the dentist where the gold was buried. The dentist spent the rest of his life searching for the arch and the gold but could never find them. Then, before the dentist died he told his attorney friend the location of the arch as told by the prospector. Unfortunately, the lawyer was too old to go looking for the arch and treasure, so he told my friend’s grandfather the location. My friend’s grandfather was also too old, so before he died he told his son where the treasure was buried. Because the son was very wealthy, he spent most of his time on his yacht in Hawaii and was not interested in climbing mountains to look for gold. My friend said that his Father had recently been attacked by a Great White shark off of the coast of Maui, and wasn’t expected to survive, so he had decided to quit his job and go to Hawaii to look after his father's estate. After his Father passed away, he was going to take his Father’s yacht and go to Australia to live. Since he wouldn’t be around to look for the treasure, he gave me explicit directions on how to find the arch, and I agreed to cut him in for half of the proceeds when we sold the gold.

But, the question was, who could I take along to find the treasure? Then, I remembered a professor that had just returned from searching for the Caves of Pythagoras on the island of Samos and was interested in lost treasures. I called the professor and he said that he had been traveling around the world all summer and didn’t need the money, but he would use his expertise to help find the lost arch. I knew we were ready for action when he showed up with his bullwhip, leather jacket, and felt hat.

After going over detailed maps and exploring the area from established trails, we decided on a cross-country route that would lead us directly to the arch. We had traveled less than 100 feet through the dense forest when we discovered an old trail that had washed away in many places and was heavily overgrown and being reclaimed with native vegetation. The trail was difficult to follow and traveling cross-country was very difficult because the topography was very steep and the hillsides were covered with broken rock. While trying to navigate up the broken rock slopes, we kept sliding back about one foot for every two feet we advanced. After an hour, the muscles in my legs and ankles felt like they were on fire and I was certain that I wouldn’t be able to finish the journey. However, the thought of the knapsack full of gold kept me going.

Then, through a break in the trees, I could see light through the side of large rock wall. My pulse quickened, my heart started pounding, and I suddenly had a burst of energy. As I neared the top of the hill I could see the arch plainly, but it looked small and nothing like the arch in my friend’s story. I took some pictures and decided to continue up the hill. As I crested the ridge, a beautiful arch stood before me! And, it looked like Delicate Arch in Utah! This must be the place! After removing several cubic yards of material from under the arch, we had not found the gold, but we did substantially enlarge the arch. Since it was a nice day, we decided to climb to the top of the hill and have lunch.

After lunch we started sliding down the hill and were separated as we went around some large rocks. Then, there it was, a tunnel through the mountain that led downward at a 45° angle, and I could see light on the other side. Maybe this was a secret passage that led to some unknown part of the mountain range and the area where the old prospector discovered the gold nuggets. After lowering myself down the precarious slope of broken rock, I came out on a ledge about 100 feet above another rock slope. Since we didn’t have any technical climbing equipment with us, we decided to retreat before one of us fell and got hurt.

On the way back to town we started talking about the gold and came to the conclusion that my friend’s father had probably found the lost knapsack full of gold; sold the gold, and then made up the story that he had made a lot of money in the stock market. Oh Well, there is always another lost gold mine to find in Nevada!