feralmerril
Absent Comrade
We live in range of a lot of old mines in a remote area. A couple days ago the wife and I checked them out. You do need a 4 wd to get within 5 to 10 miles of this area. I think they date 1870 to 1900.
pictures of some old abanded mines
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geoff40
Member
Are they old gold mines or something else? Silver perhaps? Do you know? Very cool!
Here in northern New England there are old mines too. Not far away from here is an area that was once called the mica capital of the world. A century ago there were some pretty significant mine operations from southeast NH generally going in an East to West line in to Maine. During and after WW2 a lot of beryl was mined for steel, and 1 mine in paricular has a close connection to the Manhattan project. Today these old mines and other nearby digs can produce great mineral specimens, along with some aquamarine (beryl), with Maine producing some of the nicest tourmaline on the planet.
Here in northern New England there are old mines too. Not far away from here is an area that was once called the mica capital of the world. A century ago there were some pretty significant mine operations from southeast NH generally going in an East to West line in to Maine. During and after WW2 a lot of beryl was mined for steel, and 1 mine in paricular has a close connection to the Manhattan project. Today these old mines and other nearby digs can produce great mineral specimens, along with some aquamarine (beryl), with Maine producing some of the nicest tourmaline on the planet.
Forester
Member
Geoff is exactly right. I live near many of these old mines and have seen most of them while working in the woods. I've also stood inside the mine involved in the Manhattan Project. I only found that out from the landowner. Geoff, is there a book that describes these old NH mines?
m1gunner
US Veteran
I have seen some old iron mines in NC from the time of the War Between the States.
While old wells are often marked on USGS survey charts, these mines were not on the charts. They were on public land, and the openings were a 10' X 10' hole in the ground with the edges obscured and overgrown with weeds. Like a giant open well. When a rock was tossed over the edge, it was a long time till it hit bottom.
I quit walking around in that area in low light conditions........
While old wells are often marked on USGS survey charts, these mines were not on the charts. They were on public land, and the openings were a 10' X 10' hole in the ground with the edges obscured and overgrown with weeds. Like a giant open well. When a rock was tossed over the edge, it was a long time till it hit bottom.
I quit walking around in that area in low light conditions........
rburg
Member
There are active projects in both Colorado and Utah to cover or fill in the worst of the shafts. Its beyond just dangerous. Feril, if you read the Salt Lake trib (on line) every year or two you read of a pickup truck or ATV that runs into one, then down.
In the area of Colorado where I frequent, there are some really nasty ones. Up in Chalk Creek Canyon (in the general area our K.38 lives) there are some doozies. One is up by the Iron Chest mine (or maybe its the Lady Murhpy property, I don't know.) There used to be a small open shaft, probably an air hole, right beside the trail. Its now been filled in by the project. And just downhill, there's a fenced off shaft. Steel bars, not really fence fabric. No gate or way in except to cut the fence down. If you toss a rock, it falls for a long time. Sometimes you can hear it hit, then fall some more!
If you're into mineral samples, often the tailings piles offer up good ones. I know, because my garage is full of "pretty rocks" my wife "needs".
In the area of Colorado where I frequent, there are some really nasty ones. Up in Chalk Creek Canyon (in the general area our K.38 lives) there are some doozies. One is up by the Iron Chest mine (or maybe its the Lady Murhpy property, I don't know.) There used to be a small open shaft, probably an air hole, right beside the trail. Its now been filled in by the project. And just downhill, there's a fenced off shaft. Steel bars, not really fence fabric. No gate or way in except to cut the fence down. If you toss a rock, it falls for a long time. Sometimes you can hear it hit, then fall some more!
If you're into mineral samples, often the tailings piles offer up good ones. I know, because my garage is full of "pretty rocks" my wife "needs".
