Inside, he said, were gold coins of chocolate, nail polish and jewelry trinkets, eye patches and pirate hats for the boys, and Pokemon or “whatever was cool at the time for the age.”

At other times the mine served as a winter dining room of sorts for the Spierling family.

“I’d bring my kids up here and we’d cook dinner with a little Coleman stove and eat it down in the mine and then go on to Lady Griz games,” he recalled.

Khomenko knows a different mountain. He’s a regular on the Mo Z Trail, the only one on the face of Mount Sentinel that’s designated for mountain bikes.

That trail itself is a Missoula treasure, the teenager said.

“I’m pretty impressed with the whole mountain biking community here. They are very respectful. I’ve never ever seen a piece of trash on any of the trails and I’ve ridden them hundreds of times, if not thousands,” he said.

***

So it’s easy to picture Khomenko’s chagrin the first time Spierling, a family friend, took him on a hike to see his pet mine.