Trail Report: Exploring Tecopa

[FishPOET]

Tracy and I left Norco at 11am on Wednesday December 30. We met Stephan & Sonia (karstic) at the 210/15 junction and headed North on I15. We sat in a lot of traffic between Barstow and Baker. We arrived at Tecopa Hot Springs Campground at 5pm. We set up camp and sat by the campfire until 9pm. It got down to 28° overnight.



Map of the Tecopa Mines
http://www.etogen.com/ue/Tecopa%20Map.pdf

We were on the trail at 9am on Thursday December 31. Our first stop was the Noonday Mine. Noonday, Columbia, War Eagle and Gunsight Mines produced lead and silver.

Map of Noonday Mine
http://www.etogen.com/ue/Noonday%20Map.pdf

Funicular Railway upper cable pulley at Noonday Mine


Roadbed from a Funicular Railway that brought the ore down the mountain.


View of the valley


Stephan, Sonia, Tracy & Ely at the Noonday Mine.


Sonia, Tracy & Ely at the entrance to Noonday Mine


Sonia & Ely inside Noonday Mine


Stephan outside Noonday Mine


We moved over to the Columbia Mine.

Map of the Columbia Mine
http://www.etogen.com/ue/Columbia%20Map.pdf

Looking down the main shaft in the Columbia Mine


Looking up the same shaft


After we left Columbia Mine we headed for China Ranch Date Farm. http://www.chinaranch.com/ Fresh date bread was just coming out of the oven and we devoured a large loaf. Mmmm good!





We left the China Ranch Date Farm and headed back to camp to see if Mike (MJR) had arrived yet. Mike had not arrived so we headed for Shoshone and visited "The Crowbar". Back to camp at 3pm and Mike had arrived. We spent an hour in the Hot Springs, had dinner and sat around the campfire until 9pm. Not a chance we were going to sit out in the below freezing temps to welcome in the New Year.

[FishPOET]

Friday Morning January 1, 2010 had us on the trail at 9am. Stephan's brother Mike and his family joined our group for the day. First stop was China Ranch Date Farm for more fresh bread!



We headed for the Sperry Wash Trail.

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/barstow/amargosa.html

We ran Sperry Wash about half way and stopped for lunch. After lunch we continued South to the exit near Dumont Dunes. We traveled North on Hwy 127 to the turnoff for Ibex Springs and Ibex Mine.

Ibex Spring


Ibex Spring


Ibex Spring


Ibex Talc Mine


Ibex Talc Mine


Ibex Talc Mine


After Ibex Talc Mine we headed back to camp for the evening routine of sitting in the hot springs, dinner and campfire until 9pm.

Sunset at camp


Got NASCAR?

[FishPOET]

Saturday Morning January 2 we were on the trail at 9am. Tracy was under the weather and stayed in camp. Our first stop was the Gunsite Mine.

Map of Gunsite Mine
http://www.etogen.com/ue/Gunsite%20Map.pdf

Gunsite Mine


Mike, Stephan and I explored the main level of the Gunsite Mine. We walked in approx 1500'

Inside Gunsite Mine


Vertical shaft inside Gunsite Mine


Inside Gunsite Mine


Inside large room inside Gunsite Mine


Inside large room inside Gunsite Mine


Large steam winch drum inside Gunsite Mine


Exiting Gunsite Mine


After leaving Gunsite Mine we took the old Tonopah & Tidewater railway bed http://www.ttrr.org/ across to Excelsior Mine Road. We stopped at Becks Spring for lunch.

We saw snow at the Tecopa Pass.


We saw Horse Thief Springs and Horse Thief Camp. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/needl...hief_camp.html

We made a quick stop at Snow White Talc Mine.




