The Oquirrh Mountains (page two)
Tooele County, Utah
Feature by Jim Drysdale

Springtime above Ophir

A bud o' mine named Brad hauled me up to Jacob City w/ his wife and kid. Not much there other then the greatness of the Hidden Treasure Mine, which was dozed off… No way in from up there. This is pretty much the most famous mine in the southern end of the Oquirrhs. Locals and mine enthusiasts have been picking at it for years.

Note…The Hidden Treasure Mine is owned by a family in Utah County. Their plan is to preserve the area rather than reopen it to the mineral extraction industry. It is closed-off for a reason. Exploring this mine should NEVER be considered without experienced guides and permission from the owners.

Hidden Treasure Mine entrance (closed)

Only building left standing in Jacob City.

Various mine dumps and roads above jacob city

I have heard from various folks out this way that, apparently, the entire mountain is pretty much interconnected. Turns out there are several ways into the Hidden Treasure from far below (and at the same time a couple thousand feet above Rush Valley), in the old semi-ghosttown of Ophir. And that is exactly where I ended the day - cruising around inside the Ophir Hill Mine. We had no intention of traipsing up into the Hidden Treasure, as this is a major undertaking and something that should only be attempted with knowledgable guides.

This is called a mucker.

Ophir Hill Mine entrance

John Ault-ready to roll

My trip was with John Ault, whose family had purchased the land. The trip was routine and somewhat short, given the great expanse of the mine network. Though, every step further back into the main shaft felt as though I was sort of dropping off, or rather getting pulled further and further back into some bizarre unknown abyss. The air temperature was a fairly constant 62 degrees with a steady breath of cool air venting out the shaft opening... Nature's AC. I even saw my own breath on the way down. Eventually this warmed up a bit, and as we descended, the air seemed to take on a strange sense of death-like stillness. This is a feeling that one does not come upon very often. It was just a weird emptiness.

Chute structure

A more elaborate chute/cart loader device

Dots marking successive cart loads hauled out (initialed by miner).

Special guest-celebrity appearance of Neil Young .

Safety-wise, John had it all together... Our precautionary equipment consisted of several light sources, spare batteries, a flare, hardhats, O2/CO2/CO/methane meter... His mission was to gather info on a peculiar subterranean lake down below... In particular, a massive lake of about 600-700 ft in depth, and several football fields in extent. My pics of the underground reservoir did not come out. We were perched around 250 ft above and could not see its extent from where we stood. It was too dark (and kind of scary) down there. The weird thing is that this area apparently drains in the winter, several hundreds of feet down, into a gravelly sand flat 'beachy' area. Worrys are that hidden fissures may be hiding quicksand-like traps with upwelling water. Who knows... I figure the water has to go somewhere and that would be down. But quicksand results from upwelling water, and John had seen this as the reservoir had filled... Bubbles from beneath. The fact is, its all a big mess down there with confusing hydrogeology issues that could only be expected in a place such as this. Anyhow a massive underground reservoir that fills and drains 600-700 ft throughout the course of the year is pretty cool stuff in my book.

What a truck man, what a truck...

Note: No ifs, and, or buts about it… There are extremely hazardous conditions that exist down in that mountain and one would be foolhardy to venture within, not knowing the maze-like corridors, and whatever else that may await around any given corner. Special Thanks go out to Brad and Lynn Lauchnor and their boy, Bob. Their vehicle of choice is a select vintage obnoxiously painted yellow '70 Bronco. I just love that thing... Also, thanks to John Ault for his fine bit of tour-guiding. Its not every day that someone will gladly take you down into their own 'hidden treasure'. Happy exploring.

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