Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

[PEG688]

  I would think those old building would be a seismic areas , yes??   The old stone walls etc.  They'd have survived multiple earth quakes right? Even at that elevation there is seismic activity right? 

Those old building on that hill side most balloon framed , on stone foundations , yet they stood for years.

Think of that drive shaft spinning . belts going here are there, slipping off now and again! Yikes , widow makers abound !!! 

   

[glenn kangiser]

Amazing to think how hard they had to work just to feed the boiler! My now deceased neighbor logged in his early years here in Wa. and told me they'd burn 7 to 10 cord a day to feed the steam donkey! 

All or most of the work they did was pure man power , yet they "Got-er Done!" , tough ole bastids!! 

That is a fact, PEG.  I am going by the amount of wood they burned here at the Princeton Mine that was across the valley from the underground complex.  I read a story that they burned about 40 cord of wood a day there for the steam boiler.  Likely that would vary with engine size and horsepower needed.. but no matter what... 10 cord or 40 cord are both a heck of a lot of wood.

Dad said they burned under a card at his dads sawmill but it was a smaller operation.  Still a half a cord or more is a lot.  A lot harder than starting a gas engine, but the steam engines I have seen running were pretty nice and smooth.

  I would think those old building would be a seismic areas , yes??   The old stone walls etc.  They'd have survived multiple earth quakes right? Even at that elevation there is seismic activity right? 

Those old building on that hill side most balloon framed , on stone foundations , yet they stood for years.

Think of that drive shaft spinning . belts going here are there, slipping off now and again! Yikes , widow makers abound !!! 

   

In records around Mariposa I have seen a 4 earthquake.  That mine is on the edge of the Long Valley Caldera and hot springs are all around the area... Yes - likely a seismic area.  Worse than that - the North side of the canyon there was  right above it ... it was on the direct slope, and gigantic avalanches hit the mine twice as I recall.  There is a cemetery at the bottom of the hill with many victims.. though that one may have been from the power plant avalanche.  Looks like it was ...1911. Lundy Canyon entrance and Jordan power plant.

I was also thinking about the vibration... hammering of the stamp mills... shaking of the tramway... yet, those dry stacked walls never did seem to fail.  I think the mill stood for a hundred years or better until the Forest service burned it down.  I suppose it wasn't a priority on the restoration fund.... [ouch]

[glenn kangiser]

Looks like some good earthquakes there.....

Earthquake activity:
Mono County-area historical earthquake activity is significantly above California state average. It is 3842% greater than the overall U.S. average.

On 12/21/1932 at 06:10:09, a magnitude 7.2 (7.2 UK, Class: Major, Intensity: VIII - XII) earthquake occurred 65.8 miles away from the county center
On 7/21/1986 at 14:42:26, a magnitude 6.5 (6.0 MB, 6.2 MS, 6.2 MW, 6.5 ML, Class: Strong, Intensity: VII - IX) earthquake occurred 38.0 miles away from the county center
On 5/27/1980 at 14:50:57, a magnitude 6.2 (5.7 MB, 6.0 MS, 6.0 MW, 6.2 ML) earthquake occurred 31.5 miles away from the county center
On 5/25/1980 at 16:33:44, a magnitude 6.1 (6.1 MB, 6.1 MS, 6.1 MW, 6.1 ML) earthquake occurred 23.7 miles away from Mono County center
On 5/25/1980 at 19:44:51, a magnitude 6.1 (5.5 MB, 5.8 MS, 5.8 M, 6.1 ML) earthquake occurred 33.7 miles away from the county center
On 11/23/1984 at 18:08:25, a magnitude 6.1 (5.6 MB, 5.7 MS, 5.7 MW, 6.1 ML) earthquake occurred 43.5 miles away from the county center
Magnitude types: body-wave magnitude (MB), local magnitude (ML), surface-wave magnitude (MS), moment magnitude (MW)

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/county/Mono_County-CA.html#ixzz29KZcooG1

[PEG688]

How can this be no "hold downs",  no seismic straps , no foundation bolts !!  Mean GOTT you mean GRAVITY held this stuff down???  No way!!!  Can't happen today !   

[glenn kangiser]

PEG.... these buildings were built before the code books were written..... 

They were not aware that they were supposed to fall down at these earthquakes... that Master Craftsmen were not capable of building tall earthquake resistant structures before the codes....

....these were totally uneducated buildings, PEG.... they had to wait for the USFS liability abatement crews to come burn them down.... no more uneducated buildings now that the codes are here.....

Note that the warehouse I had to tear down built in 1866 was very extremely opposed to being pushed over by a giant excavator even after the brick wall was falling out of one side.  The internal frame of the building was mortise and tenon similar to what I see of the left over beams near this structure.  We had to work and work to get that building to go over with a large Kobelco excavator.  [ouch]

[PEG688]

 Good points Glenn!   

