Distance: 4 miles round trip on trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 6756'
Elevation Gain: 1300'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.0
Round trip time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Highway 18
Difficulty: Easy
From Gold Mountain, I drove back to Highway 18, then continued east and north to the intersection with 3N62. I parked in a wide dirt turnout and started hiking toward Silver Peak (HPS #134), stark and white. When I got onto 3N62, I realized I could have driven the quarter mile or so to the official trailhead. Oh, well, a few extra steps on a short hike was good for me. The official trailhead had room for about five vehicles, but I was the only one there. The terrain was classic high desert, not an alpine transition zone. A faint use trail led to the base of the mountain. From there, an abandoned and washed out road made switchbacks up to an open mine. I made a mental note to check it out on the way down. A cairn to climbers' left marked the start of a use trail leading to a saddle. The use trail mostly followed a drainage with a steel cable anchored high above, an artifact of the mine. The trail appeared to follow the cable up a steep packed slope. It looked better to stick to the drainage so that's what I did. From the top of the drainage, I started along the ridge and hit a flat spot where upper remnants of the road appeared. I continued along the road to the summit. On top, I found a red register can, but it had been hit with a shotgun blast and there was no sign of a register inside. It needed a new register. A sealed, then subsequently broken seal, partially covered a shaft that was dug at a 30 degree angle into the mountain. I guessed this was for ventilation. Exploring the mine from above seemed sketch so I left it. After a 15 minute break, I checked in with the Garmin Mini, then started down.
I followed a cairn down the upper road and onto the use trail I left earlier. It was quite steep in places, but the steel cable was useful to aid the descent. Back at the mine, I sent another Garmin check in, so my last location would be known if something happened in the mine. I unpacked my light sources, carried the GoPro, and left my pack outside. I was able to stand up in the mine in most places. The tunnel went straight back at least 400' past some support beams to an intersection. I lost sight of the entrance. Another tunnel branched left and the main one continued for about 80' before ending. I went back and followed the left tunnel about 100' more until it also came to an end. It was a fun side adventure and added a little spice to the trip. The rest of the descent was uneventful. Silver Peak wrapped up the third HPS peak for the day. As much as I bag on generic HPS peaks, Little Bear, Gold, and Silver were fun.
