Presidents weekend riding
Dove Springs
Camp all setup :)
Kids all jazzed to ride with their friends
Ride out to The Talc Mine
From the talc Mine we rode up
To burro Schmidt tunnel - out first time here.
For those interested in what Burro Schmidt tunnel is...
Here’s some info on it...
Burro" Schmidt, mining gold in the El Paso Mountains, was faced with a dangerous ridge between his mining claims and the smelter to the south in Mojave. Schmidt said that he would "never haul his ore to the Mojave smelter down that back trail" using his two burros. Thus, he began his tunnel in 1900. The tunnel was about 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 10 feet (3.0 m) wide. It was cut through solid granite bedrock and required little shoring. However, Schmidt was trapped many times by falling rock and injured often. He eventually installed a mining cart on rails.
In 1920 a road was completed from Last Chance Canyon to Mojave, eliminating the need for the tunnel, but Schmidt claimed to be obsessed with completion and dug on.
By 1938 he had achieved his "goal", having dug through nearly 2,500 feet (760 m) of solid granite using only a pick, a shovel, and a four-pound hammer for the initial section, and carefully placed dynamite with notoriously short fuses for the majority portion. It was estimated that he had moved 5,800 tons (5,260 metric tonnes) of rock to complete his work.
Interestingly, Schmidt never used the tunnel to move his mine's ore. Instead, he sold the tunnel to another miner and moved away. A Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoon celebrated the feat, calling him the human mole. Schmidt's cabin, down below in Garlock, has been largely abandoned and stands as it was in the 1930s, preserved by the dry climate.
Saturday evening I decided to drive the RZR, which normally I ride my bike since our group has a few dirt bike riders. This time I decided to give it a break and drive the RZR. We made a run up to Oasis came back around Down to the bowl this happend. Broken rear frame in two places. My girls say I break everything, it started with breaking my daughters a-arm on her traxxxas, then my other daughters drone, now the RZR ;)
We ended up cutting the trip short because of the predicted high winds Sunday and Monday.
Good times riding in the Dez with great friends.
Camp all setup :)
Kids all jazzed to ride with their friends
Ride out to The Talc Mine
From the talc Mine we rode up
To burro Schmidt tunnel - out first time here.
For those interested in what Burro Schmidt tunnel is...
Here’s some info on it...
Burro" Schmidt, mining gold in the El Paso Mountains, was faced with a dangerous ridge between his mining claims and the smelter to the south in Mojave. Schmidt said that he would "never haul his ore to the Mojave smelter down that back trail" using his two burros. Thus, he began his tunnel in 1900. The tunnel was about 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 10 feet (3.0 m) wide. It was cut through solid granite bedrock and required little shoring. However, Schmidt was trapped many times by falling rock and injured often. He eventually installed a mining cart on rails.
In 1920 a road was completed from Last Chance Canyon to Mojave, eliminating the need for the tunnel, but Schmidt claimed to be obsessed with completion and dug on.
By 1938 he had achieved his "goal", having dug through nearly 2,500 feet (760 m) of solid granite using only a pick, a shovel, and a four-pound hammer for the initial section, and carefully placed dynamite with notoriously short fuses for the majority portion. It was estimated that he had moved 5,800 tons (5,260 metric tonnes) of rock to complete his work.
Interestingly, Schmidt never used the tunnel to move his mine's ore. Instead, he sold the tunnel to another miner and moved away. A Ripley's Believe It or Not! cartoon celebrated the feat, calling him the human mole. Schmidt's cabin, down below in Garlock, has been largely abandoned and stands as it was in the 1930s, preserved by the dry climate.
Saturday evening I decided to drive the RZR, which normally I ride my bike since our group has a few dirt bike riders. This time I decided to give it a break and drive the RZR. We made a run up to Oasis came back around Down to the bowl this happend. Broken rear frame in two places. My girls say I break everything, it started with breaking my daughters a-arm on her traxxxas, then my other daughters drone, now the RZR ;)
We ended up cutting the trip short because of the predicted high winds Sunday and Monday.
Good times riding in the Dez with great friends.
