Welcome to July in Utah, where our ski season just ended. Sadly, it wasn't in the Sheep Rock mountains where today's temp was hovering at 78, which really was nice. Today's adventure sent us to a canyon just west of Harker Canyon. North Oakbrush Creek is also known as Forest Road 090 and is another oasis in the desert. Though not as lush as Harker, It has some beautiful areas with huge pine trees. As you start up the canyon you can see the tram frame way up towards the top. You ask yourself, "how far of a hike will it be?"
Turns out that the road actually goes further up than the tram frame. The Hilltop Mine sits at 8600" and you can drive to the front door. Of course, this being Utah, the door was blasted shut so getting in it will be a problem. Knowing mines, I am sure there are some other places you could probably get in, but finding them would be damn near impossible. At this height on the mountain, the terrain is extremely steep. The guy who made this road back in the 20's had some balls up near the top. The view is incredible!
This is I believe the main entrance to the Hilltop Mine. I guess if you really wanted in you could dig it out, but that would not be an easy project. The mine, from what I can find started out in the 1920's as a silver and lead mine. It is located in the Columbia District of Utah mine districts.
This foto has me puzzled. In 1928, a concentration plant for the refining of the ores was built. Could this be it? The thing that has me questioning it is a bed spring buried in the rubble. Was it refinery or a house of some sort? I will have to do some more research on this subject.
Above the building, on the mountain is this funny thing. I am pretty sure its an ore bin for the refinery below it. I should swap the foto above for the one below but I'm too lazy so I'll just tell it how I see it. A year before the refinery was built, the mine installed an aerial tramway was built to aid with moving the ore.
The tramway ended, I believe here. It is right above the ore box below so it would use gravity to get the ore into the bin which would also use gravity to move the ore to the building below. Am I right???? I have no clue in hell. It makes sense tho. Also just a few yards away from the ore bin is a tram pole on the ground. At first I thought it was a building foundation but upon closer inspection I found it to be a pole for the tram. By the way, it was made from a huge piece of timber. A trail leads up an offshoot canyon so there might be even more to be explored.
As we made are way down the canyon, exploring every road we came to, we found some cacti in full bloom. It is rare to see them flower, but a wet summer, which we have had, gets them to bloom and they are really pretty. Just don't try and pick one, it will be painful I promise. Jeep on my friends!
