Exploring the Ghost Town of Hedges/Tumco

[@patricklawrence9258]

Haven’t seen anyone like you since Huell Howser . Keep it going kiddo your a natural.

[@markrutledge-docmark41]

Back in the 1960’s, there were still a few wooden structures standing at the mine. Back then, you could wander about freely, and sadly, idiots were already destroying what ever had been standing! We used to camp there, as often as we could, and one night, we had a small herd of Javelina surround our truck! That was a thrill! I wish I had been into photography back then! Thanks for the video, as it brought back lots of memories!!

[@ryanvideooo]

Wow had no idea Javelina were out there

[@markrutledge-docmark41]

@@ryanvideooo Thanks for the shout. Remember, this was back in the 1960's. But, as Arizona is just a hop, skip, and a jump to the East, it's easy see how the Javelina could migrate over to the TUMCO area. My buddy and I had been sleeping in the open bed of his big pickup truck, and as the herd milled around the truck, we awoke, and could hear them grunting, their little hooves clicking on the desert "pavement" of rocks!! It was somewhat scary for us, though very exciting, too!

[@ryanvideooo]

@@markrutledge-docmark41 Wowww very cool Mark!

[@IEchuckie]

Can you say " bacon"?

[@Johnketes54]

Unfortunately camera's were a pain back then, Load a 35mm under that intense sunlight and your fog the first two exposures, Unlike today on your phone, most are 8 megpixal or way more, Big enough memory snap away like there's no tomorrow

[@marthatassi293]

My great-grandfather worked for the mining company until it closed. My grandmother was born there when it was Hedges. This was so cool.

[@valeriethompson3539]

My daughter and I used to ride our horses all through there if you go past the hills to the North you come to Hyduke Road we rode there too. We had lots of fun in the area! They would leach the gold with arsenic that’s why very little vegetation grows down hill of the tanks. If you go West there’s a little community that you can get more info from.

[@sueantoniotti8520]

Thank you so much for walking in the heat to tape this episode. I can't believe I never heard of this place. I lived in San Diego for 50 years.

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Thank you for watching. I just learned of it recently myself.

[@MichaelTitera]

Gotta hand it to your wife and son for being great troopers in that heat! 😁 Thanks for the terrific video, San Diego Steve!

[@Rawshella]

You know why you have such a good kid don't you? I was like your wife when my kid was that age never complaining just toddling along quietly looking about patient and agreeable. Kudo's to you mom! Aren't you a lucky Man. I sure miss my young family unit. Fun traveling along with you and your darling family.

[@stevetilk4926]

Great narration and all around quality video.

[@vibingwithvinyl]

Thank you for posting these kind of videos. I find them very interesting.

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Thank you. Glad you liked it.

[@franklopez1390]

Social distancing he says....in a ghost town, c'mon 😂😂😂😂😂

[@michaelsmodelrailroading7665]

You really should have introduced your very patient wife and youngster, who so stoicly accompanied you in the blistering dry heat.

[@bobnoon253]

I have been out there twice. I live in Yuma. It is an interesting place. You can go across the road to Gold Rock R V park and see a lot of artifacs from Tumco.

[@SidetrackAdventures]

I really wanted to check out Gold Rock but it was closed when we were there. Next time for sure.

[@ScubaSteveCanada]

A little update: Tumco has two cemeteries with the 2nd one being the larger fenced off area just NW of the older cemetery. They also piped in water from the Colorado; pipe sections can still be seen further back. Lots of hand dug test shafts; some horizontal, some vertical.

[@anonymous_protagonist]

Thanks for that! My dad and I used to go there in the early 70's, while exploring abandoned mines in the area. There wasn't any sort of park presence then - no paths or anything - just the decaying bones of a town with only a few structures partially standing. Glad to see it's being conserved.

[@lacrossecoach]

Thanks for posting the video. I’ve been out there several times with my son-in-law and always found it to be a little eerie due to the lack of birds or any sounds in the area, almost a “dead zone.” There are numerous crosses posted further up in the canyon that I was told were memorials to hikers who had died either from falling into open shafts or died exploring some of the caves and were overcome by low oxygen levels. In any case, it warrants a degree of caution when exploring the site.

[@steveandulsky566]

Wow. Never in a million years could I imagine myself living in such a hot, dry, inhospitable place like that. What those people must have gone through on a daily basis just to survive. Amazing. I couldn't do it. Thanks for the history lesson.

[@johnvaldez6997]

Excellent guide...pleasant voice and well versed in historical account.

[@dvgayle1]

Thanks for not playing loud annoying music.

[@gtwrmw1978]

So glad I found this channel. I've enjoyed every one of your videos.

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Thank you!

