I recently discovered a whole area of New Almaden historical sites along Bertram Road, which runs behind the New Almaden Mining Museum. There's very little parking along the road, so I decided to make a short, 3-stage walking multi that takes you to two interesting sites: the Ore Washing Plant and the Hacienda Cemetery. The walk is just over half a mile round trip, if you start at the posted coordinates. There's plenty of legal parking there from sunrise to sunset. The walk is mostly paved except for the park with the Ore Washing Plant and the cemetery, if you choose to go inside.
This cache is placed with permission from the New Almaden Community Club. The park is adjacent to their Community Center, and they use it for public events like New Almaden Days. They also make it available for private events, so please be aware that Stage 1 may be temporarily inaccessible if there's a private event going on.
Note: Cell signal is pretty bad here, so I'd suggest downloading this one offline or bringing your GPS.
Now for the multi! Visit Stage 1 and Stage 2 to solve for the final coordinates: N37 10.ABC W121 49.DEF.
Posted coordinates: This is just a recommended parking area. There's nothing to find here. From here, it's a short walk to Stage 1.
Stage 1 - Ore Washing Plant: This massive old piece of equipment is an ore washer. It was used to reclaim liquid mercury that had been lost during the mining process.
The ore washer was not very successful. How much money did the owners make using it? Take this number and add 226. This is ABC.
Stage 2 - Hacienda Cemetery: The Hacienda Cemetery is the final resting place for quicksilver miners and their families. The graves date back to the 1800s. You don't have to enter the cemetery, but it's fascinating to explore if you would like to.
On the larger of the two signs at these coordinates, there's a name immediately beneath the words "Memorial Park". How many letters are in this name? (Count the letters in the first and last names.) Take this number and multiply it by 47. Then subtract 3. This is DEF.
Checksum for A through F = 29
Santa Clara County Parks and the New Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association publish a longer, self-guided New Almaden walking tour if you're interested in learning more about the history of the area.
Enjoy New Almaden!