The De Soto mine sits above where the town of Middleton once stood at . . . → Read More: The De Soto Mine(AZ) – 02/07/10]]> Having just spent the last few hours in The Golden Turkey, it was time to move on to what the day was all about.  A look deep inside the De Soto Mine was next on the agenda.

The De Soto mine sits above where the town of Middleton once stood at an elevation of about 4967′ or so.  Still wet from rain, the road was a bit slick including just a little sideways action

I would not suggest going in anything but something with clearance as the rains have exposed some rocks that might challenge a car or small pickup.  The Hummer had no problems and I’m sure most 4×4′s would make it especially when it’s dry.  It was actually an enjoyable drive with the vegetation and surroundings changing quickly.  You gain elevation pretty quick on the trail to the mine which as you can imagine affords you a great view of The Bradshaw’s.

Despite the cloud cover, the view was fantastic!  I guess it wasn’t cloud cover as much as the fact that we were actually in the clouds at this point which meant it was just a little cooler than down at The Golden Turkey where it was about 3100′.

We stopped short of the mine to check out the area where the Tramway started.  It was a great chance for a few pictures as well as time exploring one of the tailing piles.  This pile actually had some great specimens if collecting is your thing.  While I did find some pretty neat goodies, I was really chomping at the bit to head up and check out the mine.

I will certainly make it a point though to return and spend some time in the tailings to see what interesting rocks I can find, not to mention finish exploring the area which I think could easily take a day.

After a brief exploration of this area and some pictures, we made our way up to the mine itself.  As soon as I saw this opening, I was already feeling much better about this mine.  In fact, I recall making the comment that it would have really sucked to do this one and then the Golden Turkey.

We made our way into the tunnel and I was blown away by the size compared to the last mine, not to mention the cold air coming from inside.  Cold and fresh as a matter of fact.  I damn near could have driven my golf cart down this tunnel…Maybe. 

There was a bit of water on the floor but folks before us were kind enough to place stones, wood, and whatever else they could find in the wet areas so we could avoid the wet step.  There was also pipes that ran along the floor as well which came in handy to help keep our shoes dry.  The pipes still carry water today down to the various watering tanks in the area for the cattle.  While some mines have some nasty water, this one is actually spotted with spring fed pools throughout the mine, although there was one or two I wouldn’t want to fall in.  Others though, were crystal clear when hit with the lights.

I like to think of myself as being very observant, always scanning the ground, walls and everything else.  Of course you knew that from reading about the first mine of the day now didn’t you?  Anyway, as we walked further away from the opening, I caught black spots here and there on the walls and ceilings.

Upon closer examination, I found these black spots to be brown actually, and not really spots after all.  Yes, the familiar prop to any mine, the bat.  Right away, Kao said not to bother them because they were sleeping and they would die if I woke them.  I asked him on the way out if he meant sleeping or hibernating?  They were hibernating apparently.  I did not know bats hibernated actually.  I knew they slept during the day so I guess that’s kind of what I thought he meant earlier.  Anyhow, you learn something new everyday.  I took a few more pictures of them if you want to check out the gallery but I’ll give you that link later.

Again, after a few hundred feet into the mine, we killed our lights and let our eyes adjust to the darkness although there was still a bit of light coming from the entrance.  Darkness or not, I was feeling good, damn good.  This mine was already so cool and way better then where we were just a couple of hours ago.

After a few minutes time and chatting about the Golden Turkey, we turned our lights back on and continued walking along the walls of the mine where we needed to stay out of the water.  Most of it though was pretty dry in the center so a little water was no big deal.  I took note along the way of the various vibrant blue colors I was seeing on the walls here and there, colors that seemed to be oozing out of the walls but at a very slow pace.

This was odd.  Nothing I had ever really seen before.  I looked closer and it looked like liquid crystals or something, but it did not look nasty!  I have never seen anything in my life like it so I was in awe.  The further we went, the more prevalent the blue was.  I certainly wasn’t going to touch it, because if it was crystal of some sort, I could do more harm than good by touching it.

The next thing I saw was incredible.  The ceiling in spots, was covered in tiny stalactites.    I’ve never seen stalactites anywhere other than on TV.  This however was something entirely more rewarding I think, as these were still in the straw form or stalactite infancy?  I soon realized this mine has started a life of its own.

Oh it get’s better, or shall I say bigger?

Or shall I say more colorful?  High on the ceiling Kao pointed out this incredible blue stalactite that was probably 2″-3″ in length maybe?  Keep in  mind my friends, we’re barely getting into this mine so to speak and these are the types of things we are seeing.  I was in LaLa land at this point.  A mine I could walk in that had things I’d never seen in my life.  I know in some cases, caves are notorious for this, but a mine?

