In spite of threatening skies and possibility of rain 36 people gathered at the Mill Creek picnic area for a climb of Iron #3 and Rabbit #1 on Sun., Mar. 7. Before the hike the leader, Miriam Myhre, gave the group a brief history of the area. There are several mines here which go back to 1858 and produce gold and silver in quantities. One interesting fact was that the average production per miner working in the San Gabriels diggings through 5 years from 1858-1863 was 25% greater than the average in the northern diggins in 1853, the peak year of their production.
The climb to Iron was made in very good time though several stops were made because of newcomers and youngsters in the group. On the way to Rabbit Pk., we stopped at the Black Cargo Mine and were greeted by Mr. George Schey, who along with his partner holds the mineral rights to the mine and at present is doing some hard-rock mining. He gave a very interesting talk on the ores that can be found in the area and quantity and quality that is being produced. The gold ore, he said, has assayed from $13-$96 a ton. He then led the group into the mine and showed us some of the work being done. There were intermittent showers of rain and hail but just enough to dampen the hikers' gear but not their enthusiasm. Lunch time was on top of Rabbit Peak and then a quick return to the cars with another pleasant hike terminated.
