A Walk In The Woods

Last week a friend and I took a vigorous 3 mile walk in the national forest just outside of Cowtown.  It was marked and there wasn't any danger of getting lost only of strokin' out with the steep inclines the trail had to offer.  And I mean steep inclines and long ones, at that.  I'm in fairly good shape and even at that the climb to the top had me blowin' and puffin'.  Good news:  Neither of us went into cardiac arrest or stoked out. 

A little stream ran along much of our hike.  It was one of the first watersheds mined for gold back in the 1850's. 

We found one abandoned mine named Mt. Shasta even though its namesake is located miles away to the north. 

As is the habit in our area, old mineshafts are blocked and often fenced to keep foolhardy people from attempting to explore them.  As you can see from the photo the Mt. Shasta mineshaft was blocked with debris and fenced.  Even at that it was apparent someone had climbed one portion of the fencing and probably tried to clear an entrance into this old mine.  At today's going rate for gold of $1,775 an ounce and in this economy I can't say that I can blame anyone from trying to seek their fortune.