Well... That was an adventure. Introducing Mineral City!

Our first camping trip after moving to Washington was about a year ago. We set off for Monte Cristo and Silver Tip Peak. The trip was overall a success. Monte Cristo is a long-since abandoned mining town turned historical site which still hosts a rather well-maintained road-width trail all the way to the old town site, then beyond there is a trail to Silver Tip Peak but more of a "create your own adventure" style than the wide, flat road/trail to the town-site.

For our second trip, we thought we would head for the same approximate destination from the other direction - hiking from Index to Galena, then on to "Mineral City". That trip turned out to be far from what we expected with many river crossings through rapids in the dark, only to find a paved road and traffic in the middle of what we expected to be uninhabited wilderness on the other side.

After several trips to Troublesome Creek Campground in the small town of Galena by way of the trail around the washed-out section of the road, we finally took the long drive around through forest service roads to start our hike in Galena and aim again for Mineral City. We weren't sure what to expect in Mineral City but the allure of mystery had been calling to us for the last year. Would it be a historic site like Monte Cristo with an easy trail along the old road to it? Would it be like Galena - not abandoned, just harder to get to and still occupied as a rural cabin community? Would it be like our first trip down the Index-Galena highway with more adventures, challenges, and twists than we could expect? Yes.

Ready for adventure, we parked the car as far up the old Galena-Mineral City mining road as we dared and set off on foot with lighter-than-usual packs. (We aren't quite at the "ultra-light" camper status, but we are trying to at least stop being "ultra-heavy" campers. No canned food this time! ...well, maybe just one can of sardines and one of oysters, but we'll make up for it with ultra-light astronaut ice cream.) Even Tilly is pulling her weight and carries her own dog-supplies like her food and leash.

Me heading back for Tilly's pack (NOT Tilly. No carrying puppies this trip!)

We didn't go far before reaching the first major obstetrical and reason the road is no longer drive-able. A large rock slide took out a considerable length of road. We made our way down to the scree field by rope and picked our way across. Tilly didn't think it was such a good idea so I put my pack down on the far side and headed back for hers. With her pack off, she scampered merrily across until Tim caught her on the far side to get that pack back on.

Tim crossing the large slide area on our way back. A short ways had a foot bridge which has also collapsed.

Before heading across the slide, we looked long and hard for another way. By "long and hard" I mean climbing about a mile or more up another old, overgrown road of steep switchbacks up the mountain. When we finally decided there was one more switchback than we were willing to take and this was definitely not our road to the allusive Mineral City, we took the path of least resistance back: we checked the GPS and made a b-line for where we had forked off on that route, scrambling through the woods with no trail and no other footprints. 

There were a couple more hazards to cross to keep the casual day-hikers out. Parts of the trail had caved off into the steep ravine. One small spot eroded a bit too much and ropes had been strung up to hang on to while crossing the tricky bit. A few more small, less steep rock slides had taken out other sections of trail, and a few places bridges were missing, replaced by steep deer-trails down the hill to cross and climb back up the other side. Someone had kindly flagged these side routes over the years.

Contemplating crossing

Coming home after camping

One of the old bridges was still largely intact, while another only had one log still remaining and some very, very slanted, rotting boards to walk across. It was amazing to see five logs in a row, four feet in diameter, meant to span forty feet across a ravine completely rotted out and gone. Next to some of these tricky crossings were little memorial plaques or pictures... We assume because they loved hiking here so much and nothing to do with the missing trail.

Once across the hazards, much of the trail was more like we expected - an overgrown old logging road, barely distinguishable by the break in the trees and the dense underbrush, but with a bit of a foot path down one of the old tire ruts. We made some stops along the way to admire old mining adits (openings) lining the trail. 

Most of the adits we came across only extended a few feet into the rock or earth before stopping. We marveled at how much work went in to putting in the road and each prospector digging those test adits only to be disappointed with mediocre or no return.

An old bottle grown into the base of a tree - showing how long people have been in the area

Tim is very interested in mining history and looking for artifacts. I am more drawn to that piece of chocolate Tim hid in the bottom of his pack to give me once we get to our camp site. I think there was a promise of chocolate if I build the fire? 

The trail was beautiful, following Silver Creek all the way up. In the woods, we found many great camp sites but only one old cabin along the way. The cabin had a forewarning and fresh-looking sign saying "Caution: Wounded Bear" which was an effective deterrent to keep us a safe distance from their cabin until our way home when, feeling braver, we ventured up for a closer look. There was a note on the door with the families name and contact information and a spot for passers-by to leave notes. Only a few people a year passed by, with the last this summer being from July. We added our name and date to the list. Driving home we stopped at our favorite burger spot near Index and realized the same family owned the cabin and restaurant. 

After many miles, mostly up hill and through thick brush with quite a few detours in the name of exploration, we eventually reached the famed "Mineral City" town site - notable by the flat area just before crossing the river and birch trees showing newer growth. There wasn't much else of interest there to allude to any ideas of a mining "city". I wonder what it looked like at it's peak and if there was ever much more here.

Tim finally comfortable, curled up and taking up the entire tent once Tilly and I were out.

We pitched our incredibly tiny children's tent, had a lovely and filling dinner around the camp fire, then cuddled up with bent legs and wet heads and feet pressed up against either end, trying not to kick Tilly who took up a precious three square feet of our fifteen... Our next camping trip will be two pounds heavier as we will be bringing the real tent again from now on. 

It's hard to capture how incredibly tiny that tent is...

For the first time ever while camping, Tilly settled in at camp. While we sat around the fire roasting hot dogs and eating soup, Tilly curled up and went to sleep on our coats next to us. At bed time, we moved into the tent and she stepped over my inflatable mat and strait into her corner to lay down again (pressed up against the sides like the rest of us). In the morning, as we finished packing up, Tilly settled down with her pack by the fire, ready to go but patiently waiting. Perhaps she is finally getting older and more mature, or perhaps this is by far the warmest, driest, most comfortable camping spot we've ever taken her to and she finally could relax.

Overall... I don't think we will be heading back to Mineral City. The mystery is solved - there is no coffee shop hidden away in Mineral City unless you count the instant coffee with astronaut ice cream Tim made me for breakfast, and the trail leaves something to be desired. The area is still beautiful, but next time maybe we'll go for one of those nice retired fire towers only a couple miles down a kept up trail.