I hiked solo for six hours - anxiety pounded the whole time, and conserving my battery was difficult (drained to critical quickly, eventually it'd shutdown automatically if I opened the camera,) but I was pleased (even if that anxiety kept me from really entering buildings.) These will not be listed in chronological order, and can be dragged to a new tab to be viewed at a larger size; all were taken on my phone, and are not quite the pinnacle of my photographic ability:

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1. Buena Vista
Foundations of... a mill? Memory escapes me; I liked this spot

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2. Santa Isabel
I found, essentially, a scrapyard

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3. English camp
Wooden wreck up a short slope; getting much warmer

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4. English camp 2?
This was more like it; a vehicle servicing station, small house, a vault, a chimney, and some tools/wreckage


the most exciting building i've ever seen:

Service station




Church hill

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5. April Powder House (just powder house?)
My battery began killing my phone if the camera opened here; got one shot:

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6. April tunnel
This was exciting to see through the trees, as it was large and recognizable (I had hoped to visit it earlier)

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After this, I could take no pictures - shame, since I really wanted a ground shot of the assembly. Hopefully, that comes close to representing the experience; thanks for reading and please criticize! (I do recognize the really off lighting here - I was kind of rushed (by myself, no less... it was getting dark and the phone was dying, not helping the lonely expedition in a dark forest))

Cool location! I love rural spots.

You can get those little portable phone chargers for fairly cheap these days, check amazon i bet for under 10 bucks you could get a no name

Nice!

New Almaden is one of my favorite hiking spots and I hike up there frequently. I wouldn't really worry about security, especially as most of the buildings are now just empty shells, hikers frequently poke around, and the spots are too far uphill for most casual vandals.

The Buena Vista foundation was for a Cornish Pump, which used steam to pump water out of the mine shafts.

It's a bit of a shame that the County got lazy and just sealed or demolished the mines instead of preserving some like at Black Diamond.

Good to see another explorer poking around the South Bay!

Explored a bunch of stuff in that area, creeped ourselves out after soon coming across a number of signs warning people not to go in the buildings due to Hanta virus being found in rodents in the area -- that was a scary next couple days waiting for incurable death disease to strike us haha

Posted by pgathriller Explored a bunch of stuff in that area, creeped ourselves out after soon coming across a number of signs warning people not to go in the buildings due to Hanta virus being found in rodents in the area -- that was a scary next couple days waiting for incurable death disease to strike us haha

Sorry, as a virologist you've just triggered my inner teacher ;P .

Nearly every single spot that could possibly show up at UER in California is a likely location for hantavirus infection (enclosed sites in dry and semi-dry environments). The virus occurs naturally in rodent populations, but disease outbreaks seem related to a certain threshold point.

For example, the 2012 Camp Curry Outbreak in Yosemite required several factors: 1. The new cabins that allowed deer mice to live in the insulation (concentrated rodent population). 2. A previous wet year that allowed the mice population to skyrocket in response (high rodent population), and 3. A drought year that had followed to aerosolize much of the feces (high amount of shit that could be inhaled by humans). Even then, out of some 10000 people who stayed at those cabins or nearby, 11 were infected (0.11%) of which 7 showed disease, and 3 died (0.03%).

In short, I wouldn't worry about it. There are other things more dangerous in this hobby . A mask can definitely minimalize risk. This being a wet year, the chance of infection also seems minimal. I'd pay slightly more attention to hantavirus spots the next drought.

Posted by Clostridium Sorry, as a virologist you've just triggered my inner teacher ;P . In short, I wouldn't worry about it. There are other things more dangerous in this hobby . A mask can definitely minimalize risk. This being a wet year, the chance of infection also seems minimal. I'd pay slightly more attention to hantavirus spots the next drought.

This is a great post! Came up when I searched Hanta Virus (New Idria is also marked with this sign). What sort of mask do I need to be relatively safe from this threat? (P100 or something lower and cheaper perhaps?) Also, the New Almaden sign says that hanta virus has been "detected". Is it standard to just post a sign or has hanta virus really been detected?

