The Lost Carson Mine

[Rebel - KGC]

Elliott C: I was unable to view your attachment 1233280 ? Possible to try it again ? Thanks

Neither could I...

 

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[sdcfia]

If a guy wanted to cover up something on those slopes, there'd be plenty of scree available to push down over it.

 

[Elliott_C]

Elliott C: I was unable to view your attachment 1233280 ? Possible to try it again ? Thanks

Sorry about that; I don't know why it didn't show up. Now I got it to show up, but it's upside down, and I don't have a clue how to fix it. I can live for weeks in the mountains with almost nothing, but I can't figure out this fancy technology stuff.

 

[Elliott_C]

Elliott, can you speak about the Sangres without saying what you're looking for. May have
useful info to share.

I only know a little bit, only enough to go up there and make a nice camping trip out of it.

I first went up what I thought was Deadman's Creek, and I was on the hunt for Deadman's Cave, the multi-chambered cave in the story with the three guys who found all those gold bars and sold a few in Silver Cliff. I didn't find the cave, but I came across several old dilapidated cabins quite a ways up, so that was interesting. However, I don't really know if that was Deadman's Creek because I never made it to the Deadman Lakes. I ran into a dead end, and instead of backtracking to find where I went wrong, I just climbed straight up the mountainside, followed the ridge for a ways, and dropped down the east slope of an unknown ridge, which put me in the middle of the range, then I hiked out along the Sand Creek trail.

Then I drove over to the east side of the range and hiked up Marble Mountain looking for Spanish Cave. Didn't find it, but I think I know where it is, and now I sure know where it's not! I went ahead and summited Marble Mountain then hiked north-ish and dropped off the ridge just below Crestone Needle. Long hike but fantastic.

All in all, I was only out there for two to three weeks, and it was a great trip. Can't wait to try again another time.

 

[UncleMatt]

Hey Elliott,

I am curious how long it took you to make the hike from the road down to Lime Creek and then all the way up to the top of Twilight. Did you by any chance use a GPS tracker to record your route and the length of the hike?

 

[UncleMatt]

Here is that last photo of Elliot's turned right side up, hope you don't mind Elliot!

 

[Elliott_C]

Hey Elliott,

I am curious how long it took you to make the hike from the road down to Lime Creek and then all the way up to the top of Twilight. Did you by any chance use a GPS tracker to record your route and the length of the hike?

No, I don't have a GPS tracker. In theory that would be nice to have, but I have enough trouble with basic computer skills that I'd be clueless how to make use of it.

It took me two days to get up to the headwaters. I suspect that it doesn't actually take that long, but my excuse is that I was packed way too heavy, and I picked the worst route to get up there. Coming down only took one day, but I chose a much better route.

I parked at the Purgatory Trail parking lot, and went down to Lime Creek via Purgatory Trail. Very easy, well maintained trail down to the creek. Now, if a fella knew about the trail that cuts across Purgatory Flats and goes right up that ridge between Twilight Creek and Las Animas river, then he'd just go on up that way. But, I didn't know about that trail, so I hiked up Lime Creek to the mouth of Twilight Creek and pitched camp there for the night.

The next day, I hiked right up Twilight Creek, alternating back and forth between staying low on the creek and moving up the south/east slope and side-hilling it. What a mistake that was. Took me all day just to go a couple miles. I finally found a place where there was a nice little spring and a flat spot, so I pitched camp again. The next day I finally made it to the top where I pitched camp on the upstream side of the bottom pond that you see on a map. It's a nice place to camp, and it's about a half-hour hike from the upper pond which is the actual headwaters.

I stayed up there for a few nights, then hiked out along top of the ridge I mentioned that overlooks Twilight and Las Animas. There is a very prominent trail right smack on top of the ridge. It has remnants of being cut open years ago with a chainsaw, which obviously would've been before that area became designated Wilderness, and I suspect that path has been a game and stock trail for centuries, which means it was likely the route Carson and Estes took to get up Twilight. Still, to imagine them going in and out of there with a pack mule loaded with supplies and gold ore, I just don't know how they did it. And I believe Carson was in his 60's or 70's, too. Gives a whole new perspective on what it was to be one of those tough-as-nails prospectors way back then.

 

[Elliott_C]

Here is that last photo of Elliot's turned right side up, hope you don't mind Elliot!
View attachment 1234763

I don't mind one bit; I appreciate it.

Moving right to left across that pic, you can see the rock slide that goes into the pond on the upper right side, then there is an area of grass, then there is another rocky slope to the upper left of the pond that stops just shy of the shoreline and leaves a little grass-covered gap. The legend says that Carson just turned his mule loose to graze while he was gathering the ore, and that he blocked off an area somewhere so they wouldn't wander off. I'm thinking that little gap between the pond and the rocks on the upper leftside of the pond is where Carson set up some kind of temporary fencing to block his mule from walking off. It wouldn't be able to get across the rockslide on the right, and it wouldn't be able to walk over the jagged ridges above, so a few poles or something in that little gap would've kept it in that grassy area.

