You guys rock, pun intended. it never fails to amaze me how big the holes are that we make and how much stuff and equipment we leave in them. SO cool. Thank you Tom and Julie.
I take my scouts to this mine every year. They love it. Lots more mines around. They have closed alot of them I used to go into in the 80's and 90's...But love to give them the history of the area. Yes they 4 wheel up that canyon all the time. We hike, makes more for the Adventure. Thanks for sharing.....
Tom , back in 1964 my Cousin & I spent a week out there going through the old mines . Besides our normal camping gear, we had a lot of gear specifically for being underground for extended time periods . We camped in a small prospect drift near the top of one of the mountains , and entered a large portal near-by at about 6 AM and came out on the back-side of the mountain range at 11:30 PM - we were underground the entire time and never saw daylight . Long , rough hike overland back to our camp . -- < Doc > .
Cool you saw a tarantula. That route does look like it would be extreme off-roading! As you said, it would’ve been interesting to see some vehicles navigating that difficult, extreme terrain. Those were huge stopes! Always cool when you go in a mine one way and exit via another.
I think the tarantula was too cold to move. Those were some big stopes. It's difficult to convey the size of them and to get them lit up enough for the video. Twice we entered and exited from different places. The next video I'm making picks up where this one leaves off and we work our way higher up the hill. Thanks for commenting, Frank!
Hi, this is the same mine I explored back in the 80s! I had such great time exploring this one! I had used another entrance going in, I remember that the beams looked like they were just put in, even the shiny square nails. Did you hike the miners trail on the west side which was not noticeable from the road? This was the one that on one side was an area where good silver ore was at the bottom of the hill, opposite of where they had dumped the ore. I learned this from O.A. Russell which was with me at the time, he had did the aerial photography for Walter Knott to show the foundations of the town of Calico before restoration. I’m sure glad that I had met him and his wife, which at the time built and owned the Motel Calico on Ghost Town Rd south of I-15. Love this video and you both! Thanks 😊 and hope you both had fun like I had!
Thanks for the nice comment and information, Ron. I can't remember exactly which trails we hiked out here. Glad that you've had the chance to explore this area.
Hiked this area in the 1970's. Those huge stoped mines were talc mines with very high roof areas........You visited a lot more mines than we saw on our trip through that area.........good video thank you for shooting it and giving the next generation something to look at..............The mail dog Dorcy (from Calico) use to come into this area a couple times a week carrying mail to the miners, and always found her way back to the Calico township..................Interesting history. When you get the time, you might want to explore WALL STREET CANYON, very near the Ghost Town. I talked to one of the store owners in Calico and he said there are a lot of mines in that canyon that have a lot of relics of the 1800 mining days like ore carts still in the mines................thanks for the great videos.
@@TomandJulieMineExploring I was stopped by Rangers and held until Sheriffs arrived to check if I had looted any relics and then booted me. Don't recommend it.
@@TomandJulieMineExploring I made the mistake of coming out near the "Ghost town" and let me tell you those young Rangers were overly excited to stop and frisk me. Being a Ranger Supervisor myself. I advise staying away altogether after my experience. They have paid tours but they assured me they catch anyone that exits town side. I won't give much more advice than I have but it's a gorgeous place and rich in history.
Almost no one mentions the asphalt in that canyon. I'm 51 now but the first time I went through that canyon was nearly 25 years ago, I Jeeping with a older gentleman at least 20 years my senior. He told me of a story about when he was a little kid in the 50's his father would take the family up that canyon in their station wagon to explore the area, this was back when it was paved a lot of the way up. Then after a few flash floods the road got washed away and never got repaved again.
Thanks for sharing the story that was told to you by your older friend. Yes, we have seen remnants of pavement in the most unlikely of places over the years. Most often, the bulk of it has been washed away, leaving bits of old road pavement here and there. Really enjoyed your comment!👍😊
I'd love to know what sorts of minerals were being sought after. I was stationed in Barstow with the USMC back in the early 70's and would check out camping gear and go exploring on the weekends. The Geological Survey maps of the area showed hundreds of mines and digs and you had to be careful about open pits in some places. It seems that the desert was alive with prospectors during the 30's when a lot of people were out of work and sunk their last dollar into a mule and prospecting gear. I'm also wondering what sort of geology hinted at the value of its contents. What sort of terrain features were the old sourdough prospectors analyzing when they started a dig? It's a lot of work removing till and muck from a dig. What did they expect to find?