[@normalperson1475]

Did you happen to see, and perhaps make it up to the man-made water reservoir located at 32.876490, -114.822674 ? It is as you're going into the townsite past the 4 big round tanks on the south side up on the hillside. It is about 15' tall and about 45' across. And if you are going to go out hiking in the desert, wear some light colored clothing to reflect the suns rays so you will stay cooler. And preferably reflective orange so we can spot you if you ever get "lost". Been binge watching your vids today. Keep it up and take care!

[@ramonvasquez4890]

Yup I been there and found the water pipes that came from the river very cool also found the main cave entrance down below it is caged off . hard to find.

[@ryanvideooo]

Spent the first 20 years of my life riding through the desert to get ice cream at gold rock ranch. amazing video!

[@jairamragbir437]

thanks for takeing the time to show this on you tube.🙏🌹💎🇹🇹

[@rauln3441]

Thanks for these videos. I'm an SD native and you've already introduced us to new gems that we've actually been able to visit.

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Glad you like them! Finding places people can actually go right now has been the challenge.

[@dlewis8405]

I am not surprised there are so many graves. Such a hot, desolate place with lots of whisky and fighting I bet. No women around probably.

[@beyond_civilization]

Amazing find. Thanks for bringing us along on the ride!

[@thegarz1963]

I walked around this place about 15 years ago. Really enjoyed it-saw some HUGE holes in the ground-I think they were fenced off back then. Thanks for posting-my wife and I find your videos interesting-you do your research on places you visit , while most guys just talk and say “I’m not sure but” a lot....

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Thank you for watching. We try to research as much as possible before heading out.

[@robertf3340]

Very cool. Was there a couple years ago while camping at the dunes and I did t see the cistern or graves. I dunno how we missed that.

[@Coltbreath]

Something else to check out on the way to SD! Desert Iguana is your lizard friend!

[@teemusid]

The brown Padres hat is their best look. The blue(navy blue?) and white isn't bad, it just isn't as unique. If you ever return to Bodie, you might want to visit it's sister city, Aurora, NV. I only remember foundations, informational signs, and a well-cared for cemetery, but the cemetery was worth the trip.

[@SidetrackAdventures]

I was so glad they went back to the brown. I've wanted to visit Aurora, and last time we were at Bodie I talked to a ranger about it and they mentioned the road from Bodie isn't driveable anymore once you hit the state line, so it looks like we'd have to access it from the other side. History Hunters did a great video on it.

[@beckyweissberg7644]

As a long time Padre fan, I prefer the blue.😅 But that's me. My family did lots of travel in the areas you visit. Thanks for the education. We felt that travel was a great education for our sons.

[@gilbertomoran9553]

I grew up in the imperial valley. Never even knew this place existed!

[@gmailgmail6200]

Me too. Born and raised in BTown

[@chrischapman276]

Somehow finding you this morning as one of your videos that was in my interest quite a bit and watching it, following me getting on your channel to subscribe and watch more of them I found interesting the way you're able to inform of the information in the way/demeanor you do and am quite impressed. The research you do is amazing. The way you come off with your personality and acting like you're talking to "me" when you talked about "2 guns" and the Apache Cave when you said "not going to crawl in there"! Very well done, the way you record along with the narration of them as well. (If/when I start doing the channel soon with our fulltime RV new lifestyle, I'd want to know this that I've told you. You're doing a great and professional job here!!! But, with the 25K+ subscribers, I'm pretty sure you're already well aware of your talent! Congrats!)

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Thank you, I appreciate it. Send me a note when you start your channel so i can check it out.

[@DennisCaffey]

Hey, you wonderful people, when you social distance... you don't mess around. Stay safe and keep producing your fun and informative videos.

[@michaelhorn2557]

I’m pretty shocked by the condition of TUMCO. I grew up in Holtville and visited numerous times, 30 years ago the buildings were still in pretty good shape. I don’t know why they are so destroyed now. Sad.

[@stankygeorge]

Me thinks those walls were much older than Hedges/Tumco. Not one stone building was show in the photo. The cement slab was modern, you can tell by the deterioration.

[@jeffduyndam1392]

That lizard was very large! Very interesting video, thank you for posting it!

[@garyp.7501]

Cool! Thanks for sharing! Do be careful if you are ever thinking about going into a mine. As in "don't!"... they are rarely safe.

