Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
As a reminder, all of the work you have seen in the prior videos has been on Level Three of this mine. The portals of the upper two levels are caved… I have shown the caved portal of Level Two, but I don’t believe that I have shown the caved portal of Level One before.
Our confusion in this video stems from the fact that the maps and all of the reports stated that the 1200 raise that we climbed only ran up to the second level. It was specifically reported that the miners came in too high when they intercepted the second level and that they had to drop down into the adit after punching into it with the raise. Therefore, when we encountered those drift levels and saw that the raise kept running up, we assumed that they were sublevels and that we hadn’t yet hit Level Two.
However, after doing a lot of math and surveying, we have concluded that the maps and reports were incomplete. We now believe that the main level we encountered in this video WAS Level Two and that that caved stope I encountered was on the adit that led to the outside world. The “drain tunnel” that we encountered just before Level Two is not described anywhere or featured on any maps. The description of the miners punching in “too high” and needing to “drop down” to Level Two does match what we experienced, but the way it was described in the reports is misleading. So, clearly, the miners DID run the raise all of the way up to Level One. Given the wall of collapsed rock at the top of the raise, it makes it difficult to be optimistic about the conditions on Level One.
Regardless, it was very exciting to finally reach that area up the 1200 raise…
Sure, we’ve been inside of mines that no one has laid eyes on for more than a century (or longer), but this one had an extra level of satisfaction given the amount of work needed to open it up. Even a really dedicated mine explorer couldn’t have done it – it required an industrial-level effort and a committed crew to clear through all of the hundreds of feet of caved workings in this mine.
How to proceed from here is difficult… It took us almost two years to clear out the caved sections of Level Three and to make the adit reasonably secure. That “raise” or “stope” or whatever it was that I looked up with the platforms was certainly intriguing. Was it just a stope that pinched out and those platforms are what the miners stood on to work? Or was that some sort of connection with Level One? If it is a connection though, why did they build the main raise that I climbed up? Getting up that space with the platforms would require some serious work with rock bolts, ladders, ropes and some fairly sporty conditions. Even then, there would be no guarantee of success. It’s a lot easier to go down than up!
*****
You can see the full TVR Exploring playlist of abandoned mines here: goo.gl/TEKq9L
You can see the gear that I use for mine exploring here: bit.ly/2wqcBDD and here: bit.ly/2p6Jip6
Several kind viewers have asked about donating to help cover some of the many expenses associated with exploring these abandoned mines. Inspired by their generosity, I set up a Patreon account. So, if anyone would care to chip in, I’m under TVR Exploring on Patreon.
Thanks for watching!
*****
Growing up in California’s “Gold Rush Country” made it easy to take all of the history around us for granted. However, abandoned mine sites have a lot working against them – nature, vandals, scrappers and various government agencies… The old prospectors and miners that used to roam our lonely mountains and toil away deep underground are disappearing quickly as well.
These losses finally caught our attention and we felt compelled to make an effort to document as many of the ghost towns and abandoned mines that we could before that colorful niche of our history is gone forever.
I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!
#ExploringAbandonedMines
#MineExploring
#AbandonedMines
#UndergroundMineExploring
As a reminder, all of the work you have seen in the prior videos has been on Level Three of this mine. The portals of the upper two levels are caved… I have shown the caved portal of Level Two, but I don’t believe that I have shown the caved portal of Level One before.
Our confusion in this video stems from the fact that the maps and all of the reports stated that the 1200 raise that we climbed only ran up to the second level. It was specifically reported that the miners came in too high when they intercepted the second level and that they had to drop down into the adit after punching into it with the raise. Therefore, when we encountered those drift levels and saw that the raise kept running up, we assumed that they were sublevels and that we hadn’t yet hit Level Two.
However, after doing a lot of math and surveying, we have concluded that the maps and reports were incomplete. We now believe that the main level we encountered in this video WAS Level Two and that that caved stope I encountered was on the adit that led to the outside world. The “drain tunnel” that we encountered just before Level Two is not described anywhere or featured on any maps. The description of the miners punching in “too high” and needing to “drop down” to Level Two does match what we experienced, but the way it was described in the reports is misleading. So, clearly, the miners DID run the raise all of the way up to Level One. Given the wall of collapsed rock at the top of the raise, it makes it difficult to be optimistic about the conditions on Level One.
Regardless, it was very exciting to finally reach that area up the 1200 raise…
Sure, we’ve been inside of mines that no one has laid eyes on for more than a century (or longer), but this one had an extra level of satisfaction given the amount of work needed to open it up. Even a really dedicated mine explorer couldn’t have done it – it required an industrial-level effort and a committed crew to clear through all of the hundreds of feet of caved workings in this mine.
How to proceed from here is difficult… It took us almost two years to clear out the caved sections of Level Three and to make the adit reasonably secure. That “raise” or “stope” or whatever it was that I looked up with the platforms was certainly intriguing. Was it just a stope that pinched out and those platforms are what the miners stood on to work? Or was that some sort of connection with Level One? If it is a connection though, why did they build the main raise that I climbed up? Getting up that space with the platforms would require some serious work with rock bolts, ladders, ropes and some fairly sporty conditions. Even then, there would be no guarantee of success. It’s a lot easier to go down than up!
*****
You can see the full TVR Exploring playlist of abandoned mines here: goo.gl/TEKq9L
You can see the gear that I use for mine exploring here: bit.ly/2wqcBDD and here: bit.ly/2p6Jip6
Several kind viewers have asked about donating to help cover some of the many expenses associated with exploring these abandoned mines. Inspired by their generosity, I set up a Patreon account. So, if anyone would care to chip in, I’m under TVR Exploring on Patreon.
Thanks for watching!
*****
Growing up in California’s “Gold Rush Country” made it easy to take all of the history around us for granted. However, abandoned mine sites have a lot working against them – nature, vandals, scrappers and various government agencies… The old prospectors and miners that used to roam our lonely mountains and toil away deep underground are disappearing quickly as well.
These losses finally caught our attention and we felt compelled to make an effort to document as many of the ghost towns and abandoned mines that we could before that colorful niche of our history is gone forever.
I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!
#ExploringAbandonedMines
#MineExploring
#AbandonedMines
#UndergroundMineExploring