I know there have been many who have come before me to this mine, so KUDOS to you for not destroying this stuff and leaving it for the rest of us to see.  I’ll have to research these a bit and see how long it takes for them to form.  I would say that about 99% of the straws had a drop of water at the end of them, and if one were patient, you might just get a shot of a drop in mid air just below the stalactite.

We explored each of the side tunnels even though they were clearly marked “DE” which obviously means dead end.  We wouldn’t be exploring though if we didn’t check every tunnel.  At this point it became a crystal hunt to find the greatest accumulation of them.

I’ve done a few mines in my time and in those mines I’ve seen some infrastructure with regards to ore chutes and things like that.  I’ve seen things that looked as though they were probably pretty tough to build.

This picture really does no justice to what is in the heart of that mine.  I know there have been huge wooden structures and pulley systems at these mines, but much of that I usually see out at the mill site or somewhere outside.  The super structure shown in this picture disappeared  into the darkness above me several feet up, maybe a couple stories were visible in the light and that’s it.  That’s MEGA!  By the looks of the ore buckets and the size of this super structure, I can only imagine the amount of material that must have moved through this area and the noise echoing off the rocky walls.

What’s amazing amount seeing this and other similar things in this mine is the fact that it was built right where it stands.  I think all the pounding and such would have really had my nerves fried worrying about a cave-in.  Granted, the mine itself was pretty solid, but this was some big timber and there were some big nails used.

Another interesting area we found seemed to be a stopping point for other folks as evidenced  by the batteries on the floor and other things.  This was a huge cavern with a few different entries, but only one that would get you where we were.  The other two, well, you might get wet if you come that way.  The acoustics were pretty awesome.  My first thought was playing with my drums in here and see what I can do with the echoes.  The young whipper snapper in me thought it would be a great place to have a little get together in, but not the kinda place for that I’m afraid.  Helluva great place for a beer though.

After spending at least 4 hours in the mine, I could feel the air get very very cold and thought there would be one of two things waiting for us when we got out.  Either snow or rain.  So we explored a bit more and pretty much came to the conclusion that we were not going to finish this mine today.

As we made our way back to the entrance of the mine the air got much colder.  We made it out of the mine to a temperature of 34 degrees, and as we started walking to the Hummer it began to snow.  I didn’t get a good shot of the snow falling, but you can almost make it out.  Believe it or not, as we started heading back down the mountain, not only did the air warm up some, but the snow flakes got bigger.  Go figure.

I’m sure there’s more I can share with you, so if you’re interested, drop me a line either here via comments or in the Forums and I’ll be glad to tell you more about this or any of my other trips.

As always, there are several more pictures than what I have here.  If you’d like, click THIS and you can check out the pictures.

It was a great day with the guys, and I’m looking forward to more outings before long.  We did find one other place of interest, but until our research is complete on the area, we’re keeping a lid on that one.  More on that possibly later.

With a 3-day weekend just around the corner, I’d say there might just be another adventure or two.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your day!

Stang

Quiet as a mouse with coffee no further than arms reach at all times, I begin to get ready for a day of adventure and unknown.

Saturday started off once again bright and early, only this time we returned so Darcy could finally see Humbug as well as give Dave a hand where needed.  We had a great lunch packed and ready to go thanks to the Mr’s while I . . . → Read More: Another day at Humbug – 02/06/10]]> What a weekend I tell you, no rest for the wicked.

Saturday started off once again bright and early, only this time we returned so Darcy could finally see Humbug as well as give Dave a hand where needed.  We had a great lunch packed and ready to go thanks to the Mr’s while I got the trailer ready.  Again, met up with my uncle at 7:30am and we were on our way.

Dave wasted no time giving Darcy the tour and of course we tagged a long once again.  This was even better than the last time because Dave took a look at some pictures my uncle shared with him from 1971 prior to us coming out and was able to describe where the photos were taken as well as point out where buildings once stood that were in the photographs.

After spending a week studying Humbug more, and hearing additional information from Dave, I really felt more in tune with this old town.  The water was still too high to cross over and see the older parts of Humbug, but we did see some additional treasures that we didn’t see last time.

We still need to get up and do some trail work on the way to the mine, but that will happen soon enough.  That may take half a day or so and I had the following day to think about, so I didn’t want to burn out.  I was able to fill my trailer with stuff and get it out to be dumped.  That was fun getting the trailer back there, only suffered a lost license plate and keeper pin for the tailgate.  Since it is certainly doable, I’ll be returning for another load as time permits.

