Trip report: Mazourka Canyon, CA May 2012

[Teotwaki]

I've provided a complete writeup in my blog at Sun To The North: Mazourka Canyon Exploration

Here are a few pictures from the adventure that you may find of interest.

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Old mining cabin
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On this quick trip I was only able to lightly touch all of the areas that are there to explore. This would make for a great trip in cooler weather!

 

[ssichler]

Great report and pics.

 

[Kofoed]

I think that mine is called the Champion Spark Plug Mine. Next time, try to find the trail over the pass and into Harkless flats area. You can make the trail a loop back to Big Pine. The enviros are dying to close the road over the pass.

 

[Teotwaki]

I think that mine is called the Champion Spark Plug Mine. Next time, try to find the trail over the pass and into Harkless flats area. You can make the trail a loop back to Big Pine. The enviros are dying to close the road over the pass.

In this previous trip
https://forum.ih8mud.com/trails-events-expeditions/603524-trip-report-papoose-flats-may-2012-a.html

We went up Mazourka Canyon and followed the trail over the pass. IIRC, it first goes through Squaw Flats and then through Papoose Flats. If you keep going north you can then cross over a pass to Harkless Flats.

This is me pulling my trailer through the section between Mazourka Canyon (Badger Flats) and Squaw Flats. Look at all that flexin' going on!

From some Google searches it appears the the Champion Sparkplug mine is further north up near Bishop and accessed off of highway 6

Champion Spark Plug Mine Windyscotty's Blog


It turns out the the trail for this trip that I was on has at its far end the Betty Jumbo Mine. The mines that I saw were the Black Eagle and Alhambra.

 

[Teotwaki]

Finding out the name of the Betty Jumbo Mine led me to a bunch of cool information, especially the link from the guy Eric that got stuck on the road that I turned back from.

Near disaster in the Inyo Mountains on the Betty Jumbo Mine trail...

and how he paid $1300 to get pulled out
Stuck in the Inyo Mountains above Bee Springs Canyon


good document with details on the various mines
http://pubs.usgs.gov/mf/1983/1492b/report.pdf

some good pictures from Betty Jumbo although they are scrambled in with others of the Black Eagle and Alhambra mines
BETTY JUMBO