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Poison Dog Tooth Peak
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N 40° 38.762' W 111° 41.553' |
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Cottonwood, Utah 84121 United States Near By Caches
Hidden On: 03 Oct 2004
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A XIXth century miners’ cave dwelling in the outcrop known to the miners as Poison Dog Tooth Peak, barely half mile from the highway but pretty challenging to access.The discovery of silver in Alta spurred prospectors in the nearby Big Cottonwood Canyon to organize. The Big Cottonwood Mining District was incorporated in 1870, and not surprisingly, the initial flurry of activity centered around Alta Divide. The first significant mid-canyon claim was made in 1871 by Maxfield brothers who in fact lacked any background in prospecting, but who knew Big Cottonwood fairly well through their involvement with logging and sawmill business in the canyon. The area where they discovered sulfide mineralization, on the West bank of lower Mill A gulch, happened to be almost next to the canyon’s oldest sawmill. Over the nest few years, work began on a few competing claims a bit up the gulch (Adelaide and two Baker tunnels), but Maxfield mine remained the most successful. Over the next 70 years, it kept expanding North-West, eventually with over 15,000 ft of workings. The main entrance, with its complex of production and processing facilities, has been obliterated during realignment of the BCC highway. Only a stream coming out of the sealed tunnel remains. But the huge upper entrance dumps still greet you when you enter Mill A gulch. Before you head up the gulch, take a look to the WNW. A prominent white limestone triangle butte dominates the terrain above the underground workings of Maxfield mine. You can perhaps see a round cave in the middle of its face, but it is not the one you are looking for. In the miners’ times, the butte was known as Poison Dog Tooth Peak. There are claims right and left of it (which explains why the area has been excluded from designated Widlerness, to the cachers’ ultimate benefit). A few exploratory adits can still be found in the area, on the ridge North of the butte, and on a connecting ridge to the NE. The miners are said to have accessed this steep area from across the latter ridge, from Maxfield Basin drainage (which is the West fork of Mill A), but nothing remains of their trails. The old miners’ dwelling is still there though, in a two-room cave on the NE side of the Tooth. The 1st room has an old cast iron stove (one barely legible inscription seems to read ‘1863’; another one had two words before ‘No 7’ which could be used as a code word in the Cach-U-Nuts Game). The stovepipe used to come out through a hole punched in the rock (those miners must have thought nothing about such kind of work!). The cache is in a 2-inch aluminum canister in a niche on a side of the entryway. Starting trades: a ninja figurine and a Russian coin. History / geology credits: Charles L. Keller and Lawrence P. James |
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CACHE LOGS - May contain hints(spoilers)! decode | |
07 Oct 2005 by
39 Geezer
(Finds: 17 Score: 76)
(Hidden: 3 Score: 10)
Open Log: Non-commercial use only FTF on geocaching.com gcqqnj. Came over the hard way from MOCKBA's '39 Geezer 1000 gcqrbg placed in my honor (FTF there, too :o)
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17 Dec 2004 by
Desert Hermit
(Finds: 1 Score: 4)
(Hidden: 0 Score: 0)
Open Log: Personal use only Just wanted to see what a log looks like in Navicache.
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(moderate)
