I'd never given Doud Mine much thought. It is one of the mines within Birkhead Wilderness. However, today it was noted on the map I used to accompany one of Central Land Trust's summer intern's natural heritage project. I didn't expect to find it. As we walked the trail to Camp 3 and Rush Mine, she reminded me, we should be looking for the mine. So turning back we retraced our steps perhaps .2 mile and just walked into the woods - and there it was. A big pile of earth surrounding a pit. You could see more pits from here.
In the above photo, many pits are visible. As we walked pit to pit, it began to encompass a rather large area. I'm guessing there were at least 20 pits. As we reached the point at which a stream developed, the pits ended.
Above, one of the pits holds water. A great place for the frogs. I don't know if this pit is normally filled with water. Probably not , as later we saw Rush Mine full which is not normal.
I don't know the purpose of this cut. It goes from the very deep pit up the hill down to the stream below.
The total area here may have been 5 acres in size. It was a nice find, just off the trail and easy to locate again.
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