EQGuy
US Veteran
When I was working in western Yosemite Natl Park back in 1966 BRC Checking (Ferril Merril knows what that is) I came across a hole in the ground. It was deep and had no fence around it. I doubt anyone else has been there since as no one other than a BRC Checker would ever want to go there. I always thought that would be a good place to dispose of a body if one needed to. There is a lot of interesting stuff out in the woods like for instance the stack off of the old steam engine from a logging RR near the Merced Grove of big trees.
ingmansinc
US Veteran
We were on vacation a few years back exploring from Rocky Mountain National Park to the South. The tales that surround the gold and silver mines in Colorado were great. I really enjoy the back roads of America.
Great pics feralmerril.
Great pics feralmerril.
There are active projects in both Colorado and Utah to cover or fill in the worst of the shafts. Its beyond just dangerous. Feril, if you read the Salt Lake trib (on line) every year or two you read of a pickup truck or ATV that runs into one, then down.
In the area of Colorado where I frequent, there are some really nasty ones. Up in Chalk Creek Canyon (in the general area our K.38 lives) there are some doozies. One is up by the Iron Chest mine (or maybe its the Lady Murhpy property, I don't know.) There used to be a small open shaft, probably an air hole, right beside the trail. Its now been filled in by the project. And just downhill, there's a fenced off shaft. Steel bars, not really fence fabric. No gate or way in except to cut the fence down. If you toss a rock, it falls for a long time. Sometimes you can hear it hit, then fall some more!
If you're into mineral samples, often the tailings piles offer up good ones. I know, because my garage is full of "pretty rocks" my wife "needs".
Dick did you read in the Mountain Mail about the road closures in July and Aug? The gov is cleaning up some of these old mine sites this summer. Both good and bad. I hope when cleaning up the sites they don't make the roads nice or 2 more high lakes will be ruined with all the traffic.
OP
feralmerril
Absent Comrade
That area I showed is 22 miles straight east of pioche nevada, square on the nevada/utah border. Pioche was established in the late 1860s. It was the wildest shoot em up town in the west they claim. Today it is a quaint half gost town with 3 or 4 small bars with slot machines and one resturant. Out of the way and fun to see.
http://www.piochenevada.com/history.htm
That entire area around is old mines. We also seen some wild horse`s. We live at cedar city utah, 85 miles to the east. Here is several more pictures. The town of pioche has many mines to see near the road.Tthe pictures I am showing are in a more remote area.
http://www.piochenevada.com/history.htm
That entire area around is old mines. We also seen some wild horse`s. We live at cedar city utah, 85 miles to the east. Here is several more pictures. The town of pioche has many mines to see near the road.Tthe pictures I am showing are in a more remote area.
Wyatt Burp
Member
Have you ever cruised up Highway 49 here in California? I'm always up there and refuse to take the old towns and history for granted. It winds thru the heart of the gold rush area that has a very rich and bloody history. Unfortunately my son said the old bar in Moke Hill is closed. If you new about it they'd let you walk thru the old coke machine into a big hidden pool room with full mounted Buffalo and other rustic goodies.
OP
feralmerril
Absent Comrade
Yes I have, wyatt. Used to own 10 acres at the northern end of 49, near portola by lake davis. I enjoyed that road. You cant be in a hurry its entire length is sharp curves, lumber trucks etc. It runs through calif.s first gold camps.
OP
feralmerril
Absent Comrade
EQ guy. I remember working north of fish camp and finding interesting stuff. Old sluice box, narrow gauge RR tressel remains etc. My daughter tells me they have a small tourist RR out there for quite awhile now. Our BRC camp was near the covered bridge at wawona in 1960.
rburg
Member
I read the announcement, but in the typical style, they didn't supply the names of the roads they were closing. Are any of them up above you? Has anyone you have contact with been up toward Hancock and Romley? I'm wondering about the status of the Allie Belle tipple. It was in bad shape a year ago. I'm just wondering if its fallen in, yet. My current vacation plan has me there for a day or two this summer. I'd like to visit the St Elmo town hall benefit and antique show, and then the Bueny rock and mineral show at the rodeo grounds.
