EISPIRATEN

Two Depression era mines in the middle of nowhere, inside Joshua Tree's Colorado Desert.
Check out the video to see some wild animal surprises inside these mines

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Took the old one down. Here's the finished version.

Fun Fact - Roberts Canyon is named after Henry Roberts, East Fork miner, who owned a stage coach service in Azusa. When miners would get off the Santa Fe train they'd walk over to his stables across the tracks and catch a ride up to Eldoradoville. Ralph Follows had a stable right next to his. His ho...

This one got pretty close to my house, but now it's moving towards Fish Canyon. Hwy. 39 is closed again.

Highway 39 is open again. Looks like the fire never made it as far north as Morris Dam.
The burn area was between Rainbow Canyon Ranch and the Dam Wall. The Dam and the Silver Mountain area were untouched.

Highway 39 is still closed. I live at the base of the canyon.

https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2c62ecd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5472x2873 0 388/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=https://california-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com/9d/12/814f4a57454890f75a76adce948e/la-me-dam-fire.jpg Looks like it's on the east side of Morris Dam. Now 40% con...

I live at the base of the canyon, so yeah I know, it's a zoo. It's now the official "Sanctuary Canyon" for illegals. The Forest Service was flooded with a new revenue source when Obama made this a National MONUMENT, but most of the money is being spent on harassing gold prospectors with th...

The question is, are Adventure Pass fees even legal in the first place. They've been challenged several times in court successfully. Before 2012 the Forest Service could charge you the Adventure Pass if you parked at a developed site. But this was challenged in court by several hikers who said they ...

Definitely not with a dozer. They just cleared some of the brush out. It's still a trail.

If you like Quantum Leap check out Fringe. Even better.

Here's a shot of the rest of the bighorn's skeleton. I always get nervous when I enter this mine.

I don't even bother with the splatter kills. If they get whacked in the head and not actually run over the carcass is salvagable, if it's fresh. I used to have a pet tarantula and one morning I woke up with two full sized ones in the cage. What the hell? That's how I found out about them shedding. T...

Too bad that road is gone. That would have made getting there a lot easier.

Check out how scary this is in the winter. One guy fell 1000 feet, and survived

My morbid collection of road kill and other sad animal demises ... Fox.jpg I found this little Gray Fox just last weekend on Mt. Baldy Rd. He was in such good condition I took him home to have him taxidermied, but then I found out the cost. Yikes! So I gave him to the Eaton Canyon Nature Center, whe...

Here's some aerial shots of the mine site. Looks like there's a mining road upstream from the main buildings with more structures along the way.

Thanks Dima.

Got it. Thanks very much.

So the ranch property is just past the gate? I'm planning on starting this early, but I saw noticed the posted camera signs.

Question for Jeko. Did the route you took start at this gate? Many thanks in advance.

Haven't seen a marmot in ages. Nice shot.

In my opinion, Vulcan Materials (the mine site the trail passes through) has discovered gold and is fighting to keep that trail from being reopened. A few months ago I went to the gate just to see if the trail was open and met with a hostile response from the guards. I can see the daily progress of ...

Walked part of it from the Morris Dam side last week. It looks like the forest service or the fire department has done some fairly recent maintenance. It's a lot easier than it used to be to get through from that side.

Status of Fish Canyon Trail ... I wrote to the head of the San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuilders (SGMTBs), the volunteer group that maintains most of the trails in this area, for a status report on Fish Canyon, which has been closed now for 6.5 years. Here is his response... "Thanks for the email...

According to an old map the tunnels are only 600 feet long, but this mine is extensive in the lower level. I would estimate that all the tunnels we went through would at least triple that number. The lower level is the most interesting, but you have to squeeze through a tight hole to get to it. Vict...

Located on Silver Mountain west of the Morris Dam is the legendary Kelsey Silver Mine. It operated from 1881-1894, then was worked intermittently until 1910 and again in the 1930's I've soloed this one twice, but had bad luck both times. First time a bobcat was inside, second time my lights went out...

Here's a short test video made from stills I took at the Red White and Blue Mine last weekend. I took a prospector friend up there to help me clean all the trash out of the inside, and there was lots. The full version with a history of the mine should come out later this year. https://www.youtube.co...

According to the forest service site there's a trail that goes from Widman Ranch to the Eagle Mine. Must be a very old post though ....

The Gold Dollar Trail is 1.4 miles long. It begins at Widman Ranch and ends at Eagle Mine. The trail is open for the following uses: Hiking