Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126398
Inside and lookin' out of the Frederick Mine. Area mines pr.oduced silver in the 1880's. Three old ghosts on the • m untam • , rocks, .. the ride to see this old trio like a ride thro ugh a lock quarry. rid e, the tri "Star City, eky and a Belfort is stee hell of in the desert. We did an article on it (seejanuary 4, 1977 Cycle News) . So . still using Mammoth Lakes as our base we .t railered our "bikes 80 .rniles ·n orth and sought out the three old ghosts on the mountain. . Few people venture . up' - t h e mountains except for a handful of deer hunters and four-wheelers , I would gJIes5 the number of bikes a year probably could be counted on one hand. Un~{UD ,t three c .II! have been vaniJa,lized . The Antiquities . Act of 1906 hasn't worked very well up ' ' here. Several years ago, I read that I there were three large log cabins still standing in Boulder Flat. When we =1 ,saw_it , .o.nly.,tl".o. .l"er~ .left , _Th~ r.e_ !s evidence that the missing one has been removed. log by log. Obviously, it wasn't done by scooter riders, you would need lots .of wheels to haul off the stuff. Riding to these old , forgotten towns and camps gives much food for thought. The people who built. mined and lived up here must really have been tough. The weather in summer is hot and dusty; in winter it's bitter cold. Just existing must have been a chore. The road builders were super engineers with plenty of imagination. and the muleskinners who drove the .wago ns and stages were a breed of their own . Running a team of cantankerous mules up these rocky tracks took plenty of skill. but coming down . it must have been a balls-to-thewall effort. In several places there is no ' room for error. One miscue and it 's a ride - a 1000 -foot ride - right into oblivion. These lonely camps are on the east flank of l1 ,664,foot Wheeler Peak , and they came. into being around 1861. Unlike the Bodie area , most of these camps housed the hardrock silver miners. Most lasted only a short time since the veins of ore were thin and very hard to follow. The Kentuck Mine across Farris Canyon to the north was said to be ! he most profitable. It was a short timer also and shut down in 1884. Through the years . many a one', burro prospector has'combed the steep mountain sides. continually looking for a new glory hole. In 1920. the Silverado Mine hit one of the long, sought-after and elusive veins and produced very well until 1938. To find the start of this ride. drive to the town of Bridgeport on highway 395. Turn east on highway 22 , continue past the reservoir and the California -Nevada border. About six miles past the " W elcom e to Nevada" sign look for the small plaque "Silverado Canyon ." Turn left on to the dirt road and park. The ranch you'll see on the right is the Sweetwater; ' it 's been there _ approximately 100 years. At one time it was also a stage stop on the Carson City. Bodie-Aurora route . Mark Twain could have stood on this very spot and admired the same scenery. He passed through here on his way to Aurora where he lived for a short time. ' • The ride starts in Nevada , but all three of the camps you'll visit are in California . Double check that you park off the road out of the way as the Sweetwater and other ranches in the area use it. Then, unload the scooters, add some gas and let 's go . The first part is on private land, so please stay on the road. Go easy on the throttle for the first mile or so, we don't want to frighten any of the livestock. Stop. Did you bring your lunch and canteen? There ain't no Long Branch saloons or Silver Dollar has houses on this here mountain . . As we will get above 10.000 feet . a jet change will really be a benefit to the two-strokers. We dropped one size and did pretty well. Head west and a tad south staying on the road that looks the most used . -Soo n you 'll cross tw~ small streams. Both had water when we crossed even during the long dry spell. A wet winter may cause some ' non-waterproofed bikes a problem. . At 1.5 miln, a fork appears,. go left.' . . 'J!!C.IiD! '- . wilt ae'etn'