We had a blast in Nevada!!! The Ely area has got to be one of my favorite places to explore. Things are spread out big time in that area but all the driving around is well repaid in the amazing things one can see and do. We made it all the way up to the actual Belmont Mine location at about 9K feet!! This has got to be one of the most impressive mine sites I've ever been to! When you come up on this place comming up on the road it's very striking as there are three old buildings literally stuck into the side of the mountain and the first thing I thought of is where are the 7 Dwarfs??? Of the three buildings one is the Upper bucket Hoist building, the second building looks to have been shops and offices and the third one was the living quarters. There is also a bilding up at the mine proper which probably housed a compressor and shops. Considering this place has been off line since 1952 the buildings are in amazing shape(as is the lower actual Mill). A huge tailings pile is up the mountain a short distance from the buildings and the mine is still accessable although I didn't go in. When we headed back down to the Mill proper we ran into a guy that lives in Lund, NV. His uncle was the Super at Belmont Mill. He told us they got high grade gold ore out of the mine from 1875 until it closed in 1952. After that they began an operation on the west side of the mountain to pit it out. The pit operation over there is huge and would be accessable by ATV and is shut down. On the way out the guy we ran into at the Mill told us to go over to Hamilton Ghost Town via a certain Canyon called Treasure Canyon. I'm glad we ran into him and he told us to go that way because that canyon was full of old mines and ruins of cabins. At least one cabin was still completely intact, many were built up against a sheer cliff eliminating the need for a forth wall. There is way too much over there for just three days of exploring! I want to get a group back over there and explore the mine as well. Link to pics is below. I need to get info from Mike so I can upload pictures into this site!!! To many good pics to post in this thread!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockhou...7621281762773/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockhou...7621281762773/
. I don't think it took us that long to get there or back. Anyway, count me in again, I love this area!! There is so much to do around there and I've only touched the tip of the iceburg in the several years I've been going over there!!! Lots of cheap motels but not really alot of good places to eat at that I am aware of yet... just two or three that I go back to. Hotel Nevada has a passable restaurant, Big Apple is probably the best plce to eat but they have a limited menu. The good thing is that there is not even much fast food... even the Pizza hut has turned into a Chinese restaurant. Anyway I'd be happy to serve as guide when you all want to go.
Comment