Back To Silver Mountain

[CrazyHermit]

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 in the lower level.
This time I took some backup, Bryant (Brother B), who re-discovered most of the mines above Altadena, and Victor, a prospector I met in the East Fork.
Better lighting and a better camera made all the difference. This time we explored the whole thing, including 98% of the flooded lower level.

The mine is not easy to find, and hard to get to, but you might get some clues from Missy's website, angelesadventures.com
The coordinates are also listed on several mine websites, but GPS will not help you that much out here.



I call this mine Pet Sematary, because it's in such a remote and forgotten area.



Lots of bushwhacking and climbing involved.



Victor broke his forearm during a run-in with a log, but kept on truckin'



Seldom seen Humboldt Lilies.



Partially buried miner's bed. There was probably a bunkhouse near here.



Old cast iron pipe. We also found a large cement structure. On another trip I found an old canteen.



Not much water in the summer, but there's plenty in the lower level of the mine.



Beautiful copper oxide found outside the mine.



Finally there. The portal is small, but used to be smaller. Someone's been digging back here.



Looks like somebody's growing pot back here. They went to a lot of trouble to haul this mile long tubing in.



The colors inside are spectacular. This mine produced silver, gold, cobalt, lead, and copper.



Victor's a gold prospector and does some lapidary work, so he was lovin' life inside the mine.



Bryant drove two hours from San Diego to check this out. Never leaves home without the hat.



More copper oxide leeching from the rock.



I'm not sure of what all these colorful minerals are. Silver ore is usually a dull brick color.



Victor fooling around with his metal detector.



Sliding down an incline tunnel to the lower level. There was a giant round boulder just behind him.



This water is actually crystal clear. The film on top is a crystallized sheet of paper thin calcium carbonate (flowstone)



This is what the film is actually made of.



Beneath the film is fresh water and ancient wooden ore cart rail platforms.



Ore cart rail platforms. Instead of nailing the rails directly into rock these were used as platforms.
The actual metal rails were probably removed and sold for salvage after the mine finally closed.



Rail platform with cross tie. It's amazing that the wood has not dissolved over the last 120 years.



This was an interesting piece, where there was a fork in the mine they built a curve into the platform.



Big find of the day, the rail terminus, made of solid metal.
When Victor pulled this up it reminded me of the last scene of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest



Not sure what this piece was, but it was solid iron.



Some parts of the lower level are not for the claustrophobic. You also have to be wary of the ventilation.



Beautiful lodestone is forming small stellactites on the ceiling. These only grow one inch every 100 years.



This mine has been partially mapped, but a lot of it was missing. The full depth is much deeper than reported.



Victor hacks out a beautiful calcite snowball. He plans to make a piece of jewelry out of it.



The ultimate tight squeeze. At one point we told Victor we'd leave him some sandwiches.



Poor Victor really suffered on this one. Fractured his forearm but kept on truckin'.



Steam engine photo taken in 1890. The man front left is Kelsey foreman George Minier.



Kelsey Mill in 1882 There were two footbridges leading to it. George Minier is the front man on this bridge.

“Hundreds of lights illuminated the entire canyon. Across the stream an immense building gave off a fearful clatter of noise from within, while a great waterwheel turned and groaned beside it. It looked like a scene from one of the gift Christmas cards of that era. We stopped beside a blacksmith’s shop where several forges belched flame and smoke, while sparks and clamor flew from drills and picks on a half dozen anvils as sweating smithies strove and swore. Two suspension bridges traversed the canyon high above possible flood waters, and they too, were festooned with lights. It was the Kelsey Silver Mill. Three hundred and fifty men were there employed in two 12-hour shifts, and all about were bunk houses and all of the appurtenances of a big mine camp.”

~ Sedley Peck (grandson of Billy Heaton, nephew of Ralph Follows)

[dima]

Sweet! Thanks for posting. How long are the tunnels? You make it sound pretty extensive.

[CrazyHermit]

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. Victor weighs 240 pounds and almost got stuck in it.

[Sean]

Wow, really cool adventure! Thanks for sharing.

[Girl Hiker]

Wow! what a cool find. Lots of cool stuff inside that old mine. All the beautiful colors make it look spectacular. I'm glad you didn't run into any pot farming criminals. Last time I was there I came across some guys hanging out towards Silver mountain. A friend of mine also ran into some and decided to just hike up to Sentinel instead. Not sure if their pot farm is still active. Anyways, great pics. Sorry to hear your friend was hurt during the cool exploration of the mine.

[HikeUp]

The Dam fire is burning near Silver Mountain.

[CrazyHermit]

[JDB22]

Very rad. Kelsey is one of the really fun mines in the local mountains. Bit more than just a straight shaft back. Good stuff guys.

[ReFreshing]

Super cool. Always intrigued by mine exploration around here.