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Echoes at Dawn Mine By Jake Brouwer One Sunday afternoon while skimming through newspaper clippings about the Mt. Lowe area, I came across an interview a reporter had with a conductor of the scenic railroad. The conductor, from memory, proceeded to recite his spiel and so the reporter wrote it down. A part that particularly caught my attention went like this; "We have now passed around the Cape of Good Hope and are entering Millard Canyon. Just ahead is the longest stretch of straight track on this section of the trip. It is 225 feet long. Millard Canyon below you now is a beautifully wooded canyon with a small stream at the bottom. Below us in the canyon at this point is the Dawn Mine, an early-day gold mining venture. Several of the tunnels still remain but are boarded up and used as part of Pasadena’s water supply system."
The Dawn Mine District is located in the southern part of the San Gabriel Mountains, which separate the Southern California basin on the south from the Mojave Desert on the north. Its boundaries are Eaton Canyon on the East, Bear Canyon on the North, Arroyo Seco on the West, and to the south of Altadena. The entire district covered roughly sixteen square miles and is some of the most rugged terrain in the region. The area reached its current elevations by several stages of uplifts since the late Pliocene time. In the southern extremities of the San Gabriels the elevations range from one thousand to two thousand feet, while in the northern end the height of 6152 feet is reached at San Gabriel Peak. |
Well, now that
opened my eyes. A 
Hike up the fire road to a
marker denoting the Sunset Ridge Trail which you’ll take, dropping you down into the
canyon. This first part of the trip is quite easy and gives you some nice views of the
canyon. You will pass above Millard Falls often hearing the echoes of children yelling and
to the base of the waterfall, a favorite spot for
families and picnickers in summer. I like it, but I always avoid it in summer and on
weekends because whenever a spot gets too popular, the trash and diapers increase, and
there tend to be radios playing the current junk music. 
Collectors
Corner 
Our
hand held lights flickered against the cool walls of the tunnel as we traversed the first
fifteen feet of Dawn 
Dear friend Michael
Patris was interviewed for the May 1997 issue of Collector, a
publication for the Southern California Collector’s Association. The subject of the
interview was Michael’s Mt Lowe collection, which you can take it from me, is mighty
impressive. The article delves into Mt. Lowe history and prices for various Mt. Lowe
memorabilia. Congratulations Michael! And, as if that were not enough, Michael also was
asked to speak on Mt. Lowe collectibles at the Collectors Conference held
the end of May 1997.
