El Cajon mountain abandoned mine
Kaolin mine. That's the fine white powdery substance, intersected with quartz veins there.
"One of these, a seam of porcelain-grade kaolin, was on the western flanks of El Cajon Mountain. Discovered in 1906, it was one of several noteworthy finds by prospecting mineralogist John H. McKnight." Extract from www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/99fall/china.htm It was used to make dishes and tiles and stuff. Maybe found in a few locales places on the local/Santee hills from what is visible in hillside white washes/creeks.
This is the left hand turn off after the first height, before the descent to the grueling climb to the three-way fork to the summit.
The same powdery substance, the kaolin, is a few other places on the hike. Kaolin is an industrial mineral with about a million uses according to wiki. It is made from chemical weathering, so that explains why there were quartz veins right through it.
El Cajon mountain abandoned mine
Kaolin mine. That's the fine white powdery substance, intersected with quartz veins there.
"One of these, a seam of porcelain-grade kaolin, was on the western flanks of El Cajon Mountain. Discovered in 1906, it was one of several noteworthy finds by prospecting mineralogist John H. McKnight." Extract from www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/99fall/china.htm It was used to make dishes and tiles and stuff. Maybe found in a few locales places on the local/Santee hills from what is visible in hillside white washes/creeks.
This is the left hand turn off after the first height, before the descent to the grueling climb to the three-way fork to the summit.
The same powdery substance, the kaolin, is a few other places on the hike. Kaolin is an industrial mineral with about a million uses according to wiki. It is made from chemical weathering, so that explains why there were quartz veins right through it.