Mine exploring can be dangerous...

[idowa]

Went out last weekend and did some exploring and hiking in my area and hoped to find a mine with a horizontal entrance to explore. Most mines in my area are vertical shafts for some reason, making them impossible to explore without climbing gear.

This is the area I was exploring; snow flurries all day and temps in the 20's.

I found two nice mines within 100yds of each other, this is the entrance to the one I went in.

I went in and found it to be about 6' tall, 4' wide and very sound. No timbers, which is a good sign since it means the miners thought it was stable enough without the supports.

As soon as I went in, I noticed it smelled rotten and there was a cloud of flies.

About 25' in, the flies were gone and I started noticing some old tins and a riveted bucket. Also, just under the dust were some of the old wooden ties for the ore cart tracks. A little further in my dog decided he didn't want to any further. After a little coaxing, he reluctantly followed.

About 100' in the shaft made a 90 degree turn to the left, went about ten feet, then another 90 degree turn to the right.

In that ten feet, I discovered 3 javelina skulls and a bunch of bones. At this point, my dog had enough and headed for the entrance. I started getting nervous, wondering what could have killed a 50lb pig with tusks then drag it this far into the mine.

However, I just had to go to the next corner and peak around and see how much further the tunnel went.

I shined my light around the corner and it hit on a very large badger walking away and growling!

I slowly backed away and got out of there!

I had a pistol but didn't want to take the chance of discharging it in the mine and didn't want to kill a badger that wasn't threatening me.

I really want to go back without my dog and bring a partner so I can do some metal detecting and scrounging for artifacts.

Anyone else do any mine exploring?

 

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[wvwildman]

wish i lived out there i would go sounds fun

 

[okbasspro]

Found a Bear in a shaft up by Lynx creek many moons ago.Found a drum of Cyinide in another by Crown King will not go in another to dangerous.I sure miss the high desert.

 

[kazcoro]

I thought you were going to say Lion.

 

[Terry Soloman]

You got very lucky while making a greenhorn mistake! Had the mountain lion that ate those pigs - or if the pigs had been alive, you would have been in big trouble. Unless your dog knows how to use a cell phone, I would get a real partner before you try that again. Oh, and those mineshafts very often had shafts that went straight down off the main addit, and they would cover them with wooden planking - which over the years were covered in dirt and dust, and then rotted. Think about that as you are walking down the tunnel. If you do not know what you are doing, have no safety plan or equipment, or have not arranged a "check in" time with a friend for after your hunt - you are tempting the old mine gods.

 

[kazcoro]

Hell of a way to go. Broken, in the dark, who knows how many feet down.

 

[Semag93]

That is so cool and interesting, Ive always loved mines and caves even thouggh we don't really have very many available here in Manitoba, or any that can be accessed and open.
I agree with the feedback of having a partner and 'check in' times

Good luck and be safe

P

 

[DesertNuggets]

I have one I've been eyeing but I'm too chicken **** to go in. I don't feel like being mountain lion lunch..

 

[idowa]

You got very lucky while making a greenhorn mistake! Had the mountain lion that ate those pigs - or if the pigs had been alive, you would have been in big trouble. Unless your dog knows how to use a cell phone, I would get a real partner before you try that again. Oh, and those mineshafts very often had shafts that went straight down off the main addit, and they would cover them with wooden planking - which over the years were covered in dirt and dust, and then rotted. Think about that as you are walking down the tunnel. If you do not know what you are doing, have no safety plan or equipment, or have not arranged a "check in" time with a friend for after your hunt - you are tempting the old mine gods.

I called my dad down in Yuma and told him where I was and where the mine was before and after I went in. I'm also very aware of the dangers of mines and usually my dad comes up to explore with me. I just wasn't expecting a badger in there!

But your advice and admonishment is spot on; I should've waited to check it out...

 

[NJnuggetpirate]

I thought you were going to say Lion.

i was thinking the same thing beside a pack of coyotes

 

[crystalpayne]

Pshhhh I'm not scared of a little Badger! Ok, I'm very scared of them and dark places so that would be a hell no! But let me know how it goes! Good luck!

 

[nuggetshooter323]

Badgers make good wall rugs.

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

i remember last mine i walked up to right before the last ridge was this big white owl , it flew right at me then turned .

 

[NJnuggetpirate]

Pshhhh I'm not scared of a little Badger! Ok, I'm very scared of them and dark places so that would be a hell no! But let me know how it goes! Good luck!

lol youd be scared of honey badgers lol

 

[Goodyguy]

I'm with the dog
Would have left when he did.

 

[MadMarshall]

I just recently returned to a couple old entrances to mines I found a few years back. When I found them I actually walked up that cut from the river and saw only one but I did not explore it other then take a peek in side. That paticuliar hike up from the river was not one of my brighter ideas and when I happened upon the entrance I was disapointed that the trail I knew to be above me has not yet made it into view. Thankfully it was only about 100 feet above the one mine just hard to make out. Anyway yesterday I went back with the intention to explore these shafts. It was an awesome day and even though both mines were not very long it was so much fun. We ended are day down in Robbers Ravine exploring the old mining ditches.

 

[idowa]

Very cool video! I wish I could figure out how to video something and post it on the web... A friend of mine's brother was exploring a local mine some years ago and happen to put his hand on top of a timber when taking a break and found a Colt pistol stashed up there... I'd love to find something like that!

 

[Lanny in AB]

You're lucky the badger had some space and a place to run to. When they're cornered, you'll get way more fun than you've ever bargained for.

Your dog is a pretty reliable early warning system--next time he decides to bug out--bug out with him--right quick. His sense of smell is many hundreds of times more sensitive than yours, so when he smelled badger, his instincts told him to get while the getting was good and I'll be he's probably never encountered one before--his hard-wired instincts told him it was bad news.

I've been in old hard rock mines before, but never alone. There's just too many things that can go wrong even if you've called someone and told them where you'll be.

I was in a large hardrock system with my son doing some exploration in Nevada. We'd penetrated a long, long way in--almost exclusively horizontal.

Then things changed.

At a fork in the tunnels, I took the passage to the right, and to continue our progress, I had to step up to explore a huge stope (large roomed out space in the mother rock) and instantly I got that weird "hair rising on the back of the neck" feeling that we're hard-wired with, and I quickly stepped back down.

Off to the right a bit more there was a small hole open just before the rise that I'd stepped up to investigate, and I took the light and scanned inside that little hole to see what I could see. Well, the whole area below that rise was mined out and what I'd originally stepped up on was wood planking covering an excavation that was at least 50 feet deep.

Instantly I knew what my instincts had been telling me was wrong with the rise.

I have no idea if we'd stepped on other places like that on the way in or on our wanderings around in the other excavations, but that close call was close enough for me to get both of us out right quick.

It was a rookie mistake, but not one I'll make again.

On youtube there's lots of videos where guys go in old hardrock mines and then post videos of their excursions. I assume they know what they're doing, but even so, sooner or later something is going to go terribly wrong, and often some of those guys are thousands of feet from the entrance, either up or down!

The way I look at it now is that there's plenty of surface gold left to find. It was natural curiosity that drew me in to the mines I've explored in the past, but it's the desire to have many more years of prospecting fun that's kept me out since.

All the best,

Lanny

P.S. Sometimes the reason there's no timbers is not that the excavation is or was safe, it's that abandoned mines were often cannibalized for other operating mines, especially in the desert where wood is exceptionally scarce.