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 Greenandsilver95
 |  | Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
< on 8/10/2008 2:17 AM >
|  | | | Hey guys. If you follow my postings, you'll notice theyre all related to south San Jose area. Here is my most recent discovery. My mom and her brothers and sisters grew up in New Almaden, and through two of my uncles I found out about and the location of a mine that had not been closed by the park yet. Apparently, as part of some program by the state, it is probably going to be closed soon. Anyways, I followed the old map and sure enough, theres part of a mine within the boundaries of the Almaden Quicksilver County Park that is still open. From the entrance, you an see the Guadalupe reservoir. It is very close to Almaden Rd. near Hicks Rd. and near New Almaden. From the entrance, it is about 20 yards deep. After walking in 15 yards or so, there are two side tunnels that are caved in, and going straight there is a 10 foot drop, and the tunnel curves around a bit more. Not much else to see really, but it's pretty cool to know that theres one still up there. Anyways, attatched is a picture of me in the 10 foot drop part. Poison Oak guards the entrance.
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Greenandsilver95
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 1 on 8/10/2008 2:19 AM >
| | | | oops here is the pic
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RailGuy88
     
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Where you're not...
Gender: Male
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 2 on 8/10/2008 3:17 AM >
|  | | | Very cool! I love that area, and know most all of the roads back there. See my "Almaden Backroads" set on Flickr if you want...
Have any more pics?
Going where others can't... |
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IDChris
Location: Southern Idaho Wasteland
Gender: Male
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 3 on 8/11/2008 7:57 PM >
| | | | Very cool. Never knew about that one.
I grew up in a house off Guadalupe Mines Rd. and there are more open mines right off Guadalupe Mines, past the gated section. I tried to venture in, but a huge yellowjacket nest guarded the entrance.
There are more tunnels and shafts dug into the creek bank near Shannon and Hicks Rd. The creek has filled most with sediment but there is a good size one out there. My flashlight couldn't see the end.
Nearby is an abandoned swimming pool that used boards to dam the creek and fill it up. Not too exciting, but according to the date in the concrete, it was built in 1951.
Keep going up Hicks Rd past Pheasant and look down towards the creek. You will see a tunnel or shaft, or a cave in the hillside. There is a house right above it.
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RailGuy88
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Where you're not...
Gender: Male
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 4 on 8/12/2008 4:04 AM >
| | | | Will do. Thanks!
Going where others can't... |
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IDChris
Location: Southern Idaho Wasteland
Gender: Male
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 5 on 8/12/2008 3:29 PM >
| | | | Cool!
Past the gated section of road, be wary of local residents. I've been caught and asked to leave every single time, and that was back in the late 80's.
I would love to see pics of what you find and see if anything has changed.
If you walk along the path that goes around the Viking Freight building and look toward the creek, you can see a few remnants of the old Los Gatos Golf Course that shut down in the early 80's, mostly wire fencing, some astroturf, and cinderblocks from the demolished greens keeper building.
Last time I saw the creek pool, it still had a brick BBQ and several picnic tables laying around. Where the big pink mediterranean-type house is on the corner of Shannon and Hicks was an old ranch with farmhouse and barn with a few bunkhouses. I think it was built to serve that ranch. Looked like a nice place to kick back in the day.
I forgot to mention, but along Hicks Rd is the engine shaft. look for the big cast iron pipe going up the hill.
Have fun.
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slipster
 
Location: Pittsburg, CA
Gender: Male
Uber Elite
| |  |  | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 6 on 8/12/2008 6:43 PM >
| | | | This sounds interesting I might wanna go check that out.
Ashes to ashes dust to dust life is short so party we MUST |
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rachelradness
Location: San Jose, CA
Gender: Female
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 7 on 8/19/2008 9:33 PM >
| | | | hicks rd. is a favorite adventure spot for my friends & i. i'm gonna try & find this mine on sunday on the way back from morgan hill.
anyone else meet some weird-ass people that come out of nowhere up in this area? at 2 AM in the woods some old dude with dreads to his ass knocked on the window of our jeep asking for a cigarette.
one time i went way back up there & a scary lookin' hillbilly family tried to jump in front of the car to stop us so they could sell us some electronics from the '80s.
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IDChris
Location: Southern Idaho Wasteland
Gender: Male
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 8 on 8/22/2008 5:34 PM >
| | | | Posted by rachelradness
hicks rd. is a favorite adventure spot for my friends & i. i'm gonna try & find this mine on sunday on the way back from morgan hill.
anyone else meet some weird-ass people that come out of nowhere up in this area? at 2 AM in the woods some old dude with dreads to his ass knocked on the window of our jeep asking for a cigarette.
one time i went way back up there & a scary lookin' hillbilly family tried to jump in front of the car to stop us so they could sell us some electronics from the '80s.
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You can write a book on Hicks Rd weird legends. I'm sure you heard all the Albino stories that have been circulating for years and the massive car dump with bodies at the bottom of Guadalupe reservoir. The Albino story has doubts. The car dump story is true, but without the bodies. Reservoir was drained for maintenance in the 90's, exposing a couple dozen vehicles. We visited them, but never knew if they dragged them all out before the water refilled.
There was a guy we met while drinking on the Guadalupe dam at 1 am. I remember he came out of nowhere and said he camps in the woods. He had 2 dogs and they only obey commands in German. He was short and his arm looked like it was mauled at one point, but he was pretty cool. We shot the BS until 4 am. Maybe he's the dread guy you are referring to.
You do have to be very careful at night. I remember someone was shot up there while partying. I think the sheriff now patrols the reservoir heavily at night on weekends. Watch out too if you venture in the hills. There are some pot farms hidden away and you don't want to stumble into one.
