May 2025

There was a hike I had been thinking about a lot lately and couldn't wait to get back to. It would be the first time for the Wolf on this particular trail and I was anxious to see how she handled herself. We were going to go back to the old mining system on the East side of Mt. Hood. This is rather a secret and difficult to find mine and very old (almost 100 years old!). I adore the history of the place. As a story teller, I love stories. So I will tell you the true story of Tom K. here.

Long ago, a man named Thomas, born in Germany in 1877, moved to the United States in 1899. By 1920 (quite possibly earlier) we know for sure that he was living in Oregon as a trapper, miner, packer and prospector. He very much stayed to himself and was known as the last true mountain man. He reportedly was a small, wiry man who walked everywhere. He would disappear for months at a time. Most winters he stayed in a log cabin that he built by hand in the middle of nowhere northwest of Maupin and south of the Dalles, Oregon. He spent the winters trapping martens for their fur which were highly in demand around WWII for women's fur coats. (Yeah, don't get me started on that!! Animals should be our friends, not things we eat or wear!)

Anyway, I was captivated by Tom's story. The fact that he so rarely came out of the woods was shown in newspaper reports at the time. They would literally publish when he came into town....."Jan. 16, 1923 Tom K. came out of the mountains with some fine furs. He

wanted to know who won the November elections. March 8, 1923 Tom K. came out of the

mountains on skis and reports 10 feet of snow. Feb.14, 1924 Tom K. is in town today getting supplies to return to the mountains for another month." (From the Maupin Times Newspaper). What was truly spectacular to me was that each time he came into town that meant a 30 to 40 mile trip on foot, skis or snowshoes (each way)!!!! This man was a beast and I loved him.

The cold winters and extreme isolation he endured are a testament to his character. While living alone in his one room log cabin, Tom had created a mine shaft going horizontally into the cliffs up and behind his home. No one seems to know what he mined here. I have heard he was prospecting gold, nickle or uranium, but no one seems to know for sure. The mine has 3 shafts connected by hard 90 degree turns. The first is the longest. I cannot even imagine how long it took Tom to create this mine not to mention how hard the work would have been as it is pretty much solid rock. When I visited once before with Nova, we struggled to find both the cabin and the mine in snowy conditions. Since this would be my second time back, I knew right where to find everything and I could not wait! In fact right after my last visit here, I had repeatedly had dreams about the mine. For some reason I felt Tom asking me to come back. There was often a big orange cat living inside the mine in my dreams. But I had been distracted by too many other hikes to make it. Then I wasn't sure I would be able to get the Wolf into the tunnels. However, after our ice caving adventures this winter, I knew the Wolf would do it. So off we went.

It is a real long drive to get to the closest trailhead I know for this mine. It takes about 2 hours on paved roads, and then 30 minutes on gravel. The gravel roads are like a maze of unnamed connecting dirt roads everywhere. There is just so much to explore and rarely a human seen anywhere. But as I was churning up huge clouds of dust behind my old Xterra, I happened to look down an embankment to my left. Suddenly I slammed on my brakes, skidding to a halt in the middle of the dirt and gravel. Down below was a small murky pond and right next to it, clearly sunning itself, was a large gator. I shook my head and looked again. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Maybe the sunshine was getting to be too much for me today and I hadn't even left my truck. I sat for a long time trying to see if the thing was moving at all. But I was too far away to see any rising or falling of the chest. The thing was huge, a good 8 to 9 feet long. "Can gators even live in Central Oregon?" I asked the girls. Was this some secret gator preserve?? There was fencing all around the area. All I knew was that my priority was to go to the mine first and then when we came back, I was going to get down there, scale any fencing and figure this out....even if it was in the dark of night. As we all know, I don't always make the best of decisions, and surely stomping around in the long grass around a pond in a potential gator preserve in the dark would take the cake. But I could not leave this stone unturned. "Josie, you want a selfie with a gator don't you??" I asked the Wolf. There was no way I would take Nova down there! I do have some standards.

When we parked next to the road along a beautiful gurgling creek, and were strapping on packs, boots and gear, I breathed deeply of the warm pine scent filling the air. I love hiking in pine forests! The scent is amazing! The sun was warming the fallen pine needles and pine cones, making a paradise of sweet smelling trail for us to follow. As we moved along the creek, we were in a forest of green and red cedar trees and tall, stately pines. There was very little underbrush and the sound of the creek followed our every step. I understand that trout live in this creek here, but I have never seen them.

Eventually, the trail turned away from the creek and began to climb up out of the little valley we were in. As we climbed, we moved through longer grasses where snakes and ticks were hiding. But we also started to find a plethora of small wild strawberry plants in full bloom. I made a mental note to pay attention to this location on my way back through as this would be a perfect time to add a few new strawberry plants to my garden. As we continued climbing, the winds became quite strong through the trees. We were moving through old gnarled oak trees now. What were remaining of spring wildflowers were nestled among the grasses and trees. The trail was gorgeous and the vitamin D so needed!

