Panamint City Part 1 - Hiking up Surprise Canyon and Exploring the Sourdough Mining Camp
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- Опубліковано 15 тра 2021
- I would first like to say thank you for 10,000 subscribers! When I started my channel I never thought it would ever grow this big. I thought maybe I would get a couple thousand subscribers if I was lucky. My earlier videos were poorly filmed and my current videos, although much better, are not high quality productions by any means. However, there is something about my videos that have caused over 10,000 people to want to see more, so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. The goal of my channel is still the same: To document these historic mines with photos and videos and to share their history as much as I reasonably can. If my videos are entertaining then that’s just a bonus.
Because I’ve reached 10,000 subscribers, I figured I should post something really good. This is what I’ve decided on. In early April, Xavier and I backpacked into Panamint City, a ghost town high up in the Panamint Mountains. Panamint City has a fascinating history. The town was founded in 1873 and the mines were said to be as rich as the Comstock. This of course was not true and the mining ventures ultimately proved to be failures. I’ll cover more of the town’s history later in this 4-part series.
In Part 1 we hike the rugged 5+ miles up Surprise Canyon to Panamint City. Upon arriving, we decided to hike up Sourdough Canyon in search of “The Castle”, which was the cabin we planned to stay in if unoccupied. Although we chose not to sleep inside the cabin we set up our tents right outside. This ended up being a great spot to camp as no one ever came up to bother us. Most people who backpack or day hike into Panamint City stay below in the main part of town.
In the second half of this video we explore the mining camp that surrounds “The Castle”. This camp was from the 1970s-80s when Panamint City experienced it’s last mining revival. There was an abundance of old equipment and vehicles scattered around, with the main feature being a very intact mill. The several shaker tables at the mill led me to believe this was primarily a gold operation, but there were also stockpiles of silver ore, indicating that they were mining that as well. The ore for this operation was probably extracted from the small gold and silver mines on the ridge above Sourdough Canyon. We did not hike up to those mines on this trip.
We originally hoped to explore a portion of the “city” on this first day, but we did not have the time. Don’t worry though. In Part 4 we thoroughly check out the town and the mills around it. Parts 2 and 3 will concern a few of the many incredible mines that surround Panamint City.
Check out Xavier's channel here: / ercole746
I seen Charlie Manson at the very end of the road up in Panimint City just four days before they were busted out there.. I was 13 then, and almost 64 now. we drove an old auction Jeep bought from China Lake where I lived. There were vans full of people that had driven up there. I remember it was steep and we drove right in the middle of the creek..... Amazing to think anything could make it up that canyon road at any time in history. I was blown away when I discovered that the off road Jeep folks could only wench themselves up this canyon!!!
always wondered if old charlie made it up there, easier to get to than the barker ranch back in the day when there was a good road
@@moeoeolycus189 yep. There was an old house that had a bunch of small bedroom/cabin sized bldg's around it. Charlie was driving that "boondocker" with the dingle balls all around the inside roof. We didnt know it was the gang when this happened and only found out the news when I seen the news on TV and they showed that Boondocker he was driving. Thats when I knew it was old Charlie!
@@cheycasters you are sure right. My father had illicit business dealings with the Manson family and Charlie. My father told me that the Manson family had several spots incl. Panamint City and the ranch/compound in San Fernando Valley at the base of Rocky Peak. Manson had stash spots in old mines. You can (could?) see the old site in San Fernando Valley looking west from the 118 frwy as you come up to Rocky Peak to head into Simi Valley. I haven't been to that site for 20 years so may be built over now. There was nothing left anyway as it was all bulldozed/razed flat by the county.
sseet
Wow...that's amazing guys!
Dad and I camped there a few times 1968 - 1971. Back then you could drive a stout 2W drive half ton truck all the way up. We camped in the shadow of the chimney. I've seen considerable snow on the peaks above. I really is a beautiful place. I've been stuck in Baltimore since 1972, so It was a thrill to find your video today. I just subscribed to your channel last week! Coincidence? I'm thinking, not. Looking forward to the continuing adventures. Oh, by the way, I miss the living crap out of the desert. Stay safe.
WTF is in Baltimore?
@@Honorablebenaiaha Johns Hopkins Hospital. I just retired from there, and the pension is pretty fat, so yeah, I'm happy.
@@Honorablebenaiaha There are lots of great hiking trails nearby at Patapsco Valley State Park and I mean LOTS!
