I read a book sometime ago called Riding the Flume, and not only was it my favorite book for quite a few years, but it sparked an interest in flumes and their uses.
Naturally, with the huge gold explosion here in the hills some one hundred plus years ago, there were flumes, specifically, the Rockerville Flume.
To sum it up briefly, the Rockerville Flume was designed and constructed in the 1880's to solve the problem of water loss during the boom of Rockerville and the discovery of gold. When water wasn't available, it made it difficult for minors to subtract the gold from the dirt, and it was very costly to pay for the water.
The building of the flume apparently had some miscreant managers, and although the lifespan of the flume was short-lived, it was said to have pro ducted about twenty million dollars worth of gold to be mined in Rockerville.
Today, there's a beautiful trail that follows the flume's path and although age and nature's course has taken down the flume, there are still remnants of wood planks and rock walls (not to mention two very wicked flume tunnels) along the trail.
Come take a walk with me!
P.S. There was no posting yesterday due to the arrival of Dad here in the hills and a resulting chiller day. Apologies!
The day began on a rather chilly note. From our spectacular ninety degree days, we have taken a drastic turn into the lower fifties, with drizzles and eerie fog. Oh well! We're from Alaska, we can handle any weather!
Alyeska proved to be the most irritable at the weather, but Grandma soon warmed her up..
You can either start the trail at the Rockerville trailhead, or start near Sheridan Lake, and can either take the eleven mile walk, or the six mile loop. Today, we went for the start at Sheridan and the six mile loop.
Dad is certainly ready to rumble!
Here lies the dam at Spring Creek, where the water was hauled some 17 3/4 miles away to Rockerville, through hills and over gulches.
The trail is very neat. Not only do you follow the original flow of water from the flume, but you get the scenic view. And boy does it feel like you're taken back in time to the 1880's!
One of my favorite parts of the trail was the first flume tunnel. Concstructed by hand, these babies went through rock faces to continue the transport of water. And boy are they spooky!
To go in, or to not go in?
Following Anton and his headlamp, Mom and I followed suit through the old flume tunnel.
Rather wet due to the past rainfall, but plenty worth it.
We made it!
Careful Anton!
I myself was also fascinated by the remaining wood planks and trenches that were dug by hand. I'm holding history!
So much to see..
And not half a mile later, the second flume tunnel!
Literally touching rock thats 1.7 billion years old.. boy how I wish these rocks could talk!
Look at that, just carved there in the hillside..
Here, I'm coming back out of that first flume tunnel. We turned around at the scenic meadow overlook, and I obviously couldn't wait until I got back here again!
Alyeska joined us on this one!
Looks like everyone's having a good time, yes?
Route looking familiar again..
Fabulous way to spend a drizzly day, I must say!
No comments:
Post a Comment