Starbuck's Exploring

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Yosemite and Central Sierra

California's Central Sierra Nevada Mountains, including Yosemite National Park

7 posts

Telegraph City

Telegraph City

I had wanted to check out this area for a while, and one day, we were able to meet up with a few exploring buddies and go out there. Telegraph City got its namesake from the telegraph lines running from Stockton to Sonora. It was established in the 1860s as

Golden Crown Mine

Golden Crown Mine

The Golden Crown mine is up at 10,640 ft along the Sierra crest in Yosemite National Park. The hike to get up there is a nice 3.7 mile and 950 ft hike to the mine right at Mono Pass. The views of Mono Lake from this high vantage

Song and Star Mines

Song and Star Mines

Not their real names. Morgan, Ric, and I were out exploring the Stanislaus National Forest in 2004, hunting for some interesting mines. These two old steam hoists in separate mines were great and rarely seen out in the wild. No directions to these sites.

Indian Girl Stamp Mill

Indian Girl Stamp Mill

In 2004, I met up with Morgan and Ric to do some mine exploring in the Stanislaus National Forest (in the Sierra Nevada mountains). I couldn’t find much info on this operation. I’ll have to research it more. If you know anything about this stamp mill, please contact

Dana Ghost Camp

Dana Ghost Camp

I did a little solo hike up to the old townsite of Dana, which is high up on Tioga Hill in Yosemite National Park. It was a great short hike along the crest of the Sierras. The views were fantastic, even if the mosquitoes were thick. Dana was the first

Crystal Stanislaus Cave

Crystal Stanislaus Cave

Alysia and I met up with Brian and his daughter Alisha for a little cave exploring around the Stanislaus River. This wild cave is accessible by a hundred-foot climb up a steep limestone cliff. The cave is small and only has only a few rooms to explore. And although some

Hite Cove

Hite Cove

Alysia and I went for a hike up to Hite Cove in 2005. We wanted to get out and possibly see some wildflowers and scenery. We weren’t disappointed. We hiked in from where the South Fork of the Merced joins the Merced River at Savage’s Trading Post. The