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cambrianguy
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 9 on 8/22/2008 5:43 PM >
| | | | Posted by IDChris
You can write a book on Hicks Rd weird legends. I'm sure you heard all the Albino stories that have been circulating for years and the massive car dump with bodies at the bottom of Guadalupe reservoir. The Albino story has doubts. The car dump story is true, but without the bodies. Reservoir was drained for maintenance in the 90's, exposing a couple dozen vehicles. We visited them, but never knew if they dragged them all out before the water refilled.
There was a guy we met while drinking on the Guadalupe dam at 1 am. I remember he came out of nowhere and said he camps in the woods. He had 2 dogs and they only obey commands in German. He was short and his arm looked like it was mauled at one point, but he was pretty cool. We shot the BS until 4 am. Maybe he's the dread guy you are referring to.
You do have to be very careful at night. I remember someone was shot up there while partying. I think the sheriff now patrols the reservoir heavily at night on weekends. Watch out too if you venture in the hills. There are some pot farms hidden away and you don't want to stumble into one.
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The cars are still in the bottom of Guadalupe. Old ones too...some look like Jeeps. There's a ton of stuff down there...refrigerators, washing machines, tires, etc...the usual reservoir fodder.
The Sheriff indeed does patrol the area more. Mostly because of the pot farm raids in the area (which seems to be an ongoing project). That entire stretch of road is a magnet for punk youths, graffiti, secret trysts, and the usual crazed madman on PCP or other hallucinogenic substance.
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IDChris
Location: Southern Idaho Wasteland
Gender: Male
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 10 on 8/22/2008 7:50 PM >
| | | | Posted by cambrianguy
The cars are still in the bottom of Guadalupe. Old ones too...some look like Jeeps. There's a ton of stuff down there...refrigerators, washing machines, tires, etc...the usual reservoir fodder.
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Yes, there was a 70's CJ-7 down there. It was on it's roof and halfway sunk into the silt. I recognized the drivetrain.
There was also a complete 60's VW bug and a 60's LeMans or Riviera out in the center. I don't know how they got way out there. Maybe the VW floated. The Riviera was upside down.
We saw lots of bath tubs too. My guess is people floated them out there just to watch them sink.
Too bad I never thought to bring a camera, but we were just cruising there one day and didn't know until we saw it.
[last edit 8/22/2008 7:53 PM by IDChris - edited 1 times]
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cambrianguy
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 11 on 8/22/2008 7:54 PM >
| | | | Posted by IDChris
Yes, there was a 70's CJ-7 down there. It was on it's roof and halfway sunk into the silt. I recognized the drivetrain.
There was also a complete 60's VW bug and a 60's LeMans or Riviera out in the center. I don't know how they got way out there. Maybe the VW floated. The Riviera was upside down.
We saw lots of bath tubs too. My guess is people floated them out there just to watch them sink.
Too bad I never thought to bring a camera, but we were just cruising there one day and didn't know until we saw it.
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I think I have a photo from some of the cars...I'll email it to you. When the water level drops in the reservoirs, I'll be visiting them again and I'll pay more attention to Guad. Last year I spent a lot of time at Uvas and Chesbro. Lexington is also down to 6% right now (they drained it to work on a new dam outlet). Nothing exciting there, but you can some old concrete foundations from the ghost towns of Lexington and Alma.
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Loiosh01
Location: San Francisco, CA
Gender: Male
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 12 on 9/5/2008 1:23 AM >
| | | | I miss the trails up in Almaden. I grew up in that area. Even if the mines are closed off there are still some old buildings and machinery you can find not too far off Almaden rd.
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everlastingslinky
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 13 on 9/30/2008 1:32 AM >
| | | | Wow, talk about "flashback"! And I *do* mean "flashback"!hehe. Back around '85, a buddy and I bought some real windowpane off some hippy walking across the damn. We spent HOURS looking at all the cars that were half burried in dried mud. Too funny!
Good God, we were a bunch of out-of-control party animals! This was back when Leland still had an "open" campus during lunch....three dead teens and a garbage truck put an end to that....
Anyone remember the refinery in the "restricted" area of the park *before* it burned down? Or the county "watchman" that lived onsite, in a trailer? I remember staring down the barrel of his shotgun...more then once. Never saw an "albino" myself, but knew someone who's girlfriends brother had! HAHA!
I could spend hours talking about the crazy fun we had, "back in the day", but thats enough for now!
cya
-Steve
Leland High School Class of '86
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IDChris
Location: Southern Idaho Wasteland
Gender: Male
| | Re: Almaden Quicksilver mine not closed off completely
<Reply # 14 on 10/1/2008 10:38 PM >
| | | | Posted by everlastingslinky
Good God, we were a bunch of out-of-control party animals! This was back when Leland still had an "open" campus during lunch....three dead teens and a garbage truck put an end to that....
Anyone remember the refinery in the "restricted" area of the park *before* it burned down? Or the county "watchman" that lived onsite, in a trailer? I remember staring down the barrel of his shotgun...more then once. Never saw an "albino" myself, but knew someone who's girlfriends brother had! HAHA!
I could spend hours talking about the crazy fun we had, "back in the day", but thats enough for now!
cya
-Steve
Leland High School Class of '86
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Wow! I remember that crash story vividly. Big news in Almaden and San Jose at the time.
Never heard of a "refinery", unless you are talking about the rotary furnace, or the watchman in a trailer, but I never explored the restricted area until '91.
If it's something else, I'd be interested to hear about it.
I heard the green house behind the rotary furnace was occupied up until '76.
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