The Second Level
Stamps were large, heavy, and cumbersome pieces of equipment. Most mills only had a few, and only the real profitable mines (such as C&H) could install more. The Mohawk Mill had 4 stamps. Only question was: where were they? Not that we expected to find them (most stamps were removed for scrap) but we at least expected to find a pedestal on which they once sat. These were large pieces of equipment that required a good amount of structure to support i
The Lower Level
As we neared the edge of the second level, we looked down across a zone of destruction. The lower level was a mess, a tangle of concrete, reinforcing bars, steel beams, cables, and any other industrial material you could think of. There were no obvious foundations, or walls, or pedestals, or anything. Only a flat slab of concrete fighting to breath through a tangles mess of ruin could be discerned. It was as if the entire upper and middle floors were raked down onto the lower level and forgotten - a real mess.
The Fallen Hopper
Sitting among the scattered remains of the Mohawk Stamp Mill was a large concrete monolith. Apparently single block of concrete a good 15 feet in height and 30 feet in length, this structure sat haphazardly upon the ruins – almost as if it was simply dropped there. It looked out of place sitting alone in a field of stamp sand a good distance from the lower level. So we decided to check it out.
The Barren Beach
It is a strangely off-worldly experience to step out from the stamp mill ruins and onto the barren landscape of the sands. Gazing out across its desolate expanse stretching towards the horizon, you can’t help but feel as if you are standing on another planet.
The Tunnel
The great expanse of stamp sands we currently were standing on, all originated from the Mohawk mill behind us. The water/stamp sand solution that exited the stamp mill was carried by water chutes (called launders) to the lake’s edge where they were dumped. Over time, the stamp sands would fill the lake bottom and build up until they formed new land along the lake’s edge. When this happened, the launders were extended across these sands to open water and the process repeated. Over the years these launders would be extended multiple times, and in the case of the Mohawk mill, reaching a good half-mile into the lake.