The Brady Kids To to the Mine

Recently Dave and I have gotten back into a outdoor activity that we have always enjoyed, we have started hiking together. We are planning some big hikes up a few mountains this month so we have been training for it by walking as much as possible. I really think hiking is the only form of exercise that I can do without getting bored. Before I know it, an hour or 2 have gone by.

When we first purchased the land at Shmoopywood, some of the neighbors had told us about the abandoned mica mine at the top of our mountain. I have always wanted to go up there but I was afraid to go alone. There is an old abandoned road on the other side of the river and today we decided to walk up that road and see if it leads us to the mica mine!

The road was fairly steep for the entire trip. It was great though as there was not too much overgrowth. We did not have to blaze a new path just walk up the road. It took about an hour to get to the top and then the road just ended! We were so bummed. We decided to take an alternate route down the mountain. We spied a small logging road off in the distance and after about 20 feet of walking that, we ran into the old mica mine!


We found an old truck!

Some sort of bucket

The steering wheel has long since been taken or eroded but the steering column remains!

A building with a door (cool hinges) we think it may have been the privy!

I dont know what kind of rock this is, it was like marble.

This bottle was discovered half buried! There is some bleach left in the bottle! We took it home and did some research, its a 1951 Clorox Bleach bottle. We also got a can of pipe tobacco.


After a thorough exploration and a promise to return we headed back down the mountain. We did make a short stop to admire a log cabin in the woods that has been abandoned.

I love these walks we have been taking, it helps me get in shape plus I feel like I am getting to know him and my surroundings much better. We saw countless moose and deer prints as well as scat. We chatted and laughed and we even worked up a good solid sweat!
I challenge you to have yourselves a walk around your neighborhood, woods, town and see what you can find that you had not seen before!