Went for an awesome ride today to Eureka mine.
I can see this mine from my house but have not been able to get up there since about 1979. I was a teenager the last time I was there and now I'm 60. The road is straight up the mountain and has been grown over for many years. The pictures don't do it justice. The last couple of years they have been in there and now the gate is open. The elevation is about 5800 ft. From my house to the lake is about 6 km and then you turn and go straight up for about 14 km. Road is twisty and rocky. Steep drop offs. Pics below.
CO

More pics

Go inside a bit to have a look

We get back in the buggies and bugger off to find the other entrance - pics along the way.

more pics

More

Heading back.

Took time to look down on Silver Lake. Very popular camping party place. We don't go there because to many yahoo's from the big city know about it. However at the end of the lake is a nice sandy area and the girls lay out there in the bikini's. You gota walk there, can't drive a vehicle onto the sand because no road right to the sand.
CO

Side note:
The road going to Sourbie is only about 100 yrds from the road to this mine.
Unfortunately the Sourbie road is destroyed due to no logging activity in this area and the snow melt has wrecked the road. This used to be my favorite ride. Not likely that I will see that valley in my life time again. Damn. It took 40 yrs for me to see this Eureka mine site and therefore any pics of rides in Sourbie valley that I have posted in other threads will likely be the last.
CO

Incredible. Makes the Sierra Nevada look boring.


What were they mining for there?


Thanks for sharing.

Holy crap look what I just found:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQnOQSsJaCU

I think you are going to see similarities in the photos I took today LOL.
CO

Edit: Notice they didn't mention that second portal I took pictures of today. It's obviously recent. I knew about that second portal THEY showed in the video but I could never find it. Now I know where to look.
CO

BC did not join confederation until 1871. That means this mine was being worked before we were even part of Canada.
https://www.bcprospectors.ca/Old%20Murphy%20Mine.htm

Man I can't even imagine what the working conditions were like back then. Workmans compensation now a days would have a kitten. No wonder people back then died before they were 40.
CO

Looks like heaven to me.

You are lucky to have such a nice area to explore.

Looks like a major Butt Clencher riding up and down those trails. How's the traction, looks like you could easily slide out of control.

No Butt Clenching because you have to go slow. Road rough and I don't want to smash up the frames. ALL of the riding around here is like that. You try not to spin the wheels on this stuff because you will get a flat, so sometimes the go is slow. Trust me, if you go over the end you won't even get a helicopter ride -- it's over. The pictures don't really show how steep it is and don't do it justice. On the way down I could smell my brakes. That's the first time I've ever noticed that.
CO

Pretty cool, maybe you should get your self a trail bike like a fat cat or something, then you should be able to hit some of the roads that the oddy can't pass.
by the way what was your souvenir, looks like it my have been a petrified miners crap?

I used to have motocross bikes all my life but I got old. With age comes a cage.
Petrified miners crap --- that's a possibility but it did pass the smell test. If it is then those old miners were poopin pyrite and silver.

Lots of youboob videos of my town apparently. Didn't know.
Stallone made his "First Blood" movie here. A few stories about that in this town.
We have talked about the positives but now a negative. In the winter (which will be real soon) I only get one hour of sunshine. The hills block out the sun real good. It gets dark early. As of today it's black by about 7pm. It used to rain -- A LOT !! -- but over the years it has tapered off a whole bunch. When I was a teenager in the 70's it would rain here for weeks -- no lie. It's not so bad now. I love global warming -- more more more LOL. Summer is from May until September, then the snow flies in the hills and it's over. The other months it rains or you are waiting for the snow to melt in the hills.
CO

I know what you mean about the bikes, I sold my ride on machines nd now strictly ride in. My dune season starts in a few weeks now, Glamis here I come!

Every time I see you desert rats riding in the dunes I'm glued to the vid.
I waiting for the sudden drop off. There must be a skill to running dunes I'm sure.
You would get NO warning of a sudden steep drop.

One other thing I forgot to mention.
You save a lot of gas around here. On this ride you don't even have to start the machine. You just coast down the hill. The Sourbie rides were the same. You just "spot" start them to get to the next down hill section. You coast home. This Eureka ride was the best for that. I think I only started the machine 3 times on the way home.
CO

dunes are like physics, you can only stack sand so steep once you get the hang of it it just a roller coaster, no trails to stay on but you do need to learn what to do and what not to do, typically don't head straight off an edge, you may find yourself in the air for too long and hit the bottom where another dune is going up.
Keep tract of your surroundings, there are other people out there, make sure you know where they are, crashing into something other than sand can hurt.
watch out for witches eyes, easier said than done, these are the little holes in the sand where you have a small drop off and then another dune comes back, if the steepness of sand is say 35 degrees, then be the time gravity starts taking you down you could hit the witches eye at near 90 degrees, like hitting a wall, this is what takes it toll on most front ends out in the dunes.

Forgot to mention, I don't really know physice other than what goes up must come down, is that even true anymore? that must have been a statement made prior to the space age

CO this is awesome!!!!

CO, Do you have any snow machines?

No sir. I hate the cold now. Have never been on a snowmobile believe it or not.



Yeah that's what I thought. There is something behind riding the dunes.
I think it was bugeye that posted a vid one time and he was roaring across the Aussie tundra at high speed. Suddenly he comes to a near stop and turns left. There was a HUGE drop down to the river. He said he knew it was there. You're not going to survive an accident like that.
I guess each of us knows our riding areas and the dangers. It just depends where you live.
CO

If you dress right, and have warmers, it's not that bad. Some of the snow machines nowadays are complete monsters. I bet you would be addicted with one good ride..lol