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Topic: Crystal Mountain, Out Past Boondoggle (Read 1916 times)
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jmiller
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Does anyone know what is out past boondoggle at crystal mountain? I've always wondered where it would take you if you went past the boundary signs. The map looks like it would just put you out somewhere between quicksilver and goldhills, but if this was the case why wouldn't it be inside the boundaries of the resort? Thanks for any ideas.
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orion_sonya
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Much of that terrain funnels into an unpleasant creek gully. The best way to explore that area is to ascend the summer trail that leads to bear gap from gold hills.
Orion
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ron j
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Does anyone know what is out past boondoggle at crystal mountain?
Jim Town!!
Crystal’s ski area is located on what was the “west of the crest” portion of the Summit Mining District which consisted of mining claims on both sides of the Crest in both the Silver Creek drainage (where the ski area is located) and the Morse Creek drainage (on the east side of Bear Gap). Jim Town was a mining settlement east of the Boondoggle run and (probably still) has a FS trail sign marking the location. There is a mine tunnel above the town site on the west facing slope of Pickhandle Ridge where some of the miners (at least some of who were probably named “Jim”) most likely worked in the summertime. Examining the townsite in the summertime discloses the remnants of at least on cabin foundation and pieces of old cast iron stoves.
If you want to “sidecountry tour” over there it makes sense to hike the area in the summertime to get the lay of the land mark the good lines and dangerous terrain with waypoints. Winter approaches to Bear Gap and the surrounding areas can be quite sketchy in high avalanche conditions, and there is many areas where it is difficult to see what is above you due to tree cover.
The “unpleasant creek gully” that Orion mentions starts just above Jim Town and drains into Elizabeth Creek, which Boondoggle actually follows as it drains down from Henskin Lake (see map below). As Orion suggests, it needs a LOT of snow to graduate above the “unpleasant creek gully” rating.
The Summit Mining District had quite a colorful history. The Blue Bell Mine (below what is now Blue Bell Pass at the head of Union Creek) was for a time worked year round through the winter. The miners apparently stayed at Fog City, which was located in a small bowl near the Crest just below Pickhandle Gap east of the Crest. Down at the base of Gold Hill was the settlement of “Fidelity”. I can’t now remember where I read it, but it was told that two women ran the post office in Fidelity in the summertime which also doubled as the local brothel for the miners. Seemed like quite an enterprise… stop by and check you mail and indulge in other fancies while you’re there 
(Excerpted from a portion of Crystal Mountain’s Environmental Impact Statement )
Non-Indian use of the Silver Creek basin and adjacent areas east of the Cascade crest during the historic period was largely mining-related. The earliest recorded gold discovery in Washington was in the 1850s in the vicinity of Naches Pass (Meany, 1932). Miners began traveling to the head of Silver Creek and Morse Creek, just across the Cascade crest, after gold was discovered there ca. 1880-1882. The Summit Mining District was established in 1891, and by 1897, 49 placer and lode claims had been filed in and near the permit area, including Bluebell Pass, Pickhandle Point, and around the Miners Lakes (Hodges, 1897). A seasonally occupied mining settlement, known as Jimtown (or Jim Town), grew up around the Pickhandle Point claims. Small amounts of gold and silver were apparently found in Silver Basin, but most of the gold came from the Morse Creek watershed on the east side of the Cascade crest. Mining declined significantly after the turn of the century, however, during the early 1930s, a miners’ road was built up Silver Creek from the White River road, superseding a pack trail (McCullough, 1970; McDonald, 1988).
(Excerpted from some of Lowell Skoog’s research, i.e. a Seattle Times article, Sep 23, 1962 - Wernex, Katherine, "Chinook Pass, Too, Had Its Gold Rush")
In 1880 at the head of Morse Creek, near Sourdough Gap, H.L. Tucker and George Gibbs of Yakima "by placer mining took out better than wages in gold." Tom Fife later came into possession of the mine and sold it for $3,000. Fife's Peak is named in honor of him. Prospectors made discoveries near the head of Silver Creek and named it Pick Handle Point. At the turn of the century, Gold Hill had a population of more than 300. A post office was established at a little mining settlement called Fidelity. "Six thousand feet up the mountain, in an alpine basin, was Fog City, reached through Pick Handle Pass, and down in Pick Handle Basin was Jim Town." In Cement Basin, at the head of Union Creek, Tom Fife and John Anderson worked the Blue Bell Mine. Jack Nelson, often referred to as the "Sage of the Lake," lived at Bumping Lake for over 50 years. He recalled that more than 250 claims were staked in the area. The article includes photos of Jack Nelson and an old miner's cabin at Gold Hill.
