Oftentimes while panning for gold at my favorite spot on the North Fork American River, I've looked downstream and wondered what lies in the one-third mile stretch to where the North Fork North Fork enters. Access is difficult, and few people go into this place, I'm certain. Indeed, few who hike Euchre Bar Trail from Iron Point venture far beyond the footbridge.
Going there in the springtime is out of the question. The gorge is swollen with runoff from the snowmelt. Getting caught in the current is death.
A solo visit this time of the year would be foolish. While the river is at its lowest, the algae on the smooth river rock makes walking difficult. Google Earth shows some pools where a short swim might be required, and the water temperature is cold. Little sunlight reaches the river. Should trouble come, nighttime temperatures are cold, and the narrow canyon walls might block the signal from a personal locator beacon. A night spent on the river could mean exposure.
My guess is that the best time to enter the stretch alone is late summer. The river will be a bit higher than in early autumn, and algae could make walking on the river rocks difficult, but the water temperature would be tolerable. Swimming through the small pools would not be uncomfortable. If trouble came, nighttime temperatures would be tolerable, and a night could be passed without danger of exposure.
Gold is where you find it, and Google Earth shows some promising spots for gold. I'm sure it's been a long time since many of these spots have been touched. Hopefully, next summer I'll have a chance to visit this stretch of river myself.
I had wanted to hike both the Euchre Bar Trail and American Eagle Trail, from Iron Point to the American Eagle Mine, but I got distracted and poked around too long at the Southern Cross Mine and what remained of its stamp mill, and I got behind schedule. When I reached Humbug Bar, where the two trails meet, I realized continuing to the American Eagle Mine would cut it close for daylight on the return hike. Since I was hiking alone, I figured it best to turn around.
No other vehicles were at Iron Point when I arrived. I gathered my gear and commenced the hike. I reached the footbridge at Euchre Bar and crossed the North Fork American River. After a short elevation gain, the trail largely parallels the river. I would see no others until the return hike.
Mining activities from the Gold Rush, and in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, left their mark in the canyon. Euchre Bar Trail is the main trail, but there are other mining trails not on the topographical maps. These are seldom used and in some cases much overgrown. There are terraces - level spots dug into the hillsides by the miners for their camps. In these terraces is found debris such as broken glass, shards from broken pots and dishes, and old nails. At one terrace, someone with a metal detector had dug in several spots. Many people with metal detectors have been there before him. The trail passes a water ditch, built to send water to mining sites.
From the trail, one can see down to a few pieces of equipment from the Southern Cross Mine. There's a trail leading to the site, but I never took the time to go down it. Until today.
Made by Risdon Iron Works, San Francisco, CA
The claim plat for The Southern Cross Gold Mining Company shows that gold was discovered here on October 6, 1884. This was 129 years to the day before my hike.
The Mining and Scientific Press of August 27, 1904 has an article discussing the Southern Cross Mine, including a photograph of the power house. It mentions the 10 stamp mill, the remains which I poked around. The heavy equipment had been hauled 35 miles from Colfax over a wagon road, and then dragged down a 2.5 mile slide from the ridge above to the mine. The river was dammed 2600 feet above the mouth of the tunnel by a timber and stone dam 35 feet high. This might be where the massive Penstock electrical generator now rests.
By 1917, however, the mill had burned and the mine was idle. This is from Mines and Mineral Resources of the Counties of El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yuba. (1917)
It's amazing how much the forest has recovered from those days. About a century ago, the canyon had active mines with dams and generators and stamp mills. Then the mines closed and the buildings burned or were torn down. Today only the metal remnants lie amidst the trees and brush.
The mines shut down when it was no longer profitable to extract the gold. But there's still plenty of gold inside the hills. The U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, Issue 1300, Part 1 (1984) states:
Based on past production and the geologic setting, these mines clearly define a zone of substantiated mineral-resource potential for gold and silver. It is estimated that 1.4 million tons of demonstrated lode resources averaging 0.04 to 0.22 oz of gold per ton occur at or near the Rawhide, Black Hawk, and Southern Cross Mines...
At today's gold price, that would equate to between $74,138,400 and $407,761,200 in gold in these hills.
But environmental laws being what they are, the gold will stay in the hills.
