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The five of us crammed our way into Miah's Landrover and filled his trailer with our gear. We took the Pony Express route under the wisdom of Derek thinking we would save time and be able to set up camp before dark. Well that never happened. Traveling a hundred miles on the unknown conditions of dirt roads you are bound to run into some trouble. Lucky for us our trouble was short lived. We ended up getting a flat in the Rover's back tire but was able to fix it. There was fear of running out of gas but that ended in a midnight run to Wendover when we were camped at Gold Hill.
On our way to GH we passed through Fish springs and a working mine/quarry. Mostly what we saw was sage brush and lots of faraway hills. When we arrived at GH it was dark and cold. Crystal started cooking lasagna in the dutch oven while everyone else set up the large tent. Then it started to snow. It never turned into a blizzard or anything but it was a cold night and when we woke up there was about two inches of snow on the ground. That morning after breakfast we explored the wonders of the GH mine. We spent about 4 hours in the mine exploring all adits and shafts with old but sturdy ladders. Several bats had died from when the mine was back-filled, thanks to DOGM. We saw the amazing circle of about 15 ore bins all in wonderful conditions. Miah and I found parts of newspaper that was from 1925 and it was still in great condition. Dry mines are amazing for preserving things.
After exploring we had lunch and Stuart and Mike went up the hillside to look at the Glory Hole. I was able to go see it later and what a hole it is. It looks like more of a massive pit, there is a mine entrance inside of it but it has been gated. Even small little holes above it were gated so it looked like little windows.
We camped there again and in the morning we packed up and left for Spurcemont. We were on the road most of the day wondering around on long desolate dirt roads scaring all the wild horses that were within 3 miles of us.
When we finally came to Spurcemont it was covered with about 4-5 inches of fresh powder. We saw some shaggy abandoned buildings but no mines. We drove up a steep road and got as far as we could in the rover and walked some, but we didn't see anything that fitted our fancy. There were some claim markers for the little prospects but nothing that went in very far. So with that we turned around and left for some unknown area that we thought would have some mines in it as well. Stuart and Mike scouted out the area and came back empty handed. They said most of the mines were small prospects and nothing really worth exploring. On our way back home we ventured into a small abandoned mine that was about 700 feet straight back. That was the only other mine we went into this trip. Farther down the road we came upon a huge open pit mine. Seeing no signs we ventured up and drove around the hill to the top. We guessed they were looking for copper from all the green rocks we saw. We stopped on top of the hill and rolled rocks down to the next level, which was about 900 feet. With one else within 200miles of us we felt that it would be safe to do so. Even though we did not get to explore as many mines as we would have liked we all had a really good time. It was really refreshing to get out on the open road and travel at your own pace.
Pictures from this trip!
On our way to GH we passed through Fish springs and a working mine/quarry. Mostly what we saw was sage brush and lots of faraway hills. When we arrived at GH it was dark and cold. Crystal started cooking lasagna in the dutch oven while everyone else set up the large tent. Then it started to snow. It never turned into a blizzard or anything but it was a cold night and when we woke up there was about two inches of snow on the ground. That morning after breakfast we explored the wonders of the GH mine. We spent about 4 hours in the mine exploring all adits and shafts with old but sturdy ladders. Several bats had died from when the mine was back-filled, thanks to DOGM. We saw the amazing circle of about 15 ore bins all in wonderful conditions. Miah and I found parts of newspaper that was from 1925 and it was still in great condition. Dry mines are amazing for preserving things.
After exploring we had lunch and Stuart and Mike went up the hillside to look at the Glory Hole. I was able to go see it later and what a hole it is. It looks like more of a massive pit, there is a mine entrance inside of it but it has been gated. Even small little holes above it were gated so it looked like little windows.
We camped there again and in the morning we packed up and left for Spurcemont. We were on the road most of the day wondering around on long desolate dirt roads scaring all the wild horses that were within 3 miles of us.
When we finally came to Spurcemont it was covered with about 4-5 inches of fresh powder. We saw some shaggy abandoned buildings but no mines. We drove up a steep road and got as far as we could in the rover and walked some, but we didn't see anything that fitted our fancy. There were some claim markers for the little prospects but nothing that went in very far. So with that we turned around and left for some unknown area that we thought would have some mines in it as well. Stuart and Mike scouted out the area and came back empty handed. They said most of the mines were small prospects and nothing really worth exploring. On our way back home we ventured into a small abandoned mine that was about 700 feet straight back. That was the only other mine we went into this trip. Farther down the road we came upon a huge open pit mine. Seeing no signs we ventured up and drove around the hill to the top. We guessed they were looking for copper from all the green rocks we saw. We stopped on top of the hill and rolled rocks down to the next level, which was about 900 feet. With one else within 200miles of us we felt that it would be safe to do so. Even though we did not get to explore as many mines as we would have liked we all had a really good time. It was really refreshing to get out on the open road and travel at your own pace.
Pictures from this trip!
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