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Cleopatra Mine
July, 2003 |
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Cleopatra Basin and Mine became a small project that started in May 2003. The interest was initially supplied by Bryan, the waterfall guy, because of reports of the long thin falls that stream down from above Cleopatra basin. We agreed that a trip should be organized to check it out, and after the usual schedule problems and weather, we all agreed to meet in Sultan one day during the week in mid-May.
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The weatherman, seemingly smiling upon us in the days previous, now had another plan up his sleeve. The day dawned misty and gray. We drove up the Miller River road, and agreed to check out Mohawk Falls first, since a trip all the way up to Cleopatra Basin on a wet day didn't sound so great at the moment.
We made it up to Mohawk Falls quickly, and took some pictures. Not much water yet. We also donned headlamps and went inside the Mohawk Mine to see what was going on in there lately. Nothing new. We then zoomed down to the road, and drove up 1/4 mile or so to the West Fork Miller trailhead. The next couple hours were spent hiking up the road, taking pictures and rock-hopping the low streams enroute to Cleopatra Camp. We took a short lunch break and tried to figure out what to do next. The weather seemed to be getting worse.
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We were mystified on how to actually start up the hillside from Cleopatra camp. Wandering around the area, we tried to imagine what remaining features could be seen that could resemble a path or road up the brushy hillside. After a while we decided to just start heading uphill, gaining as much elevation as possible. Bad idea. After much suffering, we managed to all join together up the hill a ways. We were making progress. After a while, most of the worst brush was behind us - but then it started to rain.
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After a while, we were able to follow the steep path of an old cat track. And further up, this joined an older, wider road bed, now reclaimed by alders and brush. This was easy to follow up, and plowing through more brush put us into the edge of Cleopatra Basin at about 1:45, elevation 3050' where we decided to take shelter from the increasingly steady rain.
Cleopatra Basin was shrouded in fog and gloom. Mid-May this year might have been a little early to explore the basin, as there was still much snow coverage higher up. We took in the view from our little tree shelter, took compass readings and tried to get a good idea of where the mine might be. After eating more, we turned back and followed our route more or less back down the hillside to the West Fork road. If nothing else, we now had a pretty good idea of what we were in for on a later trip.
A solo trip was made two weeks later, with the intent to explore the Cleopatra Camp area more thoroughly, and make sure the first part of the route up the hill to the basin would be easier.
There isn't much left around Cleopatra Camp, and even less is visible as the brush grows thicker. The pipes on the road mark the northern part of the camp "area", and the south is bordered by a small wooded section and ditch or small stream that trickles into the woods. Behind the mysterious NEMS pipes lay the remains of an old cabin, and a little further south is the remnants of the old 4WD truck. With a little imagination, you can see some of the old camp as suggested from this old mineral survey map of the Cleopatra area in 1900.
The route up the hill was nailed down on this trip, and even some trail "maintenance" done to the route with a small bowsaw to allow quick travel for the ultimate future trip to the mine. To reach our previous high point in the basin would now be a non-event. Some signs of a large bear living in the area were seen on this trip. We would have to be careful up here.
Weeks flew by, each weekend either filled with unavoidable activities, or ruined by some freakish weather pattern that would arrive each Friday. It wasn't until early July that a day was picked to abandon work for a day and go for the Cleopatra Mine. We were hoping the weather would hold; even the weatherman's coin has to land on heads every so often.
We met in Sultan and arrived at the familiar West Fork Miller trailhead before 8:00 AM. The Doobie Brothers got us into a pre-hike frame of mind. For some reason we were dressed almost identically. Good Karma. We started along the trail, making good time. The weather looked perfect - sunny with some clouds, and a faint breeze at times. We rolled into Cleopatra Camp at about 10:00 AM, it seems to take 2 hours on that stretch no matter what. In the mud near the camp, we saw a large bear print, and later would see more evidence of his presence.
It helps to know the correct route up the hill, which we now do. In no time we were making our way up the steep hillside. Our estimate was that we would be at our previous high point within 1 hour. What a difference a month makes in the amount of brush! At about 11:00, we recognized the mossy rock and group of trees that we had stopped at on our previous trip. We stopped here again, and had a brief rest and took pictures.
