My son and I took a quick trip from Bellingham to Loop Loop in Okanogan area. Only one picture with the truck. We took the hard trail off of the wabdr north of the China wall to find these mines but it was worth it. Spent 45 minutes on a very over grown road only to come out on a easier road up to the mines. We laughed as we turned on the road.
My son is a rock climber so this was heaven for him.
This was as we entered the mine. Went about 200 yards in to a larger room with a collapsed stair structure. Found some all white rats.
This was turning left from the larger room. We did not go down that sections. Those timbers were very old.
This is looking straight up in the larger room area. If you look closely you can see planks leading in other directions.
Of course you have to take a dad/son selfie 200 yards into a mine.
This was found as we were searching for the mine. Much lower on the hill.
I am forgetting the name of the mine currently but will post that soon. I find the mines on Western mining history website. Gives you gps coordinates. Even with the coordinates it takes some searching. Lots of fun.
This was the Arlington mine. This info was copied from westernmininghistory website.
Comment Type: ProductionComment: THE ARLINGTON VEIN WAS ONE OF THE FIRST DEPOSITS TO BE DISCOVERED ON RUBY HILL. ONE THOUSAND TONS OF SILVER ORE, WHICH HAD A NET VALUE OF $25,000, WERE MINED BY THE SUMMER OF 1893 AND CONCENTRATED AT A MILL IN RUBY CITY. BETWEEN 1914 AND 1921, SEVERAL THOUSAND TONS OF ORE WHICH CONTAINED 66.6 OZ/TON AG WERE MINED AT A NET PROFIT OF $31,000. A 50-TON/DAY FLOTATION MILL WAS ERECTED IN 1937. BETWEEN 1938 AND 1939, 5700 TONS OF ORE THAT HAD A NET VALUE OF $71,683 WERE CONCENTRATED IN THE MILL. MINING AND MILLING OPERATIONS CEASED EARLY IN 1940 (MOEN, 1973, P. 12).Comment Type: LocationComment: ELEVATION 4080 FEET.Comment Type: DepositComment: UNDERGROUND WORKINGS CONSIST OF SHAFTS, DRIFTS, AND CROSSCUTS THAT HAVE A TOTAL LENGTH OF 4500 FEET. THE WORKINGS EXPOSED THE VEIN ON FOUR LEVELS FOR A TOTAL VERTICAL DISTANCE OF 540 FEET (MOEN, 1973, P. 12). ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LITComment Type: GeologyComment: THE ARLINGTON VEIN OCCURS IN THE CONCONULLY PLUTON OF CRETACEOUS AGE NEAR THE CONTACT WITH GNEISS OF THE METAMORPHIC COMPLEX OF CONCONULLY (MOEN, 1973; RINEHART, 1981; STOFFEL, 1990).