Lobo Draw- Atir Mine

When I started to document  the history and locale of Luna County's many abandoned mines,  I put  three sites at the top of my wish list 1. Cooks, which I finally found and was able to do some preliminary poking around  2. The Mahoney Mines in the Floridas, these mines sit on the eastern slope of the Florida Mountains just below the ridge at 6600 ft. in elevation.  I made one attempt at reaching them, last spring and I'm preparing for another try this winter.  3.  Waddel Prospect/Atir  mine, located right in the midst of Ibex country on the eastern side of the range.  The Atir mine was first prospected in  1910, this resulted in a 90' adit  that produced minimal results.  The prospect of a big pay off, kept luring miners back to Atir over the years, however no production or tonnage extracted from the mine was ever recorded.  In 1980, The Barite Corporation of America bought the holdings and using modern equipment drove a 775' long adit to intersect the elusive vein, but did not find enough ore to produce. This project known as The Waddell Prospect did discover a vein that consists primarily of barite and fluorite, the ore proved to be low grade and did not warrant further prospecting.  Over the years the mine became known as a white elephant, which only added to its legend, making it the best known prospect mine in the Florida Mining District.

Lobo Draw, is in the heart of the Florida Mountains.  The Tres Lomitas are to the Southeast, the San-Tex Mines are just south of those three hills.  It is beautiful country, wild and rough.  The draws are thick with brush and boulders, the slopes are covered in wild grass, there is an abundance of cactus and yuccas. There is wildlife all around and  although isolated, on my first two visits it was crawling with hunters.  The trail into the mountain starts at English Well, here a windmill, scattered debris and stock tanks remind us of the area's ranching heritage. At first glance, Lobo Draw looks innocuous, but it tends to get rougher, especially as you start to gain in elevation.  One thing I've learned is to stay out of the draws whenever possible. In the draws you either get bushwhacked or find yourself  climbing up and down boulders without gaining much ground,  the going is easier along the top.  While the trail starts at the windmill, you can also drive  appox. 1/2 mile to the end of the road where there's another trail.  This trail follows a draw up the slope to a clearing, there I found the remnants of a particularly large mine, it's most prominent feature is a number of support rods driven into the rock, held in place by metal plates and bolts. The mines are back-filled and the site has returned to a natural state with the exception of two large tailing dumps.  I would've fooled myself into thinking this was the Atir Mine, as I found part of a pipe clamp that was of recent vintage.  However, I knew getting to Atir was not going to be as easy as following a trail to its portals.   

It was then that I had a rare encounter, as I sat on top of a debris pile, examining bore holes, I sensed that I wasn't alone.  Upon standing, I saw an ibex ram standing on the ridge just above the mine opening, appox 50 yards away. It was a fully grown adult, its massive horns curling back, probably 36-40" long, with a full dark beard.  Throughout the day I had been serenaded by rifle fire coming from the northeast, the billy it seems had been driven south by the presence of the hunters and right onto my path.  The ram stopped, looked at me without spooking and then slowly ambled up the ridge, stopping again to look my way.  I quickly reached for my camera, only to realize that I had left it in my pack, back on the trail, opportunity lost!  I stood there looking at him, then not knowing what else to do, I whistled, he stopped, reared his head back and slowly continued over the ridge and out of my sight.  These animals are elusive, you seldom spot them with binoculars, much less, within eyesight.  The Ibex, is a species of wild goat was brought to New Mexico from Iran in 1970,  originally 42 Persian ibex were released in the Florida range.  One of two exotic game animals transplanted to New Mexico (Oryx or gemsbock were released at the White Sands Missile Range in the late 1960's) The ibex have flourished in the Florida Mountains, The BLM and the Dept. of Game & Fish manage the population, with 400 animals designated as the maximum number the range can sustain.  Annual hunts are held to keep the ibex population in check, with hunters selected by lottery. The Ibex have filled an ecological niche in the Florida wilderness ,  feeding on mountain mahogany, oak, grasses and forbs.  In Lobo draw they seem to favor the prickly pear and cholla cactus, as evidence of their feeding on both can be found everywhere on the trails and ravines.

I left the clearing and traversed the slope in a southeastern direction until I came to a finger draw, I followed the draw down (failing to heed my own advice) and promptly found myself fighting my way through a tangle of brush.  I worked my way back to the trail and hiked back to my truck, where to my dismay, I discovered my cell phone missing.  I had covered about 3 miles total during my hike and the thought of re-tracing my steps this late in the day was not something I wanted to do.  I started this blog less than a year ago, but I've been hiking into the mountains around New Mexico much longer than that.  I have found cellphones to be very comforting, a lifeline to the world, when I'm out there by myself, knowing that there are no other people nearby (there may not be anyone around for days, weeks or months)  The cellphone helps ease my mind, if I get hurt, I'll at least have a chance of calling for help (if there's a signal and  I remembered to re-charge the battery)  So, I've grown fond of my cell phone, it's a vital part of my pack, I won't hike without one.  So now I faced the task of finding my phone, which normally I would tuck into my back pack, but on this day, out of haste and laziness, I had clipped it on my belt, a bad decision as it turned out.  Reasoning that the phone had fallen off while making my way through the finger draw, I started from there,  when I got back to the tailing pile where I had seen the ibex ram, I called off my search.  With my pack and water back at the truck and no means of communication, I decided to return home.