You Gotta Be Outta Yer Mine Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

Curious Joe: Unfortunate, but true. The mine has been barred shut as of September. This was the coolest mine I've ever been in. Really disappointing that it has been closed. Thanks to all who found it! To those who didn't, yeah, you missed out.

More
Hidden : 7/22/2012
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Related Web Page

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:



Nope. In yer mine...1000 feet INSIDE a mine

The Damon & Pythias Mine was operated from the 1890s off and on until the late 1970s for lode gold, copper, lead and silver. As sniebro mentions in his write up for his cache, Money Cache - Damon & Pythias Mine! which is at the entrance, "this is a hardrock mine and is thus as a rule much safer than most mines...but enter at your own doing." There are no drop-offs or winzes (downward shafts) to fall into and thus far, no collapsing rock from above and the ceilings are relatively dry, high and wide enough to walk comfortably. The ore car rail is still present. The floor isn't flooded, but in places can be muddy or have a couple of inches of standing water, so wear boots. One can try to "walk the rails" to avoid muddy spots. There are several interesting things to see inside: a large wooden ore chute, old broken ladders, ventilation piping, various artifacts, two sets of gates within, not to mention veins of ore on the walls in a mine that extends some 1500 ft from the entrance with several side passageways along the way.



The above left picture is from within the mine looking out (notice the ore car rail and ventilation pipes) and the picture to the right is of the iron gate with a door. The cache is at this location. You can see a metal pipe near ground level on the lower right of the picture. The cache is on the other side of the doorway where the pipe meets the gate. A magnetic bison. The walk to the cache is a straight shot from the mine opening about 1000 feet inside (listed as "2nd gate" on the sketch below). The gate is short distance beyond the major intersection of the mine where you will find the ore chute, air receiver tank and other artifacts.


The above is a rough sketch layout of the mine. As you can see, there are several side passages that one can explore. Some of the side passages have rock and artifact debris and may be less stable than the main path. The related webpage has more pictures.

It is rather difficult to make a good difficulty/terrain rating. The "3" for terrain is only for the last few feet up to the mine. Otherwise, the short walk from suggested parking is about a 2 terrain. Inside, the mine is level. Finding the cache should be easy with the write-up and hint information. I gave the difficulty a 1.5, but your results may vary, depending on how comfortable you are walking into an abandoned mine. Your GPSr will probably be useless in here unless you use waypoint projection. Shouldn't need to do that either.

The suggested parking is a pull off where the road forks to the left to the mine, but is probably not driveable unless you have a jeep or motorcycle. It's a short 5 minute walk up from parking. If you are not driving a high clearance vehicle, you may want to park at Lake Elizabeth, about 0.2 miles down the road, since the last bit is rather rough. You should have a Northwest Forest Pass to park there.

Access to the mine can vary due to weather and road conditions. We came the first time in early June and had to park down the road and trudge through heavy snow the last mile. Six weeks later, the snow was long gone. A good source for road conditions is the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest website.

This is an abandoned mine with all the inherent dangers associated with it. Enter at your own risk. Bring an extra flashlight or headlamp. Make sure everyone in your party has one. Hard hats are probably not a bad idea. I would not recommend going alone. Enjoy!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Zntargvp pbagnvare. Nf lbh tb guebhtu gur qbbejnl, ybbx haqre gur cvcr gb gur evtug jurer vg zrrgf gur tngr.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


Advertising with Us

Inventory

There are no Trackables in this cache.

View past Trackables

What are Trackable Items?

Bookmark Lists

View all 6 bookmark lists...