In Search of the Lost Mine

Thursday, March 18, 2010

We had to travel 29 miles towards the centre of the park today to get to the Lost Mine hiking trail.  This seems to be the most lush area of the park, with canyon’s filled with trees and grasses.  Apparently this is also home to mountain lions, deer and bears. This is a far cry from the desert conditions that exist in the rest of the park. When we arrived at the parking lot for the hike it was already full but a car was backing out and we were able to make a U-turn and got into the parking spot.

The first part of the hike was deceptively easy as it was black-topped for about 50 yards.  The incline after this section was fairly small and we made good progress.  As we were walking I glanced into the bush to our right and saw two deer feeding on tree twigs.  One was a young buck and the other a doe.  They must be quite habituated as we were only about 25 or 30 feet away from them and they did not try to run.  They merely kept a watchful eye on us, as they continued to browse.  I think that we weren’t mountain lions looking for supper so they had nothing to fear from us.  We took a few pictures and were quietly watching them but we could hear a rather loud group (sorry to say this but I think they were Americans from their accents) coming up the trail behind us.  The deer broke and were soon out of sight.

After an hour of steady climbing the path became a little more difficult with rocky ledges as steps and lots of loose rocks.  The grade seemed to increase and then we were climbing a series of switchbacks.  Already my rented coffee was weighing heavily on my bladder and I checked the trail guide to see where the nearest restroom was located.  NOTHING!!  There were no restrooms, latrines, porta-potties or pit-privies!! NOTHING!!!  They did not tell us this at the trail-head, but it was in the fine print in the trail guide.  Of course everyone reads the complete trail guide before starting out.  I didn’t have the guts to tell Janet that there were no toilets on the way, as I knew that her blood pressure medication would be kicking-in right about now.  She was already ticked off because her knees were starting to hurt and I knew that if I told her about the lack of hygienic facilities she may go to an all-out freak-out! 

At about 1 1/2 hours up we met the first people coming down. They told us that they were the second car in the parking lot and had started onto the trail almost two full hours before us.   We knew then that we still had a long way to go.  I was soaking up the scenery, while Janet kept her head down and kept motoring forward.  I don’t think that she was enjoying the experience as much as me.  Another couple said that we were almost there, just an “aggressive section ahead” and we would be near the top.

The Summit  of Lost Mine Peak 7650 feet above sea level – Two hours and twenty minutes to travel 2.4 miles up 1,100 vertical feet (1:11.52 rise).  I took some great shots at the top and just revelled in the scenery, while Janet found a cool spot under a pinyon pine.  According to legend, Spanish explorers found a vein of silver in this area and enslaved some local inhabitants to mine it .  The workers eventually rebelled and killed the Spaniards and then sealed the mine so that they would never be exploited again.  Geologists believe that this type of rock would not likely contain silver, so the legend remains just that.  The name has a certain cache which keeps people climbing to the peak to find their own treasure.

All too soon we had to start down the mountain, our bladders urging us on.  We passed a number of people on the way…old people on a mission!  I think we made it down in just over an hour and we were in the truck headed for the nearest restroom in the Chisos Basin area.  The first turn out led to a tent campground so we knew they would have what we craved most.  In no time we were making the final dash to the washrooms which were mercifully not occupied. We took a short ride to the visitor centre but the parking lot was packed and after circling it three times we decided to leave the area and find a quiet place to eat our lunch.  We pulled over at a roadside exhibit, where we had a quick lunch and we were soon on our way, back to the trailer.