Rare Donkey Engine!! Abandoned Bear Basin Mines. Awesome Discoveries
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ธ.ค. 2024
- Join us on our journey as we explore an abandoned silver mining operation dating back to the early 1900s, nestled in picturesque Bear Basin of western Washington. In this video, we examine the remnants of the mine mill site and equipment that once buzzed with activity, showcasing the history of this fascinating site.
Watch as we discover a rare Steam Donkey Engine, a remarkable piece of mining heritage. But that’s not all-we’ll take you underground to explore not one but three adits, revealing the hidden workings of this historic operation.
This is a must-see site for adventurers and history buffs alike, and you won’t want to miss the incredible sights and surprises we uncover along the way.
🚂 What to Expect:
Incredible Tunnels: Discover the eerie and fascinating underground passages that tell the story of hard-working miners.
Steam Donkey Engine: Get up close with this rare and remarkable piece of machinery that powered the mining operations.
Mine Mill Site: Explore the ruins of the mill where the silver was processed, and learn about the techniques used during the gold rush era.
🔍 Whether you're a history buff, an urban explorer, or just curious about what lies beneath the surface, this adventure is packed with stunning visuals and intriguing insights.
👉 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon to stay updated on our latest explorations! Share your thoughts in the comments below-have you ever explored an abandoned site?
📸 Follow us on our social media for behind-the-scenes content and sneak peeks of upcoming adventures!
🌌 Let’s uncover the secrets of the past together!
#Mines #Abandonedmines #AbandonedPlaces #BearBasin #MiningHistory #Exploration #Steamdonkey #UrbanExploration #mineexploration #Adventure #donkeyengine
Many ghost towns, mines, and other forgotten historic sites in Washington State have already disappeared from history, and many more are being lost each year to the ravages of time, wildfire, vandalism, and intentional closure. In addition to our many years of photographic documentation of these important historic sites, we are now attempting to video document as many sites as we can, so there is a lasting record of these places for future generations.
We hope you enjoy what we do and will join us on our adventures through a bygone era of Washingtons rich history. Not only do we love the history we explore and document, but we truly enjoy sharing these sites and experiences with our followers and viewers.
We appreciate you and thank you for watching!!
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Thank you for this awesome video! Thanks also for the facts on the Winze.
Thank you for the comments and watching we sure do appreciate it.
For myself a steam donkey find is the holy grail to me , don’t find one very often but always worth it when I do !
Absolutely, they are rare to find but always worth it. Appreciate your comments.
Very cool. I've been up in this basin 4 times, the first in 1977, but not since about 1985. The first time, there was an old cabin near the main basin stream, but it was evidently burned down because the last time I was there it was gone. I remember walking about 10 feet into the first tunnel - that was far enough for me! I also remember seeing lots of old iron pipe and cable scattered about, but didn't see the donkey. The road access to the trailhead has varied from bad to terrible - I'm thinking the Forest Service would be happy to quit maintaining the North Fork Road, let alone the Lennox Creek branch. Most Forest roads were built by timber companies who got credits against the price of timber they cut off Federal land. The point of allowing the timbercutting was to get roads built so the public could access the land. By letting the roads go unmaintained and closing them, the Forest Service is breaking their deal with the public. It's a really disgusting practice.
Thanks for sharing your memories of the basin. Yes, it is disappointing how bad the Lennox Creek branch road is. The North Fork Road was in pretty good shape, as we have seen it way worse. We appreciate you watching. Thank you!
Another excellent explore. That steam donkey was really neat to see. Keep up the great uploads.
Thank you for the nice comments and for watching. We very much appreciate it.
Definitely go back in fall. I'll watch the video for it
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Great video. Beautiful photography. Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you. We appreciate your kind words.
Pretty cool history and what a great find , it’s like wow to find all those artifacts in the middle of nowhere!
I like to explore sites like this one and have been doing it for 50 or so years !! Good camera work !
Thank you your comments are very much appreciated.
Amazing vid bud. Lots of history and a great presentation. Watching from Australia!
Awesome, welcome, very appreciated, and thank you for watching!
Hey Eb.... Awesome explore eh ? Take care mate.
As someone who cuts gears for a living I always find it enjoyable seeing gears on old antique equipment
We enjoy sharing the old equipment with you, and thank you for the comment.
BIG SNOW, rockslides and earth movements Probably lots more precious metals in there
Without a doubt. Appreciate the comments. Thanks for watching.