After breaking for lunch and sharing more stories, it was down to the creek we went for some more gold panning.  It was some good time spent learning the better techniques in panning and it was unreal how quickly the gold revealed itself in the black sand.  I never really had a mentor per say, it was just something I kind of picked up while traveling to Grass Valley, CA with my grandpa as a kid.  As I got older, on one of our trips, he bought me a sluice and a couple of pans.  I’d spend time now and then trying my hand at panning, but I will be the first one to admit that I was doing it all wrong.

“>Overall it was a relaxing day so I found myself really experimenting with different shots as they presented themselves.  Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m no photographer, I just want to explore scenery.

I’m really enjoying trying to capture images beyond a natural frame.  Not a perfect frame, an aged frame.  Maybe a crooked frame or perhaps the center of the shot is really off to the left a little as far as the photo itself is concerned.  In this regard, I had lots to work with at Humbug and  I think a lot of it had to do with learning more about Humbug and getting to know it better.

It was a shorter trip then the other so I don’t have much to report.  However, as I mentioned, I have more photos HERE that I’d be happy if you checked out.  In fact, I’d appreciate knowing your favorites and am open to any criticisms you might have.  Again, I’m just having fun and don’t plan on quitting my day job.

Since my uncle had been there before . . . → Read More: Humbug, AZ – Trip Report 01/30/2010]]> I started the morning off enjoying a bowl of cereal with my daughter, then it was off to meet up with my uncle for our trip to Humbug, AZ to meet up with Dave Burns, caretaker of this old town of days gone by.

Since my uncle had been there before some 30 years ago, I thought I’d let him lead the way.  even though I’d been researching the route to take, I didn’t want to waste time getting there.  It was bad enough I barely got any sleep the night before thanks to all the excitement of making this trip.

So by about 7:45am, we were on our way to Humbug, making our way through the city.  Nothing beats hitting the trail-head bright and early so you have plenty of time to explore, stop for pictures and whatnot. If you’re not gone by 8am, why bother?

The day was going to be a nice one I could tell, not too chilly and no rain in the forecast.  Had we tried this trip last weekend however, we may not have been able to cross Humbug Creek on the way in.  We were told later in the day that the creek was running 10-12 feet in depth in places.It wasn’t long before we were out on the trail and taking in the greatness that the Arizona back-country has to offer.  While Summer can be rather miserable, Arizona Winters are pretty tough to beat.

With parts of the desert still wet from the rain, the smell of the Creosote Bush filled the air.  The moisture also kept the dust down on the trail as well which was an added bonus as you can probably imagine.

It was nice once we got off Cow Creek Rd. as all traffic got left behind.  Most folks with ATV’s and 4×4′s enjoy the trail up to Crown King, AZ for a drink at the Saloon.  Because the trail we were on traverses through private property, it’s very unlikely that you will see anyone on your way into Humbug.

It may be a good idea to call ahead and make arrangements to visit though, because unless you call ahead, you will be considered trespassing if you pass the gate.  There is a small tube on the gate with the following helpful information:

THIS IS NOT THE ROAD TO CROWN KING !! Go back south five miles until you cross Cow Creek.

Then proceed north.

THIS IS NOT THE ROAD TO NEW RIVER !! Go back south one mile and then proceed east. Follow the sign indicating BLM, access.

DO NOT TRESPASS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY.

THIS ROAD DOES NOT GO THROUGH. It goes to the top of the next ridge and dead ends.

THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY. SOMEONE LIVES HERE. If you are interested in the history of the Humbug Mining District, and would like to see and hear about Humbug, call 480-899-7317 and arrange a time to visit. We are happy to show the ghost town and tell about the history.

In Arizona, trespassing on a mining property is a FELONY.

This property has open mines and other hazards. Damaging gate or signs constitutes public endangerment, which is a FELONY.

Persons caught committing a felony can be ARRESTED AND DETAINED BY FORCE until a deputy can be summoned.

*I can assure you this is not to be taken lightly, so please, if you want to visit Humbug, give Dave Burns a call and set something up.  He would be more than happy I’m sure to share the history of Humbug with you and take you on a personal tour.*

After a relatively easy descent into the valley, you are greeted with the entrance to Humbug just on the other side of the creek.

As we crossed the creek I soon started to feel as though I was slipping back in time.  Just driving in this driveway with the old buildings off in the distance seemed to take me to another place.

