Baldora (or is it Widco?)
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2016 12:28 am
I woke up early on Sunday with vague plans concerning the old mines below San Antonio Ridge. Every possible option would involve ascending to Coldwater Saddle on the Heaton Flat trail, then traversing along the old Coldwater Canyon trail to just behind the Widman Ranch. So I just decided to do that part, and figure out the rest later.
I got to the trailhead before dawn, and the East Fork canyon was full of fog. This hung pretty low, so once up on the ridge I was looking down at it, and admiring the nice moonlit view of Rattlesnake Peak
As I ascended the ridge, the sky above Ontario ridge brightened, and the backlighting made the clouds in that area cool
I made it to the saddle a bit past dawn, and found the entrance to the old Coldwater Canyon trail. I've never taken this trail before, and had no idea what condition it was in. Turns out the trailbed itself is in ok shape: there are a few washouts, but it's passable. The real issue is the brush. This trail hasn't been maintained in years, and it's choked off in many places. I brought my loppers with me, so the plan of the day became clear: I would clean up the trail, and visit the closest mine: Baldora (Widco?). The cleaned-up trail would make a future visit to the further mines more viable as a day trip.
OK then. From the trail, one can see the remnant of an old trail East of Coldwater Canyon
This is on a ridge that doesn't go anywhere. Presumably it used to connect to something? Bighorn Ridge maybe? A bit past that, Widman Ranch comes into view. They have a pool!
The trail work was time-consuming, but I was making good progress. Towards the end, the trail contours around a wide gully, and the old trail turns into an old road. Surprisingly, this make it significanly more difficult to pass: the yucca LOVE this old roadbed. The resulting yucca alley looks like this:
I cut back the yucca where it was necessary, but in places where a bypass was in place, I left them alone: it just took too much time. The road ends unceremoniously in a washout, and a very old fixed rope is in place to aid in descent:
Finally, I was in the riverbed, where the going was easy. Coldwater Canyon has lots of water right now. Dry Gulch has none. Going upstream I found a cool treehouse
Probably used by people at the Widman Ranch. Going up into Dry Gulch, I soon found an old truck
Check out the wooden spokes!
Walking more, I arrived at the mine site. There's a lot of stuff here. The first structure has collapsed:
The second structure has collapsed
But the third structure is just fine!
I looked around for an open shaft, but found none. The topo shows two tunnels. The lower one isn't there. The upper one is high up on a steep and loose slope, and I wasn't feeling it. There are rails going seemingly nowhere, and maybe a shaft was in that area
There's a ton of cool stuff scattered around
Maybe the warranty is still good?
I was feeling pretty satisfied that lots of cool stuff was found, and that nothing more interesting is up here. Then I found an old bowling pin
In any case, I walked down to the border of the Widman inholding to check out their signs
and then walked back the way I came. Back on the Heaton Flat trail ridge, I found this guy
Can anybody ID?
So that's that. If anyone has any business in that area, I'd go sooner rather than later. Probably that trail is in its best shape it's going to be for a while.
I got to the trailhead before dawn, and the East Fork canyon was full of fog. This hung pretty low, so once up on the ridge I was looking down at it, and admiring the nice moonlit view of Rattlesnake Peak
As I ascended the ridge, the sky above Ontario ridge brightened, and the backlighting made the clouds in that area cool
I made it to the saddle a bit past dawn, and found the entrance to the old Coldwater Canyon trail. I've never taken this trail before, and had no idea what condition it was in. Turns out the trailbed itself is in ok shape: there are a few washouts, but it's passable. The real issue is the brush. This trail hasn't been maintained in years, and it's choked off in many places. I brought my loppers with me, so the plan of the day became clear: I would clean up the trail, and visit the closest mine: Baldora (Widco?). The cleaned-up trail would make a future visit to the further mines more viable as a day trip.
OK then. From the trail, one can see the remnant of an old trail East of Coldwater Canyon
This is on a ridge that doesn't go anywhere. Presumably it used to connect to something? Bighorn Ridge maybe? A bit past that, Widman Ranch comes into view. They have a pool!
The trail work was time-consuming, but I was making good progress. Towards the end, the trail contours around a wide gully, and the old trail turns into an old road. Surprisingly, this make it significanly more difficult to pass: the yucca LOVE this old roadbed. The resulting yucca alley looks like this:
I cut back the yucca where it was necessary, but in places where a bypass was in place, I left them alone: it just took too much time. The road ends unceremoniously in a washout, and a very old fixed rope is in place to aid in descent:
Finally, I was in the riverbed, where the going was easy. Coldwater Canyon has lots of water right now. Dry Gulch has none. Going upstream I found a cool treehouse
Probably used by people at the Widman Ranch. Going up into Dry Gulch, I soon found an old truck
Check out the wooden spokes!
Walking more, I arrived at the mine site. There's a lot of stuff here. The first structure has collapsed:
The second structure has collapsed
But the third structure is just fine!
I looked around for an open shaft, but found none. The topo shows two tunnels. The lower one isn't there. The upper one is high up on a steep and loose slope, and I wasn't feeling it. There are rails going seemingly nowhere, and maybe a shaft was in that area
There's a ton of cool stuff scattered around
Maybe the warranty is still good?
I was feeling pretty satisfied that lots of cool stuff was found, and that nothing more interesting is up here. Then I found an old bowling pin
In any case, I walked down to the border of the Widman inholding to check out their signs
and then walked back the way I came. Back on the Heaton Flat trail ridge, I found this guy
Can anybody ID?
So that's that. If anyone has any business in that area, I'd go sooner rather than later. Probably that trail is in its best shape it's going to be for a while.
