15-May-2006 -- The second attempt at this confluence came back in May of 2006. We were going to attempt to go up the "silver mine gorge" - the same gorge that was the focus of the first attempt. As We (Larry, Peter and Chris) arrived at the silver mine gorge we stopped the mini van and stopped at a local's house near the entrance trail. I must have been messing around with my bag, cause I didn't see it, but Larry was bitten in the leg by a local dog. Larry's calves are shaped and sculpted but the bite still broke the skin. Peter was pretty insistent that we get Larry back to a clinic for a rabies shot. The local farmer's tried to play it all off, as I guess I would have. They said "that dog bites everyone!"

We headed back to a local town (took a while) to find a clinic that actually had rabies vaccinations and got Larry the shots that he needed. I don't have pictures from the main clinic where Larry had the shots but only from the first place we stopped at. There they cleaned up the wound.

We came back to the same entrance at the silver mine and started up the trail late in the day. The trail was excellent for the first kilometer or so. After that it all went very downhill. There must have been a huge flood earlier when all the snow from up top melted, as all of the wooden bridges were completely gone. This left only sheer cliffs cut by the rushing water. Peter attempted a very risky 'wade' through the waist deep white water along the cliff. This way wasn't gonna work.

The next morning we tried a new route along some trails that cut up very sharply from the roadside up along the ridge. This route has since turned out to be the way to go. The trail is very overgrown with weeds along the lower elevations. It opened up a bit then came to the old growth forest. That's were there there is a horse paddock built out of logs. We rested there in the sun and watched the horses play around. It was pretty chilly though. Peter and I tried continuing up the trail through the old growth forest, and that is where the snow started. We didn't have time on our side for this trip, and saved the knowledge we gained for another trip...