Exploration Reports

Upper Seattle-Cascade Mine August 2008 Location: West Fork Miller River It took us some thinking over the winter about how to get there. Once we did, we found this to be an interesting mine.

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Red Mtn Hole November 2007 Location: Snoqualmie Pass A nice little undocumented prospect perched on the side of Red Mountain near Snoqualmie Pass.

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Index Bornite Mine April 2007 Location: Index An early trip to an old copper mine near the town of Index, route-finding was tough even with a few individuals that had made the trip before.

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West Fork Miller/Una Mine May 2006 Location: West Fork Miller River A few of us took a trip up the West Fork Miller river and explored around, ending up inside the Una Mine.

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Horseshoe Mines May 2006 Location: Middle Fork Snoqualmie A good early season trip up to a couple of short mines that are hidden in the open forest along the hillside above Granite Creek.

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Honeymoon Mine February 2006 Location: Index This was a nice mid-winter trip in the cold weather. In addition to finding the "lost" Honeymoon Mine, we were treated to some nice showing of ice along the way.

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76 Basin September 2005 Location: Monte Cristo We took a quick last trip up to Monte Cristo before the winter set in, and explored some of the oldest mines in the area, in 76 Basin.

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Minnecaduca Lode September 2005 Location: West Fork Miller The Minnecaduca Lode was discovered on an old claim map, and was pretty close to the Cleopatra Mine route. We finally took some time and found it, along with the Lower Cleopatra adit.

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O&B Mine July 2005 Location: Monte Cristo We took a two day trip to the Poodle Dog Pass/Silver Lake area and visited the O&B mine the first day, and several of the prospects around Silver Lake the next day. A great area with lots to see.

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Apex Mine June 2005 Location: Money Creek A mid-week trip up the old tram route to the Apex Mine - although not much mine exploring can be done here, there is still a terrific amount of history abound.

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Commonwealth Mines June 2005 Location: Snoqualmie Pass This was an exciting short trip to some relatively unknown mines in the Snoqualmie Pass area. Copper ore was the objective here, but not much information about the effort was recorded.

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Cleopatra Mine May 2005 Location: West Fork Miller A group of us returned to the Cleopatra Mine high above the West Fork Miller river, a great trip with great people but the heat of the day took a toll on us.

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Trout Lake Mines May 2005 Location: Foss River A productive day off from work allowed us to bag a few interesting mines around the Trout Lake area. Some of these mines present a good route-finding challenge and because of that, don't see many visitors.

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Grand Central Mine May 2005 Location: Money Creek A small group explored the Grand Central, as well as some of the other small adits that might have been the discovery points for the mine.

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Kromona Mine March 2005 Location: Sultan Basin The Kromona has it all: a great bike ride, a hard climb to an interesting tram terminal and complicated mine tunnel system. One of our best!

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Damon & Pythias Mine November 2004 Location: Money Creek We picked a snowy day in late November to hike up to this interesting old mine at the headwaters of Money Creek. A great early winter trip in the snow!

Other Resources: Mine Sketch Map

Sidney Mine October 2004 Location: Monte Cristo A short trip from Monte Cristo up 76 Gulch to the Sidney Mine, and also a few other mines in the area.

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Golden Tunnel Mine September 2004 Location: Index A tough trip to a recently rediscovered mine from the late 1800's - we're not going to say much about it though.

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San Francisco Mine September 2004 Location: Money Creek A short trip up a rough creekbed brings one to this old mine, almost hidden by brush and rockfall. Work started long ago here, but never seemed to get very far.

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Silver Queen Mines August 2004 Location: Upper Silver Creek This was a 2 day trip starting at Monte Cristo, to the headwaters of Silver Creek. The old Silver Queen Mining company had a group of mines in a scenic hanging valley just south of Silver Lake.

Other Resources: Route Information Detail Mine Map

Collins Prospect August 2004 Location: Middle Fork Snoqualmie A quick 2 day trip up to the headwaters of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie, to search for a reported adit in a remote area.

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Justice Mine July 2004 Location: Monte Cristo A nice bike ride to the townsite. The Justice isn't hard to get to, but complicated inside. We only ended up exploring about half of it!

Other Resources: Mine Sketch Map

Kitanning Mine May 2004 Location: Index This mine has an easy route, with an interesting old cabin and lower adit. Tougher is the routefinding and climb up to the upper adit.

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Bergeson Prospect May 2004 Location: Money Creek A quick hike up the hill from Money Creek puts you at this old mine site. Now the mine is pretty wet, after more work draining it, who knows?

Other Resources: Route Information Route Sketch Map

Kimball Creek Mines April 2004 Location: Money Creek We took a walk around the area of the Kimball Creek Mines; all the adits we saw were too dangerous to enter, although this was a hotbed of mining activity at one time.

