So it is the time of year to head out to the mine. The weather is starting to cool off but hasn't gotten miserable cold either. The mine is at 6,000 feet so it can get cold when the sun goes behind the mountains.
It's a pretty long haul once we get off the pavement. You watch the track heading off almost to the horizon and you know it's going to be a while before making camp. We are about 1/2 way to the mine when this picture was taken.
(Photo courtesy of DawnPatrol)
As usual, we set up camp for our 10 day mining adventure. We have areas set up for panning, cooking, and eating. The little trailer has a queen size mattress so we are pretty comfortable.
We store the headframe down in the mine so our first task it to pull it out and get it set up. Lucky for me that Tony is strong. We've upgraded our winch from a pulley setup to an electric winch. It's built for construction so it's ideal for our use.
The shaft is exactly 100 feet from the collar to the track at the bottom level. In total there are three primary levels with a couple of intermediate working levels. Next to the haulage shaft is a manway with a ladder that goes all the way to the bottom.
We have classifying screens and gold pans to see if we find any gold. We have assays done that show gold, but finding free mill gold might be a bit more challenging.
Tony is heading up into a stope. Ladders are part of mining.
The stope has a lot of fractured rock so we spent a lot of time adding stulls to keep things from moving around. You can see the platform where we worked in the upper level.
Heading back down after a day of work in the upper stope.
We store quite a few supplies down in the mine. There is a short drift just off the ladder where we stage tools, wood, and other supplies. The closest town is 45 minutes away down a long dirt track and that town is pretty small and doesn't have much of a selection.
There are a few little friends that scamper around. We always have to watch our feet to make certain that we don't step on one. They are pretty quick little guys so I doubt that they would let themselves get stepped on. Doesn't keep me from worrying though. We put down some snacks for them and it was interesting to watch the interaction between them. There appears to be multiple families living in different parts of the drifts. Family members share the food but the two families will fight over it.
We eat pretty well while we are up there. Extended camping is a better experience when you get to eat good meals. Between the camp stove, Dutch ovens, and a charcoal grill, we eat well.
Before heading home we replace the cover over the collar. Before putting the cover back on we had folks dropping large rocks down the shaft. One of the rocks destroyed a ladder we had down there. It also deters people from climbing down the ladder into the mine. Trust me, climbing up a 100' ladder at 6,000' feet is a good workout.
On the way home we decided to stop and get a little bit of sun.
Cheers!
Abby Normal 
