Crystal Mountain, Out Past Boondoggle

FWIW, I've been known to ski the slopes where the 3 red arrows are on the map between Elizabeth Creek  and Jim Town (I call that area "Upper Boondoggle") when the north facing ridge slopes between Bear Gap and 3 Way are wind loaded and scary. Just head east from the top of quicksilver. When there's enough snow, CM usually puts in a cat track going east from there over Elizabeth Creek and then taking a hard right to go south past Henskin. Just keep going straight when the cat track goes right and you’ll be in that general area. But be careful, there's some steep rolls in there that could surprise you and you're definately "out-of-bounds" in there.
You'll not likely find any indication of the remnants of Jim Town with snow on the ground unless the snow is so sparse that the FS trail sign locating it is showing through the snow (assuming the sign is still even there). Send me an email if you'd like the gps coordinates for its location.

I’m curious, Paul, How did you discover that BB Pass was mis-located on the USGS maps – is

That's a good question Ron.  As best as I can recall, it was Lowell who mentioned it to me several years ago that the locals knew Blue Bell Pass to be in a different location from the USGS map,  similar to the White Pass location near Glacier Peak being misplaced.  Now owning a cabin myself in the Silver Springs area, I have spent several summers hiking the PCT and searching that area.  I found a marker a couple summers ago that seemed to verify the Blue Bell Pass location on the PCT E of Crown Point and W of Gold Hill.  But I would be interested to know if any others have more history on the pass location.  I suspect that the USGS mappers, just sometimes place these passes in the wrong spot from what was commonly known.

That's a good question Ron.  As best as I can recall, it was Lowell who mentioned it to me several years ago that the locals knew Blue Bell Pass to be in a different location from the USGS map,  similar to the White Pass location near Glacier Peak being misplaced.

Paul and Ron - In the aftermath of the Union Creek avalanche search in June 2008, I became aware that the Crystal locals (including Paul Baugher and other ski patrollers) apply the name Blue Bell Pass to the pass between Bullion Basin and Union Creek, about 1/2 mile NE of the place marked on the map. That's the pass commonly used by skiers to reach Union Creek.

I don't know if that is what the prospectors called Blue Bell Pass, but I think it's pretty clear that what is marked on the USGS map isn't really a pass at all. Since the two passes farther SW (Pickhandle Gap and Bear Gap) have names that nobody disputes, it seems reasonable that Blue Bell Pass should apply to the Bullion-Union pass, which is the next available spot that seems like an actual pass to me.

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Modified to add: I just re-read Paul's posting in which he said Blue Bell Pass is the one SE of Crown Point between Morse Creek and Union Creek. Hmm, that's a reasonable alternative. That might actually make more sense, since it would be right above the center of prospecting activity in Morse Creek. I'm pretty confident, however, that the Crystal locals apply the name Blue Bell Pass to the Bullion-Union divide. It could be that the locals are also wrong and that Paul has the prospectors' name properly located.

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Well shoot, having re-read my notes from the Katherine Wernex article, I see this: "In Cement Basin, at the head of Union Creek, Tom Fife and John Anderson worked the Blue Bell Mine." That suggests strongly that Blue Bell should be applied to the Bullion-Union pass, which is what the locals believe.

I really don't know much about the mining history of this area.

Lowell: Thanks for your feedback.
Taking a macro view of the trails in the area I can see how much of the PCT (and other local trails as well) utilize the obvious natural travel patterns of the earlier pioneers and miners of the area.
I like the logic of Paul’s suspected location of Blue Bell Pass as it is close to Fog City where the miners lived.
I like the logic of the location you mentioned as the trail up Union Creek heads directly towards that pass. And early writings indicated that the mining machinery and equipment was usually transported by mules to the Blue Bell Mine from the road up the Union Creek Trail. So next summer I’ll probably find the mine site somewhere on the east side of the Crest and between Cement Basin and Crown Point.
When I find the mine site I’ll probably have a better idea which pass the miners referred to as Blue Bell Pass.

Thanks for the comments Ron and Lowell.  The location of Blue Bell Pass that I suggested between Crown Point and Gold Hill was my own supposition, seeming like a logical alternative to the USGS location since it was close to the mining sites and nearer to the map location than the Union Creek/Bullion Basin pass further to the N.  I hadn't considered that pass, but sounds like the right spot based on Lowell's reference to the Blue Bell mine in that area.  I did find an old faded sign that was light blue in color at the pass location I mentioned a couple years ago, which I thought may have been the name marker for Blue Bell pass.  I don't recall if we could make out any of the words on the sign, but will have to go back and check.  That spot between Morse Creek and Union Creek definitely seems like a pass to me, so if not Blue Bell, I wonder if it does have a name.

Keep me posted on what you find of the old mine Ron.  Would be interested to do some research/field work on that. 

-Paul