We made camp in a dispersed camping area (as shown in the picture above) off a dirt road a couple miles outside Bridgeport. The road goes way back into the mountains for miles and miles, so we decided to follow it one day and see what was out there.
It turns out the road leads to an old abandoned mining town that we learned afterwards was called Chemung. Chemung Mine was operational starting in 1909, and was abandoned in 1938. Apparently for a short time in the 20's, it was the most prolific gold producer of any of the ~40 mining operations in the area. Quite a few of the structures are still (barely) standing, and this place isn't regulated at all, and definitely isn't a tourist destination like the nearby ghost town of Bodie.
Not sure if these buildings were once living quarters, offices, or used for storage or what
the main mill structure is still there
And some of the machinery is still intact
Didn't feel great about walking under it
The mine entrance was barred decades ago, but if you stand in front of it you can feel a steady blast of cold air coming from deep below the surface. It feels like a massive AC vent.
There was another opening out of frame to the left of this one, that went into the mountain at 90° angle to this shaft.
Not exactly sure what this piece of equipment was for but it's massive. You can get a sense of scale when you notice the person standing in the lower right corner.
I assume it was used to move around the ore, after it was crushed im the mill?
This was a pretty cool place to explore.
Last edited by cs3; 08-08-2022 at 01:15 AM.