United Mica Mine

Among all the great places hidden within the woods New Hampshire, my very favorite things to explore are abandoned mine shafts. Hundreds of sites were mined within our state over the past two hundred years, and of those hundreds I estimate there are 40 to 50 that have underground workings. Underground could be as simple as the single cavern we found at the Barney Mine, or the more than thousand feet of tunnel that make up the Ruggles Mine playground. With approximately 240 feet of underground tunnel, this next mine falls somewhere in-between the two of those.

Details get a little fuzzy when you're researching these old places, but United was a mica mine whose glory years took place prior to the 1920's, when it was run by the United Mica Company out of Grafton NH. It then went unworked for a period of time before local man AW Bennett purchased the site in 1936 and made a quick 2-year go of it. After that, the final attempt to turn a profit came from the United Mining Company of Andover NH, who called it a wrap in 1944 after determining there was only one small pinch of mica vein left to chase. A few of the tunnels were partially backfilled, then the mine was abandoned and left in the condition it can be found in today.

Our first exploration was during the tail end of the winter of 2018. Four of us piled into the Jeep and drove as far up the old mountain road as it would take us, then when we could go no further strapped on our boots and made the final half-mile hike to the mine.

photo by John Egolf

A 140 foot long open cut, or trench, was the starting point for our exploration, running parallel to and roughly 100 feet downhill from the road. Within this trench are several openings, which although look like entrances to separate tunnels, we soon learned all led to the same underground network. Some of the openings required a mixture of climbing and crawling to enter, so we stuck to using them for photo ops before heading to the main shaft.

photo by John Egolf

There is no easy way to enter the mine, especially if you're exploring in the winter as we were. Our research told us its entrance was at the bottom of a 45 degree slope, and on this day the entire thing was covered in ice. The level-headed amongst us decided to admire it from a distance, while the more foolish members of our group chose to risk the climb down. Here I am, alone, at the bottom of the slope.

photo by John Egolf

But sometimes the foolish are rewarded for their efforts, for the far superior view of this slope was from the bottom looking up.

United Mica Mine

I ventured over some rubble and under an archway, where the tunnel led me through a pair of rooms before ending at a point I suspected was somewhere underneath the road. And here's what I love about places such as this. No matter how treacherous it was to enter, or how forgotten you may think it is, somebody out there knows about it already. I was 200 feet underground in a hundred year old mine, yet here was a ratty chair parked in front of a fire pit. Somebody out there considers this a favorite spot to sit. Or, judging by the condition of the chair, they used to.

The other cool thing I found was when my flashlight happened across something shiny, which when I turned back was this beautiful chunk of quartz. I'd have liked nothing better than to bring it home and plop it in my front yard, but there's a reason I never entered any strongman competitions.

I left a coin in the cupholder of my fellow explorer's chair, then made my way back out of the mine. This several square mile area is a hotbed of mining, and I made a subsequent visit later that year while exploring a nearby mine. The chair was no longer there but the fire pit was, and in fact looked to have been recently used. I scattered a few more presents on the rocks where they would be nearly impossible to miss, and I'm anxious to see if any remain on our next expedition. There is at least one more tunnel mine in this vicinity that I've yet to locate, so I expect our return into United Mine to be sooner rather than later.

photo by John Egolf

Douglas Mountain Stone Tower, Sebago Maine

Not for one, but for all

- Dr. William Blackman

There are those who would get their hands on something beautiful and hide it away for themselves, never to share it with anyone. There are also those who would get their hands on the same beautiful thing, but instead will want the whole world to experience it. This adventure starts with one of my favorite types of people, someone who falls squarely into the latter group of men and women.

A century ago, Dr. William Blackman purchased Douglas Mountain in Sebago Maine, and in 1925 constructed a stone tower at its summit. He didn't build this tower just for himself, at least not entirely, but instead built it for anybody willing to make the relatively easy hike to the mountain's peak. To emphasize this point, onto a boulder at the summit he had carved the Latin phrase, NON SIBI SED OMNIBUS, which roughly translates to mean, not for one but for all.

If you're interested in seeing the tower, it can be reached in just over a half-mile beeline from a parking spot off Spring Ledge Road. Our hikes are more like our Sunday drives, however, so rather than this direct route we chose the longer and more scenic one, and for this we have scout Seth Newcomb to thank. His eagle project gave us the Eagle Scout Trail, a two-mile loop bringing you out along the mountain's scenic ledge, before tracking you back to the summit.

We're lucky in that more often than not on our hikes we find at least one unusual thing in the woods, something we could never have predicated being there. Today was another one of those days, as we came across not just one, but two, of these round structures.

Hiking to our much taller firetowers, often you will see the tower peeking out over the treetops before you actually arrive at it. That is not the case with the Douglas Tower. At just 16 feet in height, it wasn't visible until we exited the woods and turned the corner, when suddenly there it was.

Climb the tower and you will find both great views of nearby mountains, plus a map showing what each of the mountains you're looking at are. If you're like our friends at WeRmudfun, you can have a whole lot of fun pointing out the dozens of peaks you have climbed already. And if you're like myself with not nearly as impressive a resume, you can have just as much fun pointing out all of the peaks you've heard of and cannot wait to climb someday.

And with that many mountains still out there to climb, I never have the right to complain about being bored while I'm living in New England - unless maybe we're in the middle of a thunderstorm or a nor'easter. But if those words ever come out of my mouth while the sun is shining, someone needs to kick me off the couch, tell me to pick a random spot out on the map, and then go outside to conquer it.