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Grand Central Mine April 2004 Location: Money Creek We couldn't find this mine last winter, so we waited patiently until this spring. Not knowing what to expect, we were surprised how dangerous yet interesting this mine really is...

Other Resources: Route Information Mine Sketch Map

Mineral Creek September 2003 Location: Cle Elum River We took a 2-day trip up Mineral Creek, stopping at the mines at the way up. We camped at Upper Park Lake and explored around the area the next day before heading out of this beautiful area.

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Devil's Canyon August 2003 Location: North Fork Snoqualmie Finally the mysteries of Devil's Canyon were uncovered in August. It was a short, tough trip to a well-hidden and somewhat scary mine.

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Bald Eagle/Pilot Ridge July 2003 Location: Glacier Peak Wilderness A beautiful loop around some of the best meadow ridge walking around. Originally planning 3 days, the heat and bugs chased out the second day.

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Bear Basin July 2003 Location: North Fork Snoqualmie A return trip to Bear Basin was made to scout out the remaining adits that were unexplored two years ago.

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Cleopatra Mine July 2003 Location: West Fork Miller A nice day took us up a steep climb into a beautiful high basin, the site of an old profitable mine.

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Mountain Loop Highway April 2003 Location: Mountain Loop Highway Took a drive on a rainy weekend around the Mountain Loop highway, where we checked out some mines close to the road.

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Mohawk Mine January 2003 Location: Miller River A short climb to a beautiful waterfall and active mining claims. We took advantage of a wimpy winter and nice weather to vist.

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Dutch Miller Mines September 2002 Location: Middle Fork Snoqualmie We took a quick 2-day trip up to the headwaters of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River to the location of the old Dutch Miller claims. The beauty of the area contrasted sharply with the destruction wreaked by man.

Other Resources: Route Information Detail Map

Esmeralda Peaks/Gallagher Mines July 2002 Location: Teanaway A confusing journey back in time to the 70's, many memories were brought back with this trip in the Teanaway. Old heavy metal helped us bag Esmeralda Peaks and in addition, we checked out the prospects around Gallagher Head Lake.

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Pine Marten Claim July 2002 Location: North Fork Snoqualmie A short hike up the old Lennox Creek trail brings one to an area of much mining activity in the bygone days. The Pine Marten Claim is right off the trail, and includes an old miner's cabin still standing.

Other Resources: Route Information Detail Map Additional Pictures

Quartz Creek/Rainy Mine June 2002 Location: Middle Fork Snoqualmie This was a quick morning trip up to this old copper mine on Quartz Creek. Not much remains from this mine's heyday, but another adit is still hidden somewhere in the thick brush.

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Sunset Mine May 2002 Location: North Fork Skykomish We took the 'Sunset Mine Tour' which shows some interesting and dangerous results from one of the more successful mining operations in the Cascades. We hiked a little further up the road, but turned back in the rain.

Other Resources: Route Information Detail Map

Enchantments Tour September 2001 Location: Leavenworth We spent 4 days exploring the Enchantment Lakes area - including locating Gnome Tarn, climbing Little Annapurna, eating alot, and cursing our sleeping pads. The day we hiked out, we found a world changed forever.

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Bear Basin Mines August 2001 Location: North Fork Snoqualmie River In a long day trip, we visited 3 mine adits in this beautiful basin, the site of the former Snoqualmie Mining Company headquarters, and site of the small flotation mill remains on Bear Creek.

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Aces Up Mine May 2001 Location: West Fork Miller River We took two days and ventured all the way up the West Fork Miller road. The adits were accessible, and there were many interesing artifacts in the area - we had a good trip.

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Lake Serene Mine May 2001 Location: Mt. Index Area These mines were established near Mt. Index long ago. Easy access via the new Lake Serene trail will bring one to the workings.

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Damon & Pythias Mine October 2000 Location: Money Creek A short trip to the Damon & Pythias mine, after coming down from Crater Lake and the Morning Star mine. We explored part way into this adit. We beat winter by a few days.

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Morning Star Mine October 2000 Location: Money Creek We made a return to the Morning Star mine this year. This time we tried to capture some good photos of the route from Crater Lake to the mine adit.

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Coney Basin Mine September 2000 Location: West Fork Miller River After several attempts, we finally made the trip up to the head of Coney Basin.

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Whitehorse Mountain July 2000 Location: Darrington An early start, a long day, and beautiful views everywhere before being turned back very close to the summit.

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Una Mine June 2000 Location: West Fork Miller River A return to this steep canyon and hillside finally revealed this well-hidden mine. Interesting artifacts and ore still remain at this site.

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King & Kinney Mine May 2000 Location: West Fork Miller River A short walk along an old river road and climb up to an old mining camp. We explored into this water-filled mine until a caved section was reached.

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Kaleetan Peak July 1999 Location: Denny Creek We needed a quick accomplishment that wasn't too serious. This is a fun climb.

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