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Although the turn out wasn't the greatest we still had a great time.
We made our first stop at Meadow Hot Springs and had a blast. It was by far the best hot springs any of us have seen in Utah yet. The springs are located on private property but the owners are nice enough to let the public use them as long as they follow some basic rules. The water was wonderfully warm and clear, it didn't even have the lovely rotten egg smell. When we arrived it had just barely started snowing so we hurried and jumped it. I love being in hot water and having snow falling on my head, makes it hard to get out! Luckily for us it stopped when we got dressed.
Our next stop was to the Lincoln Silver Mine which is located just north of Minersville. We did much off-roading in this section of land and found many interesting things. We found lots of mines, cave-ins, shafts, mining equipment, ponds and roads that may lead to other exciting things. Although we were pressed for time, wanting to get to Frisco before dark, we did manage to find an opening to the Lincoln Silver Mine. However the opening we found was flowing with water and had made several ponds about 50 Feet from the mine.Mike was the only one prepared for such conditions and entered the mine. . .alone. As he plunged in he noticed something by his feet move but nevertheless he forged on. The water became deeper as he walked on, coming up to his waist. He went in 2000+ feet.
Stuart and I waited outside the opening wishing we had water shoes. Just then we saw something move, then another and another. The entrance of the mine was filled with crawdads! We must have seen about 50sum of those things ranging from one inch to almost 4. It was amazing and lots of fun to watch!
The smaller crawdads would pick on the larger ones and the larger ones would chase after the smaller ones. It was almost like watching a family feud. We don’t know how they got here but we assumed they were imported, I don’t know how else they would find their way into a mine miles and miles away from the nearest body of water. It was a site to see. When Mike returned from the mine we told him of our discovery and being the big brave man that he is said, “I like crawdads.†And told us to take a picture of him in the mine. He told us of his adventure in the mine and was amazed of how crystal clear the water was. He could see the bottom of the mine the whole time and that’s when the water was several feet deep! Impressive! He also said that where was an irrigation pipe in there that at one time pump the water out but has since been turned off. I believe this mine needs more investigating but with the proper equipment of course.
And finally to Frisco. We made it there with a few hours before sunset and saw quite a bit of the old town. There were a few buildings still standing, some old equipment, and the charcoal kilns. The charcoal kilns were in pretty good condition considering their age, about 5 in all with only one that had a partial cave in. Making our way to the actual mining part of Frisco was challenging. Someone (BLM probably) put a HUGE trench around the road leading to the mine. That wasn’t enough to stopping us so being in Mike’s truck we simply drove on the side of the mountain to get around, 45 degree angle yea!!
We then drove up to the main shaft and looked around. This was the one with that wonderful hydrogen sulfide leaking out so we didn’t stay long. (It was mostly closed up though, only a faint smell came out of the shaft.) Next we made our way of to the multi-level mines. Unfortunately it was where the great collapse had happened and we were unable to make our way into that section. The other multi-level mine complex had an opening we could get to so we ventured in. It was a tight squeeze but we made it in okay. It had several tunnels and a rather large shaft leading down. We decided against it knowing better than to climb down old wooden ladders to unknown depths. All of the tunnels had a short ending so we made our way out to explore the old buildings. We found one that we fancied. It was a brick structure with a metal roof. Clearly the old Frisco miners were planning on staying awhile. The building was filled with hundreds of boxes of ore samples and several wooden crates. We ended up burning our crates for warmth and for photos. It was dark by then and it was cold and very windy. We stayed there for some time while Stuart and Mike shot photos. Then when the fire died we made our way to the cemetery. The cemetery was rather large but sadly enough consisted mostly of infants. I believe the oldest marked grave that we found was of a man who lived to 40. All the others were of infants who lived no longer than 2. One poor family had about 6 children who died all in the same year. Most of the infant deaths were in 1886 it must have been a very hard year. It didn’t appear that any of the murders were buried in this cemetery so I wonder if there is another one. There were however unmarked graves and eroded headstone so who knows.
After exploring the cemetery we were all cold and very tired so we headed home. We had a hard time staying awake on the drive back. We all had a wonderful time and can’t wait to go on our next adventure!
