Leaving the Amygdaloid Mine behind we walk down the road towards our next mine on the tour – the Delaware. But first we pass by the old Connecticut site, which entails not much more than a scattered poor rock pile sitting alongside the road. The pile had been worked over rather well by bulldozers recently, probably for the sake of mineral hunters. We hunted around for any sign of the surface plant but came up empty. It wasn’t until we explored the rock pile itself that we found ourselves some ruins that epitomized the definition of the word.

Tucked underneath the shade of a tree and partially buried by the surrounding poor rock was this small rock wall – probably the remains of a hoist house. Most of the wall had been knocked down, and whoever bulldozed the adjacent pile happened to take some of the poor old building with it. As depressing as it was, it wasn’t something new. We’ve seen this before at other bulldozed rock piles and while its a shame its also to be expected. Though their name would seem to suggest otherwise, poor rock piles are often much more valuable to most people then the old ruins that accompany them, and as a result those ruins are often ignored when the piles are scavenged for copper or other metals.

Moving on from the Connecticut site we take a long walk down the forest lined road before coming to our next stop on the tour – the Delaware powder house. I’ve shown this picture before during my Powder-paloza post, but its here that we first encountered it. It’s been turned into a camp or cottage of some type, but is still labeled with one of those Keweenaw Co. Road Commission signs identifying it as the Delaware powder House. Its placement seems far too close to the mine in question however, and I almost wonder if it originally belonged to a different mine. In fact it sits right next to a poor rock pile, indicating a shaft in the adjacent area. Seems odd to have this guy so close to one, which is why I’m thinking it wasn’t actually used by the Delaware itself as a powder house but perhaps as a storage house.

Here’s the same powder house before its alterations (to the left of the road, foreground). Here it still has its steel door, but as you can see its awfully close to a lot of other structures. The poor rock pile in question can also be seen here two doors down on the left. I wonder if this guy was actually built by the Northwest in its early life, and was later abandoned as the surrounding townsite expanded nearby. Who knows….

And here we are at yet another rock pile, this one belonging to the Delaware Fissure, formally the Northwest Fissure. I believe this is shaft No.1, but I’m not sure which end they started numbering at. Just like the previous rock pile there wasn’t a whole lot to see here, until we moved along the old piles outskirts and peered into the surround woods. First there was this guy….

…which was a good sign. But then a few more feet further into the tree-line reveals another interesting structure. This one having a much more impressive presence…

To Be Continued…