That’s a great comment, Walter. This area was mined primarily for silver. The Cerro Gordo area was the big gold producer of California and Calico was the big silver producer of the day. I'm fairly certain the old time prospectors could look at a hillside and have a good idea what was there. Dikes, or outcroppings, of a certain type were good indicators of mineral veins. I'm not a miner, but, I'm sure there were many other signs. I know that at the portal of many mines there are rocks standing vertically, where the hot mineral laden liquid from the Earth would squeeze into the voids. I'm glad that you have had the chance to check this area out and hope you will comment on other videos of ours!
@@TomandJulieMineExploring As a kid I knew all the sewers and storm drains in my town and loved exploring tunnels. Around Barstow I came across an interesting petroglyph site below a volcanic cinder cone and stumbled across an archaeological dig started by Louis b. Leaky where he found evidence of a stone camp fire circle dating 20k years back, way before there were supposed to be humans in North America via the Bering Straights migration route, total heresy. I'll have a look at your other RUclipss. I'm also a hiker and enjoyed seeing the trails in this video. Stay safe out there and keep an eye out for sidewinders, lol. P.S. I have some videos of my hiking group, mostly in the Sierras, on my Walter Alter RUclips Channel.
I don't know if you noticed that there were a couple different string lines in there that people use as a route back to where they came from. It's not really as difficult as it seems like it would be. There have only been a few times that we have gotten temporarily confused as to the way out of a mine. I must say though, that it is a bit terrifying when it does happen. Thanks for watching and commenting, Max, and hope you're still on the mend.
You guys rock, pun intended. it never fails to amaze me how big the holes are that we make and how much stuff and equipment we leave in them. SO cool. Thank you Tom and Julie.
This is a pretty big hole. I think we went in one and came out another if I remember correctly. Thanks for watching, Mick!
I take my scouts to this mine every year. They love it. Lots more mines around. They have closed alot of them I used to go into in the 80's and 90's...But love to give them the history of the area. Yes they 4 wheel up that canyon all the time. We hike, makes more for the Adventure. Thanks for sharing.....
Glad that you are able to take the scouts on the mine tour. It a pretty tough loop to 4 wheel on. Thanks for watching, Mike!
Tom , back in 1964 my Cousin & I spent a week out there going through the old mines . Besides our normal camping gear, we had a lot of gear specifically for being underground for extended time periods . We camped in a small prospect drift near the top of one of the mountains , and entered a large portal near-by at about 6 AM and came out on the back-side of the mountain range at 11:30 PM - we were underground the entire time and never saw daylight . Long , rough hike overland back to our camp . -- < Doc > .
That sounds like quite an adventure and a long time to be underground. Glad that you made it back to camp okay. Thanks for sharing the story, Doc!
What canyon were you in desert rat
Cool you saw a tarantula. That route does look like it would be extreme off-roading! As you said, it would’ve been interesting to see some vehicles navigating that difficult, extreme terrain. Those were huge stopes! Always cool when you go in a mine one way and exit via another.
I think the tarantula was too cold to move. Those were some big stopes. It's difficult to convey the size of them and to get them lit up enough for the video. Twice we entered and exited from different places. The next video I'm making picks up where this one leaves off and we work our way higher up the hill. Thanks for commenting, Frank!
Hi, this is the same mine I explored back in the 80s! I had such great time exploring this one! I had used another entrance going in, I remember that the beams looked like they were just put in, even the shiny square nails. Did you hike the miners trail on the west side which was not noticeable from the road? This was the one that on one side was an area where good silver ore was at the bottom of the hill, opposite of where they had dumped the ore. I learned this from O.A. Russell which was with me at the time, he had did the aerial photography for Walter Knott to show the foundations of the town of Calico before restoration. I’m sure glad that I had met him and his wife, which at the time built and owned the Motel Calico on Ghost Town Rd south of I-15. Love this video and you both! Thanks 😊 and hope you both had fun like I had!
Thanks for the nice comment and information, Ron. I can't remember exactly which trails we hiked out here. Glad that you've had the chance to explore this area.
Thanks for the videos you guys. It lets me get out while I'm here homebound. . . .smh . . . . .
You're welcome. Glad that we can entertain you for a few minutes. Thanks for the comment, Blaney!
memories there. 1982 Camping and parting with friends. Not a place to be walking around in the dark. deep holes everywhere
Oh yeah, this is still a party spot. Thanks for the comment, Henry!
Can you imagine working in there? Thanks for sharing.. Hope you guys had a good week.. Full View Like 25
Hiked this area in the 1970's. Those huge stoped mines were talc mines with very high roof areas........You visited a lot more mines than we saw on our trip through that area.........good video thank you for shooting it and giving the next generation something to look at..............The mail dog Dorcy (from Calico) use to come into this area a couple times a week carrying mail to the miners, and always found her way back to the Calico township..................Interesting history. When you get the time, you might want to explore WALL STREET CANYON, very near the Ghost Town. I talked to one of the store owners in Calico and he said there are a lot of mines in that canyon that have a lot of relics of the 1800 mining days like ore carts still in the mines................thanks for the great videos.
