Thaynes Canyon Hike with Melissa Clark

Thaynes Canyon Hike with Melissa Clark at 9:30 a.m.

This hike is a 6 to 6.5 mile hike. It is long but not too steep. It is considered moderately difficult with an 1100-foot elevation gain. We will stop at the turn around point at Shadow Lake (by the Jupiter Lift base) for a 30-minute break for snack/lunch. Please bring water, snacks and sunscreen! Because of our stops at mine sites allow 3.5 hours for this hike.

If you have a pass, please bring it, if not a lift ticket will be provided. We will be riding The Crescent Lift. We’ll start our hike at the top of the Crescent Lift. We’ll visit the King Con Ore Bin and see the area where the King Con Tram brought ore over the ridge. Here we’ll also discuss the history of the Crescent and Bogan Mines, which were combined by Solon Spiro to form the Silver King Consolidated, or the King Con, as it was known.

We’ll then hike down into Thaynes Canyon, where we will see The California-Comstock Mine, perhaps the oldest of the remaining buildings on the PCMR property. We’ll also hike close to the Thaynes Complex. Along the way we will talk about the old rail system that was used to move ore down the mountain.
We’ll hike the area of the 1883 Matt Brennan murder. He was shot by a sniper as he observed a geological survey being conducted for E.M. Wheeler by Will Gorlinski. John “Black Jack” Murphy was accused of being the shooter and was hung by vigilantes several days later. Was Black Jack the real killer? Dramatic speculation will ensue.

We’ll then hike up to Shadow Lake near the base of the Jupiter Lift for a snack/lunch break. After our break we will hike back to the Crescent chair for the ride down to the PC base!