Did I cover that well enough  (sorry, I just got going and then it reminded of something else and… well, you know)
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"When I stop having fun I'm turnin' around"
“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.” - Niels Bohr
"If a given person makes it a priority not to die in an avalanche, he or she stands a very good chance of living a long, happy life in the mountains." - Jill Fredston
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Scotsman
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Just be careful. Some of those S/E Facing slopes from Crown Point down to JBAS can be deadly avalanche terrain in certain conditions and skiing them require long exposure to big slopes to skin out of.
I've been spooked back there many times.
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~Link~
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Very interesting. I took my husky, Salem, on a hike through that area in early October to witness abscission and the on set of fall. We hiked from the Bullion TH, bushwhacked straight up, climbed to PCT, and traversed to Pick Handle gap. So much terrain, VERY grassy. I'd be very interested to scope out some of these mining sites in future summer months! I always have ski dreams of ending up in some mining town tucked in the hills!
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CookieMonster
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Really neat Ron, thanks for posting. I had no idea that the area had any mining history, but now of course, a lot of the place names make perfect sense.
...from Crown Point down to JBAS...
JBAS?
Good call on the lengthy exposure times.
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Scotsman
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Really neat Ron, thanks for posting. I had no idea that the area had any mining history, but now of course, a lot of the place names make perfect sense.
JBAS?
Good call on the lengthy exposure times.
Joe's Bad Ass Shoulder.... see map. extreme bottom left.
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« Last Edit: 11/17/10, 06:30 PM by Scotsman »
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Paul_Russell
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Thanks for the great mining history Ron. As a point of clarification, I believe that Blue Bell pass is misplaced on the USGS maps as shown here, and is actually E of Crown Point on the PCT.
Some additional history from an article published in the White River Recreation Newsletter (Excerpted with “History of the White River Summer Homes” edited by Stan Orton and published in 1988 by Valley Press)
Silver & Goat Creeks Early History
Cabin building started with the first Gold Hill (Silver Creek) Summer Home permit, issued in
1912 by the Forest Service to Dr. J.L. Reese from Tacoma on what is now Lot 8, once called
Lot A of the Silver Creek Summer Residences. The second cabin was built for Dick Hainsworth of Seattle in 1918. It faced Goat Creek on Lot B, now Lot 11. The third cabin, on Lot C, now Lot 9, was built for John A. Rademaker, PhD. of Salem, Oregon in 1918.
A permit was issued to Frank Kelley of Sumner in 1919 on Lot 6. Soon after, his brother,
John, bought one of two unfinished cabins built in 1920 by Andy Olson and Jim Farrell. John
worked for the State Highway Maintenance Department. Another early cabin was built for
Cece Griswold's father, V.L. Elson in 1922 or 1923 on Lot 64.The Loop Road at Silver Creek was cleared in 1922. At that time enough logs to build a
cabin cost $10 to $15. Hemlock was $1 per thousand board feet, Fir, $2 and Cedar, $3. The
first ranger at Silver Creek was Andy Olson.
The caretaker Forest Service at the time of the first home permits was also engaged in
timber sales, trail building, fire protection and land leases to sheep herders.
Recollections of Earlier Days in the Silver Creek Area by John A. Rademaker, Ph.D
Silver Creek lies between Crystal Mountain and Jenny Mountain, just west of the northeast
corner of Rainier National Park. In the days here referred to, it was a clear, beautiful, cold
stream derived from the winter snows and the summer rains and dews, and then, as now, it
ran into White River, the source of which is Emmons Glacier on Mount Rainier.
I was born in 1905, but the events of which I write happened beginning about 1910-1912.
At that time, Dr. J.L. Reese lost his only son, who was studying in medical school, and having
already lost his wife, he decided that civilization had no more attraction for him. He closed his
medical office in Tacoma, Washington, and set off to live in the wilderness, as far from city life
as possible.
