Martinez cabin/mine/canyon (1 Viewer)

[inkpot]

Just spent 3 days up here. Helped remove the old shower house, as it was extremely vandalized(part of which was posted on UTube), and it was new enough that it had no historical value. All siding, insulation, drywall, and shingles are being removed from site. Biodegradable frame lumber remains. Building contained lots of new and old trash, and there was a family of Pack Rats nearly as big as a cat, and lots of bees/hornets/wasps. Fortunately the weather was cool and breezy, as we had to wear full safety gear, just short of Bio Hazard suits. I was too lazy to drive back for the club meeting Friday night, and I am too tired to make the Montana Mtn run today.

Also, BLM wanted to move the generator back to where it belonged. A few years ago, one was stolen, and this second one was dragged down into the riparian area at the entry to the canyon. It took us over 3 hours to move it about 1/4 mile. We used 2 rigs with winches, one to pull forward, and one to drag sideways for steering and to stand it back up when it tipped over. Popped a bead on a tire, fried a winch relay and blew up a snatch block twice. Great learning experience. It cleared out the trail so well that we had a stock 4 runner, stock Silverado, and stock Cherokee make it thru afterwards. John

 

[azTony]

Good job John!!

 

[Tools R Us]

Looks like big fun!

 

[inkpot]

Looks like big fun!

Need to talk to you about a better design for the center pin on the snatch block. Snap rings on both sides failed. It really is pretty flimsy, just never thought about it till those snap rings went flying into the brush.

 

[inkpot]

For those who want to drive up ther, I would get it done soon. A new hard gate will be installed either spring or fall this year, and then it will be foot traffic only. Officially this last section of road is closed to motor vehicle traffic. But, not only did we have BLM management with us this week, we also had 2 BLM Law Enforcement Officers, and while they all just stood there. we had at least 5 or 6 dozen motorized vehicles come thru.Not one rig was ticketed or even talked to about the many obvious safety/legal violations that were easy to see, like minors driving, lack of safety gear, alcohol, etc. Really disappointing. They really don't care, at least until after the new gate gets locked. There were a number of bikes, quads, rock buggies, and well built 4x4s that all made the entire loop around the mines, so it would seem that the infamous LUGE is pretty passable. I walked past the mill one way, and then over 1/2 way to the top the other way, but I was too lazy to repack my camping gear well enough to go drive up there and see the whole thing. For those of you who have not been there yet:

 

[fumann]

John,
Way to go!!! We missed you on the Montana Mtn run.
You would have loved it!!!

Murf, maybe this should be our next club run???

Happy Trails,
Fumann

 

[murf]

Nice work John, I ran that loop about three years ago when they said is was going to close it back then and here we are that many years later.

I cant believe the house got so beat up since I was there about two years ago on a seperate trip Also, what the heck about someone taking those huge generators?!

Crazy. Seems to have really gone downhill the last couple years. I remember going to the old original house in the early 90's and had minimum vandalism and stayed that way for a long time. Sad, indeed.

Glad to see youre helping stem the tide as much as you can

I imagine the gate will be installed after the cabins but before the trail goes down into the wash before the mill?

 

[inkpot]

Nice work John, I ran that loop about three years ago when they said is was going to close it back then and here we are that many years later.

I cant believe the house got so beat up since I was there about two years ago on a seperate trip Also, what the heck about someone taking those huge generators?!

Crazy. Seems to have really gone downhill the last couple years. I remember going to the old original house in the early 90's and had minimum vandalism and stayed that way for a long time. Sad, indeed.

Glad to see youre helping stem the tide as much as you can

I imagine the gate will be installed after the cabins but before the trail goes down into the wash before the mill?

I would bet the generators were going to be scrapped for about $0.10 per pound. Wouldn't even cover gas to make the trip, but I suppose it might cover the beer. It doesn't look like so much in the pix, but it is EVIL HEAVY! OHV traffic has grown by a huge amount in the last few years, and vandalism has grown along with. The new gate will be prior to the riparian area, near the right turn to the corral. John

 

[DSRTRDR]

Nice work John, I ran that loop about three years ago when they said is was going to close it back then and here we are that many years later.

remember we met you guys coming out ? I think it was just Michael and I

 

[murf]

remember we met you guys coming out ? I think it was just Michael and I

Thats right! I had forgotten - we will have to get back out there soon!

 

[inkpot]

Good news. Got 2 new relays so I could fix the winch controls. Found a bad connection on one of the original ones, so cleaned it all up and it works OK, so I will just keep the relays for later. Re-spooled the cable nice and neat/tight. Sounds kind of noisy when running, so I suppose I should pull the winch and to thru it. Sounds like it needs a lube job. John

 

[murf]

Inkpot, where exactly is the gate going to be located? Right at the cabins or prior?

 

[Tools R Us]

Inkpot, where exactly is the gate going to be located? Right at the cabins or prior?

Prior, not far after the T intersection. Inkpot is out at FJ for the next few days.

 

[murf]

Thanks Kevin ~