We were the first at the trailhead at 7:45 a.m. on a rainy Saturday. We hiked 1.7 miles in to the first footlog. The trail was in great shape. After crossing the footlog, we turned onto the rough trail going west up Cowan Creek, aiming for the old Gregory Mine. This mine operated around 1917, and produced zinc, with a little gold, lead and copper.
The mine was .9 miles in from the junction with Little River Trail, and the route required crossing the creek several times, and climbing over or squeezing under many logs. The trail was sometimes hard to find, but we managed. About .7 miles in, on the south bank, we found some old mine equipment: a big iron compressor tank and a flywheel, which provided power for the pneumatic drill used to drill blasting holes.
Another .2 miles through the wet brush took us to the main mine tunnel on the south bank. It extends 225 feet into the rock, with a couple of short tangents. The rock seemed solid throughout, and nothing braced the walls and ceiling.
Reportedly, there are three other shorter tunnels a bit further upstream, but we didn't look for those. More info on the mine at the NWHikers link below.
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