Mt. Ophir, Part II

March 12, 2022
Mt. Ophir
Total distance walked: 2.7 miles

After our ghost town adventure from two weeks ago (Mt. Ophir, Part I), my husband and I were excited to return to the area for more exploration.  We started out by inspecting the area around the Mt. Ophir Trabucco Store finding more of its rotting foundation crumbled in the dirt.

From there we walked up the hill to a marked side trail.

Tailings, the by-product of mining, were scattered at the top of the side trail. After a brief search, we found a mine shaft burrowed into the hillside hidden by brush and trees. Heading back down the side trail we continued to Mineshaft Road, hoping to find more.

Instead, we got sidetracked and followed a narrow path that led us up and down rolling hills.

We learned from a group of firefighters who ran past us (a hand crew, training and wearing wildland clothes) that there is a bell at the top of the hill, hence the trail name, the Bell Trail.  (I don’t know if that’s an official name.)

Not knowing exactly where we’d end up, we decided not to follow the Bell Trail.

We turned around and retraced our steps back to Mineshaft Road and headed to the car.

This was a one-hour exploration hike that left us wanting more.  We will return and maybe reach the top one day to ring the bell.