Eureka trip and Yellowjacket Mine in Idaho

[ghosttownhuntress]

Anybody up for a trip to Idaho or Eureka? I knew my hobby rescuing pit bulls would pay off someday! The grandparents of the family I adopted my latest foster to owns the Yellowjacket Mine and the ghost town of Challis in Idaho, and she called her grandmother while I was there and got permission for us to go up and explore. Her friend that was also there just found out about a week and a half ago that her family owns a mine in Eureka, she's still not sure which one but she will ask and ask for permission for us to go in. From what she was telling me it may be the same mine I found while I was living there. They are also interested in joining up with us on our outings! I'll let you guys know when I find out which mine they own.

[Mark1955]

Count me in! I service theaters near Challis so I can probably make it a double duty trip!

Mark

[ghosttownhuntress]

I'm not quite sure which ghost town or ghost towns exactly they own, but she mentioned around Challis or maybe it is Challis that they own. If it's Bayhorse or Custer/Bonanza, I'll be way excited! She said they own the Yellowjacket and basically the whole mountain and a bunch more land around it including the ghost town. I will try and get her grandparent's phone number from her so I can talk to them directly. She did say that they would be more than happy to have us come to their annual family outing there this summer.

[Danb]

Wow. Small world. I have never heard anyone here in Utah mention Yellow Jacket until now. Rachel, do you mean the old town of Cobalt? Challis is not a ghost town. I was exploring that part of Idaho back in the late 80’s. And, a second trip in the mid 90’s. When I made it to Cobalt there were several dog kennels. The sign said Population 1. Then I proceeded to Leasburg, a very old ghost town. Then, back down and up the canyon to Yellowjacket. There was a large old hotel, which a friend at Silver City said the Forest Service burned down a few years ago. I found a cabin and mill structure at the west end of Yellowjacket with a tunnel at the top level of the mill, which I explored. I think I have video of the mine. I remember it was very wet and the timbering was well, not to safe. But I have to say it was one of my best adventures. On my second trip, there was a large mining operation just starting up near Leasburg on Panther Creek. The family you are talking about (probably) has the property just north of the old hotel and just west of the old stamp mill. When I was there it looked like a very nice place. And I do remember a Forest Service building just before Yellow Jacket. They had a pasture with a few horses. If I get time I’ll post my video and photo’s of my trips to that area. Northern Idaho is an assume place to visit.

Danb

[lobster68w]

You're gonna have to wait a bit to get down around Eureka, the snow is still pretty deep.

Once things get melted and dry up a bit, I'm sure myself and Mark1955 will be playing around down that way. I found some new places last fall to get in and check out but never had the time.

[John]

I'd love to do a mine in Eureka when things thaw out.
Please keep us updated.

[Mark1955]

No need to wait for the thaw we can take the Hummer!

[ghosttownhuntress]

My friend mentioned Challis so I'm assuming it's by Challis, but she said that they own the Yellowjacket and a ghost town. That's got me wondering which ghost town. I will talk to her again today or tomorrow and see if I can get her grandparent's phone number so I can talk to them directly, they know a lot more than she does. I knew Challis itself isn't a ghost town but I don't know exactly how much property they own and exactly where it is. I hate it when things are so vague. I know they're selling a bunch of the property, I don't know if they're selling the mine and/or the ghost town. My friend mentioned they had been thinking of demolishing the ghost town so I'm going to have to try and talk them out of it. As for Eureka, I remember how bad the snow gets up there, but I didn't think we were getting that much snow this year. The year we were there we got tons, some nights it took us 45 minutes just to get up the 1/16 mile hill to our house because it was so steep and the road was so slick LOL. Our car would keep sliding back down. Then we realized there was another not so steep way around. We lived up on Dublin Ave., the last house on the southwest side of the road. Those were fun times.

[ghosttownhuntress]

I would actually know more about the area, I helped plan the Ghost Town Rally up there a few years ago, but wasn't able to attend on account that my best friend's brother and five year old niece were killed in a horrible accident and I had to go to their funeral at the last minute. I lost all of my research of the area for the Ghost Town Rally in my move from Eureka to Salt Lake so now I have to start over.

[btay801]

Mark1955, A H1 Hummer? Not that it really matters, that is just the best Hummer EVER made. The rest are just kinda just suburbans with upgrades. Deep snow is deep snow. Everyone can get high centered just the same. Mike Capps with his Nissan has made it places most others would not even attempt. It is mostly the driver's experience and SKILLZ! Anyone have a hovercraft?

[Danb]

Sorry for your loss Rachel. I hope the families are doing ok. To bad you lost your research on the ghost towns. I don’t know about anyone else, but researching old mines, ghost towns, planning trips for the summer months is what gets me through the winter. Back when I started exploring Idaho, I checked out a book from the library. Idaho Ghost Towns. That’s all I had, and maps. Now we have the Internet full of info. Hope you regain your research material and get to go explore.

[ghosttownhuntress]

It won't take me long to re-research the area, it only took me about a week last time to get everything put together. But then last time I only had one child and she wasn't in school yet and I didn't have a prospect for a really great job staring me in the face either. I'll get it done though, I always do LOL.

[Mark1955]

The rest are just kinda just suburbans with upgrades.

btay,

With all due respect you need to study your Hummers a little more and use one. The H-1 is certainly the best built of them but also the one I cannot stand to ride in. The H-2 is the most unreliable Hummer and suffers lots of CV joint failures. I have an H-3... It has about a dozen parts that are common to other GM trucks... mainly chassis parts, you won't find any other parts in it on any other GM vehicle. Even the engine is unique to only the H-3. Other GM vehicles do use similar though less powerful engines. I have a cutaway drawing in a book that actually shows the common chassis parts. It has the off road package with locking diffs. Ask Mike how well I kept up with him going back to Wendover from Gold Hill in the snow... I was right on his tail the whole way, had the road been wider I'd have passed him up! I believe both our vehicles have about the same clearance. As for reliability... I've beat the crap out of this thing and it's still never been to the dealer for any repairs in 68,000 miles... I will be buying a second one in the very near future right after I send my Land Rover to the crusher!!

Mark

[btay801]

Just an opinion Mark. Seems most buy the Hummer for the emblem an prestige. Glad to hear you actually take yours off road. You are in the minority of Hummer owners. Sorry if I came off rude, I'm just a little tired of the other Hummer owners out there that try to interject that they own a Hummer into every conversation. What's your beef with the Range Rover?

[ghosttownhuntress]

Wow, that was a quick change of topic! Get a Saturn, LMAO! Mine's done great with my offroading! Not one single problem! Can we get back to the topic now? LOL.