Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

glenn kangiser · November 14, 2012, 03:23:15 AM

Continuing to follow the cables up the mountain I finally came across the waste rock pile that obviously came from someplace way on up the mountain.

With my highly trained eye, and acute visual skills, I am able to notice clues that others .... not so in the know... may miss....

Yes ... I think I can safely assume that.......

I am on the right track.... someone has been here before me...........

glenn kangiser · November 14, 2012, 10:05:32 PM

As I continued climbing toward the top of the mountain, more artifacts and old structures started showing up... in and out of the trees...interesting stuff

everywhere.

Foundations of buildings from a lost civilization..... imagine men working here, day in, day out to support their families. The air is alive with the sounds of the tramway carrying the half ton buckets of ore to the other side of the river to the mill only to dump and return again empty for another load. Further study has shown me that the company continued to operate even after the Yosemite Valley Railway closed down in 1945.

They tried to continue operations using trucks for transportation, but eventually reality took control of the situation... transportation costs without the railway proved to be more than the market would bear and operations ceased around 1950. The tramway was torn down about 1960 and salvaged. What I am seeing here are the things that weren't worth the effort to get out of the narrow gulch to be sold for scrap.

Just guessing but possible a support for an ore bucket.

The higher I go the more interesting it becomes... wandering through a gulch mostly reclaimed by nature.. yet these ruins are here in places I never would have thought of if not for researching old topos and knowing the ease of using GPS ... modern technology .. to easily locate the past.

November 15, 2012, 11:39:45 AM

As I continued higher up the mountain, more foundations were visible between the trees and bushes.....

Farther up, I could see that more exploring was necessary.....

More concrete and steel ruins were waiting to be explored.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch......

It was time to repair the paper bag floor in the kitchen. A simple process. Just water based gloss polyurethane... remove old torn sections... fill holes with Pourstone or other quick dry non-shrink concrete product (I was repairing a soil cement floor so most will not have the soft floor problem)...

Paint down a wet layer of the Poly, then just decoupage the paper bag to the floor. I use all torn edges overlapping except at floor edges then use straight bag top edges or cut edges to align with the wall or floor edge. I happened to have some Sprouts bags with a cool cow and tractor so I put them up rather than down for a floor decoration at the front of the fridge.

...and a shot with the fridge in place.

If you need more details on doing this feel free to ask.

ben2go · November 15, 2012, 12:27:32 PM

That is so cool.Now you just need a device that moo's when the fridge door is opened.

glenn kangiser · November 15, 2012, 02:06:09 PM

I'll have to work on that one a bit, Ben.

November 15, 2012, 02:13:49 PM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on November 15, 2012, 02:06:09 PM
I'll have to work on that one a bit, Ben.

Ernest T. Bass · November 15, 2012, 10:31:53 PM

I always have to comment on your cool alternative floors... I forget; this was applied directly over the soil cement floor that wasn't durable enough for your liking? Is the softish subsurface the cause of the damage that had occurred?

Just wondering how tough those layers are as a mat.. How does it compare to vinyl?

Rob_O · November 16, 2012, 12:28:30 AM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on November 15, 2012, 11:39:45 AM

I happened to have some Sprouts bags with a cool cow and tractor so I put them up rather than down for a floor decoration at the front of the fridge.

Martha Stewart would approve!

glenn kangiser · November 16, 2012, 03:56:29 AM

Quote from: Ernest T. Bass on November 15, 2012, 10:31:53 PM
I always have to comment on your cool alternative floors... I forget; this was applied directly over the soil cement floor that wasn't durable enough for your liking? Is the softish subsurface the cause of the damage that had occurred?

Just wondering how tough those layers are as a mat.. How does it compare to vinyl?

They are mostly on to two layers thick but can be thicker and can be repaired by simply tearing up another bag and sticking it down with more Water Base Poly. The gloss or semi-gloss are the only polys to use as they have the toughest surface. Comparable to vinyl... yes but thinner. The soft surface was part of the cause of the damage but when the other fridge was here, there was no paper bag floor under it, so I patched the 3'x3' appx area to the old floor here too.

On a cement or wood floor they will need less repair and just and Poly recoat every year or two likely ... maybe longer. Over the soil cement floor repairs are due about once a year or two, though I can repair and recoat this floor within about 1/2 to one hour.