He found an interest in gold mining and prospecting for precious metals, and established a
headquarters in a small log cabin on what is now Lot 8 of the Silver Creek Summer
Residences. Probably he located here because it was well away from the beaten track, and
still next to the trail from White River to Bear Gap, Jimtown, and Jack Campbell's Valley. There
was no road along White River, but a horse and foot-trail led from the nearest human
collectivity, the village of Buckley, up the north side of White River for thirty-five miles or so to
Silver Creek, and on up to Glacier Basin, Summerland, and the crest of the Cascades. Using
horses as pack animals, and walking with them, it took some three days from Tacoma to Dr.
Reese's log cabin. He named his location, appropriately, Gold Hill.
My uncle, Johannes Hendrickus Rademaker, commonly called Joe, agreed to join him in
1912 in a search for gold. They concentrated on a site in Summerland, below Frying Pan
Glacier, for some time. They told me of the times they started out from Gold Hill (Silver Creek)
early in the day, travelled up the White River Valley, walking many times in the ice cold water
of the river, and arriving at Summerland late in the afternoon. When they approached their
goal, it was often late, and Doc Reese would call out "Push on, Joe, Push on!" Others who
heard this happen several times, dubbed the slope up which they were struggling with laden
horses, "Joe Push Mountain." The National Geographic Board, later, named it "Governor's
Ridge."
Later, the present highway, 410, became a widened trail up which Model T Fords, and other
rugged creations of early automotive years could travel, at the owner's risk and with plenty of
bumps and hollows, and in some places, recourse to the shallow water and medium sized
boulders of the river bed.
Recollections of Earlier Days in the Silver Creek Area by John A. Rademaker, Ph.D
When Rainier National Park was made out-of-bounds for prospecting, Doc Reese had to leave
promising diggings in Summerland, and devote his attention elsewhere. He managed to eke
out an existence by trapping during the winter, hunting for food, picking and canning wild
blackberries and huckleberries, and purchasing a minimum of canned goods to see him
through the winter. I have a picture of him, with his alpenstock on Castle Mountain, where the
huckleberries were plentiful and large. There was also a patch on Jenny Mountain below
Jimtown, spreading clear down to the Silver Creek at the bottom of the slope. Part of this place
has been taken over by the Crystal Mountain Ski Resort, and the rest has grown over with
towering trees. The Castle Mountain patch has also suffered the same fate. Actually, both
patches owed their existence in the 1920's to a forest fire which ravaged the tops of Jenny
Mountain, Castle Mountain, and part of Crystal Mountain. A handful of pioneers set up a fire
line, felled trees, and cleared a lane to stop the fire from coming down the end of Crystal
Mountain. The cut stumps are still visible. A patch of wild blackberries on the flank of Jenny
Mountain, below Norse Peak, on the draw just below the junction of the Crystal Mountain
Highway and the road built up from Silver Creek Residence Area suffered a similar fate of
being overgrown by trees.
In the early days, the first Ranger Station was located facing where the hiway (410) now lies,
just below where the power substation is now located. Durgin, the road boss, had a house just
across the creek from that spot, and the "Inn" was built east of that. The first Inn was bur
down by a domestic fire, and the lady of the family was much bereaved because the large ham
she had hung up in the attic perished in the blaze.
The next year the Ranger Station burned down. One ranger, remembering the episode,
carefully took his gold watch out of his best suit of clothes, to make sure he did not lose the
watch-not thinking that he could as easily have saved the suit as well. The Station was rebuilt
by the combined efforts of all the members of the community, in the 1920's.
Andy Olson was the first Ranger at Silver Creek, and he had a weekly trip to make up Crystal
Mountain to Crown Point, and over to Bear Gap, to look for fires. Nowadays, vigilance for fire
watches is greatly improved, but Andy's was the first effort in that direction in the Silver Creek
area. Later the Ranger Station was moved up the road to its present location.
Building the hiway was a great undertaking and required many hands and long days and
months of effort. Once, our 1917 Ford car was picked up bodily by a crew to get it over a pile
of freshly broken detritus which covered the roadbed. The cookhouse was located just east of
Silver Creek for the thirty-man crew, and served for the part of the road from Huckleberry
Creek to Cleveland Flats.
