Great Mine, But It Almost Killed Us...

This abandoned mine had all of the ingredients that we like: unexplored, old and large. Such mines have always treated us well… And, to be fair, the workings at this mine were extensive, there were some interesting artifacts left behind, and the overall character of the mine made it a rewarding place to explore. So, it delivered in some sense. However, it would have been nice to have come across some ore cars! This was primarily a silver and lead mine, with the earliest historical records I could locate dating to the early 1880s. It seems the mine had a slow start, but enjoyed a few boom years in the early 1900s, when mining activity throughout the district was accelerating. The records suggest that production continued intermittently into the early decades of the 1900s before tapering off, with the last references to activity that I could find dating to around 1920. Like many mines of that era, ownership changed hands multiple times, fortunes rose and fell with metal prices, and the workings expanded in response to both opportunity and optimism. There were a few minutes where it seemed like Jeremy and I were going to be in for an unpleasant time even if we had not had a rope fail on us and send us plunging to the depths of the mine shaft. We had just dumped our water out to lighten our loads in anticipation of following Graham up the rope when he radioed down to us about a major problem with that same rope. However, the radio was malfunctioning, and we only got fragments of what he was trying to tell us. Before we could get clarification—or respond at all—the radio failed completely. So, we were in the dark (literally and figuratively) with no real idea of what was going on except that we couldn’t use the rope. We had no water, we didn’t have much food and we had no means of communicating with the surface. And if you learned one thing from my video series on bringing an abandoned mine back into operation, it should be that mines feel very, very cold after a short period of physical inactivity. Temperatures underground can be surprisingly unforgiving. Even routine explorations can become complicated in a hurry. Needless to say, it sure felt good to climb back into the sunlight on this one! By the way, if I ever don’t come out of an abandoned mine, the Forest Service and other agencies that are sealing off mines and destroying historical sites will undoubtedly seek to make a propaganda victory out of it. However, the very reason that I felt compelled to start doing this was to document what was being lost due to their destruction. ***** You can view the full TVR Exploring playlist of abandoned mines here: https://goo.gl/TEKq9L ***** Several kind viewers have asked about donating to help with the many costs of exploring these abandoned mines. Thanks to their generosity, I set up a Patreon account. If you’d like to contribute, you can find me under TVR Exploring on Patreon. Thanks for watching! ***** Growing up in California’s Gold Rush Country made it easy to take all the history around us for granted. But abandoned mines face many threats—nature, vandals, scrappers, and government agencies. The prospectors and miners who once roamed these mountains and worked deep underground are fading into history as well. That reality inspired us to start documenting as many ghost towns and abandoned mines as we can—before this colorful piece of our past is lost forever. I hope you’ll join us on these adventures! #exploringabandonedmines #MineExploring #AbandonedMines #UndergroundMineExploring