teotwaki
Excelsior!
At long last I have finished the write up of my June trip! I generally put a lot of research into a trip before I go but my discoveries at the site prompted additional research to enable me to better tell the story.
In June of 2012 I had an opportunity to explore areas that were a little further east of my previous trips. The state of Washington has a very interesting history with regards to gold mining but I found that the wet climate is very destructive of wooden structures. What is readily preserved in Southern California's dry desert climate is not something that may last long with the yearly 9 months of rain and snow that descends upon western Washington.
full story is here: http://suntothenorth.blogspot.com/2012/10/exploring-blewett-pass.html
Here are just a few of the pictures that I took
Abandoned tracks leading to a mill
An old Northwest Engineering pull bucket
It took a while to find the full story behind Ronald's untimely death
"Photos found on the camera of Ronald Calder, 46, suggest he'd explored caves and mines in the area before attempting to descend into an abandoned gold mine, said Detective Mitch Matheson of the Chelan County's Sheriff's Office. Calder set out June 20. His car was found at a monument on the Old Blewett Highway about 8 miles north of the summit and 1.5 miles from the mine shaft. Calder appears to have tied a rope around a tree and descended about 100 feet into the shaft, which was about 4 feet by 4 feet wide, Matheson said. The detective believes that Calder then unhitched himself on a ledge to explore some horizontal shafts in the mine and was later unable to grab back onto his rope. Matheson said the temperature was about 55 degrees in the shaft and that Calder, an inexperienced climber, was wearing only light clothing, having left his pack at the top. A coroner's report indicates Calder died of hypothermia, Matheson said"
This was once a roaring, clanking 20 stamp mill
I hope that you enjoy this trip as much as I did!
In June of 2012 I had an opportunity to explore areas that were a little further east of my previous trips. The state of Washington has a very interesting history with regards to gold mining but I found that the wet climate is very destructive of wooden structures. What is readily preserved in Southern California's dry desert climate is not something that may last long with the yearly 9 months of rain and snow that descends upon western Washington.
full story is here: http://suntothenorth.blogspot.com/2012/10/exploring-blewett-pass.html
Here are just a few of the pictures that I took
Abandoned tracks leading to a mill
An old Northwest Engineering pull bucket
It took a while to find the full story behind Ronald's untimely death
"Photos found on the camera of Ronald Calder, 46, suggest he'd explored caves and mines in the area before attempting to descend into an abandoned gold mine, said Detective Mitch Matheson of the Chelan County's Sheriff's Office. Calder set out June 20. His car was found at a monument on the Old Blewett Highway about 8 miles north of the summit and 1.5 miles from the mine shaft. Calder appears to have tied a rope around a tree and descended about 100 feet into the shaft, which was about 4 feet by 4 feet wide, Matheson said. The detective believes that Calder then unhitched himself on a ledge to explore some horizontal shafts in the mine and was later unable to grab back onto his rope. Matheson said the temperature was about 55 degrees in the shaft and that Calder, an inexperienced climber, was wearing only light clothing, having left his pack at the top. A coroner's report indicates Calder died of hypothermia, Matheson said"
This was once a roaring, clanking 20 stamp mill
I hope that you enjoy this trip as much as I did!
