Hugh M. Smith

This very adventurous hike follows an old mining trail which led to the Tungstar Mine, a 1940s tungsten mine high on the western slope of Mt. Tom, the prominent 13,658-foot peak just west of Bishop. The trail was used in the early days of the mine to build a

Not far from the Tioga Pass entrance station to Yosemite National Park lie the remains of the Hess Mine, one of the more accessible 1940s-era tungsten mines in the High Sierra. Three widely-separated claims comprised the mine: the main claim at the north end of Steelhead Lake; a small middle

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, surging worldwide demand for tungsten led to the opening of several tungsten mines in the High Sierra above Bishop. Two small but relatively high-grade ore bodies were discovered on the west side of Mt. Tom, which would become the Hanging Valley Mine and