Cowichan Lake

A friend and I explored Hill 60 today.

The Hill 60 manganese deposit was mined by open pit in 1919 and 1920.

We searched for the mine. We started on a logging road off Highway 18 and near the Skutz Falls intersection. Our first attempt brought us to a mining claim stake and a metal tag dated 1998 - back end of the claim.

Our second attempt was along the Hill 60 Forest Service Road. We drove to an intersection where we parked the car. We walked about three kilometers. A steady climb until we reached 900 meters elevation. Eventually we found an old mine where we looked for rhodonite. We found several small pieces of the pink rock.

Snow fell, the wind blew while we walked down the mountain to the car.

The photo is a view of the mountains near Cowichan Lake.