Our plan was to run the Kingston Wash Trail if we had time...but we did not get to the trailhead until 4pm. http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medial...ngstonWash.pdf

We turned around and headed back for camp. Back at camp at 5pm. We loaded the Jeep on the trailer for an early Sunday departure to beat the holiday going home traffic. We sat in the hot springs, had dinner and sat around the campfire until 9pm. Overnight lows were 26°

Sunday morning we were up and ready to go at 8am......





The truck would not start. Mike started the diagnostics. By 10am Mike had diagnosed the problem as a bad fuel pump . My only option seemed to be to offload the camper and have the truck towed in to Pahrump on Monday morning and hope the local parts store had a new fuel pump. We did not have cel service in Tecopa. Mike drove me out to Ibex Pass and we started making phone calls. Autozone in Pahrump had a fuel pump motor but not a whole assembly. None of the other parts stores had any fuel pump assemblys or fuel pump motors. Mike drove me into Pahrump (70 miles round trip from Tecopa) and we discussed options along the way. I had never replaced a fuel pump before but Mike had. Mike offered to help me out if Autozone did have the correct fuel pump motor. I bought the motor and we headed back to Tecopa to start the process of removing the fuel tank. I had filled up with fuel in Baker and the tank had approx 30 gallons of fuel. We tried a few different methods of draining/siphoning the fuel with no luck. We decided to drop the tank with the fuel in it. We got the tank dropped and dug a trench to get it out from under the truck. Both vent hoses broke while getting the tank out. Once the tank was out we removed the fuel pump and drained the fuel into cans. Mike rebuilt the fuel pump assembly with the new fuel pump motor. We re-installed the fuel pump into the tank. We drove back into Pahrump for new vent hoses. We re-installed the tank into the truck. We put 15 gallons of gas back into the tank and the truck started. We packed everything up and hit the road at 11pm. Home at 3am.

Mike saved me a large repair bill as well as a missed day of work on Monday. I cannot thank him enough for sticking with Tracy and I all day on Sunday to fix the truck. THANK YOU MIKE!!!!!!!!

Overall the weekend was very enjoyable. The mines were awesome. The nights were cold but the days were sunny. We had zero wind.

[Mitch]

Doug,

What a great report. The maps of the mines are a neat touch. I've been planning a trip out there with Dave (flatpoint) and plan to hit a lot of the places you went to. Thanks for the info.

Looks like another cool adventure. There is so much to see if you get out of the house!

Mitch

[Roger]

Great report Doug. Thank God you had someone with you to help you repair your truck.

[mkjeepers]

[COLOR="Blue"]Nice report Doug. Those mines look very familiar. They're some of the most complete and intact mines we have visited.

A great area to explore in the winter months.

mk[/COLOR]

[dr.dirty]

Awesome pictures Doug Ill have to add that to my list of places to visit.

[explorer1]

Looks like an awesome place to visit. I have spent alot of time in deathvalley, but never the surounding area. Looks like its time to start planning another trip.

[FishPOET]

Found this video of an amazing adventure in the Columbia Mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/schriber/3063239430/

I want to recreate that video!!!!!!!!

I don't know how long it will take to gather equipment and experience but I have a new goal.

[XJJK]

Great pictures!!!!

[Mitch]

That video is Bad Ass for sure! Some people just know how to have fun. I can't wait to get out there.

Mitch

[Mike]

Wow! Great Trip! Sorry to hear about the fuel pump, but I'm glad that it worked out for you.

Lot's of ladders in those mines. Did you climb any of them like we did in the Defense Mine?

[FishPOET]

Lot's of ladders in those mines. Did you climb any of them like we did in the Defense Mine?

I climbed down this one about 20'. Just far enough to take the picture.



I am going to get some equipment for exploring underground mines. A caving helmet with lights. Ropes and climbing gear. http://www.undergroundexplorers.com/safety2.htm

[dirtman13]

Great report and pictures Doug. Looks like a wonderful time.

[headhunter]

Great report and photos.

I've definitely got to get out to this area.

That video of riding the ore cart was cool! Very Knott's Berry Farm!

Christian