Binoculars in the Backcountry: Skidoo

We like looking at old mining junk. No idea why. We aren't fans of the big new industrial mining sites, or the concept of the American west as a resource extraction colony, but do enjoy seeing the ingenuity and hard work that created the old mining sites. One day I stumbled across a Death Valley video that talked about doing remediation at the Skidoo mill in 2021. Oh no! This could be bad and the site looks so intact. I must see it before they remediate it, so off we went. Why this fear about remediation, well the BLM remediated the Ruth Mill in the Argus, and it went from an intact three story building to a concrete foundation. Yes, they destroyed it. ARRRGH! I honestly have no idea what will happen in Death Valley to Skidoo, and assume it won't be that extreme, but better to see it while I can.

Cool NP video explaining the mill operation

The brief text I found on clean up at the mill

We started our day with the everblooming Panamint Daisy. Why do we call it that? Cuz it is near the road and we have friends that haul it water several times a year. And boy does it respond. It was blooming in November, and is still blooming. It is a California rare and threatened plant having only a limited range in the Panamints. It is also a stunning plant. What a looker.

After our flower fix we headed off to Skidoo. The townsite has some random junk hidden in the brush and nothing else. When the mine played out, they reused the materials and moved them elsewhere. Legend has it that only Old Tom remained in 1922 still trying to eke out a living.

A bit of Skidoo history, gold was discovered in 1906 and was worked until 1917 when the mine played out. Over time a fifteen stamp mill was installed that was water powered. Water isn't available at the site, and had to be piped in from near the top of Telescope Peak, at Jail Spring, twenty-two miles away. The town was called 23 Skidoo, I guess they thought the water source was 23 miles away.

The stamps at the mill were put in at different times.

Love the wooden flywheel.

Part of the water pipe.

Part of what might be remediated, cyanide vats, and the dirt below.

Only had a small group for the day.

Another plant is blooming in this dry year.

Another loading shoot near the mill.

Our luck with the wind was pretty good as it was just starting to come up as we left the Skidoo Mill. We stopped as one of the old houses along the way back. Looks fairly primitive to me, but the date in the concrete was 1951.

We also stopped at another mine that had an explosives' locker. The locker with cinderblocks looked fairly modern, but the inside blew us away, it was lined with 1970's paneling. Definitely not expecting that.

Our last stop of the day was at a petroglyph site I had found a reference to. The lines and cupolas were interesting, as was the choice of the surface that was worked.