The Wildrose Canyon charcoal kilns are at an elevation of 6,800 ft and there
was snow. Two days earlier a winter storm had passed through. On the drive to
the kilns the last 1/4 mile turned to ice and snow. Since we were driving in a
Subaru Forester we thought nothing of it and went right up. BUT on the way
down we came across a rear wheel drive BMW trying to make it up and t moron kept
sliding sideways taking up the entire road. We thought the he was going to
get stuck like that, then we would not have been able to get down. He finally
managed to get turned around.
click photo to enlarge
The last couple of miles to the kilns are dirt road but it is in pretty good
shape and when there is not snow and ice is not a problem for passenger cars.
The kilns were built in 1877 by the Modock Consolidated Mining Company and
are about 25 feet tall. They were built to provide charcoal as fuel for the
lead-silver mines in the Argus range about 25 miles away. They were built at
the high elevation in order to be near the pinion pines used to make the
charcoal.
click photo to enlarge
The kilns were only used from 1877 to 1890. The drive up and back down can
be quite beautiful. In the summer I suspect it is a real break from the
heat in the valley but in January it is COLD. They were restored by Navajo
Indian stonemasons from Arizona in 1971.