Now, in case you have been missing Nova's cold weather "Snood Shots", I will say that although snood season is over, sun bonnet season is finally here! As we were now more exposed on the side of an open ridge, the sun was surely trying to bake us. So I pulled out Nova's purple bonnet from Josie's backpack and made sure her eyes were protected from the bright sun. In this moment, Josie was giving me her face of "don't you ever, ever put a bonnet on me Mom." I laughed at them both as we continued down the twisting and climbing path.

I was hiking in a tank top, but the winds were growing so fierce and cold that I knew I would need to add layers soon. But since that involves taking off all my gear, I decided to push off until we at least got to the mine where I would have to take my pack off. By now we had reached the section that was covered in many feet of snow the last time we were here. It was so much easier now with none of the white stuff to fight!

Since I had been unable to decide if Nova's outfit would be best with a purple or a pink bonnet today, I had brought both. This was the moment we had a wardrobe change. Yup, pink is looking pretty good on the princess today too!

Eventually we dropped back down to the hidden nook between the creek and rising cliffs that have hidden Tom's cabin for so many decades. It was sadly even more decrepit than last time we were here. I wish I had seen it in its prime. Just large enough for his twin bed (the rusted metal frame is still in the cabin's footprint) and a stove for heating and cooking. Close enough to clear fresh water. Sheltered by the high cliffs behind it. Dropped down below the ridge-lines for protection. Truly a perfect setting. The trail continues on here, but if you know what you are doing, you can find the mine. It looked as if people had tried to hide the way to the opening with a bunch of branches. But that was not about to deter us today!

Yes, I know, every single thing I have been able to find about this mine has very strongly stated NOT to go into it. They say it is unsafe and liable to collapse at any time. Whatever. Once you are there, you have to make your own judgement based on what you see and experience. My gut tells me this mine is very safe. Now, if a big earthquake happens, perhaps not. But I was willing to take my chances. Here is the opening from the outside.

Now before going inside, I did take a moment to think about what would be best if it collapsed with us inside. No one knew where I was today and it would take a while to find my army green truck hidden along the road. Since the trail goes around and away from the mine, search and rescue might need a clue that I was in the mine. I was not about to leave my backpack outside the entrance. If it did collapse, I needed all my gear. I thought about leaving my hankie or chap-stick....but once again, I need those items. I closed my eyes, tilted my head back and tried to think hard on what I should leave for a clue. Finally I remembered that I had eaten a Rice Krispie bar on my way here. I pulled the wrapper out and tucked it partially under a rock right before the entrance. If you know me, you know I love Rice Krispies. So, my friends, if I ever go missing, yes follow the Rice Krispie wrappers!

For some reason, Josie seemed nervous about going inside the mine. But Nova remembered just how to do it and slid down inside. Josie and I followed her in. I stopped to turn on my flashlights, but the light was pretty well swallowed up by the long dark channel of the first mine tunnel. This time an unpleasant smell hit me that I didn't recall from before. Like dampness and musty animal urine. "Ugh", I said outloud. But we got use to the smell pretty quickly. I was remembering how I had found the bones from a bear near the mine the last time Nova and I were here and I was terrified that the bear lived in the tunnels. This time, I was not nearly so jumpy as we moved to the end of the first tunnel, turning to our right to start the second shaft. The tiny amount of light from the opening behind us was now gone. We were in utter blackness. Josie stopped and told me she was sensing something ahead of us.

Of course, this gave me a bit of pause (because she is never wrong), but I thought maybe she was just hearing the dripping water. So we slowly continued down the second mine shaft. I knew before long, we would be taking another hard right hand turn. Josie was now in the front, at the end of her 6 foot lead line. In the darkness she suddenly jerked and jumped and was clearly engaged with something around that dark corner. Nova pushed to the front to see what the action was while I tried my best to quickly get around the tight corner and get my flashlight on whatever creature was there. My heart was pounding at the thought that we were in a lot of trouble if we were now in the back of this mine with a cornered bear and the Wolf fully engaging in battle. "Crap!" I said as I almost dropped my torch as Josie's weight flung me against the hard rock wall. I was struggling to maintain my footing as she pulled against me with all of her might. Many curse words came out about this time. Funny, it was in this same spot last time that I shrieked like a banshee thinking something was standing right here reaching for me. This transition from 2nd to 3rd shaft has it in for me!

But once I did fully get around the corner, I couldn't see anything at all. There was nothing there, even though Josie was still jumping up and down and acting crazy. For a moment I thought Josie was fighting Tom's ghost or his orange ghost cat. But then I heard strange sounds and saw them. There were mice living in the very back of the third shaft. They were running and lunging at us. "Are they insane?" I thought. But then I realized that one particular mouse was trying to protect his partner. He kept climbing up the rock walls as high as he could and then jumping off onto the ground. Then they both started to do that from different directions. It was like a circus and was very entertaining for us all, I am not going to lie. But then one of them started to madly try to dig into the wall to get away and I pulled us all back so we wouldn't completely terrify the little friends. I spoke quietly to them and promised I would not let the girls get to them. But that was easier said than done! Josie and even Nova were pulling with all their combined 100 pounds (65 + 35) against me to get to them!! Let's just say I was unable to take pictures. At one point when the girls moved to my right, the lead mouse started running right for me. "Not a good life choice!!" I yelled at him as I pulled the girls further back away from them. I could see they had a large latrine area which explained the terrible smells filling the shafts. These guys had clearly lived here for some time. I wondered how total darkness would affect them long term. I imagined they must go out each day for food though. They had brought in all kinds of nesting materials as well. Perhaps they were extra fiesty today because they were working on bringing babies into the world. Eventually, I threw a big handful of dog treats their way and pulled the girls back into the second mine shaft so our new friends could relax once more. I tried to get one pic before we left of them in a small hole....but forgive me, it is real hard to take a photo in the dark with a telephoto lens while two beasts are pulling on me and two mice are wiggling.