As usual very interesting and cool thanks
Thank you we appreciate you watching!
Hello great find and a big bonus the Steam Donkey and the adventure along the way ⛏️🏆 p.s.Well in early 1970 found Steam donkey like this fully intact was used up the mt for logging and i had no Camera so this sparked my memory thank you ⛏️🇺🇸😀
Thank you appreciate the comments.
Very good video. Lots of cool stuff laying around at this site, especially the steam donkey. Things obviously get reclaimed relatively quickly in your area by the lush vegetation. Thanks for the tour!👍👍
That is so true. Things disappear quickly around here. Thanks, guys. appreciate your comments and watching as always.
Most Merchant navy ships had a Donkeyman who was responsible for all steam winches on board a steamship. The rank of Donkeyman carried over to Diesel ships, where he was responsible for all the small diesel engines under the ship's Chief Engineer. The last motor ship I was on, was in 2000, and we still had a donkeyman. he is now considered a Petty Officer. Quite simply a Donky Engine is a SMALL auxihillary ENGINE. On our ship the Donkeyman was responcible for refueling the Helecopters, Lightships and Lighthouses.
Very cool, appreciate the information.
I hiked to the Bear Basin back in 2000. The only mine I got to though was the last one with the winze at the entrance. Since I was hiking alone, I decided not to try and cross it. Thanks for showing what was in there. I always hoped to get back there and explore more but was never able to.
Glad we were able to share them with you. Thank you for watching.
Awsome! Thanks for sharing. 😊
Appreciate that. Thank you!
wow the ball mill finally broke loose and rolled down to the bottom. glad it didn't steamroll any of the other artifacts or get shattered on the rocks. Last time I was up there it was still in its original location up on the hillside. You used to be able to see it from the trail soon as you entered the basin.
Yes looking back at some older pictures a lot has for sure changed up there.
I did this trail with my friend 20 years ago, It was hike! Well worth it though. We still camp on the river below every summer.
We have done this one several times it never gets old. Appreciate the comments.
This is quite a cool site , where is it ? Would like to visit it ! Gps please !
Email us ghost.wa@comcast.net
Those steam donkeys are all over Washington. I used to run across them while hunting.
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Awesome explore, cool artifacts, well worth the wait. Arn't Huckle berries Salmon Colored, been a long time, but as I remember... I think those were blue berries ? At least they were not nightshade! ... Thank you, Tim. ⛏⚒⛏
Huckleberries are blue, and there are red as well, which look like the salmon color. Yes, I think they are a mountain blueberry in hindsight. Appreciate the comments. Thanks again for watching.
@@ghosttownsandminesofwashington Guess I never seen any blue ones, use to love the reddish.... They grow down here in southern Oregon but don't produce many berries... Thanks again Tim. Till the next!
I call them high mountain blue berries, your right to me about huckleberries but there’s also a low valley variant of a blue huckleberry, they usually both grow on old growth stumps or down large logs
Vary cool seeing more details then when I hiked up to those mines. I tryed hiking over to the devils canyon prospect on dog mountain but the vegetation was to much to deal with
Yes Devils Canyon is quite the brush bash. Appreciate the comments and thank you for watching.
I always wondered about the aircraft pieces. Given the proximity of an airstrip to the South, I thought it might be a crash site? Great video, thanks.
Would be interesting to pin down the year and the plane. As mentioned in the video several years ago looked at crash records but did not see one that matched the area. Appreciate you watching and thanks for your comments.
Great video as always Tim. Yes, that was an airplane wreckage there. In the late 70s when I was up there the wheel skirts were still laying on the ground near the cabin which must be flat now. It appeared to be a small, maybe Cessna aircraft, maybe a 182 or close.
Thanks for the info and comments Daryl much appreciated.
@@ghosttownsandminesofwashington much older. It had wooden components. some kind of light single engine thing probably from 40's or earlier.
@@madderscienceCan you provide any more information?? I've been so curious about that plane wreck ever since I first did this hike!
We found some of the pieces of the plane and brought to the cabin site, think it was near bear lake above, but someone brought it there before us. I was told it was pieces of a plane that went down up there that was carrying the payroll to grand coulee dam I think. It’s could have ended up in Kanim or Paradise lake. We looked and looked in the lower basin for it and we went from bear lake down through the boulder slide to paradise to upper and lower bench lake. Man a small plane could easily get lost for ever up there. The alder brush in the lower valley and the boulder piles are as large as small houses up there or bottom of a lake, which if I was a pilot have trouble, I would try to put it down in a lake up there, clipping a peak up there with that wheel well housing.
