the history hike at new almaden

I went on another long hike yesterday- I went on the history hike which was mapped out by a local eagle scout- here are some of the photos I took with my phone:

there is some talk online that this is al capone's car. the legend goes that he escaped from alcatraz and fled the police and they caught him at th quicksilver mines. I don't think this is true- but the car is definitely there and the story is cool!

you can't really tell from this picture, but you can see all the way to fremont from up here:

this is the powder house where they kept all of the explosives. it is the best-preserved building in the park. the thought that those guys went tens of thousands of feet under ground and then set off explosives makes me shudder.

this is a pretty well preserved area where ore was worked and put into rail cars- looks like the quicksilver ride at gilroy gardens:

this gives you an idea of how peaceful and quiet a walk in the quicksilver park is-

there are a few blocks like this around the park. the miners took hand-drills and drilled into solid granite- all while being thousands of feet under ground.

this was definitely the highlight of my hike- this is the only mine that you can still enter. it goes in about 100 feet and is super-creepy. you have to have the map to find it.

here is a view from inside the mine, past the barrier that blocks further entry into the mine. when I walked in, even a few feet, the temperature immediately dropped, and the air felt damp and cold. I feel so sorry for the men who had to work in these mines every day for so little- and I feel so bad for all of the current miners today!

view from inside the mine-out

this area was put into the mines in the 1940's and is fairly modern compared to the other equipment that came in the 1840's. this is where the mine took things to the next level and used motorized trucks and tractors to work the ore that they dug up.

this marker shows where the original cinnabar cave was. for centuries, native americans viewed this site as a holy place and used the red rock in their paintings and medicine. they ended up showing it to some military officials at mission santa clara, and the rest is history. I tried to find the original cave and the mine that followed, but in the 1940's the government sent in workers to dismantly and cover up almost everything.