You can’t tell, but there is an underground waterfall behind us.
After the Kelsey mine trek, I expected my adventure to Dawn mine to be a light hike, followed by the exploration of a small mine. It is in the well hiked Millard Canyon, just outside of the suburbs surrounding LA to the north. It is not even a long hike- the trip report I found here pegs it at a 5 miles round trip. This was supposed to be a trip to test the mettle of a new potential adventurer, Chloe, for a canceled adventure to the Allison mine.
View of LA from Millard cyn Trail
The team this time was Chloe, the ever-reliable Hardee, and myself. We began the adventure by purchasing an ANF adventure parking pass at Turners, and heading up lake street to Millard Canyon. Upon arrival, at about 3:00 PM, the car had some trouble turning off its engine, but once that was sorted we started our hike by heading out on the East road from the first parking lot. This led us along the crest of a hill that offered superb views of LA and the surrounding cities. We followed this path and it wrapped around a hill to our right and descended into the valley floor. Once we hit the rangers cabin, we descended into the river bed and the adventure began in earnest. We were careful to take note of and remember warning sign that was posted on a large tree in the river bed near the cabin; this would be a waypoint for us on the way back, in case we did not see the cabin.
The Falls!
We continued up the rocky riverbed until we hit a fork. A high path that looked like a river bank led off to the left, while the other plunged back down into the bed and continued up a rocky tributary. We decided to go left here and visit Saucer Canyon Falls, which were nice. We saw some people who had climbed up pretty high. We will definitely be back to climb up them someday!
Captain Crazypants leads the way
Before we returned to the main path, we met a dog (we assumed it belonged to the folks who were up on the falls), who we nicknamed capt. Crazypants. Hardee had some jerky on him, and the dog would not leave him alone! As we left, the captain followed us. At first, we hoped he would go back to his owners, but it quickly became clear that he was leading us to the mine, and not the other way around. There were also a lot of spray-painted arrows that went in the direction of the mine.
Hardee gets ready to traverse some rocks. Note arrows
We continued up the rocky streamed, doing our best to follow the instructions on Dans hiking pages. We were looking, in particular for the point where “If you miss the trail you’ll find yourself climbing over and through the granite maze until the massive rocks forbid you to climb any further”. Fortunately, we never found it and continued up the trail mostly through the riverbed, trying to skirt around spots of still or flowing water, and trying to stick to the more easily traversable river banks.
The captain going the wrong way.
By the time we got past these rocks, we were pretty tired, and the sun was starting to set. We increased our pace, but our minds were wearied by the unknown length of the road ahead. Captain Crazypants helped keep our spirits aloft, and kept leading the way. The sun started to set as we entered a forested portion of the streambed.
The suns last rays illuminate a faraway peak
We were concerned about the sun going down, but we pressed on and eventually found the lower entrance to the mine. There were many false-positives along the way, but the remains of some kind of steam engine give away the path to the entrance.
Large beams and steam engine on the way to the entrance. Crazypants is still doggedly leading the way.
More spraypaint indicates exactly where the entrance is, hidden behind a boulder
Once at the entrance, we did a quick check of our lighting equipment. I personally regret that we only had one light/person. It just goes to show you that you always need to be over-prepared, even for hikes that seem like they should be easy. The entrance was flooded, so Hardee and I switched to fivefingers and flip-flops (respectively) and Chloe decided to brave it in her shoes. As we scouted out the entrance, Crazypants balked at the idea of even getting close to the entrance, and ran off, never to be seen (by us) again. We miss you Crazypants.
Flooded entrance. Note the hinge on the frame.
As we made our way in, we noticed a lot of wood in the entrance. I was originally concerned, as it looked like shoring, which would indicate that the miners thought it was unstable. I breathed a sigh of relief when I looked a little closer and realized that the tops of the posts were not touching anything, and that there were heavily corroded hinges in the frame. It looked like a gate that had been installed and removed some time ago, according to the LA goldmines website.
It turns out you can make it past the entryway and into the mine proper by carefully walking on the partially submerged wooden beams in entry; the caveat is that they sometimes move, but we were careful and managed to get over them dryly.
Possible passage to an upper level, from the ceiling of the first level.
The first floor of the mine today consists of two main tunnels branching out from the vaulted ceiling directly after the entry. There are stories and maps of an upper level, but we did not have the time or equipment to explore that area, although we did see passages leading upwards.
To the left, there is a long, rather echo-y passage with several alcoves along its length. By the time we reached the end of the winding passage, we were proceeding at a brisk walk. It may have been the underground waterfall in the distance, but I felt like I heard a low rumble as we walked along, and that scared me. After turning around, we observed a short moment of darkness where we all turned off our lights. This did not last long, as the darkness is terrifying, and Chloe decided it was time for lights again.
The PIT.
After reaching the main area again, we set out to explore the other passage. To do this, we had to navigate a thin ledge on the edge of a huge pool of water, reputed to be 55-80 feet deep. Scary, and very full of very cold water. I hypothesize that it was originally another mineshaft, but later they ran into water and it flooded. Someday, somebody should build an ROV and see what there is to see down there! Hmm. Somebody interested in mines, who is an engineer would be perfect for this project!
The way is not shut, but it is certainly wet!
The source of the water
After not falling into the water, we were rewarded with a sort walk to one of the most amazing things I have seen; an underground waterall. It is pretty clear here that there was a dam built to prevent flooding of all the tunnels when somebody started tunneling up, and hit some kind of aquifer or spring. This flooded the rest of the tunnel ahead and up-stream of the dam, which we decided not to explore because the water was VERY COLD. Instead, we gawked at the waterfall, and took pictures of ourselves.
Chloe managing to not get wet.
With the obligatory MySpace photos out of the way, we continued to be amazing and not fall into the pit of frigid water. We crept back to the main room and carefully exfiltrated the mine, again being careful not to get wet. Once outside, we changed back to our normal shoes, had a swig or two of water, and snacked a bit. It was really dusk in the canyon now, and we began our retreat with our flashlights on, proceeding at a safe, comfortable pace. I was somewhat unsettled by the prospect of a night hike, but there were really no other options.
Socks! Socks! Socks! Smartwool socks are the BEST!
Suddenly, it was very dark. Here Chloe is illuminated in a small pool of light from her flashlight, and Hardee can be recognized by his headlamp.
The rest of the trip was spent in darkness, with the only illumination being that from our headlights, as the dim glow of the moon did not penetrate well into the bottom of the canyon. It is amazing how big the canyon felt in the darkness.
Watch out for drops!
Chloe Points out some especially treacherous parts of the trail.
After many stream crossings, sort climbs down boulders, and a few instances of tripping and almost falling, we arrived back at the fork. Here we proceeded to climb about 6 feet back up to the riverbank, and headed back to where we had come from. Upon finding the marked tree and the steep slope next to the cabin, we ascended out of the canyon floor and back onto the trail. Feeling that we were almost done, we increased our pace, especially when we noticed a pair of glowing eyes on the cliff above us.
Los Angeles at night.
Just before returning to the car, we cleared the canyon that had been obstructing our view of the glittering lights of the Los Angeles basin. It was truly a fitting end to the adventure to rise out of the darkness and be reminded that the lights of civilization were still burning strong. After appreciating this for a moment, we headed in the home-hat direction.