Yes - it is the only floor we have been able to apply to the soil cement floor and have it hold up at all. You have to remember that if you drop a glass on a soil cement floor the floor will dent rather than the glass break, so the paperbag floor is of course susceptible to any damage from drops along with the floor under it. Nice thing is that a spot repair takes only minutes. I damaged a bit of it behind the cow. It will only take about 10 minutes to repair it and several others around the room.

Damaged vinyl.... tear it all out and call the floor man at outrageous prices. Paper bag floor - rip up another bag and paint it down. Three or 4 coats over it looks better, allowing drying between coats. So I do like....two. [ouch]

Plastic or paper..... you know the answer to that........

Unless you want to be a wiseacre like me and say "I'm bi-sacktual... makes no difference to me."

November 16, 2012, 09:42:55 AM

Quote from: glenn kangiser on November 16, 2012, 03:56:29 AM

Plastic or paper..... you know the answer to that........

Unless you want to be a wiseacre like me and say "I'm bi-sacktual... makes no difference to me."

Haahahahahah

Bet that makes the check-out person do a double take

Nice hiking shots Glenn!

glenn kangiser · November 16, 2012, 10:09:38 AM

It is really funny to watch them when you say that. Some crack up laughing and some wonder what planet you came from....

Thanks PEG. I really enjoy getting out and discovering new old history, especially one like this that is not well known, so things are much as they were left at the close of the salvage operations.

It is interesting to see things that you know are old just by the method of manufacture. This turnbuckle for instance has been heated in a forge and had the end rolled back over a round object while hot, punched or drilled and a hot rivet put into it. The modern equivalent would likely be cast with an eye in the end of it.

I would guess it is from the 1920's to 1940's [idea]

Just a little farther and I spotted it...... In the wild jungles of the North Slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.... the ancient altar of the mining machine.....

It is amazing when you rediscover something like this where few have traveled recently. The feeling is like you just discovered a giant gold nugget, yet it is so huge all you can do is take it back in photos. What fun..... [ouch]

Ernest T. Bass · November 16, 2012, 05:43:38 PM

Thanks for the info, Glenn... I'm no fan of poly, but cheap and repairable are certainly appealing factors..

glenn kangiser · November 17, 2012, 01:07:32 PM

I think the water-base Poly is a pretty good product... but a bit expensive anymore. It is apparently recommended for its compatibility with the paper I think, besides, oil based poly will run you out of the house for quite a period of time .. maybe days.

Repair-ability... I think it is about the best floor for that. Dull surface - another coat fixes you for a year or more. Torn or scraped... just go shopping and request paper. Tear it up ... paint it down and a coat or two over it.... done.

glenn kangiser · November 17, 2012, 01:17:08 PM

Meanwhile up on the mountain...Glenn was busy discovering.......

The Machine That Couldn't Leave......

I am going to make a guess that this was the controller for the trolley - it appears to be the forward and back direction controller from the looks of the handle on the side of it.

Probably just too darn big and heavy for the salvagers to be able to scrap it....nice..they left it for you and I to discover in the future...

November 17, 2012, 01:26:20 PM

While you were out and about up there,did you happen to see any evidence of a retention pond that may have fed a narrow water wheel?It just seems like a place where one would be set up.IIRC,that area gets pretty significant rainfall year round.

glenn kangiser · November 18, 2012, 10:26:32 AM

This area could have gully washers and lots of water in the winter, Ben, but for the most part this is Mediterranean climate with about 4 months of rain and snow at higher elevations ranging 25 to 50 inches precipitation.

I was just above the bottom of the light snow line at the top of this hike.

It was common for the miners to run ditches around the mountains here collecting water for miles and miles to run a water wheel. There was one in Mariposa.

I noted signs of electric power here in the later years at least and from reading about this mine it is apparent that the south side mine was one that was operating last before stopping operations so likely all electric.

Above is a 4000 volt General Electric transformer case I found on the way out from the mine. Apparently the copper inside was salvaged or stolen.

glenn kangiser · November 19, 2012, 12:03:59 PM

Hmm

Looked at the topic on my phone last night... must have bumped the lock again... sorry 'bout that..... [ouch]

I took a few more shots of the altar area, then began to explore more thinking it was about time to head down the mountain... the sun was sinking to the west, but light was still decent coming up the river canyon.

Reminds me of discovering Mayan Ruins but instead this is mining ruins.....

I wandered off to the North a short distance at the same elevation level and rounding a little bend I spotted a drift (adit) into the mountain. Getting a bit more exciting now...

Hmmm.... I wonder what's in there.....

