Head to Goodsprings source and towards the water trough, and the Courier will see Barton Thorn wandering around aimlessly. Talk to him, and he'll plead for the player character's help to save his girlfriend trapped by geckos. He will give the Courier clear directions on where to go: head towards the broken radio tower, then turn right. There, one should be going up an incline.
As the Courier goes further up, they should see a path forking off towards the right. There is a refrigerator, bed, footlocker and some loot (the optional cache). Be careful, however, of the three bear traps. This area is also a Wild Wasteland trigger area. Once at the top of the incline, one will discover that there is no one to be found, and as the Courier is heading down the hill, Thorn will run up to them and tell them he's "sorry," but he needed someone to clear out the geckos so he could get to the stash. At this point Thorn will become hostile and attempt to kill the player character. Killing him ends the quest.
Barton Thorn will be wearing randomized low-level clothing.
The prospector's camp can be reached without exiting the invisible boundary that finalizes character's attributes and skills by maneuvering southward along the clifftops from Victor's shack. This route is useful in reaching the camp while avoiding the geckos guarding the ridge as well.
After killing Barton Thorn, his corpse will disappear from the game after leaving the cell for a while.
Because of the geckos spawning in the area, he can sometimes be found already dead before one can meet him.
Sometimes Barton Thorn will not come up the slope behind the Courier, but after waiting or sleeping he completes the quest. [verified]
