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Last night, we made an impulsive trip to Jacob City to explore the Skin Diver Mine and the Crystal Mine (And please, if anybody knows the actual names of these mines, please let us know.) My brother's friends from his Geology class at UVU had expressed some interest in examining some of the mineral formations found underground. About 7 of us headed out from Orem around 5pm, including our trusty mine dog, Katie.
Inside the Crystal Mine, we found some upper levels we had not explored before. So we shimmied up and explored some of the tunnels and found some interesting copper/calcite drip formations and old equipment. Not too many people had been in the upper level. Somebody had went through the mine within the last month and repainted arrows leading out of the mine with bright green paint. We wonder who that was. There are a couple passages we still need to explore; they appeared to be filled in from upper levels to prevent passage beyond them. The fill soil is a heavy gray clay, and should not be too hard to remove by shovel.
Overall, not too bad a trip. We were able to find some beautiful Calcite Crystal structures in an upper level of the mine wall, and discovered that they are quite spectacular. I'm regretting the late trip right now, however, as I've been at work for 2 1/2 hours and got about 2 hours sleep, and can't hardly stay awake to write this brief article.
The things we do to be underground...
Inside the Crystal Mine, we found some upper levels we had not explored before. So we shimmied up and explored some of the tunnels and found some interesting copper/calcite drip formations and old equipment. Not too many people had been in the upper level. Somebody had went through the mine within the last month and repainted arrows leading out of the mine with bright green paint. We wonder who that was. There are a couple passages we still need to explore; they appeared to be filled in from upper levels to prevent passage beyond them. The fill soil is a heavy gray clay, and should not be too hard to remove by shovel.
Overall, not too bad a trip. We were able to find some beautiful Calcite Crystal structures in an upper level of the mine wall, and discovered that they are quite spectacular. I'm regretting the late trip right now, however, as I've been at work for 2 1/2 hours and got about 2 hours sleep, and can't hardly stay awake to write this brief article.
The things we do to be underground...
It seems that other people have been in the cave after us and before you though. There was a lot of garbage after we went back this last time. They must have broken those crystals off too/ We got ours from a little side passage near the crystals in the celing.
Hopefully you weren't lead astray by the sometimes less than legible markings! The theory about the Crystal Mine connecting to the Hidden Treasure is an interesting one. I am dying to get home from this business trip and head straight to the Historical Society to start researching. I know that the Buckhorn connects to the Hidden Treasure, but I recall that when Josh Dennis was lost in 1989 a volunteer with extensive knowledge of the area (his grandfather was the Hidden Treasure Mine superintendent if I remember the story correctly) had attempted to enter the Hidden Treasure from the Buckhorn but could not pass a roof collapse to make the connection. If I were speculating based on geology I would guess that the Crystal wouldn't connect to the workings on the opposite side of the canyon, but perhaps some of the workings higher-up above, or the two other medium sized mines below (both gated) further down the canyon. Who knows without maps though!
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