Zé
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Iron Fork CampI was thinking of doing an overnighter at the primitive Iron Fork camp area. My question is...how much flat space for tents & people is there? How many people do you think could reasonably finds spots to sleep?
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AW
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Wouldnt worry about it, Iron Fork camp is a pretty sizable area. Just dont shortcut it to the East Fork or vice versa unless you really like brush and hell. At least 6 tents with space...close to confluence so more area there too(though non-fire area).
Could be hot,ants, and flies. Also -water filter. Its really a ho-hum area with the action elsewhere. Stay put latest in the day, leave as early kind of place.
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Zé
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thanks.
so maybe 20 person limit
how far away is it from the river? what do you mean 'don't shortcut it'...is it hard to get to from the water?
any other suggestions of where to camp, would fish fork camp be better?
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AW
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| Zé wrote: | thanks.
so maybe 20 person limit
how far away is it from the river? what do you mean 'don't shortcut it'...is it hard to get to from the water?
any other suggestions of where to camp, would fish fork camp be better? |
I would stay at Iron Fork if I required a fire(not sure on the legality of this but).I was only talking about the camp itself. There are places quite nearby to hangout. Iron Fork camp is not hard to get to, its just that one must enter/exit in the Iron Fork river...which is frustrating since you see the Iron Fork coming up(+ a stream crossing) and think maybe just hike up a hill and cut diagonally to the camp.....bad idea. It especially looks tempting from the camp since there is a use trail ,to add to the lure, towards the east fork.
If you snag Stanley-Miller, then go up to Fish Fork camp, then on return camp at Iron Fork, you'll be in a good position. Are you hitting up any other mines like Blue Jay mine?
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Hikin_Jim
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The Stanely Miller I know about (I've been there), but where is the Blue Jay?
So, don't go to Iron Fork any other way than via the water course? So, is it really steep in between? Stinging nettles? Heavyduty bushwhack? The Iron Fork camp police take you away? 
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AW
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That Blue Jay one is on the gold mining website as 1 mile up Alder creek, which is near Fish Fork...thats a long ways to see what....
Yes, the watercourse....the culprit is yucca on trying to circumvent that...the top is steep and dense brush, but its a trap to come down the hill and have to go super-slow..its like whats next? a rattlesnake waiting?
The Iron Fork police is armed with heavy submachine guns but only patrols the scenic area(canyoneering route)..offenders are executed on the spot, no trial for graffiti, trash, or fire....not even allowed to eat...heck the rules are everything is packed out, including human waste.
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Hikin_Jim
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| AW wrote: | | The Iron Fork police is armed with heavy submachine guns but only patrols the scenic area(canyoneering route)..offenders are executed on the spot, no trial for graffiti, trash, or fire....not even allowed to eat...heck the rules are everything is packed out, including human waste. |
So, it's either pack out your waste or get wasted? 
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Zé
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awesome, thanks a lot.should work out just fine then
forgot about the blue-jay, i'll have to look that up. of course, as long as i'm up there, might as well check it out!
although I'm starting to tack on probably too many exploratory goals for just a one-nighter! 
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Hikin_Jim
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| Zé wrote: | | although I'm starting to tack on probably too many exploratory goals for just a one-nighter! |
Dude! Just turn your one-nighter into an all-nighter. It's going to be dark inside the mine anyway, right?
Seriously though, I found multiple shafts at the Stanley-Miller that were in good shape. Not at all like the Widco/Baldora Mine. More like Allison Mine. One of the lower shafts had a lot of old crushed cans -- I think a lot of them were fuel cans. Perhaps that shaft played out and they used it as a land fill, although the fact that they flattened them suggests that access to that shaft was still maintained. I seem to recall that there was a mine cart near the entrance to one of the shafts. Of the mines in the SG's that I've visited, this is the best preserved. It's so remote and difficult to get to that it's artifacts haven't been looted.
I didn't have much time to explore the time I was there due to fading daylight, so I'd love to see photos.
I wonder if that big old cast iron stove is still up there (of course I can't imagine someone would move it). Look for rock chimneys sticking up out of the brush. I was able to navigate into the vicinity with map and compass (and a bit of help from God* perhaps  ), but it was the chimneys sticking up out of the brush that lead me to the exact spot. Oh, and yes, there will be brush. But you knew that.
Happy hunting!
HJ
*I did that trip with a 1:62,500 map which contains the data of four 1:24,000 maps on a smaller sheet of paper. I'd like to think I'm good with maps, but with a 1:62,500, finding a mine in the brush is something of a crapshoot, thus my suggestion that I had a little help.
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HikeUp
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When you're up to your arse in buckthorn, just think about all the peaks you won't be summiting! It'll help mitigate the misery.
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