I would first like to say thank you for 10,000 subscribers! When I started my channel I never thought it would ever grow this big. I thought maybe I would get a couple thousand subscribers if I was lucky. My earlier videos were poorly filmed and my current videos, although much better, are not high quality productions by any means. However, there is something about my videos that have caused over 10,000 people to want to see more, so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. The goal of my channel is still the same: To document these historic mines with photos and videos and to share their history as much as I reasonably can. If my videos are entertaining then that’s just a bonus.

Because I’ve reached 10,000 subscribers, I figured I should post something really good. This is what I’ve decided on. In early April, Xavier and I backpacked into Panamint City, a ghost town high up in the Panamint Mountains. Panamint City has a fascinating history. The town was founded in 1873 and the mines were said to be as rich as the Comstock. This of course was not true and the mining ventures ultimately proved to be failures. I’ll cover more of the town’s history later in this 4part series.

In Part 1 we hike the rugged 5+ miles up Surprise Canyon to Panamint City. Upon arriving, we decided to hike up Sourdough Canyon in search of “The Castle”, which was the cabin we planned to stay in if unoccupied. Although we chose not to sleep inside the cabin we set up our tents right outside. This ended up being a great spot to camp as no one ever came up to bother us. Most people who backpack or day hike into Panamint City stay below in the main part of town.

In the second half of this video we explore the mining camp that surrounds “The Castle”. This camp was from the 1970s80s when Panamint City experienced it’s last mining revival. There was an abundance of old equipment and vehicles scattered around, with the main feature being a very intact mill. The several shaker tables at the mill led me to believe this was primarily a gold operation, but there were also stockpiles of silver ore, indicating that they were mining that as well. The ore for this operation was probably extracted from the small gold and silver mines on the ridge above Sourdough Canyon. We did not hike up to those mines on this trip.

We originally hoped to explore a portion of the “city” on this first day, but we did not have the time. Don’t worry though. In Part 4 we thoroughly check out the town and the mills around it. Parts 2 and 3 will concern a few of the many incredible mines that surround Panamint City.

Check out Xavier's channel here:    / ercole746