[glenn kangiser]

I would think a bunch of these about 3x12 mortise and tenon joints would have quite a bit of strength.... [ouch]





Not even sure what these joints are ....couldn't find a tenon but cool anyway.  Looks like they shimmed one after shrinkage or something?

[glenn kangiser]

I headed down the hill to the next lower level of the machinery.  Had to get a pix of myself for size comparison ....



.... yeah... Glenn... your damn near big as that steam engine... better lose a couple pounds....

Lets have a look in the downed building....





At least they didn't burn it to the ground.... [ouch]




Concrete and more machinery mounts.. I assume this would have been a later addition to the mine also.

The back end of the building is again over a dirt and rock foundation.



From where this is, and what is here, I think this may have been for more processing before heading to the cyanide vats. 

[glenn kangiser]

These three vertical pipes are fastened into the ground and connected together with a pipe or more going through them at part way down.  I think they had something to do with the processing but currently someone... not me.... EWWWWwwwww...... has had the idea of using them as an open air outhouse... even brought their own paper....gross... 




Well... I was getting hungry and wanted to try out my 3.9 ounce camp stove from Amazon that I paid a whole $8.95 for..... first I needed something to cook....



Hmmmmm..... 

[glenn kangiser]

Just couldn't keep your big mouth shut, eh? 





Apparently this Brookie was not aware that one of my goals on this hike was to catch a fish in one of these lakes and eat it for lunch.....


Collapsible pole in the back pack as well as the 3.9oz stove.... only thing I forgot was my pan.... oh well ...a stick will do.  [bbq]





http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004U8CP88/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=   Currently $8.51 I see. Includes electric ignition.  [ouch]





It is a Shakespeare kit pole that extends to 6 1/2 feet.  Great for backpacking and doing a bit of fishing. 








Yummy


That was good... now to give the meat bee his cut so he will leave me alone.....




There... now we both had lunch and not a bit went to waste........

[glenn kangiser]

I made my way across the boggy areas at the beaver ponds toward the cyanide vat buildings.  There were many 8 inch Brookies in the beaver ponds scooting across the pond whenever I got near... no worries though... I was already fed and not hungry at the moment....




The cyanide vats are not as bad over the years as they sound according to one old miner I learned some from.  He said that the cyanide is neutralized by the UV and the soil.  If you did not take care of it, it got expensive to extract gold with it.  The cyanide will dissolve the gold from the rocks or sand and take it into solution.  There are a few ways to get it to precipitate out of the solution and bring the gold back to a solid usable form. 

The fish did not seem to be affected by the cyanide so I assume the old miner was correct.  He said that the mountain water in our area contains something like .002% cyanide naturally so that may explain the movement and formation of nuggets in the earth as the gold is deposited when the cyanide encounters conditions that neutralize it and it can no longer hold the gold it is carrying.




Some kind of a box for who knows what around the cyanide... maybe holding zinc or activated charcoal to take the gold from solution?

Looks like it could be something like that as the water seems to be forced up and down there through beds of something.  Note the varying elevation of the dividers.




Another very good example of how to build a vertical rock wall and chink it with small rocks for stability..... 





.....and an example of what can happen if the soil under the rock wall shifts or is not stable enough to hold the massive amount of weight a rock wall can make.... note that it did not fall though it did spread apart.  I have seen this problem on buildings with 8' or more high walls where it can be a real problem... like.. how do you pull it back.  Not likely easy.   

So dry stack walls are not problem free but still they have their place and many of us could use a lot of them if we have the natural resources. 

[glenn kangiser]

Studying up on the cyanide problem, looks like the old miner was right to a point, but in large scale operations with highly alkaline conditions, the problem could be bad.  Under the right conditions, he is correct and lots of cyanide could be neutralized in a short while. 

There are other operations which can take the cyanide down to negligible levels but some big operations just don't want to go to the expense.  This has led to problems and suspension of use by some governments such as Turkey.  US has at least 6 permits and agencies to satisfy now.... to possibly prevent the problem... or perhaps they just want their cut of the money.    [ouch]

[glenn kangiser]

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

Notorious outlaw hay thief and fence escape artist Bulljangles is caught in the act of munching away on another bale of hay outside the corral at the hay stack.   






His sister, Cherry already followed him out once.  If he causes more chaos I may have to put the electric fence back up for another bit of training.....

[glenn kangiser]

It is scary how much he looks like Obama in that picture.....

[ben2go]

It is scary how much he looks like Obama in that picture.....

That is animal cruelty.I'm calling PETA. 

People
Eat
Tasty
Animals

[glenn kangiser]

You know, Ben, as soon as I looked at that this morning, it kind of struck me funny.......