The alleged route near the creek was deemed impossible, due to the amount of brush and slide alder. We decided to keep on the north side of the basin, and contour around on the occasional talus and logs. Gloves and long pants helped here, and we kept to the soft bracken and wove in and out of the salmonberry and slide alder. In another 45 minutes or so, we found ourselves at the head of the basin, in a nearly flat area below the falls and the location of the mine.
"We are there!" Well, not exactly there yet, but a quick look at the rest of our route showed that all we needed to do was climb some talus, and make our way towards the mess of timbers that could only be the remains of the buildings near the mine site. We couldn't see the actual mine yet.
We climbed upward through a nasty combination of large talus and brush, stopping briefly to take a self portrait. Soon we crossed one of the main creeks that flows down from near the mine. At this point it was hard to figure out what to do. We knew the ruins of the buildings were overhead somewhere, so we pulled on brush to go straight up. Soon we broke out into the open amidst the pile of timbers that is all that remains of the upper mine camp.
It was 12:45, and we were just about at the bonking point. One of us wandered around the back of the ruins to the east a couple hundred feet, where the adit is located. It is not obvious, and is hard to see from a distance. We rested here and ate lunch. Sadly, no one had thought to bring a Mexican sandwich.
After eating, it was time to go in. A couple large rocks had fallen in front of the adit, and it was an awkward squeeze to get in. Immediately in front there was a large barrel with newish looking clothes draped over it, looking like they were drying. Strange. Beyond were bedframes to negotiate, and the reported strongbox full of old dynamite which we avoided. Beyond that was the centerpiece of the mine, a cool intact ore cart, still on the rails. We examined the contents (alas, only mud).
Past the ore cart, the tunnel branched in two directions. We first took the right fork which continued along past some type of ore bunker, and along the rails and ties which were spaced just far enough for long steps. It got creepier and creepier as we got further into the bowels of the mountainside. A ghostly wheelbarrow was passed on the side, the rusty color blending in with the surrounding tunnel walls.
After a couple hundred feet, we could see that the tunnel had experienced some caving, and some strange red mud lay puddled in the middle. We didn't dare step into it - and we could see water deep water beyond it. This was the end of the line. Back we traced along the rails to the left fork that we passed up. Not too far past the fork there was some serious cave-in evidence which we COULD have squeezed by - but we will let the next explorers report on what is beyond.
We were glad to get back out of the mine into the bright sunlight. One of us made a quick attempt to climb up the loose gully above to see if there was any sign of the upper adit. None was spotted. We meandered over to the ruins of the old buildings, and poked around there - it looked as if someone may have camped there in recent year, a fire pit was built against the side of an overhanging cliff. A small stream cascaded nearby as a water source.
At about 2:15, we decided to bid farewell to the Cleopatra Mine, and return to civilization. We took some time "accidentally" trundling huge rocks down the loose gully below the mine, and wondered back in the mining days how many miners came close to killing each other with similar rockfall in that spot. We were able to make good time down the slope, and out of the basin, partly because we picked a better line to go out from above. We made Cleopatra Camp down on the West Fork road at 3:45 without a sighting of the resident bear (although we did have a strange feeling that we were being watched all the time).
Almost 2 hours later to the minute, we staggered out of "Bowling Ball Alley" and over the jersey barrier to the truck, where we sat for a while and celebrated another successful mine trip. We both agreed that this trip to the Cleopatra Mine was not as hard as we thought it would be. It helps if you know the nuances about the route and go sometime soon in the spring after the snow melts. We still maintain that the Coney Mine is the toughest trip along the West Fork Miller river.
References:
This hillside tree was stripped
of it's bark by a bear
A view into the basin from
our rest stop at 3050'
This was typical travel as we
traversed Cleopatra Basin
Flat part of basin,
falls, mine area behind
A massive jumble of old timbers
is all that remains
Some huge rocks had crashed down
in front of the Cleopatra adit
This old ore cart was rusty,
but otherwise in good shape
Some sections of the mine were
framed with heavy timbers
Heading back out
from deep inside
A forgotten old wheelbarrow was
left back in one of the tunnels
The rails mark the route
of the old tramway down
© 1999-2008 by 2DrX Explorations
Last Modified:
01/06/05 00:24:30