PEG688 · November 19, 2012, 10:57:04 PM

Lots of old scrap iron around , wonder where the second rail went? And that pipe near where the rail would be , and that "dead man" looking spike to the left of then pipe> Lots of concrete was brought up there!

On what's in there, lions, tigers and bears? Well, spiders for sure!

glenn kangiser · November 20, 2012, 01:32:01 AM

The dead man looking thing... looks like an old drill steel... more of that coming up but I mustn't spoil the suspense of the future pix, PEG...

Unless they still had an overhead tram cable to pack this stuff out on, it is a treacherous trip down the gulch. Not something you would want to carry steel out on by hand.....at times on a ledge just wide enough to walk on about 20 to 40 feet above the bedrock bottom below... the same rock I landed on my hiney on earlier...... but ... I did find some of the rails......

Almost dark when I went out but I did get a good flash shot of the pile of rails the scrappers gave up on.

How about a closer look into the drift? The steel line was probably an air line for the drills....

Oh... rats... they blocked it off to protect me from myself....... I'm so bummed.......

....and the warning.... OMG.... I could have died in there.......

SOOOOoooo scarey.... gives me chills just thinking about it............

.........not

glenn kangiser · November 20, 2012, 10:21:19 AM

I took the above picture through the bars but I wanted to go inside.....

It was getting dark and with the trail being so far above the bedrock and the ground quite slippery in places I didn't want to go out after dark. I figured it was time to head back. I started heading out pretty happy with what I had seen and got pix of. Look ..... another trail on this side of the mountain - I'll start down it... but look there ... it goes up hill.... I wonder what's up there....

Actually the trail zig-zags up the hill to the right of this area, but I didn't take a pix of it .......

It is right behind this tree with the two bolts in it.... they would have been put there over 50 years ago.....

I have noticed that the trees here grow very slowly where the water is allowed to naturally run off....but when we change areas such as at the Underground Command Center, the trees start to grow more than twice as fast some tripling in size since we have been there.... Now... that is CHANGE You Can Believe in.....

November 21, 2012, 10:07:46 AM

Nearing dusk, I looked up the mountain and knew there was something I needed to see. If I leave now... who knows when I might make it back?

I scrambled on up the mountain, sometimes on a faint trail...sometimes on a talus slope of waste mining rock so steep it gave way under my feet as I continued up the slope taking two steps forward and one step back. I could see the top of the slope way above me and at this point I was thinking that I might end up walking out in the dark.... had my trusty flashlight strapped to my side for emergencies though, just in case of such an important exploring event.

The effort was rewarded with new and exciting adventure.....

Holes so deep you could easily die in one if you weren't careful.... so nice that big brother couldn't afford to protect me from these...... [ouch]

Like a former Mayan civilization in my own back yard.......

ben2go · November 21, 2012, 10:02:23 PM

I wonder how many people have been lost down those holes?Scary thought.

Here's something interesting for you. http://freecabinporn.com/ There's no actual nude people.Just cabins galore and awesome.Some are U.Some are partial U.All are totally awesome dude.

glenn kangiser · November 22, 2012, 09:22:36 AM

People lost in those holes....hmm...Ben, if there are are people lost in those holes, I like to think that they are now in a better place. [idea]

The cabin pix were cool. Thx. It even looks like some of them are unfinished like I hope mine continues to be.. mustn't forget the wise old Chinese proverb... "The man who finishes his house dies...... "

Meanwhile....back at the mine.....

You can see in these pix that they took out the veins of ore from between the layers of country rock and in many places they opened back to the surface allowing light back in throughout the mine.

It was like walking into a block of Swiss Cheese.

Lets go inside....

Watch your step..... some of these holes to the side I threw rocks down to see how deep they were..maybe 3 to 5 seconds to the bottom of some...

Redoverfarm · November 22, 2012, 09:42:13 AM

Around here that would be an open invitation for a place of hibernation.

Maybe Spike could flush it out for you before you stuck your head in there.

glenn kangiser · November 22, 2012, 09:56:55 AM

Around here it is generally too warm for bears to hibernate so they are active pretty much year round.... Oh, I suppose they may take a short nap to digest their food after they have eaten a tourist... but most of the time the are out running around looking for something to eat....

Actually I don't ever recall a tourist being eaten by a bear here.

I do watch for signs of bears though.... massive piles of doodoo etc... around the dump they make Christmas tree ornaments... piles of poop interspersed with nice layers of aluminum foil and plastic.... I guess it is time for Stinkerbell to drop by and collect some for her tree.....