Starbuck's Exploring

Sign in Subscribe

Eastern Sierra and Mono Country

Eastern Sierra Nevada and Mono Country of California

22 posts

Adamson Mine

Adamson Mine

At 12,990 ft (3960 m), the Adamson is the highest mine in the Sierra Nevada. And as you might suspect, getting there is no easy feat. It is a strenuous climb up the rugged Wheeler Ridge to reach it. This is the top of the Sierras. Altitude sickness is

MV Mill

MV Mill

I found this hidden mill in 2013. It is unusual in that a Pelton wheel powered it. Water was funneled into a ditch and then a pipe and poured over the waterwheel, which drove the equipment inside. A water-powered mill is a rare sight in the land of little rain.

Antelope Cottonwood Mill

Antelope Cottonwood Mill

We found this small modern mill that seems often overlooked on Chidago Loop Road in the Benton Hills north of Bishop. The equipment is a mixture of new and old. It is nice to see so much of it still here. Hopefully, it remains that way. I couldn't

Bennettville Ghost Camp

Bennettville Ghost Camp

Bennettville (once called Tioga) was a small mine camp in the high Sierra with that typical ghost town story of boom and bust of a big strike that never panned out. History Part of the Tioga Mining District, Bennettville was built to support one mine, the Great Sierra, and its

Par Value Mill

Par Value Mill

Late autumn of 2017 found us tracking down a very unusual stamp mill high in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. The mill was a unique hammer design called a Pratt Ideal Stamp Mill. Very few of these mills were ever put into use, and even fewer (if any!) still

Summit Mine

Summit Mine

High up in the spires of the Eastern Sierras, there lies a hidden and seldom visited gold mine perched on steep cliffs at 10,900 ft elevation. The Summit Mine is difficult to reach and is not for the fainthearted. To get there, you will have to follow a steep

Owens Valley Three Stamp Mill

Owens Valley Three Stamp Mill

In 2013, I stopped by a forgotten and overlooked three-stamp mill in the backcountry of Owens Valley. It seems like even the locals don’t know it exists. Besides being off the beaten path, the stamp mill is unusual in that it had only three stamps instead of the typical