Possible May trip?

[konigstigerii]

So this May a friend of mine is coming back from his mission, and I was thinking of planning a trip to somewhere for the weekend, maybe a 3 day weekend. Places I was thinking of was first in Colorado, in the San Miguel, Ouray, and San Jaun counties, as there is crap load of places out there and the roads look very challenging. It is far, but if gas prices are good it maybe a possibility. I haven't looked in Idaho yet, but will. Pretty much want to go somewhere remote with some cool mines and/or caves and buildings to check out. Fall back idea is the Death canyon/Delta/Topaz area as there is still more to see out there I believe, and some mines we didn't explore, or paper-rock-sizzors navigation in the west desert . Anyone been to these places or recommend some? If anyone wants to join is more than welcomed to... I can see most are into shooting, which is good as are we, but some of us also may drink, but not get plastered, and the other common drug a few of my friends use that rhymes with cot. lol But just so you know, if anyone want to join or give some ideas. Its kinda far out but I need to hear back from few friends to get some ideas how far we are willing to go and how long, so I can try to plan a good spot, explore google earth for other possible areas of interest, and figure out how much stuff we need.

Typically our trips, we leave early friday, drive all day and explore, set camp up at dawn, have a campfire have a few drinks, go to sleep, wake up and continue exploring, whether it be fourwheeling or in mines, do this all day, then set up camp at different location and go to bed, wake up and do a bit more than go home. Sometimes we go shooting depending on what we are doing. We typically have an area to go, but nothing set in stone so we can adapt to what we feel like and see.

But if anyone is interested let me know: where you think would be fun, days you could go, vehicle you have (typically need 4wd, but not a rock crawler, but thats cool too), dates, etc... I'll see what my friends can do and see what I can plan out.

[Mike]

An area I've always enjoyed is Frisco, down in southern Utah. Really remote, but easy to get to, with plenty of mines, amazing structures and buildings.

[konigstigerii]

When did you go there last? I've looked at it before, it looks cool. On this website it says " In 2002, a mining company began to rework the mines of Frisco, so only the charcoal kilns and cemetery are accessible today." So I was wondering if this is true?

[Stuart]

Yeah, we did a trip a couple years ago where we hit up the meadow hot springs, Minersville (Lincloln mine, Cave mine, lots of other great mines), and finally down to Frisco. It was a great trip and we could have spent weeks out there if we wanted to.

As of 2007 all of the ghost town and all the mines in Frisco were still accessible.

[Mike]

There is actually a trip report on this from Oct. 2007.

http://mojaveunderground.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38&highlight=Lincoln

Very fun trip, wouldn't mind doing it again. Needed about 3-4 days for it though.

[konigstigerii]

ok cool, i'll have too look at that area... anybody been to spor mountain? with Bell Hill mine, yellow chief mine, etc? about 11 mines I see in just that area?

[ExpUt]

The San Juan area in Colorado is a must for any mining ethusiast, not just the ability to check out historic mines, but the mining towns, ghost towns and active mine tours you can take part in, all surrounded by some of the most beutiful history in the world.

However, May is far to early in the season, some of the roads in the higher elevations don't clear out until July and August and you will need a 4x4 to enjoy them.

A few pics from Ouray:











You can view all of them here:

http://www.expeditionutah.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=59

[Derek]

Kurt are any of the mines exploreable?

[UnderUtah]

That looks like a DEFINATE trip! I have always wanted to take a few of the loop trails over there in Colorado. How would it be to legally visit these old sites where you can still see these structures INTACT and not bulldozed due to their alleged "attractive nuisance" status. I just think Colorado has a more enlightened view on the value of their mining heritage than Utah does. We'll have to stop in Silverton and go on the Old Hunderd mine tour and see the narrow guage train... I am getting excited! We need to make this happen this summer!

[Mike]

I think we've solidified us heading out here. We'd need to find a month, as Idaho is in the plans this summer also.

[ExpUt]

Kurt are any of the mines exploreable?

Yes and no. It is a very high profile tourist area, and while they are working very hard to restore and protect all the old mine buildings, they do gate the mines themselves, not reclaim mind you, but gate. We've spent most of our time covering a ton of ground on the trails when we are there so I havn't spent much time searching out mines. That said we did explore a couple that were close to the trails and I'm told there are dozens of others that can be explored. There are two commercially operated mine tours you can visit, neat just to see all the operational equipment and the ride in on the man cars. Both were active silver mines into the 80's I recall, when prices went down they turned to tourism. If prices spike they are ready to drill

[ExpUt]

That looks like a DEFINATE trip! I have always wanted to take a few of the loop trails over there in Colorado. How would it be to legally visit these old sites where you can still see these structures INTACT and not bulldozed due to their alleged "attractive nuisance" status. I just think Colorado has a more enlightened view on the value of their mining heritage than Utah does. We'll have to stop in Silverton and go on the Old Hunderd mine tour and see the narrow guage train... I am getting excited! We need to make this happen this summer!

I didn't do the Old Hundred, but we did do the Bachelor-Syracuse Mine tour in Ouray, it was well worth the fee just to see the operational equipment.

Make sure to hook up with me before you head out there, I can recommend some neat books and stops, ideally I'd love to make it out there with you. I have some contacts that live pretty close to town there, they might be able to scour up some info on the mine exploration opportunities. In addition to all the abandoned mines, there are a handful of active ones too, one of which is huge, right off the highway. With enough lead time MU might be able to scrounge up a tour.

On the subject of preservation, Animas Forks is the coolest ghost town, in tact buildings at the head of a once very busy mining area.

More pics to wet your appetites:

http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/PG_Ouray_06.html

[konigstigerii]

Ok I'd be down for a trip there, I was just thinking of may, but any month really should work for me, as I believe school starts on the 28th of august. I'll have one summer class, but I'm sure I can miss one day or more, if needed. The pictures of that area make me want to go!

[one_bad_rover]

May, thats memorial day weekend right? Why does that ring a bell..
Spring Safari, 2009, central utah...
Im getting something... cant quite make it out... seems like a 5th annual trip... hmmm

[Stuart]

Hey Corey, welcome back to civilization
I'd be interested in learning more about this Spring Safari, why don't you post a thread about it on under the news section. That way it will pop up on the front page of the forum and generate some interest.