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We just returned from an extensive surface exploration trip to the Joshua Tree area. Since the roads are so poor there we decided to drive up my Jeep (always an adventure) and sleep in tents. With the threat of rain we switched to towing Kurt's pop-up trailer instead. This was the first time I ever tried to tow with the Jeep and it was certainly interesting.
We had scattered rain on Saturday but it wasn't bad at all. We started off with a visit to the Mission Mine. Someone has been stripping this mine site and significant damage as been done over the past year. This includes removal of equipment and the torching of the main shaft and above ground wood structures. The main shaft is now starting to erode around it's concrete base. It didn't look like any more damage had been done since our last visit in December. After the Mission we started exploring mines we'd never visited before. We started with the OK Mine which had several shafts (one of which looks ripe for exploring) and extensive surface ruins. We then moved on to the Ivanhoe Mine which also has several very tempting shaft at the mine site and also just down the road to the east. Our last stop was the Carlysle Mine. The road was washed out so we had to do some walking. There are extensive mill remains and an easy to access adit that has several winzes going up to a small level. We looked at the top of the mountain but didn't find any large shafts. We did explore another adit that simply went 1,400 feet straight back into the mountain.
Sunday was beautiful. We decided to explore mines to the south of I-10 (below Desert Center). We first stopped at the Red Cloud Mine. There are extensive mill remains here and a few adits. The main shaft has collapsed and is now inaccessible. We then explored the wash and found some very interesting ruins. After that it was up the hill to the Great Western Mine. The road was very narrow with the hill on one side and a big drop on the other. We had to stop the Jeep after a short while due to a boulder that had slid down and made the road too narrow. It was a good thing though because much further up the road was washed out and impassible to vehicles anyway. The mine has a decent size inclined shaft that we'd love to explore. We also check our an adit with two drifts.
We had a little trouble with the rear suspension of the Jeep that delayed our departure by about three hours but we made it home okay.
Pictures our on-line at www.undergroundexplorers.com.
Mike
We had scattered rain on Saturday but it wasn't bad at all. We started off with a visit to the Mission Mine. Someone has been stripping this mine site and significant damage as been done over the past year. This includes removal of equipment and the torching of the main shaft and above ground wood structures. The main shaft is now starting to erode around it's concrete base. It didn't look like any more damage had been done since our last visit in December. After the Mission we started exploring mines we'd never visited before. We started with the OK Mine which had several shafts (one of which looks ripe for exploring) and extensive surface ruins. We then moved on to the Ivanhoe Mine which also has several very tempting shaft at the mine site and also just down the road to the east. Our last stop was the Carlysle Mine. The road was washed out so we had to do some walking. There are extensive mill remains and an easy to access adit that has several winzes going up to a small level. We looked at the top of the mountain but didn't find any large shafts. We did explore another adit that simply went 1,400 feet straight back into the mountain.
Sunday was beautiful. We decided to explore mines to the south of I-10 (below Desert Center). We first stopped at the Red Cloud Mine. There are extensive mill remains here and a few adits. The main shaft has collapsed and is now inaccessible. We then explored the wash and found some very interesting ruins. After that it was up the hill to the Great Western Mine. The road was very narrow with the hill on one side and a big drop on the other. We had to stop the Jeep after a short while due to a boulder that had slid down and made the road too narrow. It was a good thing though because much further up the road was washed out and impassible to vehicles anyway. The mine has a decent size inclined shaft that we'd love to explore. We also check our an adit with two drifts.
We had a little trouble with the rear suspension of the Jeep that delayed our departure by about three hours but we made it home okay.
Pictures our on-line at www.undergroundexplorers.com.
Mike
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