We made our first stop at Meadow Hot Springs and had a blast. It was by far the best hot springs any of us have seen in Utah yet. The springs are located on private property but the owners are nice enough to let the public use them as long as they follow some basic rules. The water was wonderfully warm and clear, it didn't even have the lovely rotten egg smell. When we arrived it had just barely started snowing so we hurried and jumped it. I love being in hot water and having snow falling on my head, makes it hard to get out! Luckily for us it stopped when we got dressed.
Our next stop was to the Lincoln Silver Mine which is located just north of Minersville. We did much off-roading in this section of land and found many interesting things. We found lots of mines, cave-ins, shafts, mining equipment, ponds and roads that may lead to other exciting things. Although we were pressed for time, wanting to get to Frisco before dark, we did manage to find an opening to the Lincoln Silver Mine. However the opening we found was flowing with water and had made several ponds about 50 Feet from the mine.Mike was the only one prepared for such conditions and entered the mine. . .alone. As he plunged in he noticed something by his feet move but nevertheless he forged on. The water became deeper as he walked on, coming up to his waist. He went in 2000+ feet.
Stuart and I waited outside the opening wishing we had water shoes. Just then we saw something move, then another and another. The entrance of the mine was filled with crawdads! We must have seen about 50sum of those things ranging from one inch to almost 4. It was amazing and lots of fun to watch!
The smaller crawdads would pick on the larger ones and the larger ones would chase after the smaller ones. It was almost like watching a family feud. We don’t know how they got here but we assumed they were imported, I don’t know how else they would find their way into a mine miles and miles away from the nearest body of water. It was a site to see. When Mike returned from the mine we told him of our discovery and being the big brave man that he is said, “I like crawdads.†And told us to take a picture of him in the mine. He told us of his adventure in the mine and was amazed of how crystal clear the water was. He could see the bottom of the mine the whole time and that’s when the water was several feet deep! Impressive! He also said that where was an irrigation pipe in there that at one time pump the water out but has since been turned off. I believe this mine needs more investigating but with the proper equipment of course.
And finally to Frisco. We made it there with a few hours before sunset and saw quite a bit of the old town. There were a few buildings still standing, some old equipment, and the charcoal kilns. The charcoal kilns were in pretty good condition considering their age, about 5 in all with only one that had a partial cave in. Making our way to the actual mining part of Frisco was challenging. Someone (BLM probably) put a HUGE trench around the road leading to the mine. That wasn’t enough to stopping us so being in Mike’s truck we simply drove on the side of the mountain to get around, 45 degree angle yea!!
We then drove up to the main shaft and looked around. This was the one with that wonderful hydrogen sulfide leaking out so we didn’t stay long. (It was mostly closed up though, only a faint smell came out of the shaft.) Next we made our way of to the multi-level mines. Unfortunately it was where the great collapse had happened and we were unable to make our way into that section. The other multi-level mine complex had an opening we could get to so we ventured in. It was a tight squeeze but we made it in okay. It had several tunnels and a rather large shaft leading down. We decided against it knowing better than to climb down old wooden ladders to unknown depths. All of the tunnels had a short ending so we made our way out to explore the old buildings. We found one that we fancied. It was a brick structure with a metal roof. Clearly the old Frisco miners were planning on staying awhile. The building was filled with hundreds of boxes of ore samples and several wooden crates. We ended up burning our crates for warmth and for photos. It was dark by then and it was cold and very windy. We stayed there for some time while Stuart and Mike shot photos. Then when the fire died we made our way to the cemetery. The cemetery was rather large but sadly enough consisted mostly of infants. I believe the oldest marked grave that we found was of a man who lived to 40. All the others were of infants who lived no longer than 2. One poor family had about 6 children who died all in the same year. Most of the infant deaths were in 1886 it must have been a very hard year. It didn’t appear that any of the murders were buried in this cemetery so I wonder if there is another one. There were however unmarked graves and eroded headstone so who knows.
After exploring the cemetery we were all cold and very tired so we headed home. We had a hard time staying awake on the drive back. We all had a wonderful time and can’t wait to go on our next adventure!
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