Exploring the Peterhope Hills
On a hot summer morning I drove south past Stump Lake, then up the Peterhope Lake Road. An unsigned side road bears north and I parked there to hike into the hills to explore old mine workings, but also the hills, ponds, lakes, and forests of the area.
The Mary Reynolds mine was worked from 1889 to 1929. Ore was excavated and sent to Trail for refining. Some lead, gold, and silver was found. The mine area was worked off and on afterwards until about 1973. My first stop was a cabin used by the miners and just below it a working shed for the core samples and equipment.
Higher up in the hills there were excavations, spoil and tailings, rusted equipment and remains of buildings. All photos taken by the author. Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.
Farther into the hills there were double tracks used by ranchers and loggers, some cut blocks, and a number of ponds and lakes to explore. The hike took about 3 hours and some of the moments are found in this YouTube video:
Thanks to Redvest for the heads-up.