Amelie Mine - Twin Oaks, Ca

[Therrin]

On Tuesday 2/28 I had planned a mine exploring trip up to the Twin Oaks/Caliente area in California, to see some of the mines up that way. Sadly, everyone who was supposed to go with me bailed the day before, so I ended up doing a day of solo scouting and a little exploring on Wednesday by myself. Got to know the area. Ran into two locals who I ended up talking to at some length and exchanged info with both of them.

One of the them was this nice guy named Richard. On Thursday around noon I met him up at his house and took two of my Stihl chainsaws (my 660 and 260). Got our saws all prepped up at his place, then threw my saws and his saw in the back of his truck and we drove up on the mountain where a tree had fallen across the road. I wanted access to the mines up above there, and he wanted the wood. So it worked out well.

In just over an hour between the two of us, we managed to remove enough to clear the road and FILL his truck with wood. Later at his place while cleaning up he was telling me all about other mines in the area, and drove me around to some of them. Also told me about caves and where they were and how to get to them.

I left his place at 4:50pm to meet up with my friend Curtis at 5pm at the Amelie mine. It was his first time mine exploring. =) He also has a really nice dslr. So I took him inside and we explored what we could of the main entrance of the Amelie Mine, then we drove up around the back, up the mountain, to some adits and shafts; some of which are supposed to connect to the Amelie.

Curtis had a total blast, was really enthusiastic about it; and I loved being able to show him stuff and explain things. I was also happy to have someone else around so I could drop a few verticals.

All in all it was a great trip! I'm looking forward to exploring this area in more detail in the future. Here are some pics from our trip.

[Joanne]

It looks like you had a great time. With a number of mines in the area, you will have more exploring to do in the future. So you have hooked Curtis on mine exploration? Good job! Get him up to speed on vertical and you'll have another buddy to head out with.

How did your new battery pack work for you?

Joanne

[Therrin]

I've hit up that area 3 times now in the last several days.

Curtis is usually really busy. It's amazing we've hit up the place twice together by now already in 3 days. And I'm not sure I could convince him to do vertical. He does professional photography stuff, is engaged now, and tends to travel a lot when he's not working, doing other urbexing stuff. Still fun to take along so that *I* can drop verticals with someone else around at least!

My battery packs work fantastic!
However... I was discharging the HP20 off the battery pack the other night, and was timing it.. but I left the HP20 sitting with the lens facing up in the bathroom... and I think I overheated it.
I'm getting about 80lumens out of it now, in a very BLUE tint. I'm thinking I cooked the LED accidentally.

I need to look at modding the light itself now. Taking it apart and replacing the XPG with an XML.

[Derek]

If the LED is blue instead of white and much weaker than before then it is definitely fried. I've seen many burned up LEDs in my time.

[micheleleming]

Beginner Explorer

Hello! New to the site...hope I'm not intruding...

My fiance and I went on a motorcycle ride one day through Caliente and noticed the abandoned buildings of the Amalie Mine. We pulled over and started to explore not quite sure what we had actually found. We didn't bother taking the short hike up the hill, but if we would've, we would have been pleasantly surprised!
When we got home, I began to research the site and discovered that it was an abandonded mine and just up the hill, there was a mining cave!! I instantly became obsessed, constantly thinking about it and dreaming about it as well. I shared the few pictures we had taken with my stepson and made plans to visit again. Less than a week later, my fiance and I returned...unprepared. This time, however, we went up the hill and discovered the entrance to the mine. We turned on his cell phone light and slowly went inside. A baby squirrel had gone in a few feet ahead of us and seemed to guide us slowly through. We didn't go in too far. By the time we turned around and the opening had disappeared, I was officially FREAKED out! Then we saw a bat, so I was done! HAHA! We found our way out and right away discussed returning with his kids and FLASHLIGHTS!

A week later, we picked up the kids (Andrew 8 and Tayla 15), grabbed 5 flashlights and a headlamp and stopped on the way at McDonalds. We had done more research on the mine by then, so we knew what we were getting in to this time. We were super excited. We explored the buildings and took many great pictures and talked about what he had learned on the Internet. Then we took that great walk to the mine. We were ready, boy!!!! We were feeling brave and adventurous. We went ALL THE WAY THROUGH to each corner and dead end. My fiance climbed one of the few ladders we came across and took some great pictures.

Now, we are curious! What else is there to see? Does anyone know of any other mines or caves that we can simply walk through in the vicinity? We live in Bakersfield and don't mind a short trip... We are excited to explore and it feels great to get the kids excited about the history of the places we explore. My stepson even did a show and tell the next day and got rave reviews from his classmates and teacher.

Your information and input will be appreciated!!!

[Joanne]

Hello! New to the site...hope I'm not intruding...

My fiance and I went on a motorcycle ride one day through Caliente and noticed the abandoned buildings of the Amalie Mine. We pulled over and started to explore not quite sure what we had actually found. We didn't bother taking the short hike up the hill, but if we would've, we would have been pleasantly surprised!
When we got home, I began to research the site and discovered that it was an abandonded mine and just up the hill, there was a mining cave!! I instantly became obsessed, constantly thinking about it and dreaming about it as well. I shared the few pictures we had taken with my stepson and made plans to visit again. Less than a week later, my fiance and I returned...unprepared. This time, however, we went up the hill and discovered the entrance to the mine. We turned on his cell phone light and slowly went inside. A baby squirrel had gone in a few feet ahead of us and seemed to guide us slowly through. We didn't go in too far. By the time we turned around and the opening had disappeared, I was officially FREAKED out! Then we saw a bat, so I was done! HAHA! We found our way out and right away discussed returning with his kids and FLASHLIGHTS!

A week later, we picked up the kids (Andrew 8 and Tayla 15), grabbed 5 flashlights and a headlamp and stopped on the way at McDonalds. We had done more research on the mine by then, so we knew what we were getting in to this time. We were super excited. We explored the buildings and took many great pictures and talked about what he had learned on the Internet. Then we took that great walk to the mine. We were ready, boy!!!! We were feeling brave and adventurous. We went ALL THE WAY THROUGH to each corner and dead end. My fiance climbed one of the few ladders we came across and took some great pictures.

Now, we are curious! What else is there to see? Does anyone know of any other mines or caves that we can simply walk through in the vicinity? We live in Bakersfield and don't mind a short trip... We are excited to explore and it feels great to get the kids excited about the history of the places we explore. My stepson even did a show and tell the next day and got rave reviews from his classmates and teacher.

Your information and input will be appreciated!!!

Hello! Although I don't know the mines around Bakersfield, I did want to pass along a "hello" and welcome you to the forum. It's kind of quiet on the forum right now so sorry for the delay in replying. I would suggest checking through some of the older posts and see what you might discover about your area.

Joanne

[micheleleming]

Thanks Joanne! Yeah, I'm sure with Facebook, things around here are pretty quiet. I haven't even bothered to see if there is a Facebook page...

Again, thank you for the welcome!

[leavittwoodland]

@Therrin and Micheleleming, i would love to meet up with either one of you some time and have you show me around. I am from Pismo Beach, but been up in Utah for school the last few years so done a fair amount of mine exploring out there, but being home for summer i am going stir crazy not being able to go underground! If you are up to it let me know, both my bro and I pass Bakersfield-area 10x/year on our way back and forth between Utah and home.