Thanks for watching and for the detailed comment, Ray! I will do some research on the Wall Street Canyon area.
@@TomandJulieMineExploring I was stopped by Rangers and held until Sheriffs arrived to check if I had looted any relics and then booted me. Don't recommend it.
@@ohya2759 Where were you stopped?
@@TomandJulieMineExploring I made the mistake of coming out near the "Ghost town" and let me tell you those young Rangers were overly excited to stop and frisk me. Being a Ranger Supervisor myself. I advise staying away altogether after my experience. They have paid tours but they assured me they catch anyone that exits town side. I won't give much more advice than I have but it's a gorgeous place and rich in history.
Those mines are about as intact as they come.
Wow again, Always stay together, I was in the area but passed it. I plan to go back, thanks for video
Thanks, hope you get to check it out sometime.
Almost no one mentions the asphalt in that canyon. I'm 51 now but the first time I went through that canyon was nearly 25 years ago, I Jeeping with a older gentleman at least 20 years my senior. He told me of a story about when he was a little kid in the 50's his father would take the family up that canyon in their station wagon to explore the area, this was back when it was paved a lot of the way up. Then after a few flash floods the road got washed away and never got repaved again.
Thanks for sharing the story that was told to you by your older friend. Yes, we have seen remnants of pavement in the most unlikely of places over the years. Most often, the bulk of it has been washed away, leaving bits of old road pavement here and there. Really enjoyed your comment!👍😊
I'd love to know what sorts of minerals were being sought after. I was stationed in Barstow with the USMC back in the early 70's and would check out camping gear and go exploring on the weekends. The Geological Survey maps of the area showed hundreds of mines and digs and you had to be careful about open pits in some places. It seems that the desert was alive with prospectors during the 30's when a lot of people were out of work and sunk their last dollar into a mule and prospecting gear. I'm also wondering what sort of geology hinted at the value of its contents. What sort of terrain features were the old sourdough prospectors analyzing when they started a dig? It's a lot of work removing till and muck from a dig. What did they expect to find?
That’s a great comment, Walter. This area was mined primarily for silver. The Cerro Gordo area was the big gold producer of California and Calico was the big silver producer of the day. I'm fairly certain the old time prospectors could look at a hillside and have a good idea what was there. Dikes, or outcroppings, of a certain type were good indicators of mineral veins. I'm not a miner, but, I'm sure there were many other signs. I know that at the portal of many mines there are rocks standing vertically, where the hot mineral laden liquid from the Earth would squeeze into the voids.
I'm glad that you have had the chance to check this area out and hope you will comment on other videos of ours!
@@TomandJulieMineExploring As a kid I knew all the sewers and storm drains in my town and loved exploring tunnels. Around Barstow I came across an interesting petroglyph site below a volcanic cinder cone and stumbled across an archaeological dig started by Louis b. Leaky where he found evidence of a stone camp fire circle dating 20k years back, way before there were supposed to be humans in North America via the Bering Straights migration route, total heresy. I'll have a look at your other RUclipss. I'm also a hiker and enjoyed seeing the trails in this video. Stay safe out there and keep an eye out for sidewinders, lol.
P.S. I have some videos of my hiking group, mostly in the Sierras, on my Walter Alter RUclips Channel.
Interesting about the dig. I'll check out your channel.
9:45 HA! GOT EEM!!
You seem happy about something at 9:45. Glad you like it!
this location is 15 miles from my driveway ;)
I figured you were close by Calico when you said you were staying in Btown. Thanks for watching, Jeramia!
Hope I get to see the one that has the wrecked truck in it. This mine looks like swiss cheese to me
This one was like Swiss cheese with all those holes in the huge stope. Thanks for your support, Ronnie. We appreciate it!
Bet that one would be easy to get turned around as to where was what..
I don't know if you noticed that there were a couple different string lines in there that people use as a route back to where they came from. It's not really as difficult as it seems like it would be. There have only been a few times that we have gotten temporarily confused as to the way out of a mine. I must say though, that it is a bit terrifying when it does happen. Thanks for watching and commenting, Max, and hope you're still on the mend.
I agree. The paint crew…it ruins the beauty of the miner’s workings and is disrespectful. I wish they wouldn’t do that.
I hear ya. A lot of places in California are trashed by vandals and graffiti types. I don't know what the motivation is for someone doing that.
@@TomandJulieMineExploring probably for lack of something better to do… Music kept me out of trouble in my youth!
@@Edgeofeof I suppose that's part of the problem. It seems there is not a lot of respect for much from some of the younger generations.