I hiked up Surprise Canyon with my father, step mom and family/siblings in the late 70s. Road was very very rough, would have taken an experienced off road driver in a serious 4x4 with a winch to get up there. Midway up we were confronted by a guy with a rifle. The guy just suddenly appeared as if he was on guard duty and concealing himself. The guy took my father aside and talked to him for a few minutes then my father lead us back down the canyon. After a short ways he stopped and told us that we were leaving because there was a marijuana grow operation up further and that we were not welcome to visit. We did explore some mines down in the desert though. I've always wanted to visit Panamint City since then but never have... and now I live far from Cal. Thanks for the video!
Great trip. Backpacked there in 1974 or 75. Hippies living in the cabin, making jewelry. They invited us in for hot chocolate. Snow storm came in that night and we slept in a couple nearby shacks, built bonfires in the steel drums to keep warm. Brings back memories. Looking forward to Part 2.
Those hippies were Jim and Mary Ann long. Good folks.
We used to drive to Panamint Valley. Would park the camper and rock hound up and down canyons every day. Vietnam War was raging. USN Phantoms and Skyhawks flew training missions overhead. To my great delight the pilots would often conduct simulated attacks on our camper using pop-up maneuvers. Very cool. Found a lot of gold and silver float in the various canyons. Lots of gorgeous quartz crystals too. Every night my old man would drive us to a restaurant at Panamint Springs for dessert. I especially remember the lemon meringue pie. It was soooo good. Thanks for sharing your vids. It brought back some wonderful memories.
Thanks for the comment! That must have been incredible seeing those jets practice attacks.
21:42 This truck looks like an early-60s Dodge D-series, maybe a D-100. Very cool find!
Somewhere between 61&64
HARD TO BEIEVE I USED TO DRIVE A 1972 CHEV 4 X 4 UP HERE OVER 40 YEARS AGO!!!
I believe it 😉
I got one better- - -In 1963, I drove my new Chevy Corvair all the up to P.C... The road was pretty good then.. I have a picture of my car parked near the base of that tall smoke stack... Then in 72 rains took the road down a bit.. Then in 84 a really bad storm took everything down to bedrock... Now the only way up is to hike in!!!!
Very cool artifacts! Looking forward to part two. Thank you!
How I got here ? Anyhow, Panamint Valley was my hangout. I had a little hangout up in the Argus half way down from Slate pass. Look up from one of the many pull overs and you'll see a Lava rock little wall and a rock chair. Next to it is a flat rock. A bottle of Mcgregor scotch under it. Spent many a night alone out there looking at the stars and UFOs. I lived in Westend long time ago. Magical place.
PS Lots of Gold.
Thank you for taking us on your adventure. I love the D-8. That dozer us over 50 years old.
23:50 that's a Lincoln SA-200 welder. It's one of the best welders ever built
man this is absolutely my favorite place on earth, once spent 6 days there and didn't see another soul...haven't been up there for about six years though, the Castle looks like its in great shape!
What a great place to visit. I could spend my remaining life there, just to enjoy history and nature, and try to fix things up for future visitors.
Looks like a good time waiting to happen, looking forward for part 2...
Man this place is awesome, so Much stuf, thank you, cant wait for the next part
The starting engine on that Dozer period is called a pony motor. He was right that is the starter for the diesel
Before starter motor technology, you had to start a motor to start a motor
@@local_authority no iits still used when engine is big and heavy. starter motor wont do shit
@2:44 - Seeing the condition of the Canyon as it is now , it's hard to believe that on July 4 , 1967 (Mom's Birthday) my Father , Mother , and two younger sisters drove up that canyon all the way to Panamint City and back in a 1967 Buick Riviera (low slung 2 wheel drive Passenger Car) while I followed in a NEW 1967 FJ-40 Toyota Landcruiser (4x4 Hardtop , Jeep bodystyle) that I had purchased from the Dealer just two weeks earlier . (I was just 20 years old at that time , and NO I wasn't born with a Silver Spoon in my mouth , I've worked HARD for everything that I've gotten in Life) . Mom had heard about Panamint City somewhere and wanted to go see it , so as her Birthday Present my Father took her there . Fantastic place , but when we were there NONE of the more modern Mining stuff was there . --- < Doc , Miner for over 50 years > .
This was so amazing cant wait for the other parts I think I will watch this agin thanks for sharing this great place
Great job on your video, I really enjoy hearing what you know about this location. Keep up the great work!!
Great video. Only 2nd live rattler I've seen in a slew of mining videos. Looking forward to rest of the excursion.
That was awesome. I love mining history.
Cool spot ! Thanks for sharing
Last time I was here, I drove a Land Cruiser up the road quite comfortably. About 40 years ago. Have enjoyed seeing some of the sights again. There were a few people living in the area that I prefered to avoid..
Another a great film and I love the history!
The road used to be very passable. A friend of mine drove up in his VW with no problems in the late 60's .
