Blackhawk Mine History

[Mitch]

Mat,

Great idea. Lots of the trip and research info does benefit the overall group. Thanks

I love exploring that whole area. There are several mines and historical spots a couple miles east and west of the Blackhawk Mine.

Mitch

[troyboy162]

i too like the idea of a history, research or mine section. this is one of the few forums that really gets into that kind of stuff.

that la gold mines site is really good. we used his maps for big horn and had a great time. shame the guy passed away but at least he did it enjoying what he liked to do.

[headhunter]

I agree!

I've spent years upon years researching local mining history and unfortunately there aren't any great places to share the information -- just a post here and post there.

A friend of mine was running a website dedicated to mining history/exploration in the San Gabriel Mountains/greater Los Angeles area (http://www.lagoldmines.com/) until he passed in Nov 2008 (in a hiking accident while on his way to explore & document another mine). As far as I know, he was the local "expert" historian on mining in that area. In fact, you could say he was the "Tom Core" of mining in the San Gabriels, although some might contend that John Robinson holds that title (Hugh specialized in more of the lost & unknown mines that history has "ignored").

The photos and descriptions that Roger posted regarding the Blackhawk Canyon area were great -- having an area to post/compile this sort of information would go a long way in preserving it for future generations. At some point I'd like to start a website similar to the one above, dedicated to the San Bernardino Mtns/Lucerne Valley area as they seem to be less represented than say Death Valley, Virginia City, the Mother Lode, etc but are simply full of fascinating history.

Rob

Hey Rob,

Hugh Blanchard's site has been a great resource for learning more about the mines above my home in Altadena.

I'd like to get out there on foot and find many of them.

It may take a while before the Forestry Service will let us get into the areas where the Station Fire burned so many acres. The fire may have also have made it easier to find some long lost mines that were covered with vegegation.

It would have been great to have had a chance to meet Hugh, but maybe sometime you can share some of your friend's knowledge with us, as well as, some anectodes about his adventures.

Christian

[robk]

Hey Rob,

Hugh Blanchard's site has been a great resource for learning more about the mines above my home in Altadena.

I'd like to get out there on foot and find many of them.

It may take a while before the Forestry Service will let us get into the areas where the Station Fire burned so many acres. The fire may have also have made it easier to find some long lost mines that were covered with vegegation.

It would have been great to have had a chance to meet Hugh, but maybe sometime you can share some of your friend's knowledge with us, as well as, some anectodes about his adventures.

Christian

I'd be glad to share -- I only knew him for a few years and we only went on a few hikes together, but he held a wealth of knowledge and provided me with more information on the area in a few discussions than everything I had learned on my own beforehand. We met when I was searching for information on the Victoria Mine in San Gabriel Canyon (I found a stack of documents from the mine, mostly leases, claim maps, assay reports, etc dating from the late 1800s at an antique shop in La Habra) and he informed me that it was covered by Morris Reservoir. We decided instead to look for the Kelsey mine (another "lost" silver mine nearby) and he knew some folks who had last been there in the 70s or 80s and had an idea of where it was. We went out looking with a group and ended up being held back by poison oak, but one or two of the people we were with was able to scale a few waterfalls and locate the mine. On a subsequent trip (which I did not attend) the entire group made it to the mine and documented it with maps & photos. I still haven't returned.

We did a trip up Las Flores Canyon as well as a trip to the Mt. Gleason mine (which ended up being a hellish trek through thick brush and scorching heat on what was supposed to be a "pleasant" day, but it didn't seem to bother Hugh at all -- I was consistently amazed at his stamina for a guy who must have been in his late 60s or early 70s).

I'm not familiar with any of the mines as far east as where the Station Fire burned, but I'm sure that some that were previously inaccessible will be "found" once again as soon as the area is open.

With that, I'll cease my hijacking of Roger's thread and hope to see a history sub-forum started -- seems like there are some quite knowledgeable folks here with a lot of good local history to share.

Rob

[chris142]

The mine I went in was below the pics Robk posted. It's been 20 years since I was up there and I'm not seeing any on the topo map. Odd maybe I was lost?

Would the people that work at the market have any info on the mines off Camp Rock rd?

[robk]

The mine I went in was below the pics Robk posted. It's been 20 years since I was up there and I'm not seeing any on the topo map. Odd maybe I was lost?

Would the people that work at the market have any info on the mines off Camp Rock rd?

I think you're referring to the Blackhawk Mine... it's there on the topos I have (using the 3Dsolar topo plugin for Google Earth and/or msrmaps.com). Look about halfway up Blackhawk Canyon on the east canyon wall (just below and to the east of a 5,498' peak). My topo shows two adits. I only found one last time I visited -- south of and slightly above some gravel leaching pits. You can't see the adits from below; the only way I found the one I did was by hiking quite a ways up the canyon and just happened to notice one in the distance on my way back down.

I'll post some pictures as soon as I get a chance to see if the one I'm talking about looks familiar to you.

Rob

[robk]

The mine I went in was below the pics Robk posted. It's been 20 years since I was up there and I'm not seeing any on the topo map. Odd maybe I was lost?

Would the people that work at the market have any info on the mines off Camp Rock rd?

Does this look like the mine you visited?





Rob

[Mitch]

Nice picture Rob. Sometimes you have to look hard for the good stuff. Now show us whats inside!!!!

Mitch

[robk]

Nice picture Rob. Sometimes you have to look hard for the good stuff. Now show us whats inside!!!!

Mitch

Didn't go into this adit more than a few feet -- as you can see from the picture, the ground is very fractured; almost like hard-packed gravel. I'd be very interested to hear what someone better versed in geology than myself would have to say about the composure of this particular mine. There was evidence of instability, as well as water in one of the drifts near the portal. This one stood up the hair on the back of my neck...




What appears to be a drift. Looking south. Looks like it was backfilled; don't remember seeing any evidence of roof collapse. There was a foot or so of standing water here and the shoring looked rotten.




About 10 or 15 feet in, the adit splits off in several directions. I didn't go any further; it looked like it might be unstable based on the composition of the surrounding rock/gravel and lack of shoring.

The topo shows another adit nearby, but I didn't see anything. Might be worth a trip back to see if it can be located. This particular area looks like it's been subject to heavy erosion and perhaps the other adit was covered.

Rob

[Roger]

The mine I went in was below the pics Robk posted. It's been 20 years since I was up there and I'm not seeing any on the topo map. Odd maybe I was lost?

Would the people that work at the market have any info on the mines off Camp Rock rd?

Chris - not all mines are shown on the USGS Topo Maps, I don't know why.

Sometime stop in the market and ask for Bill Lembright. He probably can answer any question you may have. Bring a map of the area you are interested in.

[chris142]

Does this look like the mine you visited?

Naw I'm too fat and lazy to try to get to that LOL.

[troyboy162]

[QUOTE=Roger;161850]Chris - not all mines are shown on the USGS Topo Maps, I don't know why....QUOTE]

that is wierd. early on i figured topo were going to have all the mines or at least the old ones.look at areas like calico. i dont think they hardly have any marked even those those tunnels have been there 110 years now.

i saw that same fractured rock like robk is talking about over by lesterdale. it is freaky when it looks like gravel and dirt. almost as if you could actualy pick axe through it or get traped under it if you sneeze lol