The webcam shows the Texans have moved in with bicycles and quads. Lots of little ones running around having fun. Must be nice to have a family with a mountain compound to summer and rest.
d hepler
Member
Caves in Atsugi Japan
When I was stationed at NAS Atsugi in the early 60's, we used to go in the caves. Most of them were sealed off with iron bars. We found an entrance over by the golf course, and it was neat. There were rifle racks bunks etc. According to what I have heard it was a Japenese air base, and they had tunnels all the way to Yokosuka big enough to tow a mig to the ships. that has to be a large tunnel and very long.
When I was stationed at NAS Atsugi in the early 60's, we used to go in the caves. Most of them were sealed off with iron bars. We found an entrance over by the golf course, and it was neat. There were rifle racks bunks etc. According to what I have heard it was a Japenese air base, and they had tunnels all the way to Yokosuka big enough to tow a mig to the ships. that has to be a large tunnel and very long.
cincinnatijim
Member
Be sure to watch out for a shaft in the middle of the floor, sometimes there's no indication of this. We found a big stack of crystallized dynamite in one mine near Socorro, NM.
USAF385
US Veteran
We have a lot of old mines here in coal country. There's a town around here (well about 1 1/2 hrs away) called Centralia that was forced to move starting back in the 80s because of an underground mine fire... which is still burning. It's been going on for 45 years... Centralia is a ghost town these days.
calmex
Member
Down here in Central Mexico, there are some old mining towns and several abandoned mines around. One of the neatest is about 40 miles away from me, in an abandoned MINING TOWN called Pozos. When the silver ran out, the town was abandoned. Built of stone and brick, the old houses have held up well to a century and a half of decay, and as a "Ghost town" it's a neat place to explore because all the buildings are still there and you can see them, not some rotted away remains of where stuff "used to be".
Pozos means "wells", and there are deep wells (unmarked in any way) all over the place. Drop a stone down, and it can take 7 seconds before you hear the *SPLASH* as it hits the water filled bottom. That's over 500 feet down, you DON'T want to fall in. A few years ago, a young American tourist tried to impress a girl on his tour group by jumping over one of the wells. The far side gave away as he landed, and he fell down in. It took 3 days to get him out, and he was dead. The say he died from bouncing off the rock walls as he fell. Either way, the air at the bottom was supposedly contaminated from ammonia and was unbreathable (I guess they almost lost the first guys on the rescue team that got down there), so he wouldn't have survived anyway. Sad.
The wells are all over the place. I've often thought of going camping in Pozos, as it's a pretty open place to go visit. On the other hand, the thought of accidently falling into a damned-near bottomless open well walking around looking for a place to pee in the dark turns me off somewhat. Also, with the drug-war going full tilt, one can imagine that damned-near bottomless open wells are being used for other purposes these days, and one might not want to be camping near them as one might "see" something one is not supposed to. Oh, well... .
I include here some photos of our last trip via motor-cycle to Pozos (during the DAY, obviously.)
Abandoned hacienda. Pozos.
One of the wells. PROBABLY (although I am not sure) the well that Taylor Crane tried to jump over and fell into. Of all the wells -- going by the descriptions I heard later -- it was probably this one.
A mine entrance. There are many. BEFORE I got gun permits here, I used to entertain myself exploring these old mines. What was I thinking? I must have been really bored.
Another hacienda at Pozos. The whole TOWN is there, although some parts are actually being "bought up" by rich gringos looking for somewhere "away from it all".
The wife and a friend inside one of the mine-shafts.
Another "inside the mineshaft view".
The old perimeter fence still awaits Indian attacks that will never probably come.
That "lone house on the hill" that must have been opulent in it's day.
In case someone is thinking that this is where Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts filmed "The Mexican", let me say that it is not. "The Mexican" was filmed in
a similar -- although much larger -- old Ghost town named Real de Catorce, which is about 6 hours driving North of here near the town of Matehuala. I have heard the Peyote grows wild around Pozos -- but not being much interested in Peyote I cannot say for sure. It's just something I've been told by the local Indians who inhabit some of the old buildings in a sort of -- what's the word -- "squatter" fashion.