In those days, the Park Entrance was reached by a bridge across White River, at the place
where the present hiway 410 starts up the hill on the left hand side of White River. It was a
long bridge, and frequently washed out in winter, so Durgin put his crew to digging a deeper
canal to prevent the washouts. His superiors overruled him, cut off his funds for the project,
and finally moved the entrance to its present location
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« Last Edit: 11/17/10, 11:26 PM by Paul_Russell »
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SeatownSlackey
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^^^^ this kinda stuff is what i absolutely love about this place. So much incredible knowledge and history to be passed along by TAYers.
Thanks Ron J & Paul.
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ron j
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Thanks, Seatown. It’s fun to get this kind of info together and compare notes.
Paul, that's great stuff. Thank you so much. I've downloaded it to my archives 
... As a point of clarification, I believe that Blue Bell pass is misplaced on the USGS maps as shown here, and is actually E of Crown Point on the PCT. ...
This explains a mystery that I've wondered about for years:
According to what I recall reading, the Blue Bell mine was located “just below Blue Bell Pass” and for a time was quite an operation, boasting year round operation and even running three shifts of mining operations. According to various historians, they even had an arrastra and later a stamp mill below the mine in the Union Creek basin so they could pulverize the ore for the extraction of the gold and silver nearby, rather than transporting the ore to the nearest smelter.
According to an old retired FS ranger I know, the FS burned down the scores of miners cabins at Fog City in the 1950’s because they were “a hazard”. That saddens me as it would be such a great location for an overnight backcountry ski cabin.
While the FS may have obliterated nearly all traces of Fog City where the Blue Bell miners lived, they certainly could not have obliterated the huge mine dump that has to be located at such a mine site, without the use of heavy equipment.
I have been up and down the slope below the “Blue Bell Pass” shown on the USGS map and never found a trace of the mine dump. It would not surprise me if the tunnel portal was obliterated as it would be considered a huge nuisance/safety hazard by the FS and could have easily been closed with explosives. But the dump had to be where the mine was actually located so I knew something was amiss, I just didn’t know what.
Now I know where to continue my search.
I’m curious, Paul, How did you discover that BB Pass was mis-located on the USGS maps – is it marked otherwise on other maps?
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« Last Edit: 11/18/10, 10:18 AM by ron j »
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"When I stop having fun I'm turnin' around"
“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.” - Niels Bohr
"If a given person makes it a priority not to die in an avalanche, he or she stands a very good chance of living a long, happy life in the mountains." - Jill Fredston
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wolfs
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Out past Boondoggle? Yoiks! I wouldn't go in there if I were you!
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jmiller
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Just like to say thanks for all the info, it was a pleasant read and way more info than I had expected. So maybe if I'm feeling adventuresome I'll go see if I can find Jim Town, I don't usually end up enjoying crappy gullies, but I'm always up for an adventure. I would think that there wouldn't be much avalanche danger if I approach it from the boondoggle run, or out the bottom of silver basin instead of coming down off the ridge past three-way? Once again, awesome info folks.
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ron j
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FWIW, I've been known to ski the slopes where the 3 red arrows are on the map between Elizabeth Creek and Jim Town (I call that area "Upper Boondoggle") when the north facing ridge slopes between Bear Gap and 3 Way are wind loaded and scary. Just head east from the top of quicksilver. When there's enough snow, CM usually puts in a cat track going east from there over Elizabeth Creek and then taking a hard right to go south past Henskin. Just keep going straight when the cat track goes right and you’ll be in that general area. But be careful, there's some steep rolls in there that could surprise you and you're definately "out-of-bounds" in there.
You'll not likely find any indication of the remnants of Jim Town with snow on the ground unless the snow is so sparse that the FS trail sign locating it is showing through the snow (assuming the sign is still even there). Send me an email if you'd like the gps coordinates for its location.
