In the 1870's gold was first discovered here in the heart of Idaho's wilderness. People came from all over the country to try their luck panning or mining for gold. There are abandoned gold mine operations and ghost towns all over this area.
It's a lot cooler today than yesterday, but there is still some smoke in the air. A perfect day to explore the ghost towns and some other interesting sites. The Yankee Fort Gold Dredge is only a few miles away from our campground, so that was the first stop. The road into the area where the Forest Service placed this massive machine is paved, but there are huge piles of mine tailings on either side of the road. There were about 6,000,000 cubic yards of displaced rock just from this one mining operation. So sad to see such destruction of the land. Kathy, Warren and Jim toured the interior of the dredge, while my Kathe toured the gift shop. The inside of the machinery was dark and smelly and the stairs were too steep for her. The kiosk and brochure explained all she needed to know.
After that tour they drove farther into the forest to check out two mining ghost towns. One town was Custer where the Forest Service had restored several buildings. There was a self guided tour with a a lot of information about the buildings and the inhabitants. The town was founded in 1879 by gold speculators of the Lucky Boy and Black mines. By 1910 it was a ghost town. This is a picture of the one room school house
It was interesting to see so many tourists in the area with gold pans and shovels, I guess there is still some gold to be had.
Fish Update: Jim caught a two nice sized trout yesterday and Warren caught one. Kathy bought a fishing license today, so the three of them are out trying their luck this afternoon.
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