Some of the little details of the story come together once you get up there, but some are still unclear. Regardless, it was a cool trip and maybe I can get some others to join in on the hunt next time.

 

[UncleMatt]

Hell Elliott, you could have just driven down Lime Creek road to the southern hairpin and saved yourself a lot of walking! It only takes a short hike from there down to Lime Creek and on to Twilight. Although there is no well kept trail, and you have to work your way through some very thick brush along Lime Creek to get to Twilight. There is also a cabin down near where the two meet where you can get a roof over your head for the night.

 

[UncleMatt]

I have to say, KUDOS to Elliott for taking on a very difficult task in making it to the search area! My hat is off to you sir! This last summer I went on a day hike, and only made it to where Lime and Twilight meet. And even that was not a cake walk. I guess the lesson here is to plan for several days of hiking and scrambling if you plan on searching for the Carson strike!

 

[UncleMatt]

Crow, so glad to see you making an appearance!

 

[geezerdb]

So- UncleMatt, are you going to make the hike up there this coming summer via the general route Elliot took to check out the area in the pics Elliot took? The suspense is killing me, is the float gold vein there or not?? Please, someone go up there this summer and find it or prove it is not there so we can put this story to rest one way or the other. ??

 

[UncleMatt]

I would like to make it up there. I have other searches in progress that also beg for my attention. What I would love to do is take a metal detector up there and use around the upper basin ponds. I'm hopeful that if there is a free gold source up there some signs of it eroding down to the pond might be located. Since I found signs of dredging at the confluence of the creeks below, that would mean that float was making its way down. And it has to start from somewhere...

 

[Elliott_C]

Matt, sorry I fell off through email way back when. Anyways, I'm going to head back up Twilight Creek late-July/early-August, so I'm starting to plan things now, and I'm trying to think this through a little more.

I love what everyone's done in the Treasure Mtn thread. I'm certain it's a hoax, but the French/Spanish research is still great. With that in mind, what are some research angles to pursue with the Carson legend? What comes to my mind is: when the shepherd Juan Quintana found Carson's vein, exactly where were his sheep grazing? The story says he worked for a McCormick, so are there records of a McCormick rancher grazing along Twilight Creek?

Granted, there weren't National Forest grazing permits back then, but I wonder if modern-day permit ownership can be traced back to who grazed where at the turn of the century. This might show McCormick grazing Twilight Creek, "X" grazing the Cascade Creek drainage, "Y" grazing the Crater Creek drainage, etc. I'm almost certain that the ranchers of the day generally respected each other's grazing areas, and they would've gone back to the same place year after year. How would I go about finding out that info?

Also, I found Levi's 1880 census record (if it is indeed him), and it shows him having five or six kids. I have to wonder if any pertinent details to Levi's gold have passed down through the generations and are still told around the dinner table.

 

[UncleMatt]

Matt, sorry I fell off through email way back when. Anyways, I'm going to head back up Twilight Creek late-July/early-August, so I'm starting to plan things now, and I'm trying to think this through a little more.

I love what everyone's done in the Treasure Mtn thread. I'm certain it's a hoax, but the French/Spanish research is still great. With that in mind, what are some research angles to pursue with the Carson legend? What comes to my mind is: when the shepherd Juan Quintana found Carson's vein, exactly where were his sheep grazing? The story says he worked for a McCormick, so are there records of a McCormick rancher grazing along Twilight Creek?

Granted, there weren't National Forest grazing permits back then, but I wonder if modern-day permit ownership can be traced back to who grazed where at the turn of the century. This might show McCormick grazing Twilight Creek, "X" grazing the Cascade Creek drainage, "Y" grazing the Crater Creek drainage, etc. I'm almost certain that the ranchers of the day generally respected each other's grazing areas, and they would've gone back to the same place year after year. How would I go about finding out that info?

Also, I found Levi's 1880 census record (if it is indeed him), and it shows him having five or six kids. I have to wonder if any pertinent details to Levi's gold have passed down through the generations and are still told around the dinner table.

Hey Elliott, if you can give me some advance warning I would be happy to go up to the headwaters of Twilight Creek with you! Send me a PM with your phone number, and lets start planning. I have a couple of friends who would like to go up as well, we can use them as mules. lol

 

[rschneider3]

Been checking in on this thread for a couple of years now. Glad to see its still going. Don't have much to add to the story line, but would be interested in joining in the search. You all might need some hands to move all that rubble.

The hardest part is convincing the wife to let me run off by myself for a week.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Join a "Para-Military" Group...

 

[nmth]

Hey Elliott, if you can give me some advance warning I would be happy to go up to the headwaters of Twilight Creek with you! Send me a PM with your phone number, and lets start planning. I have a couple of friends who would like to go up as well, we can use them as mules. lol

They must be young.

I wanted to go this year. Tried last year but called "mission abort" after parking on the South bend and looking at the terrain and the clock.

Maybe next year...

Just one piece of brown sugar quartz highgrade would be exciting as confirming some of the lore!

 

[UncleMatt]

I'm waiting for the monsoons to stop in the high country.

 

[sdcfia]

I'm waiting for the monsoons to stop in the high country.

By then you could get snow.