Wondering around, I found this sign warning of hazardous conditions. I usually try to be alert to any hazards, but I guess I must be on "High Alert" — I especially don't want to encounter any rattlesnakes. We have them in South Mountain Park (adjacent to the community in which I live), which is why I always carry a walking stick when I go hiking there. Fortunately, I have never had to use it for defense, but it does provide a feeling of safety on the trails. Here, I guess I'll just have to use extra caution.

Oh, I hear a rustling of leaves from something moving in the brush — and me without my walking stick! Ah, now I see the source of the noise, and it’s a harmless chipmunk.

This was an interesting type of shed — it seems to be missing a wall. Upon further examination, it appears to be intentional in order to allow dumping rocks and soil into a shaded area and retrieving them on the other end. There were no signs indicating its purpose, so I guess I'll go with my first hunch.

The next area I encountered appeared to be for castoffs. The objects were too small for practical use and too big to be used as toys. Rather cool, though.

This appears to be where the mine tour starts. I did not plan to shell out the $10 (for seniors) on my first visit — I decided to save that for next time. The tour takes approximately 25 minutes and is an underground guided tour that takes you back in time to 100 years ago. The guides are well-versed in the history of the mine, town, gold mining equipment, and procedures.

My objective was photographic, so I just wandered about looking for objects that might make interesting photos.

Here we see a cart that was used to haul ore from the mine. It is interesting to note that the golf course right next to our community also has a couple of these carts along the edge of fairways. It adds to the ambience, I guess.

This looks like a means to haul stuff up to the surface from the mine and perhaps to lower stuff down to the work area below. I think we need a mining consultant for more information. 👷

This appears to be a working hearth in a blacksmith shop. Every town in the West needed the services of a blacksmith to fabricate and repair a multitude of steel objects. In those days, you could not simply go to Lowe's or Home Depot to pick up a new part to replace a broken one. Someone had to make a new one or repair the old one.

This machine had me puzzled. The part nearest the camera os obviously an internal combustion engine. Beyond it, there are a couple of drums which may have been spooled with cable to hoisting or pulling heavy objects. Your guess?

There's no question about this area — a workshop. Since I don't see a blacksmith's anvil, I presume this is a woodworking shop. Of course, in those days, a workman had to be flexible in what they could make or repair.

This shows one of the tools used in the woodworking shop. I'm not really sure what it is since it does not resemble any of the tools I had in my personal wood shop when I lived in California. But it is still interesting for those with curious minds.

Here is another exterior part of the working mine. It looks more like a junk pile now. I suppose that it was a bit better organized back in the old days.