Hiking into Island Mountain

Comment

Comment by Dave S. on January 28, 2018 at 10:28am

I don't imagine the water truck was there to water the daisies, and it is therefore not surprising that people engaged in illegal actives would fib a little.

Comment by Graeme Ceballos on January 28, 2018 at 10:04am

I tried doing that once. When I did I took Bell springs Rd(which I do not recommend).  I passed pot farm after pot farm. Eventually we talked to this guy who had stalled his water truck on a steep slope and we asked him how far island mountain is. He said that there was nothing there and that all of it had been removed which is a lie.  

Comment by Michael H Harrison on February 10, 2014 at 10:20am

I don't think he is much into the internet (Not making any sort of old joke) but he is a very private person it seems.  He said he would still run the speeder, he used to run it when Eureka Southern and NCRA used the tracks.  He told me a story that he was once on his way to alderpoint thinking that the train was already past... turns out they were running late and heard the horn, threw it in reverse and booked it back to his ranch and lifted it onto the side. After that he always asked for permission, which he said he got all the time. He said the only thing that saved him was the fact that the trains couldn't really go past 25 MPH... This guy has lived in the canyon area for most of his life, and said he remembers the BUD Car and catching it anywhere in the canyon to go fishing many years ago.

Comment by Dave S. on February 10, 2014 at 10:09am

Michael:  hope you told him about this site!  I'm sure there are members on here who would would PAY for a speeder ride up there!

He must be conflicted about getting the track restored:  he wouldn't be able to use his speeder anymore, .... at least not without taking a terrible risk. 

Very interesting!

Comment by Michael H Harrison on February 10, 2014 at 9:59am

FYI RAIL ACTIVITY IN THE CANYON... LOL... Had to do survey work south of Alderpoint.  I took a detour to find the tracks in the canyon and ran into a older guy that owns a ranch down there. He happens to be a huge rail fan and he took me down to see the rails by his house. He owns a fremont speeder which he has sitting on the track that he uses to take his grand kids to a fishing hole.  By the looks of the shine on the rails and the brush cleared, he uses the speeder at least a few times a week. Most of the ties in that area are dry rotted... There is one area that is bad between his house and alderpoint that he wants to get good enough to pass with a speeder so he can take the speeder into town. It was fascinating, this guy just wanted to 1. Talk about trains, and 2. Wanted the trains to run by his house again.

Comment by Don Borden on February 5, 2014 at 7:44am

You have to hike through a ranch which is private property. Years ago I got permission to drive through the property but the rode is probably gone by now.

Comment by Brian D. Liddicoat on February 4, 2014 at 8:42pm

Well, I would have to go along as the NWPRRN's attorney...

Comment by Sean Mitchell on February 4, 2014 at 8:40pm

A good friend of mine is an amazing photographer. He wanted to take pictures of the south fork bridge so he called the NCRA. They were thrilled and said they wouldn't even mind having someone come out with him to document the bridges and infrastructure- Good for future prospects. 

Comment by HUTCH 7.62 on February 4, 2014 at 8:04pm

Maybe we can get an NCRA sanctioned trip up there. That way we would have permission to be on their property.

Comment by jbriogrande on February 4, 2014 at 2:17pm

Island Mountain is a ghost town,...and so is the tunnel.  It reminded me of the landscape when our first astronauts landed on the Moon.  Old telephone wires hanging in the air, stripped junction boxes from the old microwave towers, rusting railway track, stacks of old ties, and bare foundations stripped of mobile housing used for the maintenance gangs.  Black crows on the old poles, and scavenging Chicken Hawks circling overhead.  The perfect setting for a nightmare movie.  Guests beware........

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