Money Cache - Damon & Pythias Mine! Traditional Cache
Money Cache - Damon & Pythias Mine!
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Incredible mine from the late 1890s which operated off and on until the late 1970s. NO dropoffs inside and the vertical shafts are composed of HARD rock.....in my opinion about as safe a mine as you will find. Super cool relics inside, if you go in make sure you have more than 1 flashlight and make sure it really pumps out the light!
Drive US 2 east from the Index road 10 miles. Turn right at the sign for the 'Money Creek Campground' (short of first tunnel). Go past the campground and over the railroad tracks, where the road veers left. At a "Y" in the road, turn right on the Miller River road, and immediately look for a right turn on the Money Creek road. There is a sign for Lake Elizabeth (and Trail Park passes, which are not required). Follow this road past several switchbacks (at 5 miles), and past Lake Elizabeth on the right (at about 6.5 miles) to an unmarked fork in the road (the main road appears to contunue straight ahead) at about 7 miles. The left fork is not as defined and can no longer handle vehicle traffic. It is best just to park at the fork and walk 5 minutes up to the mine on the left, as I do not think any vehicle except a dirt bike could make it past the obstruction. Please note that the Money Creek road potentially has some rough sections each year, and a low-clearance vehicle might have problems. A good source for road conditions is the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest website, which has updated road condition posted periodically (but not regularly).
Gets rougher later on, but it passable by most Subarus, light SUVs etc - up just past Lake Elizabeth. A Chevrolet mini van was up there today so it isn't *too* tough. No long/large non-SUV cars, however. Just past the lake, take what appears to be a well used trail just to the left (the road ahead dead ends) and walk/bike up and down some whoop de doos...soon you will see a massive rocky hillside to the left with few true trees...this is the body of hard rock/ore that the mine pokes into. Keep walking...fire up the GPS...start locating the cache!
Scramble up the HUGE tailings pile and take a look inside the huge culvert -like structure...this is the mine entrance. This is a hardrock mine and is thus as a rule much safer than most mines...but enter at your own doing.
The mine layout is shaped like two plus symbols on top of each other and is quite large. You will take about an hour to walk the entire mine; there are several fascinating things to see inside: A HUGE wooden ore chute, ventilation pipe, cable, amazingly beautiful ore samples on the walls, 2 sets of gates within, and some old and incredibly well made broken ladders (don't use them!)
The cache is a 8x6x3 lock lid Official Geocache box with logbook, pencil, and some trinkets. **PLEASE replace the cache with the container securely level, pushed back, and the ~same~ rock arrangement replaced back on top so that it cannot be seen head-on or from the side** You will see what I mean when you locate the cache :-)
As of June 2014 NO SNOW and ready to find
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
fgergpu yrsg hc