Mymine Mine

 Mitch & I had chosen this day for a hike. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a scorching hot day with high winds. I didn't want to cancel, so I mentioned a short, easy hike that has been on my "to do" list for quite a while, and Mitch gave it the thumbs up. The hike involved a little up hill scrambling to a small mine site that I had read about over at my friend Elliot's blog here. Even in the heat, it should be doable, and like I said, it's a short hike. And if we get a good sunset, we will be well positoned to photograph it!

Turns out the little uphill scramble was more challenging than I thought, especially on a blazing hot day! (photo credit: https://cali49.com/jtnp)

 

 Nice view of the main road as it leads deeper into Joshua Tree National Park. Likely because of the heat and the wind, the Park was nearly empty.
 

Reaching the top of the hill, this is the view NW. The sky looks like a white-out because the wind is blowing dust and sand into the air. Look closely and you can see some signs of mining activity. That's Mitch on the left.

 

An unusual sight: Mitch appears to be texting! Turns out this is one of the few locations in all of JTNP where you can get cell service. Also of note is Mitch's hair. No, he doesn't comb it in a forward sweep! This just gives you a sense of how hard the wind was blowing.

 

Lots of wood debris at the Mymine site. It's thought that this is the remains of a miner's cabin.

 

Interesting old ore cart tracks with the opening to Mymine mine in the background. Elliot mentions in his post that historically significant mining equipment, including an old are cart that was sitting on these tracks, was stolen back in the 70's or early 80's. That's really too bad. How cool would it be to see the original ore cart sitting on these tracks, just as the miners left it!? He also mentions that a 1967 survey reports the cabin at this site was in good shape, with tools and supplies stored inside. All that's left now is a pile of wood and rocks.

Opposite view of the tracks, leading away from the mine.

 

Entrance to Mymine, or what's left of it!

 

It looks like the mine entrance was through this trap door. I don't think I would want to try to squeeze down through that space even if it wasn't chained and locked! By the way, Mymine is really the name of this mine (I originally thought it was just something Elliot made up!). I found a BLM site that mentions the mine and said it was both a gold and silver mine. But it's not marked on a USGS topo map I consulted. Other than Elliot's blog post, I've never seen it mentioned anywhere.

There's a fair amount of "vintage trash" scattered around the mine site.

 

There's a second pit site near the main mine. Not sure if this was a shallow exploratory dig or a deeper mine that the Park Service filled in. They fenced it off, so at one time it was probably deeper. Many of the details of Mymine appear to be lost to history.

 

Remains of a ground-nesting bird?

 

Mymine turned out to be a very interesting site. Thanks for stopping by!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.