indian cave on jones branch.....................alternate history?

[stevebo]

  I just got back from a quick  overnight trip with my son---------we parked at burns trailhead and camped by the indian cave.  (low milage trip, maximum time with son just messing around and exploring!)    Im not sure why, but the posted coords for  indian cave were way different than my GPS---------heres what I got.....the turn for the cave is at n3350692 w08537694  the cave it self is at  n3350830  w 08537745.   I thought it was a pretty neat area---we spent all afternoon exploring etc.  
  I have a possible alternet history of the cave etc---------just a theory.......... ................ .............if you look at the area just in front of the cave, across the stream, there is a what appears to be a man made pit.  I happened to notice a similar pit on jones branch at n3350117 w08537625   ---the dimensions are very close to the same, just not as deep.  Also, there are 2 other areas next to the cave that appear to be man made, escavated  etc.   What if all the man made pits are the remains of a very old mining operation?  Maybe a placer  mine?  (gold?)  Just a mile away as the crow flies, is another mining area, (there is a really neat geocache there inside a shaft)  (GCV6CP  a crack in the wall  ----n3350189 w08538245)    Also, after looking closly at the cave, several people have mentioned the soot from fires on the cave ceiling----Im not sure thats soot, it looks like some kind of mold.  So, just a shot in the dark, what if the cave wasnt used by indains at all?  maybe it was  just a shallow overhang, and as part of the same mining operation, they made it deeper?  What do you think of that theory?................ ..    I also noticed a chimney between the burns trail head and the cave turn off  n3350250 w08537898---from at that coords  heading north on the jones branch trail, it will be on your right, down in the valley across the stream/branch.  Does anyone know the history of that structure?   That also brings another question to mind...where does jones branch road terminate?   Why was there a road there in the first place?   We  really had a good time exploring jones branch, and we will be back soon!  

[jeep87]

i grew up in rabbittown and the road was put there when they logged the area and we use to camp at the cave a lot when we were growing up there wasnt always a gate there

[stevebo]

Wow, what a cool place to grow up!  (I grew up in the cornfields of Iowa (BORING!!!!!!!)---I used to day dream about places like Dugger Mtn!)   Have you ever come across any other caves or mine shafts in the area?  Did people ever talk about the history of the cave,  or the general area?  

[WolfVanZandt]

There's been a lot of prospecting in east central Alabama - not just gold but copper, tin, lead and other minerals. It could have easily been a prospect site.

[jeep87]

i have been told that there is a group of indians that came one time looking around back in there but didnt here much after there is a cave on king gap rd on the right off of rabbittown rd just after the pavement ends it has bars welded up over the entrance so you cant get in but someone has digging under it i have been it before they blocked it off it goes back and drops down there are some old rails in it

[stevebo]

Jeep 87, my son and I did a geocache at the cave on kings gap rd---------the lower shaft with the grate  over the  entrance ---------is it a mine, or a cave?  I would have loved to go inside!  (how far back does it go?)    Off to the left, up the slope just in front of where you can park your car, there is another cave, without a grate.  Its maybe 100 feet up the slope, just look for the scuff marks on the slope.  I thought it was pretty neat---a really big hole in the cliff you can go into !  Do you know the history?  

[jeep87]

it was a mine at time not sure whos it was pinky burns wouold have know not many old timers left back there i will see if i can find out whos it was

[squidbilly]

Steve, I think your theory is correct. I don't remember where I read it, but I remember some talk of a local family that owned the mines and made a lot of money here long ago. I did a search some time ago looking for Dugger Wilderness info. One of the maps of the wilderness area showed a parcel of land near the Indian Cave that was not included in, but surrounded by the wilderness, and was also connected by a small strip of land to the mines on King's Gap Road. Makes me wonder if someone still posesses a claim there.

Also, there used to be two more geocaches in the immediate area. I don't remember their names however.

I've never noticed the chimney you mentioned. I'll have to look for it sometime.  There is a foundation of an old house near the Pinhoti there too.  From Burns Trailhead, take the short connector trail behind the plaque to the Pinhoti. At the signpost where you turn left for Pinhoti northbound and right for Pinhoti southbound, continue straight ahead for a short distance. It's not very far, just over the top of that small hill.

[camel]

The indians were " nomads" and did not leave much sign that is visible today. Make jewelry with gold found - come back latter to the source- important not to deplete the resource in most ways of life.

There are signs of a few stills including one near the old house- but the old VW part is not pleasing to the eye.

One of the few area's in any wilderness you can see so many things within 2 miles of a trailhead. Jut got to look.

Camel   

[stevebo]

  Camel, where was the still you mentioned?   When we were at the indian cave, i saw something sticking out of the ground,  I was hoping it was a really neat artifact or something like that.  Ends up, it was a filter from an airconditioning system off an old truck!   You just never know what youre going to find on the Pinhoti!