Back to the final installment for the May Lundy Mine, so we can get onto the next part of the adventure....

I hiked around through the bushes a little more - saw a few more nice artifacts of the gold mining days here and there....

Decided it was time to head back to the truck... even 3 1/2 miles downhill wasn't easy.  My boots , comfortable as they were for a days work were not all that comfortable by the end of the eight miles.  I could hardly walk... that is what prompted me to order the hiking boots after I got home.... A quick stop at the end of Blue Lake for a sit down on a rock and a few pix....


Heading down the hill I got a pix of the Lundy Resort area.  A small rustic old time resort but a resort, none the less.  Not so heavily traveled as many of the other places around but many of the people who go there love it there and have been coming back for years.  It seems to close up tighter than a bull's bum in fly time about the first of October or so.  [ouch]





Met a nice Geography student from San Fernando Valley, Henry, on the way out of there.... Conversation along the trail back to the dam at the far end of the lake made the balance of the journey much shorter.  Really had an enjoyable time talking with him.  A great new friend. 




Sagebrush in bloom all around the parking lot by the dam... made me realize I needed one more picture before I headed down the hill.... bugs... I really enjoy close ups of bugs..... I spent the next ten minutes running around the bushes begging a bee to let me get a good shot of it at work collecting pollen and honey......






Now to try to get rested up before another day of exploring and fishing..... Oh... my aching feet.....

[Windpower]

Beautiful country,   great pics

Thank you

[glenn kangiser]

My pleasure, Windpower, really. 


The best thing I could think of for the aching muscles was to head up to the Travertine Hot Springs at Bridgeport about 25 miles away.  [idea]


Yeah.. that should do it.  [ouch]




Hmm ... looks like it is boiling coming out of there....


Jumped in for a good soak... hoping to be ready for a hard day of hiking, exploring and fishing tomorrow....





Where do I go ....where do I go.... I'll check with Kens Sport Shop in the morning to see......

[glenn kangiser]

Took  pix of a different flower before leaving the Hot Springs area....



... then Off to Ken's Sporting Goods to see where I might fish and see more sights. 

Nice young fellow running the store for the weekend suggested a trip to the Chemung Mine, then the Masonic Mine, both on Masonic Road north of town, then stream fishing in Robinson Creek up to where it comes out of Twin Lakes.  Sounded good to me so I was off.

I wanted to start off with a good pix of the Chemung mine so this is it....



The hunters in Bridgeport must have more bullets and time than any hunters in the world.  Everything is well perforated with bullet holes....

Still there are a lot of interesting things there to take pix of. The mine is right along the road so easy to get at.

[ben2go]

I think there is more interesting history out west than out here in the SE.

[glenn kangiser]

You should have some good history there, Ben.  You had the first gold rush there for one thing in NC.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_rush

Georgia Gold History... http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/dahlonega/history.php

Southeast Gold History - maps etc. http://goldmaps.com/east.html

South Carolina - http://goldmaps.com/east/south_carolina_gold_mines.htm

http://www.sciway.net/hist/periods/prehistoric-south-carolina.html  Info on Indian Mounds - etc.

I just start researching one thing at a time - ask around and build on knowledge gained over the years.

Don't feel bad about not finding it right away ... I have been going to the eastern Sierra since 1971 or so and am just now getting into the interesting stuff....

[ben2go]

Yep there's a few mines right here around me.Mostly dredges.a man I use to work with has one on his property.It looks like a fox hole.There was a small vein from where a creek used to run through there.The creek was divert for the age old reason of farming.I have a few friends that go out on panning adventures.No one has ever found enough to make it worth the journey.

[glenn kangiser]

That's the way it is most of the time... you go for the history and adventure ... the excitement of finding artifacts left there by other men  150 or so years ago. 


....then every once in a while... you might find a bonus that makes it even more fun. [ouch]

[glenn kangiser]

I wandered around the Chemung Mine trying to get some decent pictures out of the destruction wrought by years of vandalism....





The goat wheel where the goats would walk following a bucket of grain on a stick in front of them.... this is what provided power for crushing the ore....





just kidding... I don't really know what that wheel is for...





Stirrers for the cyanide vats that used to be around them - above note the big frame that supported them... think I have that one right... there is a massive pile of sand in front of this building.  Some of the ore required agitation of the cyanide solution with the stirrers to dissolve the gold from the ore. I believe this was some of the more difficult ore.   




One of the support frames on the second floor.




Here you can plainly see the big rod clamps that held the wooden vat together and the pile of sand that was in the vat.





One of my favorites... the power transmission shaft on the ceiling would have transferred power from one big engine throughout the part of the mill powered by it.  Also note the big truss in the lower right.   

[Ernest T. Bass]

Love the pics and the history--always enjoy the highlight reals you post. Man, a guy like you could waste a lot of time around there...