[@leewilliams2094]

TUMCO. Is a famous hippie gathering spot from the late 1960s I personally attended numerous acid parties there. A very powerful location quite a number of people had spiritual encounters with non-human spirits. So many in fact they were given a name they were known as Yibas. They were described as being 8 foot tall all black except for their faces that were a swirling Mandela of colors. During one of those crazy parties and 1969 someone that got too high lit all of the remaining wooden mine elevator buildings on fire I saw them burn. Around 1973 I attended a Fourth of July party there the same person that lit the fires came with 20 lb of plastic explosive that he had made he wrapped the explosives around a 5 gallon bottle of gasoline. There were about 30 people there watching when they carried the bomb to the top of the mountain set the timer and started running back to where people were camped they almost made it when the explosion went off it'd knock them down and it took the top 30 feet off the mountain turned it to gravel and rained it down everywhere. The next time I went out there was the mid-1980s to camp it look like no one was around when all of a sudden we started hearing really strange sounds crawling to the top of one of the hills we looked over and saw there was a full rock and roll band. Strange place very very strange place. Thanks for the video my friend has an old picture of a whole bunch of hippies hanging around the same wall.

[@rrrrrrtt1]

You sound like you're 18 :) Bravo with the video!

[@BoulderCreekSteve]

Who were you “social distancing” from? There was no one around. Wife and kids.?

[@headdown1]

I assume he meant that he and his family were social distancing from other people.

[@tomtanner3449]

Very good job. Thanx for sharing !!

[@billmcroberts6566]

Steve, another great video, thank you. It’s amazing how quickly and completely the desert, with the help of the,vandals reclaims the land.

[@pedroquintanilla3470]

thanks for posting all this videos , never thaugh there was a lot of history in imperial Ca

[@jessiev7322]

I've always wondered about this place. Too bad the buildings were removed. Thanks for posting!

[@ScubaSteveCanada]

They reused the wood for other mining sites - not exactly a lot of trees nearby.

[@MalunoMcSketch]

Maybe learn about the plants and animals before you visit nature. The lizard won't hurt you.

[@davidp1963]

Thanks for all these videos you show us of historical California sites!

[@pattybryd7228]

Those graves were interesting to me. I'd like to know more about their history.

[@billmurphy9067]

Probably stamp mill for concrete foundation.

[@normalperson1475]

Yes, it was.

[@michaelbarady6636]

I hope you find a fortune.

[@alhaun5904]

WAS THERE IH MID 70S THEN YOU COULD DRIVE UP TO THE MINES THERE IS A BIG CUT ON ONE OF THE HILLS TO THE DOUTH THR SIDE IF THE DHSFT IS OPEN PICK UP 100 BRICKS AL

[@rci385]

A like for seeing the three of you on this trip to such an unfriendly place.

[@ryanvideooo]

Why unfriendly?

[@rci385]

@@ryanvideooo Are you a lizard? lol For me it seems lifeless with no trees, little vegetation, arid, therefore unfriendly. But it's just me... Why did you ask? Tell me, how do you see that place?

[@philipcallicoat9947]

"The yellow metal that makes the white man crazy!" (Unknown Native American)

[@TonyLopez-oz1jv]

God Bless You!!!! Thanks great video!!!

[@glennbellman1100]

40 plus years ago when I lived in Yuma, we would drive out there and see some of the mine shafts.

[@brucec6442]

Only things there are heat and stones !!

[@robertscharfe9879]

And you can just go to a massage parlor for heated stones

[@deandupont5503]

"But it's a dry heat!" [Insert the sound of someone being punched.]

[@mikel9741]

I've spent countless hours in this area prior to my retirement. Long before all the barricades and obstructions preventing entry. I wish I had a drone back then, early 90's, Tumco has a great history and there is at least one book written about it. Lots of history here.

[@milojanis4901]

Nice job, like all your videos. Interesting stuff

[@genekelly8467]

Minus the bushes, looks like Mars

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Yes, I can only imagine how rough it would have been living there.

[@normalperson1475]

@@SidetrackAdventures Mars, too ! LOL

[@GetOutsideYourself]

Damn all those times I drove by on my way to/from Tucson and I never knew about this place. Thanks! I'll have to check it out next time.

[@robertbiastre6037]

Thank you for this historical tour!

[@jasonmarshall7983]

Omg social distancing,, haha

[@whatonearth3523]

LIKEs, thank you

[@Jbennyho]

Very interesting. Thank you. I could not see the lizard at all. Where was it in relation to the bush?

[@milojanis4901]

BTW, I recently toured a copper mine in Michigans Upper Peninsula. It is almost unbelievable the conditions the mineworkers endured. It was, and is probably still, one of the most physically demanding jobs on Earth. Only light was by a helmet mounted acetylene lamp. This was used until battery powered flashlights were invented. One miner would swing a 12lb sledgehammer into a pointed steel rod/punch that a second miner would hold perpendicular to the ground. For 12 hours a day, 7 days a week!!! For $2.00 a day!!! Young people today think they have a hard job. LMAO!!!

[@janallenbach7412]

Excellent narration in such hot weather. You need to have a metal detector when you go out to these old towns. Who knows what you will find. You find such interesting places. Thank you!!

