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  • Whetstone, Silver King Lake, Twin Lakes - Bridge to Nowhere

    How is that for a subject line?

    Anyway, just got back from three days in Bull of the Woods.  My daughter and I took the Whetstone trail to the Bagby Trail, down to Twin Lakes Trail and spent one night at the Upper Twin Lake.  Beautiful lake!  The first evening, we explored Lower Twin Lake, which was kind of a mess.  It looks like it had a recent fire at the west end of the lake, and part of the trail has disappeared.  Didn't see any campsites there, either.  The next morning after an evening of rain, we took a day trip up the Twin Lakes Trail to the Motherlode trail and tried to find the mine referenced in the trail sheet, but were unable to find it.  We found a small camp there, but absolutely no trace of a trail down to the creek.  It appears as though the rhodies have reclaimed whatever trail was there. We then went back up Twin Lakes and Bagby to Silver King Lake.  This is a beautiful lake as well, a little smaller.  After spending the second night there, we went back up Whetstone and stopped at the summit.  I had forgotten what a beautiful view you get from the top of Whetstone.  Probably one of the finest panoramic views of any of the peaks around.  We ended up hiking somewhere around 30 miles in the 3 days, with quite a bit of elevation gain and a lot of brushy trails.  (there is lots of up and down on most of those trails).  On the way home, we decided to take a detour and find the "bridge to nowhere" which was mentioned here a while ago, and recently mentioned on the portlandhikers site.  It was a long detour, but we did find it.  Pretty interesting to see....A lot of hiking, but we had a great time.

    So, I have a couple of questions for anyone who might be able to answer them:

    - Was there a fire at lower twin lakes?  When was it?  Did there used to be campsites there as well?
    - Anyone know anything about the "Porcupine Mine" referenced in the USFS sheet for the Mother Lode trail?
    - On the trail to the summit of Whetstone Mountain, there was an old sign that said "Amalgamated Mine - 4 1/2 Miles" Which pointed back down the Whetstone trail.  Anyone know anything about that?
    - As far as the bridge to nowhere, I saw the story about it being built to service logging in the area, but it seems odd that another bridge was build just downstream of this one at the same time.  Why would they need two bridges so close together, and why was one finished and one not?

    Rob
    Whetstone, Silver King Lake, Twin Lakes - Bridge to Nowhere
  • Re: Whetstone, Silver King Lake, Twin Lakes - Bridge to Nowhere (#)
  • 8/1/08; 6:40:49 AM ¦ by Doug Firman

  • I was at Lower Twin Lake a week ago and also noticed the burned area.  It wasn't that way a year ago.  I'm guessing that it was caused by a lightning strike.  Fortunately it did not spread.  It's kind of ugly now, though, but then that's life in the wilderness.

    There are a few campsites on the north side of the lake. 

    • Re: Whetstone, Silver King Lake, Twin Lakes - Bridge to Nowhere (#)
    • 8/1/08; 7:03:58 AM ¦ by Rob Williams
    • Did you see the tree that had been burned out but was still alive?  It was pretty amazing.  Over half of the lower trunk had burned out, but the upper part was still alive (for now).  The area will recover pretty quickly, I'm guessing.

      We did not see any campsites, but we didn't go too far around the lake, either.
  • Re: Whetstone, Silver King Lake, Twin Lakes - Bridge to Nowhere (#)
  • 8/1/08; 6:51:48 PM ¦ by Bill Cattrall
  • Rob,
    I found the Porcupine Mine back in '80. It's  below the junction of 558 and 573 trails.  Look for old mining equipment farther down the slope. I recall that the tunnel is just under the trail and went into the slope under it. They may have blasted the tunnel closed to save us from ourselves.  I didn't go in.  I hope to get up that way soon and will see if it is still there.

    Bill
    • Re: Whetstone, Silver King Lake, Twin Lakes - Bridge to Nowhere (#)
    • 8/1/08; 6:58:30 PM ¦ by Rob Williams
    • We went down the 558 trail a bit, and found some flagging and what looked like an old camp with fire ring, etc (and some old big metal stuff).  I figured that was where the mine was, but didn't see any sign of a trail.  We also went down the trail a little farther, but it started going downhill pretty steeply, and figured we had gone too far.  I'd love to know if it is still there, although I probably won't get in there for quite some time.  But, if I know where to look, maybe that will prompt me to go back sooner!  I wouldn't even think of going in the mine, I just thought it would be cool to see an actual mine.....

      Sounds like we might have just not gone far enough....Bummer...

      Thanks