Really cool video and adventure!
Very informative and interesting tour
Great adventure.
What a beautiful place!.
Great video - Kudos! You guys make a good team, your descriptions and knowledge bring your videos over the top and you deserve the large number of subscribers. I'm putting that hike on my bucket list, it looks like a really good hike to do one day. Thanks again for the amazing history and footage. Don't ever stop doin' it!
some neat things to see
Very nice. Thank you
Beautiful!
My friends used to live up there full time. We had a lifted country squire station wagon and made it all the way up. The road took constant maintenance. A giant rain took out the road I think it was 1975. Good times!
GREAT VIDEO. THE BEST ONE YET!!!!
Glad you enjoyed this one!
A dozer sat like that near where I live, in the cold and rain of a PA winter since probably the 90’s and they decided to move it one day last fall, fresh fuel and about 20 min and it was running and moving itself!
You got it right on that old called a Pony motor I have operated those back in the day
Amazing Beautiful please
I love those old donkey starters, just the kick in the ass a cold diesel needs here up north, lol. I learned on an old cable blade D-8 that belonged to the house mover my uncle worked for, that machine made the owner a wealthy man. Surprising that nobody has gathered up all that good old iron, I know in the APA chapter I'm in we've gone to some crazy lengths to salvage historical items. Sad to see it sit idle.
Snake country, flip flops, good idea.
Looks like you ran into one of the locals with a rattle on its tail. Panamint city has a very interesting history.
A space like that in south Australia would either get destroyed by the first hikers that went there or some crackheads would be in there cooking meth in a heartbeat. We found a nice little cabin outback of Wallaroo and there was a heap of weed being grown there. We just quietly backed away
I went to Panamint City for the first time on New Years this year. I didn't get a chance to explore the area much as it was getting dark and the temperature was about twenty degrees! I'm hoping to have my first backpacking trip up there later this fall!
After watching your hike up that canyon, it must have been an amazing amount of work and struggle to get that heavy equipment up there! Thanks for the great video!
Can only imagine the work it took to get that dozer up there
Great videos by the way!!!!
good vid lots artifacts very cool
Still look forward to your vids, Thanks for filming, keep it up. Maybe show us what you guys ate for dinner.
I think you already did, in addition to the rattler they had that little lizard....lol
I went to school on how to use that d8 and d9 cat. Good pice of equipment Thanks to the US Army. School was at Fort Linterwood. Are lost in the woods was what we called it in 1961
I can see a ton of Brigham (Mormon) tea at 1:10. In Boy Scouts, we'd collect a bunch, and then dry it out next to the camp fire. After that, we'd steep the dried stems it hot boiling water. After that, just mix in a little sugar. It's damn good!
Been there, done that!!!
Wooooooooooowww🤯 so many machines abandoned, and electric motors too. But you can even get one of those electric motors to make something in the future 🤷♂️
Great job on the video.....Like to see some footage shots from a drone...Bet it would be spectacular...........Thanks......................JB.
The conical piece of equipment after the disk mill is a hydrocyclone. They're used for wet classification in conjunction with a mill.
Now, that disk mill is something. We've got a much smaller one at our lab for preparing samples for assay, and call it a pulverizer. I've never seen or heard of a production-scale version.
If this was a gold mine it might be worthwhile to check out the streams plunge pools where any gold would collect after heavy rain. Also, those rocks at 2:12 look like a natural riffle but there's also a good chance those rocks have been turned a few hundred times by others who know where gold collects. It's amazing that no one has turned this area into a copper mine what with all the motors that appear to be unmolested, a real rarity at any abandoned mine site with those types of artifacts. It's also unusual that this place hasn't been turned into a lead mine with the exception of the white Chevy truck that seems to have born the brunt of a Bonnie and Clyde re-enactment. This is a really cool site but if there was silver mining going on here I wouldn't drink the water. Silver very often combines with lead to form galena making this a western Flint Michigan just without the pipes. Cool video.
5:59 snake is amazing
I can hardly walk in my backyard in flip flops
Great video man, you beat me to panamint city.
Thanks man! You have to make it up there. It's incredible!
@@forgottenmininghistory ill get up there oneday, however I want to take the back entrance then down surprise canyon.
Should have brought back an ore sample to put on deck at home to remind you of that hike.
This place is so neat in Massachusetts it would of ben flowing with tourist its amazing would of stayed in the cabin but used my own bed role
That truck looks like how my life turned out.
And like how my retire plans very well might.
18:23 - it’s called a pony motor! And it would run if you can get the pony motor to fire there is a bit of a trick to engaging the clutch to spin the diesel, but they are doable. The drums on the back are for the 4 way blade. It raises and lowers and tilts side to side.