Our host, Dave Burns, was up stream a tad doing a little dredging while a friend of his met us in front of the miner’s quarters.  After exchanging greetings, we followed her over to where Dave was working the creek and again exchanged greetings and introductions.

After a little background on Humbug, Dave took us around the town and pointed out all the dwellings, giving a brief history on each.   With the water still flowing pretty good in the creek, we were not able to get over and see the older part of Humbug which dates back to the 1870′s.

While I’m no photographer by any stretch of the imagination, this allowed for some great photo-ops nonetheless.  I could easily spend a day there just trying different shots.  With so many unique pieces of history here, your imagination is your only limit.  Well that and maybe batteries.

The one characteristic that seemed rather prevalent throughout was the dry stacking of stone everywhere you looked which from my understanding is very rare.   It’s hard to imagine the time that was spent constructing the walls and walkways that weave their way through the area with near perfection.

After our tour of the town it was time to break for lunch where sandwiches were enjoyed and stories of the area were exchanged.  I should add that from the time we arrived, we heard nothing but the sound of the creek filling the air.  This made our lunch break all that more enjoyable!

When lunch was about wrapped up, Dave asked us if we were ready to see the mine.  While I thoroughly enjoyed the town, nothing gets my heart pounding like exploring an old mine and really taking a trip back into time.

So we loaded up and made our way up the trail to the El Paro Bonito.  Due to the recent storms, we had to stop along the way to toss boulders off the trail and over the side so we could make it by.

Once to the top of the hill, the view was breathtaking.  In the distance we could see Lake Pleasant, and across the ravine peppered with mines and prospecting holes was Gold Hill.

The Paro Bonito consisted of 3 levels originally, however, the top level has caved in, the middle level is considered to be unsafe, and the bottom level is still complete with rails and two ore cars while still being accessible to those willing.

Should gold recovery ever really become financially feasible, there’s a good chance that work could very well resume at the Paro Bonito.  For now though, it offers the visitor a glimpse into the life of a miner as well as the past.

The sad thing about most of the operations in The Bradshaw’s is that vandals and weekend warriors like to steal and destroy things.  A favorite for these goons is to blast holes in things.  Regardless of the age of the relic or machinery, for whatever reason, they feel compelled to destroy.  With nearly 40 Ghost Towns in The Bradshaw’s, very rarely do you find a mine with rails still on the floor let alone not one, but two ore cars still riding the rail.

The Paro Bonito is one of the best preserved mines I’ve ever seen.   There were a few good sized stopes going up, but one that went way way down.  I tried to get a picture of the ladder that seemed so tiny, but I just couldn’t catch a shot of it as it was so far down.

Another stope clearly went high into the mountain and for a second, I thought I heard it calling my name beckoning me to climb up.  Dave gave an excellent presentation while inside the mine, explaining various terms as they related to the things we saw.  I have a better understanding of the minerals then I ever did, and also learned where gold likes to hide.

Parts of the mine seemed like something you’d see at an amusement park, but the reality is, there was nothing amusing about mining.  It was hard work and deadly.

Imagine getting up in the morning to walk about an hour and fifteen minutes up a long trail only to spend the day performing back-breaking labor.  The good news though, the walk down was only about 40 minutes after a long day.

Of course most miner need a drink now and then, so every Sunday the miners of the camp would make their way to Crown King for a few drinks.  I’ve driven the backside to CK, I can’t imagine what the hike must have been like.  This was probably somewhere between 60 and 80 miles round-trip…  In a day mind you!  Only to get up on Monday and do it all over again.

The mine slowly died out in the early 1930′s due to a drought.  Worth it’s weight in gold, without water there’s not much keeping a thirsty man in a dusty old town.

Without water for the machinery and for the thirsty workers, Humbug over the years began to take its place in history.

More importantly though then the possibility of gold in them thar hills, this little town is a jewel in its own right.  A priceless treasure that I hope to see live for many years to come.  Pictures and books just cannot do justice compared to the feeling you get when standing in the middle of Humbug.  It gave my daughter something she will always remember as well since her school falls short with regards to Arizona History.  She came away wanting to learn more.

When we were done exploring for the day, my daughter got a hands-on lesson from a true prospector, learning how to pan for and identify gold.  If she didn’t get the bug last year detecting, she’s got it now.  I detected a little bit along the water but after seeing how much fun she was having with Dave, I was really wishing I had my gold pans and sluice box.  She found her first bit of the yellow stuff, and Dave was kind enough to give her a vial to take it home in.

The day was rewarding in so many ways, at this point I just don’t have the words for what is Humbug.  While some may think of it as a dust bowl, I call it paradise.

