Favorite Mine/Cave

[mymania]

What's your favorite cave or mine that you've done so far?

[Mike]

Most definitely Ophir Hill Mine, located in Ophir Canyon. Too bad its on private property and so hard to access within the town. What I would do to get a tour from John or Leo Ault down into it and have them explain every inside! Man what a mine! Perfect condition, days of exploration, tons of neat stuff inside... alas, one day I'll be back in again.

[mymania]

Most definitely Ophir Hill Mine, located in Ophir Canyon. Too bad its on private property and so hard to access within the town. What I would do to get a tour from John or Leo Ault down into it and have them explain every inside! Man what a mine! Perfect condition, days of exploration, tons of neat stuff inside... alas, one day I'll be back in again.

Sounds cool. If you go again, let me know

[Mike]

I will. I'm working with John Aults cousin, Wayne Jorgenson, to gain legit access to the mine. We'll make a post about it once we are able to get in and schedule an event.

Favorite cave would have to be Crystal Ice Caves in Idaho, set in the lava fields of central idaho. SRT, amazing ice structures, and very little crawling.

Well mymania, you created the topic, whats your favorite mine and cave?

[mymania]

I was having a hard time deciding. LOL
Bighorn Cavern in WY/MT has to be one of my favorites. It's where I learned to cave.

http://www.my-mania.com/caving/bgc06.html

I like Mystery Cave in MT

http://www.my-mania.com/caving/mystery.html

For Utah, even though it's small, I really like Spanish Moss.

http://www.my-mania.com/caving/spanishmoss.html

[Mike]

I need to get into spanish moss. I've always wanted to check it out. If we scheduled a trip within a month or two, would you be interested in joining us as our guide?

[mymania]

Yeah we can probably do that. My wife wants to do spanish moss sometime too.

[Stuart]

I'm up for a spanish moss trip.

Favorite mine/cave, well I also would have to go with Ophir Hill, the sheer size and mystery of the mine are too much to handle sometimes. I especially love the large cavernous area that we discovered last time we were in. Good topic by the way.

[Derek]

Most definitely Ophir Hill Mine, located in Ophir Canyon. Too bad its on private property and so hard to access within the town. What I would do to get a tour from John or Leo Ault down into it and have them explain every inside! Man what a mine! Perfect condition, days of exploration, tons of neat stuff inside... alas, one day I'll be back in again.

There is another large mine on the opposite side of the street from the Ophir Hill and sits behind the Ophir Gopher that has a large metal door. Years ago as a scout troop we noticed the door was left open and we were able to explore the mine. This mine is very large in size and in the beginning of the tunnel it is large enough to have side by side narrow guage tracks. I have yet to find out the name or owner of this mine and I would love to get back in there.

To answer the original question I would have to say I have three favorites that are right at the top of the list for different reasons. The first is the Hidden Treasure mine for its size and the inclined shaft. The second is the Gold Hill mine again for its sheer size and for the many ore chutes it contains. The third is the afore mentioned metal door mine again for its sheer size and the fact the tunnel is large enough to handle mutiple people side by side and the roof is plenty high enough that you don't bang your head.

Did I mention that I like large mines?

[Mike]

Large mines are where its at! You know I've never seen that mine opposing Ophir Hill. We will have to go check it out and see what we can find. Hidden treasure is nice, but it is the grade of the incline that gets me there!

What is the condition of Gold Hill?

Gold Hill:

http://www.mojaveunderground.com/wiki/index.php?title=Gold_Hill

[Derek]

Once inside the Gold Hill mine it is great condition. There is a very steep inclined shaft that leads to a lower level that I would love to go down if I am ever able to get inside of it again with some safety equipment. There are ladders leading down there that look in great condition, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. What I can never figure out is at what level the main tunnel is located on. I think it is the 150' level, but I can't be sure. Here are the following levels according to mindat.org

110(-foot) level
150(-foot) level
30(-foot) level
300(-foot) level
80(-foot) level
Glory Hole
Middle pit
South pit