When are you doing part 2 this first one was great
Can't believe you would hike in sandels. It would be pretty tasty for a rattler
Look for Big Foot !! Haha
Hi, what a beautiful area, how many miles did you hike on the first day ??. I think that was a very wise decision to not sleep inside the castle as you never know right ?, it's just not worth risking. I'm really looking forward to the next part in this series. Thank you for sharing, much love. xx 💖
I believe a "60 Minutes" episode that Aired on 4/9/1978 had a segment on Panament City.
I think I remember seeing it at my grandparents house. I Recall my grandmother cussing about the hippies that were occupying Panament City at the time.
I believe the same night there is a TV movie called "Family Upside-Down" suing Fred Astaire as an elderly man with debilitating heart trouble (I believe that was on NBC not CBS although someone could have changed the channel). I was able to find a Wikipedia entry on the airdate of the movie and from there speculate the date of the 60 Minutes segment or whatever the news show was being aired on the same date. It might have been a CBS equivalent of 60 Minutes that aired before or after the movie.
In another video the guy explains that truck in the beginning was originally parked at the top of the falls and was the final winch point for the Jeeps climbing up the falls, where it sits now is because of floods washing it down over the years.
I dare somebody to hike in with some fuel and batteries, and drive the dozer out!
Wonderhussy did this hike. Probably within a few days of FMH
You should have stayed inside that cabin That's all that's an experience right there
What blows my mind is that bulldozer is an expensive piece of machinery. So to just let that waste away says they mined quite a bit of gold.
I imagine they lost a lot of money leaving everything behind.
Hiking and climbing in flip flops isn’t the smartest thing to do!
It was for the water crossings obviously. For the dry segments we put boots on.
Pick up any rocks in the springs to see if there were spring snails on them. Might be a new species you discover.
Tysm!
The yellow truck is a Young's Machine Co underground model 960 mine hauler. Google it...... Rattlesnake, that litteraly is a Panamint rattler only found in that region. My friend has the same vintage D8 dozer
That's a cat,,throw some fresh fuel in it and she would pop right off. Amazing it's still there and in such good shape
I can’t believe they left a D8 up there. They could have rebuilt the washed-out road with that dozer.
@@RaoulThomas007 if it was worthwhile to do
The big generator is a McCormick Deering probably a UD something. The dozer looks to be a Mid-50s early 60s J.I Case Could be a 310
That D8 will run clean the carb on that poney starter it will fire
I’m going to do a backpacking trip up there next month. How far was that spring from the cabin. Was it easy to find? Love the videos. Keep up the great work.
The spring is only a few hundred feet away. Just follow the pipes. Thanks for watching!
15:18 magic door to the past life !
They should replace the mattresses with just Open-Frame Springs and campers and bring their own mattresses it would be less places for rodents to reside.
I have been a mechanic for awhile, I could get that equipment running. I would like to get a road into there but the damn hippies would come back.😅😅
Lol my friends were those damn hippies, she is still alive living in ridgecrest.
Ore must've been pretty good with all equipment up there
There is always water in the fuel on old sitting equipment.
Great video but can’t believe you wore flip flops with snakes, slippery rocks steep climbs.
The yellow truck could probably be restored by how it looks as for something abandoned and left to the elements its in decent shape
Wonder where the flowing water comes from in such arid countryside ?
Interesting choice of foot wear on that one guy.
I bet that dozer will start right up, The minute the pony motor is running, 2001 is not that long ago. when they welded there names in the blade.
I bet you could get the D8 running fairly quickly.
Ok, what’s with the hiking foot ware? Yes I’m down in Oz with quite a few snakes & spiders that have a bad attitude. But I’m pretty sure you guys also have some creatures with a less than sunny disposition. Stay safe guys.
Joolo
My thoughts too! I am from California and we have snakes and spiders and scorpions etc. not to mention the vines and thorns and other things that can cause injury. And Death Valley isn’t exactly cool so getting burns from the terrain is likely.
I wonder if cause of covid that restoration project fell through? tho that place is pretty decluded and could be easy enough to social distance could have been a nice during covid proje t
Fun!
*How in the Phuk did that Ford get up in that Canyon?*
The spare generator was used for power and welding im thinking
Hiking I. Wet rock canyon and snake country in flip flops… by yourself o suspect. Hmmm
I see a lot have commented that the yellow truck was a Dodge but no one commented it has a GM bed on it.
The small starting motor is called a “Pony motor”, but I’m sure someone has already left this comment.
Do a will it start on the Equipment💪🏻
Swwet, thanks for answering/I gew up Chine/////