[@OG29]

I enjoy yours videos and trips to SoCal sites of interest. The point of this comment is rusty tin cans you find at desert locales. I'm offering an observation borne of living in that time. In the 1920's, 30's, 40's, and 50's the only effective long term food preservation systems were dehydration and canning. Dehydrated foods required rehydration so water deprived remote areas pretty much required canned goods (if heavy loads could be accomodated). Rice and beans if water was available.

[@fakenewsbroadcastingsystem4209]

If it was a gold mine, and there are concrete foundations with steel anchor points, then it may have been where heavy equipment was being utilized. Like large gold sifters and steam engines. One of them really looks like where a steam engine was mounted to power mill equipment. Jay Leno has an amazing steam engine in his museum. Fixed steam engines need flat concrete mounting points to function properly. If they got 200,000 ounces of gold out of there, they probably had a steam engine.

[@Junk65]

I drive through those areas frequently. I can’t believe people would want to populate those areas. Native people survived in that land for thousands of years.

[@skyedog24]

That hole should be covered that's crazy whoever's in charge of that BLM or whoever that's ridiculous

[@chuckbrasch4575]

The big white lizard is a desert iguana, Dipsosaurus dorsalis. They are common in the Mojave Desert. They are very fast when they want to be.......

[@pete9124]

Thankyou for your great videos, you've saved me thousands on airfares and hire cars, and I see things I never would if travelling as a stranger from Australia! This unfenced well bothers the heck out of me. You know what kids are like, take your eyes off them and...... anyway, are there many skeletons in that hole?

[@Corgis175]

Catching up on some of your older vlogs.

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Thanks!

[@paulcalhoun6339]

Interesting. I grew up in the IC and never knew about this place. Thanks.

[@g-dcomplex1609]

I really love desolate landscapes in the desert, and historic mining towns all over Cali and Nevada, good video, very informative, regards

[@DSTREETMEDIA]

I used to wear my hat tight , it led to migraine headaches , I use an oversized fitted baseball cap now

[@Buck1954]

I doubt that "dump area" was originally used as a dump. People just threw stuff on top of the ground back then.

[@jimihendrix1575]

What compels people to destroy these things? I just don't understand their motivation. Just gotta ruin everything.

[@paul9156c]

The heat out there is brutal.

[@johnlombardi1021]

it cool that you can go for a little exploring walk with family make a mini video and post very cool

[@balsamicvinegar5789]

These videos make me want to move back to Arizona.

[@bwhog]

For a basement to really be a source of cool in the desert, you have to go down a little deeper. A sub-basement would be more comfortable.

[@cindyhenke9914]

We just visited a couple days ago. Very cool history

[@jeffmyers7062]

Nice work gettin gout in that heat !

[@Torrque]

You don’t get gout from heat. 😂

[@daneenlife]

Love your vid ❤️ Come and join our party 🎉🎤🎉

[@HanginInSF]

That's very nice of you to share this with us

[@skatedd2451]

It would be a good place to go metal detecting might find treasure

[@jnolette1030]

I'm renting an RV in May and heading all over AZ with ACE300 and see what I can find.

[@normalperson1475]

Back in about 2008 when my son and I were out there for my Dads passing, I left a brand new penny on the foundation of the old mill stamp, or stamp mill, the old ore crushing machine! Take care!

[@MrDwsteen]

Great video, loving all the history information.

[@SidetrackAdventures]

Thank you.

[@melodymerritt8419]

Was there last year. Very cool video! its even better in person!

[@philiproszak1678]

This is an older video, but it's still great!

[@ronrubacher1425]

In 100 degree weather rattlesnakes are in the shade.

[@franzwaltenspuhl8892]

That’s social distancing. Lol

[@davidadams6945]

Very strange, but very revealing. The most desertic area of California that few people know. But it says everything. A "mining company" determines what "must" be done. Who are our owners? Prabably another reason why we stole this region from Mexico. I have been there many times on trip from CA to AZ and back. I highly recommend it.

[@johncarson7472]

Excellent video. Thank you so much. It brings back many memories.

[@Pushyhog]

l love the 8, twice a month for 8 years ,, 10 car hauler. Up at the top at the casino too. Snowed up there one night a lil'.

[@debrabennett3009]

My feet hurt for your wife!

[@stephenduncan872]

Enjoy your video's very much. Thank you for your dedication and hard work. Cheers.

[@texasgal3903]

It would have been nice to see it before the town was taken over by nature. Too bad there's no buildings standing.

[@metingokbulut837]

🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷💯💯💯👍👍👍

[@jackietatum2245]

love it!

[@jasonmarshall7983]

You can't get much farther out than that brother I enjoyed watching your video