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"When I stop having fun I'm turnin' around"
“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.” - Niels Bohr
"If a given person makes it a priority not to die in an avalanche, he or she stands a very good chance of living a long, happy life in the mountains." - Jill Fredston
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Paul_Russell
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I’m curious, Paul, How did you discover that BB Pass was mis-located on the USGS maps – is
That's a good question Ron. As best as I can recall, it was Lowell who mentioned it to me several years ago that the locals knew Blue Bell Pass to be in a different location from the USGS map, similar to the White Pass location near Glacier Peak being misplaced. Now owning a cabin myself in the Silver Springs area, I have spent several summers hiking the PCT and searching that area. I found a marker a couple summers ago that seemed to verify the Blue Bell Pass location on the PCT E of Crown Point and W of Gold Hill. But I would be interested to know if any others have more history on the pass location. I suspect that the USGS mappers, just sometimes place these passes in the wrong spot from what was commonly known.
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« Last Edit: 11/19/10, 07:44 AM by Paul_Russell »
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Lowell_Skoog
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That's a good question Ron. As best as I can recall, it was Lowell who mentioned it to me several years ago that the locals knew Blue Bell Pass to be in a different location from the USGS map, similar to the White Pass location near Glacier Peak being misplaced.
Paul and Ron - In the aftermath of the Union Creek avalanche search in June 2008, I became aware that the Crystal locals (including Paul Baugher and other ski patrollers) apply the name Blue Bell Pass to the pass between Bullion Basin and Union Creek, about 1/2 mile NE of the place marked on the map. That's the pass commonly used by skiers to reach Union Creek.
I don't know if that is what the prospectors called Blue Bell Pass, but I think it's pretty clear that what is marked on the USGS map isn't really a pass at all. Since the two passes farther SW (Pickhandle Gap and Bear Gap) have names that nobody disputes, it seems reasonable that Blue Bell Pass should apply to the Bullion-Union pass, which is the next available spot that seems like an actual pass to me.
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Modified to add: I just re-read Paul's posting in which he said Blue Bell Pass is the one SE of Crown Point between Morse Creek and Union Creek. Hmm, that's a reasonable alternative. That might actually make more sense, since it would be right above the center of prospecting activity in Morse Creek. I'm pretty confident, however, that the Crystal locals apply the name Blue Bell Pass to the Bullion-Union divide. It could be that the locals are also wrong and that Paul has the prospectors' name properly located.
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Well shoot, having re-read my notes from the Katherine Wernex article, I see this: "In Cement Basin, at the head of Union Creek, Tom Fife and John Anderson worked the Blue Bell Mine." That suggests strongly that Blue Bell should be applied to the Bullion-Union pass, which is what the locals believe.
I really don't know much about the mining history of this area.
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« Last Edit: 11/19/10, 08:17 AM by Lowell_Skoog »
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ron j
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Lowell: Thanks for your feedback.
Taking a macro view of the trails in the area I can see how much of the PCT (and other local trails as well) utilize the obvious natural travel patterns of the earlier pioneers and miners of the area.
I like the logic of Paul’s suspected location of Blue Bell Pass as it is close to Fog City where the miners lived.
I like the logic of the location you mentioned as the trail up Union Creek heads directly towards that pass. And early writings indicated that the mining machinery and equipment was usually transported by mules to the Blue Bell Mine from the road up the Union Creek Trail. So next summer I’ll probably find the mine site somewhere on the east side of the Crest and between Cement Basin and Crown Point.
When I find the mine site I’ll probably have a better idea which pass the miners referred to as Blue Bell Pass.
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"When I stop having fun I'm turnin' around"
“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future.” - Niels Bohr
"If a given person makes it a priority not to die in an avalanche, he or she stands a very good chance of living a long, happy life in the mountains." - Jill Fredston
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Paul_Russell
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Thanks for the comments Ron and Lowell. The location of Blue Bell Pass that I suggested between Crown Point and Gold Hill was my own supposition, seeming like a logical alternative to the USGS location since it was close to the mining sites and nearer to the map location than the Union Creek/Bullion Basin pass further to the N. I hadn't considered that pass, but sounds like the right spot based on Lowell's reference to the Blue Bell mine in that area. I did find an old faded sign that was light blue in color at the pass location I mentioned a couple years ago, which I thought may have been the name marker for Blue Bell pass. I don't recall if we could make out any of the words on the sign, but will have to go back and check. That spot between Morse Creek and Union Creek definitely seems like a pass to me, so if not Blue Bell, I wonder if it does have a name.
Keep me posted on what you find of the old mine Ron. Would be interested to do some research/field work on that.
-Paul
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« Last Edit: 11/19/10, 08:01 PM by Paul_Russell »
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