Although rain and snow was expected, the radar showed it still off-shore, so I decided to explore Piute Mountain Road, and specifically the Waterhole Mine. The Waterhole (35.438N/118.313W) is right alongside the Pacific Crest Trail, and produced iron and gold. From the desert area of Kelso Valley the road rises steeply to the treeline above, and then meanders thru thick pines and patches of snow. The further in and higher I went, the wetter the road became. One section was very slushy. I kept an eye on the grey sky, figuring I'd better start back if it started to rain.

Piute Mountain was heavily explored and mined in the past, but now it is home to summer camps, hunters, and a few lucky people who live up there year round.

The mine is just a short distance from Claraville, once a large community but now long gone, it's buildings hauled off to a Bakersfield museum, and the land now very private property.

The road to the mine from Piute Mtn Road is well marked with signs, as the area below the site is a designated camping area. Although there were bare spots, the snow was thick where it still existed. The lowest tailing piles were exposed, but everything else had a thick layer of very wet snow on it. As far as I could tell the actual mine has been filled in by the forest service. After about an hour poking among the tailings I attempted to continue west on Piute Mtn Road, but the snow eventually became too deep for the Suzuki, and I turned around to return the way I came. There are numerous old mines to be explored in the future in the Piutes.