Incidently, when "The Mexican" was filmed, it was supposed to BE San Miguel, the town I live in. The filmed it in Real de Catorce because it had the same "look" without all the people to contend with. In a scene in the movie, Brad Pitt lamented that the "American Consul" in San Miguel was a little slow in processing his paperwork. The American Consul at the time was a good friend of mine, and we used to shoot together. He had been instrumental in getting me my gun permits in Mexico in the first place (although I personally am Canadian. Go figure.)
I teased the Consul, Colonel Phil Maher, about this at the time. His reply -- chomping on his cigar -- was; "If you had Brad Pitt suffering some indignity and could prolong it a bit by slowing up the paperwork, wouldn't you do it?" I laughed.
Pozos means "wells", and there are deep wells (unmarked in any way) all over the place. Drop a stone down, and it can take 7 seconds before you hear the *SPLASH* as it hits the water filled bottom. That's over 500 feet down, you DON'T want to fall in. A few years ago, a young American tourist tried to impress a girl on his tour group by jumping over one of the wells. The far side gave away as he landed, and he fell down in. It took 3 days to get him out, and he was dead. The say he died from bouncing off the rock walls as he fell. Either way, the air at the bottom was supposedly contaminated from ammonia and was unbreathable (I guess they almost lost the first guys on the rescue team that got down there), so he wouldn't have survived anyway. Sad.
The wells are all over the place. I've often thought of going camping in Pozos, as it's a pretty open place to go visit. On the other hand, the thought of accidently falling into a damned-near bottomless open well walking around looking for a place to pee in the dark turns me off somewhat. Also, with the drug-war going full tilt, one can imagine that damned-near bottomless open wells are being used for other purposes these days, and one might not want to be camping near them as one might "see" something one is not supposed to. Oh, well... .
I include here some photos of our last trip via motor-cycle to Pozos (during the DAY, obviously.)
Abandoned hacienda. Pozos.
One of the wells. PROBABLY (although I am not sure) the well that Taylor Crane tried to jump over and fell into. Of all the wells -- going by the descriptions I heard later -- it was probably this one.
A mine entrance. There are many. BEFORE I got gun permits here, I used to entertain myself exploring these old mines. What was I thinking? I must have been really bored.
Another hacienda at Pozos. The whole TOWN is there, although some parts are actually being "bought up" by rich gringos looking for somewhere "away from it all".
The wife and a friend inside one of the mine-shafts.
Another "inside the mineshaft view".
The old perimeter fence still awaits Indian attacks that will never probably come.
That "lone house on the hill" that must have been opulent in it's day.
In case someone is thinking that this is where Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts filmed "The Mexican", let me say that it is not. "The Mexican" was filmed in
a similar -- although much larger -- old Ghost town named Real de Catorce, which is about 6 hours driving North of here near the town of Matehuala. I have heard the Peyote grows wild around Pozos -- but not being much interested in Peyote I cannot say for sure. It's just something I've been told by the local Indians who inhabit some of the old buildings in a sort of -- what's the word -- "squatter" fashion.
Incidently, when "The Mexican" was filmed, it was supposed to BE San Miguel, the town I live in. The filmed it in Real de Catorce because it had the same "look" without all the people to contend with. In a scene in the movie, Brad Pitt lamented that the "American Consul" in San Miguel was a little slow in processing his paperwork. The American Consul at the time was a good friend of mine, and we used to shoot together. He had been instrumental in getting me my gun permits in Mexico in the first place (although I personally am Canadian. Go figure.)
I teased the Consul, Colonel Phil Maher, about this at the time. His reply -- chomping on his cigar -- was; "If you had Brad Pitt suffering some indignity and could prolong it a bit by slowing up the paperwork, wouldn't you do it?" I laughed.
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