New Almaden is full of cool stuff to check out. You gotta be prepared for some serious hiking though. I did 10 miles last time. The cars were my favorite find of the day but I missed a ton of stuff. Must go back this winter and spend all day out there.


1.

Went to Leland High School in the 80’s. My friends and I have been there a number of times, usually tripping balls. This was before the refinery burned down. Also there used to be a dude (caretaker) that lived in a trailer with some little kids. Always thought that was weird. And let me tell ya, there’s nothing like having a head full of acid and getting a shotgun stuck in your face!

Good times!

Posted by Clostridium Sorry, as a virologist you've just triggered my inner teacher ;P . Nearly every single spot that could possibly show up at UER in California is a likely location for hantavirus infection (enclosed sites in dry and semi-dry environments). The virus occurs naturally in rodent populations, but disease outbreaks seem related to a certain threshold point. For example, the 2012 Camp Curry Outbreak in Yosemite required several factors: 1. The new cabins that allowed deer mice to live in the insulation (concentrated rodent population). 2. A previous wet year that allowed the mice population to skyrocket in response (high rodent population), and 3. A drought year that had followed to aerosolize much of the feces (high amount of shit that could be inhaled by humans). Even then, out of some 10000 people who stayed at those cabins or nearby, 11 were infected (0.11%) of which 7 showed disease, and 3 died (0.03%). In short, I wouldn't worry about it. There are other things more dangerous in this hobby . A mask can definitely minimalize risk. This being a wet year, the chance of infection also seems minimal. I'd pay slightly more attention to hantavirus spots the next drought.

Hantavirus? You should be worried about it anywhere it is present. Any time you stir up rodent droppings or dried urine you are playing crap with the devil. Roll the dice wrong...
Never handle rodents dead or alive.
Never disturb rodent nests or droppings/dried urine.
A paper mask and gloves are ok for minimum dust levels. Do not eat or touch your face until you wash your hands.

Depending on the strain it can have a very high mortality rate even with young healthy victims and intense early ICU intervention including heart/lung assistance devices. In effected zones it's can be unpredictable to clearly know high risk localized areas until it strikes.
Rodents are the reservoir for the disease; it doesn't kill them.

I've met two people who lost friends to this. Both were in their 20's and died in days after symptoms began. It's real nasty.

Posted by blackhawk Hantavirus? You should be worried about it anywhere it is present. Any time you stir up rodent droppings or dried urine you are playing crap with the devil. Roll the dice wrong...

blackhawk, do you make it a point to inject yourself into a conversation anytime you see an expert/formally-educated/professional opinion to present something contrary in hopes of... something?

Is that why the forum administration saw fit to add the "not an expert" appellation next to your nick?

As far as phone battery goes, I'd recommend using airplane mode whenever you're reasonably remote. It helps a lot.

Nice pictures, I'll have to go there sometime.

Posted by blackhawk Hantavirus? You should be worried about it anywhere it is present. Any time you stir up rodent droppings or dried urine you are playing crap with the devil. Roll the dice wrong... Never handle rodents dead or alive. Never disturb rodent nests or droppings/dried urine. A paper mask and gloves are ok for minimum dust levels. Do not eat or touch your face until you wash your hands. Depending on the strain it can have a very high mortality rate even with young healthy victims and intense early ICU intervention including heart/lung assistance devices. In effected zones it's can be unpredictable to clearly know high risk localized areas until it strikes. Rodents are the reservoir for the disease; it doesn't kill them. I've met two people who lost friends to this. Both were in their 20's and died in days after symptoms began. It's real nasty.

All of those statements are true and I commend you for bringing them up. But I think the key word here is "worried". There's enough other stuff (allergies, asbestos, tetanus, black mold, falling etc.) in this hobby that having some basic protection would always be nice. This isn't the safest of things to do.

But regarding Hauntavirus specifically, the probability is that you'll die of seasonal influenza or any of those other carcinogenic, bacterial, fungal and physical experiences before you die of that virus even in high risk areas. I always thought that the signs were a cheap way to keep people out of a location.