@@carebear2272 Quite possible it did crash up where you say. Wreckage is just too scattered to be have been from a crash near the cabin.
That elliptical horizontal stabilizer is quite unusual for more modern and common light aircraft designs today, along with the rivet pattern. I'll have to look into it, it might be a metallized Stinson or some other make from the 1940s - 1950s (it's not at all unusual to fly old aircraft designs in the present day, so that doesn't really give you a date range like a car would.), and accident records are fairly sparse before the 1980s. Im quite interested to find out what it is, that area is known for having a lot of aircraft metal given the shoulder months and winters trying to cross the pass.
Would be very interested in what you find. Keep us posted.
Good thing someone took some of it out ,at least it .won't rot into the ground !!!
👍 Thanks for watching!
Seems a real shame to see the steam donkey abandoned to it's fate there. You'd think it worthy of winching out for a museum. That was an amazing tour deforce of historical mining equipment and techniques. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you very much appreciate you watching!
That would be so awesome to resurrect that old equipment and get it into working condition...That crusher would be still usable for getting rid of rocks in any development site ...That old steam donkey would absolutely be so cool to get it running again ..All that stuff is able to be restored for the most part.. Things were made to last back then...I don;t know about that bridge though..Looks like remains of a Cessna....
Absolutely would be great to see equipment like thus run. It is really fun and cool to discover it in the wild, but don't disagree with your thoughts. Appreciate your comments, and thanks for watching..
@@ghosttownsandminesofwashington Absolutely!! Thank you for responding to me-John
@@ghosttownsandminesofwashington That steam donkey is actually in great condition. A bit of electrochemistry and that would be back to being shiny and new looking...It really isn't even that rusty to be honest. I am in Pennsylvania and my hobby is restoring and building pre-war race cars. I have been sourcing machines for woodworking and metal working to start the build of a 1928 Morgan/GN hillclimb racer. There I sonly one in existence so I will be building one from scratch. It is built exactly the way 20's airplanes were built without a propeller and wings.....here is my inspiration...th-cam.com/video/W9QMa7AUD-4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VK9Fi1blySHGx6Ig
That is very interesting and cool. Thank you for sharing. Best of luck with your project. @@Biokemist-o3k
@@ghosttownsandminesofwashington Thank you!! I will definitely keep you in the loop my friend..
It’s really interesting that they had an outside bearing ore car. Those aren’t very common in the US or Canada. I wonder if it was home built on a preexisting chassis.
Interesting, we have never seen another like it. Appreciate the comments.
13:00 Amelia Earhart?
You just never know for sure.
i want that steam donkey soooooo bad. i have a engine and some of the spools for a donkey that i have but to have a complete one would be so nice
It's a great piece of equipment. Appreciate the watch and comments.
Theres a few guys i could think of that could restore that old donkey. Its just... How the hell do ya get it outta there?
No doubt would be cool. But yeah, that would be rather complicated.
maybe a dumb question but, what was used back the for rust mitigation ?
In this case, most likely a regular good cleaning and coating of oil.
@@ghosttownsandminesofwashington much of the equipment was painted. Fires, and 100 years of cascade winters has worn most or all of it off.
There are several donkeys near clarkia id. All logging donkeys
Would be cool to see.
I could tell you direction,also old locomotive that broke loose from being winched to top of pass.still in the side of draw.and old bridges @@ghosttownsandminesofwashington
The balls are usually all the same size they get smaller over time of use , they add new balls as the old ones get smaller
Thanks for the comments. We appreciate the info
Big Chinook!!! Big $$
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You passed the stumps of the trees thay fell for all of it
Yes, we saw that.
I just discovered your channel and would like to watch more of your videos. But, if I may make a suggestion, try and keep your hand and fingers out of frame, it can be a bit distracting and it can make you appear less professional.
If you are referring to pointing at items in frame that is relatively standard practice on you tube channels. We did not do much of that early on and received a lot of feedback we were not pointing out the subject we were talking about. Either way we do our best to consider feedback and appreciate the comments.
Really need a wide angle lens. Hard to watch
Thanks for the feedback.
Silver means merkarey
Meaning ore or processing?