I remember on our first trip out to Colorado before we had a 4x4 vehicle of our own, we took one of the trail tours with (Colorado West), starting out of Ouray (went up Engineers Pass onto to Imogene and many of the spur trails up there and worked our way over to Silverton in one of these 4x4 rigs....

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" /> (built on a Jeep truck aka from the Wagoneer chassis era)...

A pretty cool ride actually..

Anyway, the driver (who drove the tours in the summer time and was a high school teacher in the area) warned us to never get on a trail in the area that had any active mining going on (which apparently there was still some active mining in the area in the '80s).

Said it would be very dangerous with the mining vehicles and the fact they didn't like "visitors".



Never really knew what the dangers might be until I saw this. I found this document on the Mining Safety and Health Administration web site about the dangers on mine "haulage" roads... interesting to look at.. but be forewarned it's a 25MB download pdf file... 70 pages loaded with lots of pics of accidents that have happened..

Although the pics, haul roads and equipment shown in the above doc are mostly surface/hard rock mining, versus the underground mining that was typical in the Ouray/Silverton area, kind of curious if anyone had ever been around any active mining roads.... and your experience?

Holy chit!! Give me a break! On like half of those accidents the report says something about defective brakes on more than one wheel and one eveh had the 'front brakes removed'!!! And overloading by 30,000!! That can't be smart!!

They're not the safest places to go wheelin'. Our local big mines (Ft Knox and True North) restrict access. The roads are narrow, the Knox mine has some wicked hairpins, so if you can imagine a two-story dump truck that weighs 150K with a load of ore trying to stop going downhill....

A friend of mine delivers fuel out there. He has to stop and call the operations center to let them know he's arrived, so they can get traffic off the road for his drive down to the main pad. THAT is neverminding the other hazmat loads that go in to support processing and shooting rock. Ya just can't have some yahoo running around.

We've had a few trucks roll up there, one was a collision; the other had the road fail after a lot of rain. Long way to the bottom...

With pit mines, they shoot rock, right in the spot where you might like to cut some donuts. It would be like the Top Gear video in reverse; you will have a new concept of airborne!

With the sheer size of equipment, the operators also have rather large blind spots immediately below and behind them, and they AIN'T watchin' you. As a driver, you watch them, just like you should watch someone in a boat who is shooting game.

Also, in places like the Pogo Mine, they have a 30 mile road going in from the highway. They built it; it's THEIR road. Pizzes off the hunters, but it's a PRIVATE road. Folks who work in there are REQUIRED have to have radios in their vehicles, with the mine's freq programmed in, as the road is quite narrow, and you call in at every mile, so anyone coming out knows where you are, and can pull over in one of the waysides to let you through.

Up in the 40Mile and Central mining districts during your weekend nose-following-down-a-trail, you need to be careful, as a lot of those remote claims don't take kindly to Sunday drivers; you WILL BE MET by the lock-and-load committee. Ignoring signs out in the middle of nowhere is a VERY BAD idea.

Agreed, the remote claims can be a real concern and if you don't know the area, better ask someone local who does, or just stay out. The hand painted signs marked "No Trespassing; shot gun enforced" make it quite clear <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

I figured there would be some folks who live near these areas that would have some good wisdom to pass on....

I've done quite a bit of exploring on remote mine claims. One of the problems I've encountered is that many claims are BLM or USFS land and totally open to the public. The only thing not open to the public is mining on a particular claim. However, a lot of these claims are occupied by some very strange, very anti-government, very well armed folks. They pay about $100/year to live there and have to prove to the gov'ment that they are actually mining something. I'm not talking patended claims that are private land, just regular 'ol mine claims on public land.

I never trespass against a sign, even when I'm sure I'm still on public land, but that doesn't stop people from being extremely defensive about their mine claims, especially if they occupy them year round.

The first question I always get asked is if I'm BLM. When I say no, they start with the attitude. I have every right to pass through and be there, but they often don't see it that way. They think they own the land and can regulate access, even though they can't. And because they are usually anti-government, they have little or no respect for government laws.

The best defenese is just to avoid the occupied claims altogether. After that, making it very clear that you're not trying jump their claim and some sweet talking and pretending that you have the same anti-government feelings about them "damn BLM" people goes a long way to making friends. As much as I'd love to tell some of these folks where they can shove it, I've found that being appologetic and friendly is the best way to avoid what could end up being a violent confrontation in the middle of nowhere. In the end, I've shaken the hand of everyone I've met so far and left peacefully.

Of course, not all folks that live on mine claims are like this and living in a remote area, under constant threat of eviction does tend to make people a little off center, but
I've run into a more than my share of these guys. It goes with the territory of what I do in my spare time.

I get to play with mining equipment at least once a week, pics of some of the equipment is at: <a href="forrestkelly.shutterfly.com" target="_blank">Under "Work"</a>
The haul trucks in those pics are 100 ton category Hitachi Euclids.

Sadly enough, round these parts, when people go wheelin at abandonned mines (coal), they give in to the temptation of going down an old shaft (on foot). Usually, they don't make it out, from cave ins, black damp, or unsafe air.

My favorite sign I've ever seen out while wheeling was in Boone County, WV. If y'all have ever heard of Jesco White, it was at the entrance to his holler. It said "There Ain't Nothing Down This Holler Worth Losing Your Life For- Turn Around".

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

if he catches ya there, just tell him ya were looking to learn how to dance from the master...

That is such a great film. I bought the DVD last year. Loads of laughs. Makes me proud to be alive and from West 'by God' Virginia! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />