Ore Cash Mine, Idaho

[caver]

Ore Cash mine is not far from Salmon ID which is were we had camped for the night. Well,,,more like did the RV park thing as it gave my Dad something to do. My Dad's aunt and uncle are buried in Salmon. The RV park owner actually knew my Dad's uncle. So it's late in the Day and I still have time to explore on my motorcycle. My first destination was a flowing well I had marked with the GPS.
It turned out to be a plastic pipe coming out of the ground to a stock tank.
http://caver.smugmug.com/photos/7401801-S.jpg

Near this area was one very short adit. Farher on up on the side of the road what appeared to be the foundation of a mill. I head up the mountain and actually come across one other idiot,,,I mean adventurous soul camped out near his pickup. I quickly found out why he decided to stop here.
A very long and rough talus slope.
http://caver.smugmug.com/photos/7401811-S.jpg
I was tempted to turn back as the road kept getting worse. Noticing fresh motorcycle tracks I decided there had to be something up here.
First thing I come to is this old auto frame. Look right above my front tire and you see the corner of an old cabin.
http://caver.smugmug.com/photos/7401802-S.jpg
I never did find a mine opening but I'm probably standing near it in the picture looking down at the remains of the stamp mill.
http://caver.smugmug.com/photos/7401803-S.jpg
Note huge pile of wood stacked for the boiler.
http://caver.smugmug.com/photos/7401804-S.jpg
Stamp mill machinery.
http://caver.smugmug.com/photos/7401805-S.jpg
A different angle showing that it was a 10 stamp mill.
http://caver.smugmug.com/photos/7401807-S.jpg
I thought this was interesting, a pillow block and pulley made of wood.
http://caver.smugmug.com/photos/7401808-S.jpg
The road continued up and I couldn't have been far from the summit of the ridge but daylight was waning. I told my Dad I would be back by dark and didn't want him to be too worried.
I turned around right after this other cabin.
http://caver.smugmug.com/photos/7401809-S.jpg
Turn off is just north of Salmon on #93 near a spot on the map called Carmen.

[Johnnie]

Caver, Great photographs of Idaho's back roads, In the 1980's we made a trip to Idaho's most northern ghost towns and when we stoped in Boise, for the night we could not decide which highway to take the next day, so we ask the owner of the inn, and he suggested we take highway 95 but added that it was a smaller highway but offered a lot more things to see as it followed the Snake River for awhile and had a lot great places to stop and fish.

He was right it was a the most interesting and memorable, drive we every took, But what was the most interesting was all the abandon farms we seen as we taveled north through the "Pan Handle" just about all the farms had old cars sitting out by the old barns but did not have time to check them out to see if we could buy some of these old classic cars from the 1930s but sure wish we did. I bet there is not a one of those classic left anywhere that hasen't been bought and restored i know some of my old cars that we had back in the 1950s and 1960s are in every car show we attened, and are selling $30,000 and up, if we only have known then.

Happy Ghosttowning
Johnnie & Sheila