A tip from my grandfather, who has written extensively on the pioneer history of British Columbia, led me to this very picturesque independent mine site in the forests along the Skagit River in BC. There are many remnants of the gold rush littered among the mountains of southern British Columbia, and extensive stories behind each one, the details of this one are a bit more obscure than usual. All I know is that the mine was the lone effort of a man named R.E. Radolff in the mid 60s. His truck still remains at the trailhead that leads to both his cabin and mine, both situated next to a large waterfall draining downward into the Skagit River. The cabin completely collapsed some time within the last 10 years, I was able to track down some photos of it still standing in 2006. The old truck appears to be an early 40s Ford panel truck, it is nearly impossible for me to imagine how it would have made it this far into the woods, there are no roads leading here and the trail is certainly not large enough, nor flat enough, for anything short of a small modern 4x4 to navigate. These woods must have looked wildly different in the 1960s. Typically I am rather eager to go exploring in abandoned mines but this one stopped me in my tracks, it certainly appears to be an amateur effort with very little additional supports within. Seeing as it was a one-man operation I don't imagine it goes into the mountain very far anyway. It is currently boarded up but with more than enough gap to climb over if one were ballsy enough to do so.
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