Just what does the LDM cave/mine entrance look like?

SPARTANOC · Thursday at 12:54 PM

markmar said:
Your opinion would leave out the most LDM clues. There are not many places in the Superstitions, where a cliff face is so close to the canyon floor, but you can choose a location and have a look.
I agree the location could be full of ledges that could resemble shelfs like giant staircases which hide and shadow the mine, but being so close to the canyon floor, I believe wouldn't been so difficult for someone to find it. Old time prospectors knew better than todays hikers.

Markmar

If we went with the clues we do know about, you'd realize that the original mine where Waltz took his Ore from, won't be anywhere near the canyon floor. Waltz noted in his story that the Mexican miners were working the mine high above the canyon floor. As for Waltz cache - that would be somewhere below near the canyon floor, for easy access.
-SpartanOC

markmar · Thursday at 1:32 PM

SPARTANOC said:
Markmar

If we went with the clues we do know about, you'd realize that the original mine where Waltz took his Ore from, won't be anywhere near the canyon floor. Waltz noted in his story that the Mexican miners were working the mine high above the canyon floor. As for Waltz cache - that would be somewhere below near the canyon floor, for easy access.
-SpartanOC

Spartan

Waltz stated the three caches could be seen from his camp ( the cave ), but they were not in sight of each other. From this description you can imagine the broken land which was facing his camp. I believe, the two small caches were made of ore dug out from the Mexican inclined shaft, a part dug by the Mexicans and maybe a part dug by him, so they should been close to the ravine below the inclined shaft. The third cache, which is buried in his mine, should be lower in regards to the main canyon, but not so close to the ravine.
I believe someone could hide himself from others just few feet away in that environment, so the story about Waltz and his partner shoting five Mexicans while were running out of the inclined shaft is pure fantasy, except Waltz and his partner were just few feet away from the pit's mouth. Don't forget Waltz said his mine is hard to find even you know where it is.

markmar · 2026-10-23T14:29:41-0500

Forgot to mention another story which describes the rocky terrain that is surrounding the LDM. It's the story of a man by the name Pips, who told Dick Holmes about an event that occured at Waltz's mine. Pips said he saw Waltz working the mine and hide himself waiting from Waltz to leave the spot. After Waltz left for a while , Pips went to the mine at saw its richesness, which was after anyone's dream. Waltz came back after a short time, and Pips was forced to hide himself behind some boulders in the vicinity of the mine. From his hiding spot and maybe through a small crack, Pips was able to see Waltz's face, full of anger because he understood someone was there, looking around to seek any trace of human being. Waltz was not able to see Pips and later left the place in discord. Pips was scared to death and swore he would not attempt to go again to the mine's location before Waltz's death.
Pips lived enough to tell the story to Holmes, but not enough to go back to the mine. So, think about that Waltz thought there was not worth the effort to look behind every boulder in that region in regards to find the intruder.

SPARTANOC · 2026-10-23T14:47:14-0500

markmar said:
Forgot to mention another story which describes the rocky terrain that is surrounding the LDM. It's the story of a man by the name Pips, who told Dick Holmes about an event that occured at Waltz's mine. Pips said he saw Waltz working the mine and hide himself waiting from Waltz to leave the spot. After Waltz left for a while , Pips went to the mine at saw its richesness, which was after anyone's dream. Waltz came back after a short time, and Pips was forced to hide himself behind some boulders in the vicinity of the mine. From his hiding spot and maybe through a small crack, Pips was able to see Waltz's face, full of anger because he understood someone was there, looking around to seek any trace of human being. Waltz was not able to see Pips and later left the place in discord. Pips was scared yo death and swear he would not attempt to go again to the mine's location before Waltz's death.
Pips lived enough to tell the story to Holmes, but not enough to came back to the mine. So, think about that Waltz thought there was not worth the effort to look behind every boulder in that region in regards to find the intruder.

Markmar

That's an interesting story. Do you know what the source is for that Pip story? That all said - it's interesting that you mentioned boulders and a rough terrain. The area that myself and Idahodutch who you've spoken to here on TN before have worked, is a rough terrain area AND has an enormous amount of boulders - that is supposedly hiding Waltz' cache. For me, your info is just one more bit of evidence that we ARE in fact in the right area. In this area there is a high cliff face above and a collected pile of boulders that look like they've been placed there by "someone" below. It's a peculiar pile of very old boulders and laid out in a particular shape - I'm guessing to mark the spot, so one can find it quickly. This area has not been touched in over 100 years.
-SpartanOC