Spring Interlude: Adventure Skiing and Searching for the Agamemnon

 No, I wasn't skiing, that was Matt (more on that later) but I was searching for the remains of yet another local mine - the Agamemnon, or Penelope, also commonly known as the Gold Ridge Mine. I prefer calling it the Agamemnon, it just sounds cooler, irregardless of what he did to Troy... anyway, feel free to call it which ever you want, I will stick with Agamemnon.

The Agamemnon mine was in operation between 1897 and 1907 high up, and by that I mean HIGH up in San Antonio Canyon, between the falls of San Antonio Creek and the Sierra Club Ski Hut. It is some rugged as heck country up there, and while the stone walled remains of what is generally considered to be the mines' dining hall are easily within reach of the Baldy Bowl / Ski Hut trail, I was stymied in finding what is left of the big metal ore crusher.

It was time to take another Friday off and go looking for some adventure. It has been a good ten years since last we hiked up to the Ski Hut - enough time, by the way, to completely forget just how steep that trail is. Woke to overcast skies (again) which, I believed would be a good thing, keeping it a bit cooler in the high up. However, heading up the Mt. Baldy Road, it didn't take long to rise above the low-lying fog, turning the day from dark and grey to bright and sunny. Steepness and bright sun aside, we reached the ski hut, passing several people who, getting a much earlier start, had summited Baldy and were already on their way back down. Reaching the ski hut, we sat the chairs out on the "patio" enjoying the views, the peace, the quiet sounds of the mountains. A few moments later, red ski tips sticking up above the flowering manzanita came Matt. Those skis proved too much for Tamera's curiosity, especially since there was not a single patch of snow in sight. And the questions began. Matt, of course, was heading up across the Baldy Bowl to reach the north slopes which, for those who don't know, hold their snow much longer than these south-facing slopes, do a little skiing and get down before dark. Talk about adventure - that is a day full of awesome adventure.

We watched as he continued along the trail to the summit and then began our descent. At this point it was time to start watching for the ruins. As we got closer to where I thought they might be I rambled off trail a short distance to get a more clear view of the canyon, looking for that rare flat spot in a land of verticality. I found myself on the edge of a deep gully and there, on the other side and much further down, I was able to make out the straight line of a stone wall. Back to the trail and down, crossing the gully and - there! Two stone walls and a corner. This was as close as the trail would get so... time to go cross country. Next we were stepping into the middle of what was a fairly large structure, four stone walls, the doorway obvious, remains of an iron stove in one corner, sheets of rusted tin (probably roofing) scattered about, nails, broken glass (flat, not round, so I'm thinking window glass), ceramic shards and tin cans. 

While Tamera ate a little lunch I went off further down slope in search of the remains of the big ore crusher I have seen photos of, but to no avail - the further down I went the steeper the slope got. I believe that gully is the key, and I had already noticed some larger pieces of rusted metal sticking up out of the ground - next time, for now I am just happy to have found the ruins of the Agamemnon's dining hall. There is interesting stuff out there in the world - do your research and go find it!

having fun yet?

Baldy just does not look that jagged from down in the valley

best seat in the house

got my chair, my table, now where's my beer?

bloomin' manzanita

do you see what i see?

there 't is

fog creeping up canyon

nail and lichen

old stove in the corner (incidentally, if you are seeing a second "old stove in corner" photo below I don't know why - it does not show in edit mode, and I can't delete what I can't see)

mountain chickadee

Incidentally, the Agamemnon's adit(s) are believed to have been covered over long ago. The slopes around there, as you can imagine, are highly dynamic, landslides are frequent. There may be clues to where they were (or still are), but they will take a lot of effort to find. Incidentally again, if you are seeing a second photo of "nail and lichen" below, I don't know why - it doesn't show in blogger edit mode, and I can't seem to delete it, so...