EISPIRATEN

About two years ago there was a guy who got attacked by two bears up there. He was backing away from the first one and noticed a second behind him. He got pretty F'd up but was able to make it back down and get to the hospital on his own. I think it happened above the cabin ruins. https://abc7.com/n...

Does it have to be a "friendly" handshake?

This is called the Fairy Tale cabin, built in 1934 on Barrett Canyon Road, Mt. Baldy. You have to have a four wheel drive to get to it by car. It sold three years ago for an unbelievably low $265,000 plus $2 a month HOA dues. It now reportedly rents on Airbnb for $4,000 a month. The inside has three...

Dude, that fell off Santa's sleigh.

NIce. The rainbows in yours are much brighter that what I saw, but I was amazed that I could see the full circle. At first I thought it was a circular rainbow, which can practically never be seen from ground level. Thanks for those shots.

Thanks Dima. I pick up a lot of good tips on this site. The guy I went with in the video is a huge star on YouTube. He's done over 500 videos, mostly on the East Fork. I've seen him pick up rattlesnakes like it was no big deal.

Over the last year I've been making a list and checking it twice. Trying to find places in the East Fork that may or may not exist. On Thanksgiving morning it had just rained, and since most people were out of town I thought this would be an ideal time to knock out some unfinished explorations in th...

Never saw that arch before. Great report.

The Shrimp Balloon - Not my photo, but I thought it was cool.

That is odd. The original name of the mine was the Agamemnon, but it became the Gold Ridge around 1900. Near the area of Thunder Mountain there was another mine called the Hocumac or Banks Mine, a hydraulic mine site. There's nothing left of it except for an asphalt flume chute the one of the ski ru...

The mine is in a ditch and gets covered up each season. I know where it is but I'll have to take a shovel up there to dig it out.

Here's some additional photos Gold Ridge Slideshow

I took the photos last week, except for the vintage ones and the shots of the actual mine.

The Gold Ridge Mine, originally known as the Agamemnon Mine is located in Upper San Antonio Creek on Mt. Baldy, between San Antonio Falls and the San Antonio (Sierra Club) Ski Hut. It operated from 1897-1907. This was a fairly large operation, with much optimism and little success. https://eispirate...

Awesome shots of the bighorns and the peak.

This was a gold mine. High up in Cascade Canyon there was a Lapis Lazuli Mine, that was deemed illegal and shut down by the forest service. There's also a 100 foot drift mine somewhere in lower Cascade, but I haven't found it yet. I have no info on how successful the Red White & Blue Mine was. B...

This is one of Baldy's least known gold mines, and one of its oldest, dating all the was back to 1871 https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photobucket/i411/albums/pp195/minefinder/Mines/Red%20White%20and%20Blue/36---IMG_3060_zpssfpwq2eb.jpg There's a reason this mine is not well known. Here's a ta...

Cucamonga Canyon is closed until April of 2019. There's a small mine in the lower part.
Hopefully they'll clean up the area near Sapphire Falls by then.

Forest Order

Hey thanks very much Jeko. I had a feeling there might be another one up above. Great to finally get an ID on that mine.

Nice report. I wasn't aware that trail had been fully restored. The stone work looks amazing.

If you think that treasure hunt was fun, try looking for the Red White and Blue Mine in San Antonio Creek. LOL

That's the one

Take the middle trail towards Cucamonga Peak for about ten minutes. You can't miss it.

Here's an old mine that's close to Icehouse Saddle. I'm trying to research it, but haven't found a name so far. https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photobucket/i411/albums/pp195/minefinder/Mines/Icehouse%20Saddle/IMG_2750_zpsi6rjdl9b.jpg This first mining in Icehouse Canyon happened back in 1892,...

That canyon is well known to rock hounds. For some strange reason it's a great place to find rubies, along with less precious stones like Lapis Lazuli.

There's also an oil ghost town of sorts fairly nearby called Mentryville, in Pico Canyon. And if you walk for a mile past it you'll see the last standing wooden oil rig in the Santa Clarita Valley. https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photobucket/i411/albums/pp195/minefinder/Ghost%20Towns/Mentryvi...

Elsmere Canyon and the heights above it were the site of some of the oldest oil fields in California. That tar you stepped in is called bitumen, or natural asphalt, same type that was found at the La Brea Tar Pits. I've never been as far as you went in the canyon, but if you take a loop trail above ...

I see em all the time in the East Fork. Mostly close to the Bridge To Nowhere. They usually run in large groups with one alpha ram and about 11 females. https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photobucket/i411/albums/pp195/minefinder/Mines/Stanley%20Miller/4-IMG_9505_zps8z31cbm9.jpg Sometimes you'll ...

https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photobucket/i411/albums/pp195/minefinder/Mines/Pacoima%20Canyon%20Mines/All/17%20-%20IMG_6288_zpslmhajmvg.jpg Dutch Louie's pick used to be stuck in a rock outside the tunnel. Don't know if it's still there. https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photobucket/i...

Dutch Louie's Sad Obituary ..... HERMIT DIGS OWN GRAVE. Then Goes Home to Die, Leaving Pathetic Note to Coroner. “Dutch Louie,” known throughout the Southwest as the hermit of the Pacoima, a few days ago walked slowly from his hut, which is 5 miles from Pacoima, and selecting a spot on the hillside...