It had been a long day and the time had come to say our goodbyes and make are way back down into the city.  While I’m sure I’ll be back before March, I know for a fact I’ll be there for the open house/potluck.  You can get more information by going to THIS LINK.

I had to stop for one last photo op before heading back to the city.  This was one of the best days of exploration I’ve had any many years, and I plan to go back as often as Dave will have me.  Humbug needs TLC and if you’d like to help restore a piece of Arizona History in our own backyard, drop me a line and we’ll put together a team and give Dave a hand.

Humbug is truly a Desert Jewel and I am grateful to Dave for sharing it with us.

If you are interested in more pictures from our trip, please visit the gallery by clicking HERE.

If you’ve got a few minutes, have a look at the following video.  This short presentation from Dave Burns comes courtesy of The Daily Courier.  In his own words, Dave gives you a brief history of Humbug, enjoy!

dCourier.com video produced by David McAtee and Bruce Colbert

Some other very resourceful sites that you might find interesting are listed below.

• Arizona Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project – Humbug – http://www.apcrp.org
• Ghosttowns.com – Humbug
• seethesouthwest.com – Humbug

Another video with Dave Burns

You can reach Dave Burns by calling: 1-480-899-7317

Watch for more Trip Reports in the future as I’m already planning my visits to the various mines in The Bradshaw’s that I can reach.  I’m hoping my next report will be about The De Soto.

So the Silo Social was awesome!  I got a clean bill of health from the ER last night, no broken bones.  That my friends, could only mean one thing; I was doing the Silo.

Before getting into the story, have a look at the video . . . → Read More: 570-3 * A Silo Social]]> Doesn’t look like much of an opening now does it?

So the Silo Social was awesome!  I got a clean bill of health from the ER last night, no broken bones.  That my friends, could only mean one thing; I was doing the Silo.

Before getting into the story, have a look at the video if you’d like.  It was from our adventure today as well.

The day started off about 5am for me so I could make the meeting spot.  I got down to the area just north of Tucson and met some great guys.  It seemed everybody had their stories to tell about one adventure or another.  I even heard a story or two about Neverland and how some folks managed to explore that area one time before all the rides were removed.  Once we were all pretty sure nobody else was coming, we made our way to the site.  I was still pretty nervous about doing the silo with a sprained foot, but I didn’t drive all the way down there just to look at a hole in the ground.

The area was actually pretty clear of debris on the surface, nothing to indicate the treasure that lie below.When we pulled up, there were a few other cars at the site whose owners were just making their way to the surface.  At this point, there were close to 20 dudes all around this little opening in the ground.  Most did not waste anytime getting down the ladder while others waited their turn continuing to share stories of adventure.  Soon it was my turn to make my way down the ladder into the darkness.  As soon as I slipped through the opening and was firm on the ladder, any fears I might have had seem to have gone.  I was ready for this now.

570-3

Construction started on Silo 570-3 on December 22nd, 1960 and was complete October 5th, 1962.  Complex 570-3 went on alert May 22nd, 1963    serving proudly until it went off alert and was deactivated on March 27th 1984.

I won’t go reinventing the wheel here about Titan II Missiles, for the real facts however, checkout this site when you have a few moments.

Never go alone and get those fires out!

While this is particularly true in what we were doing today with regards to exploring, I learned a bit today from some of the old pros about this wonderful place.  You never moved around the silo alone, for the launch required two people at the same time.  Another comment heard, your immediate job after launch, was to go topside and put out the fires.  Assuming you lived through the launch.

I really wish I could describe this place to you, I wish the pictures did it justice.  But there’s something to be said about being inside a complex that had an ICBM in it one time.  I mean these are the things I think of when I watch War Games.  Sorry, that was on last night.  It’s hard to imagine that not long ago, there were live missiles sprinkled around the countryside.   Deadly missiles.  The fact that so much of this complex was still intact brought you back to the era.  It also made me hungry to take the tour.  While that usually isn’t my thing, having seen a forgotten one would be neat to compare to the museum.  You can’t imagine the pains people took to make sure you and I never see those silos again.  But what really floors me, is the pains people took and are taking to regain access to these time capsules.  I heard some f olks are about 4 feet from getting back into one while another we saw today is padlocked and under the jurisdiction of the forest service.  We were asked to leave by them today actually while at the second silo.  That one is pretty clean I hear, but lacking in the equipment the other one has.

I took some pictures today but they are not all the best.  I was more into the whole thrill I think today then getting pictures.  As I get more media though from the other guys, I’ll share it with you.

Here are my pics

Enjoy, and feel free to comment. Thanksbye!

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