A Gold Mine Hidden in the High Sierra Wilderness

I’d love to tell you the history of this abandoned gold mine, but I can’t — I don’t even know its name, if it ever had one. It’s quite possible it was first worked in the 1800s (this region saw a lot of mining during that time) and then again in the early 1900s. Or, if it was a shoestring operation, maybe just a couple of determined miners kept it going for decades. We didn’t find a single artifact or trace of human activity once we left the waste rock pile — no tools, no timbers, not even a faint trail leading to the site. There were certainly no roads. So, if you watch the video, you’ll know just as much as we do about this mysterious mine. It’s pure speculation on this one. It appears the miners followed the quartz vein the entire length of the adit, and I like to think they at least broke even. Normally, I wouldn’t expect to say that about a mine with no stoping, but they managed to stay on the vein for an impressively long distance. We’ve seen plenty of mines where the workings run thousands of feet through barren rock just to reach a single stope. As I mentioned in the video, it was personally satisfying to finally cross this one off my list. I first spotted the waste rock pile back in 2017 while hiking up a neighboring canyon, but sheer cliffs made it unreachable at the time. Still, because it was surrounded by solid rock rather than soil, I suspected it might still be open — and I doubted anyone else had reached it in a long, long time. For years, it stayed on the back burner — too difficult to justify dedicating a full day to what might be a dead end. But lately, every long shot has been paying off, so I decided to take the gamble. I’d call it a win. The views alone made the climb worthwhile. ***** You can view the full TVR Exploring playlist of abandoned mines here: https://goo.gl/TEKq9L ***** Several kind viewers have asked about donating to help with the many costs of exploring these abandoned mines. Thanks to their generosity, I set up a Patreon account. If you’d like to contribute, you can find me under TVR Exploring on Patreon. Thanks for watching! ***** Growing up in California’s Gold Rush Country made it easy to take all the history around us for granted. But abandoned mines face many threats—nature, vandals, scrappers, and government agencies. The prospectors and miners who once roamed these mountains and worked deep underground are fading into history as well. That reality inspired us to start documenting as many ghost towns and abandoned mines as we can—before this colorful piece of our past is lost forever. I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!