Once we left the mice in their own shaft, we enjoyed taking photos, feeling the cold wet rock walls of the tunnels, turning on and off the flashlights, and testing the echoing capabilities in the shafts. Feeling as if he was there with us, I spoke to Tom about how amazing this place was and how impressed I was at his ingenuity. I use to plan to spend the night in the mine, but was glad I was not doing that today with the mouse fumes filling my nostrils. If I die of the Hanta virus, we will all now know where I got it. Not going to lie, I googled this when I got home and learned that symptoms can start anywhere from 1-8 weeks after exposure. Okay, I need to stay diligent for the next two months....but one of the early symptoms is muscle aches. Are you kidding me?? Every week my muscles ache after my hikes. UGH. Fatigue, headaches, chills are other symptoms. Really?? I clearly already have the Hanta Virus.

As we moved back into the first shaft, we could suddenly see our escape hatch. It was funny how the air felt warmer and lighter as we slowly moved toward the opening. I made the girls walk in slow motion to savor the final moments inside. We could still see our breath in the mine showing how much colder it was even in mid May. The girls did some posing on our way out and then seemed very happy to get to fresh air once more! They practically dragged me through the hole in their motivation to get back to daylight once more. (Yes, I picked up my location beacon wrapper on the way out!)

We slowly walked past Tom's cabin once more and sat and ate our supper on a log nearby. I thought about all the times he sat right here doing the same thing. I felt that he is surely a kindred spirit. I must tell you the end of his story, even though it is tragic. Why do all good stories have terrible tragic endings??

So in 1957 Tom K. came out of his mountains and stopped at a Ranger Station. He had a burlap bag of rocks on his back and excitedly told the rangers that he had finally found "it". What it was, we will never know. Because as he was walking to the Assay office in the Dalles, he was struck and killed by a car on one of the corners in the road. When this news got out, two of those Rangers quickly went to the scene of the accident to find his bag of rocks. But they were gone. So man or myth that mystery goes unsolved. Was he killed on purpose? Did whoever hit him, take the bag of rocks?? Stories went around for a long time after that and most rangers said they believed he had found uranium. When I get to Heaven, I can't wait to find Tom K. and ask him all about his fascinating life!! I also need to know if he had an orange cat and how the feline felt about the mice living in his tunnels.

As we slowly walked away from the log cabin, I very strongly felt eyes watching me. I turned around and had the perfect vantage point to look down on the cabin and the camp around it. No one was there, but I knew it was Tom. I could feel him standing by the corner of his home waving at me. I waved back for a long time and told him goodbye and thank you!

The hike out in the evening hours as the sun was setting was divine. The flowers and trees were absolutely gorgeous as the lighting changed and even the feel of the air shifted as darkness was descending.

I was in a deeply reminiscent mood as I put our gear back in the truck, sighed and pulled onto that washboarded and pot-holed dirt road. That is when I remembered the gator. I pushed harder on the excelerator hoping to get back to that pond before it was too dark. I had memorized the exact location and knew I could find it. As we came around the corner of the steep embankment, I peered down and could not see him. "Oh my gosh, he really was real!" I yelled outloud. But then as I got closer, I could see him in the same place. Okay, I pondered. I doubt if he was alive he would still be sitting in the same place. But who puts a fake gator in the middle of freaking no where??? Because it was getting dark fast and they were tired, I left both girls in the truck and climbed/slid down the embankment to get to the gator mystery. I was clearly trespassing and briefly wondered what sort of trap this was. Like a moron, I did not bring my gun or my knife, only my trusty camera. If it was a trap, I was falling right for it.

I have to say, that even as I crept up closer and closer to the gator and could see that he was fake, something about him made my heart pound faster. They just are freaky looking critters to be sure. I took his photo and walked all the way around the pond to get close enough to touch him. Funny story....in the mud all around the gator, I found big cat and coyote tracks. That is when it hit me. This was cattle country. I had driven over 3 cattle gates to get to the trailhead. I bet the rancher put this gator here to scare away predators from cattle who wanted to drink the murky water. Yeah, that clearly was not working at all. There were no cattle tracks, only wildlife. Maybe Oregon Mountain Lions don't know what a gator is I laughed as I ran and climbed back up to my truck before I was caught fondling someones huge plastic gator.

This hike was proof once again that I just never know what I will find on my adventures!! Thanks for coming along for the ride!