P#2 Hard Hat & Pearls The Stamp Mill at Gold Bug Park

So if you read yesterday's blog, you know that hubby and I took our latest adventure to Gold Bug Park and Mine in Placerville , CA. I shared with you our tour of the mine and the small museum , and mentioned that was not all to the day. Well after the mine tour, and handing in your hard hats, it is time for the drive or hike to the Stamp Mill . We choose to hike. So here we go...looks easy enough..... Then the climbing begins, and the dodging of vines, with thorns.... and two sets of stairs.... Needless to say I was huffing and puffing when we finally reached the end of the trail, and there was still more climbing to be done to get inside....      The view was beautiful though.....

Once at the actual Stamp Mill, we stopped to read the description of what a Stamp Mill is and what it was used for....and then we headed inside. In this building a reproduction of an authentic Stamp Mill sits...two stories tall..... We stopped to read the different plaques that were scattered all over the building describing all the functions of the equipment used at the mines..... one even was a version in miniature of a mine top to bottom! Very interesting, and a lot to take in....but I think just by looking at it you can kind of get the idea.

   We stopped to take photos of the different artifacts and equipment in the building as well as hear what some was used for....we even got a demo of how the Stamp Mill works, it was about the quarter of the size of the real ones, and was so loud....the docent said that the full size ones could be heard day and night all over the area, and often people would wake up if it stopped, cause they were so used to it!!

( this is the pint size version of the Stamp Mill) 

It was getting near the parks closing time, so we walked out of the building and took the road back...a bit easier, being paved and down hill...
And once back to where our car was, hubby took time to explore an old dam, and I snapped a pic of the troughs you can rent to pan for your own gold to see if you get lucky...
  

So that is Gold Bug Park and Mine......the adventure did not stop there though....I will share our trip down HWY 193 off the 49 , and the town of Georgetown and a few side adventures, and some wonderful shots of the valley and a bit more history of the ghost towns that dot the hills in that area on Saturday. Tomorrow, French Girl Friday, so hope you will join me for those!