{"id":1020,"date":"2012-08-03T08:27:36","date_gmt":"2012-08-03T14:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/invertedsky.net\/?p=1020"},"modified":"2012-08-03T08:28:43","modified_gmt":"2012-08-03T14:28:43","slug":"gilpin-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/?p=1020","title":{"rendered":"Gilpin Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was well overdue for an outing with Rob<\/a> and Sherrie.\u00a0 We normally do this monthly, but it’s probably been 6 months or longer.\u00a0 And as we often do, we set off to places none of us had been before to discover the mining history of the area.\u00a0 But if anyone had asked, we were hunting for wild mushrooms and raspberries (which we found and ate).<\/p>\n

We headed up towards Mammouth (or Mammoth, depending which sign or map we were looking at) Gulch in Gilpin County.\u00a0 As we bounced and jostled up the 4×4 road, Rob kept an eye on the maps.\u00a0 There was a “Y” symbol next to the road, which in U.S.G.S. symbology means an adit or tunnel.\u00a0 So we stopped to explore what we couldn’t see.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/dt>\n
Follow the rails<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

We discovered some rusty rails, overgrown with dense vegetation fed by the water flowing from the mine.\u00a0 The tunnel entrance was caved-in, but it was clear where it was.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Air compressor, originally powered by a gasoline engine which has since been removed.<\/p><\/div>\n

This mine was a more recent endeavor compared to what we normally find.\u00a0 It used a gasoline powered air compressor.\u00a0 The older mines used steam power.<\/p>\n

We followed one of the roads up Mammouth Gulch only to find it blocked with a gate.\u00a0 It seems more and more people who own mining claims are blocking any access across the claim, even though public lands are beyond it.\u00a0 It seems wrong in my opinion.\u00a0 Existing roads and trails should automatically carry an easement.\u00a0 It’s not as if there is any active mining going on.<\/p>\n

Since we were stopped, we picked some wild mushrooms to have later with dinner.<\/p>\n

Then we headed towards a place called Nugget.\u00a0\u00a0 There were already some other explorers, who were just leaving when we arrived.\u00a0 They told us they had descended a shaft.\u00a0 I took a look at it and decided to do the same.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The map referred to this location as Nugget, with mine shaft entrance to the right (pipe).<\/p><\/div>\n

It was angled down about about 35 to 40 degrees.\u00a0 I went down, feet first, until the corrugated pipe ended.\u00a0 Rob and Sherrie stayed at the surface.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Looking back up to the surface from inside the shaft<\/p><\/div>\n

Once I was through the pipe, I was in a 10 foot wide passage, strewn with rocks and trash.\u00a0 It was about 4 feet tall and continued down at the same angle as the pipe.\u00a0 At the end of the passage, it dropped straight down.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Just beyond the vertical timber near in the center, the shaft dropped straight down.<\/p><\/div>\n

Although there was a rope to hang onto, I didn’t venture near the edge because I didn’t know how stable it was.\u00a0 I tossed a rock down and heard it bounce a few times, probably dropping at least 200 feet.<\/p>\n

I came back up and out, and we headed towards Apex, which is probably considered a ghost town.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Building with false front on it. Apex, Colorado.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Above apex, we came across another mining operation.\u00a0 This one much more recent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Follow the rails<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The tunnel entrance had a sliding door on it, but it was caved in behind the door.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Air compressor engine. The pulley in the foreground is the compressor which had been removed from the rest of the framework.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The presence of electrical boxes indicates mining occurred here in the past 50 years or so.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Nearby metal warehouse.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Inside the warehouse were rows of shelves with boxes stacked on them.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Thousands of boxes, stacked as high as possible.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Each boxed marked with hole number and possibly a depth or distance.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Inside each box were core samples.<\/p><\/div>\n

This was probably a silver mine, since the rock doesn’t look like the stuff I see associated with gold mines.<\/p>\n

We continued on up the side of Dakota Hill, and explored some shaft entrances that had been closed by the State.\u00a0 The afternoon thunderstorms had moved in and we decided to call it a day and head back to my place for grilled salmon.\u00a0 All in all, a very good day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was well overdue for an outing with Rob and Sherrie.\u00a0 We normally do this monthly, but it’s probably been 6 months or longer.\u00a0 And as we often do, we set off to places none of us had been before … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,18],"tags":[81,139,64],"class_list":["post-1020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-experiences","category-photography","tag-abandoned-mines","tag-ghost-towns","tag-mining-ruins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1020"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1040,"href":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1020\/revisions\/1040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invertedsky.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}