Jan. 18 – Big Eye Mine
We finally made it to the parking area for the Big Eye Mine. We had some hiking to do now!
The road was closed, but you might see the faint line of it in the upper right.
As we hiked up the road some old buildings came into view.
It’s the Big Eye Mine Cabin.
The cabin has been restored somewhat and is available to stay in if you would like.
The interior is clean and has a few amenities, a guest book to sign, 2 bed frames, two red chairs and assorted artifacts.
Looking out the back door window you can see what we figured was the bath house, a clothes line, wash basin and various household tools.
We had to continue hiking up to the actual site of the mine. It was a lot smaller than we anticipated, but then it only operated for a few years in the early 1900’s.
This we assume is where the ore was loaded onto trucks at the bottom of the scaffolding, to be hauled to a railroad and shipped to a smelter.
We climbed above this point to the mine tunnel. All caves and tunnels are closed to protect wildlife.
We peeked inside, but didn’t venture in!
We had to conclude our exploration to head back to the Jeepster for the 15 miles of dirt road, 10 miles of gravel road and 22 miles of pavement back to our campsite!