Colosseum Mine, April 19

[nevadaesh]

We had my cousin down from Burns Oregon for the weekend and since Burns is in high desert country in Eastern Oregon, we thought we would show him some of our desert.

So Saturday we headed to the Colosseum mine. We took a "short cut" that added probably 2-3 hours to the trip, but its all worth it.

A map of our route with wonderful Pahrump at the upper left.


Once we got off the pavement onto our short cut, the flowering desert was very apparent.


Then we encounter a wildlife watering hole, courtesy of the Nevada Dept of Wildlife.








The first town was Goodsprings and we found a project rig

Does anyone know what this is?

A nice new home being built there


On towards the mine - our lunch spot


A local looking on



Further up the shelf road, more flowers. Our FJ hiding



To be continued........

[nevadaesh]

so once we got to the mine, the gate was open.

Some very large boulders at the top


For a comparison here the FJ next to a couple


The mine in the 1980's and 90's produced 7000 ounces of gold per WEEK for about 12 years.
It's too large for one pic, but a few will give you the scale






Down at the bottom


To give perspective



Pulling out of the mine


This thing is huge. Who knows how deep the water is, all we know is that the edge drops almost verticle out of sight.

After at least an hour we headed out to find our way to civilisation which was not easy. Our guide book, BackCountry Adventures by Massey and Wilson was not so clear as to the way. We think some roads have been rebladed and replanted since they went through.

On one of our "mistake" roads we met some neat longhorns



We finally found the right road and went by Greene's cabin



Had to get "Bob" the FJ into it





We then wound our way west and north towards home. The country is absolutely beautiful. A few more pics on our way out.







One last shot



We left at 9am and were back home by 6pm. What a way to spend the day.

[landy]

Absolutely beautiful! You don't see sights like this in the flatlands of North Texas!

[Teotwaki]

That mine is unbelievable! Thanks for sharing the adventure.

[MountainMan]

wonderful trail report, great pics, and that is soo cool you could drive down into that mine, i was hoping for a water crossing pic, but you probably need a snorkel for that eh? lol

[Air2air]

Nevada I don't know which is better, that trip or your exquisite photos

[MoabRat]

WOW, those shots are fantastic. What a neat place!

[nevadaesh]

Thanks all. I have to give MrsNevadaesh all the credit for the photos. I should have right up front but I neglected it.

[Fjamming]

Great photos and write up. It's a privilege to be able to access these lands.

[FJ Steed]

Makes me miss the SW!