Big Things Have Small Beginnings - Part 2

Do you remember the high-water mark that I pointed out to you when I first dropped off of the manway into the main haulage adit? That was a good eighty feet above the level of the water that we hit in this video. So, that gives you an idea of how much water levels have been dropping in California over the past few years.

It was apparent that someone else had gotten into the dry, upper area of this mine, but we are confident that they did not drop down the manway that we did in this video or even through the sporty section of slabbed rock that we used to reach the manway. Even if they had had the courage (or stupidity) to do it, everything would have been underwater. As you’ll see in the next video, there is good evidence that we were the first in those lower sections since the day the mine closed.

And, to be clear, in the future videos, we keep dropping down and fanning out in all directions… I’ll give away that we waited a few months until the latest possible time in the fall before heading back for our last time (we ended up making four visits to this abandoned gold mine). On that visit, the water levels had dropped dramatically from the visit in this video and we were able to finish dropping down.

To provide some context on what we were feeling at the bottom on this visit… We had not expected to find this gold mine. We weren’t lost, but we were just scouting around in the forest. We didn’t know what was in that area (if anything) in the way of mines. In other words, we were dressed and prepared for a hike in the woods, not an intense underground mine explore. Sure, we always bring some gear with us in case we find something, but we certainly didn’t have the full mine exploring setup with us. Furthermore, this was at the end of a physically grueling day. So, that is the reason that we didn’t push as hard as we normally do in such scenarios.

However, you know my rule on unfinished business. So, I knew that we were coming back.

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You can see the full TVR Exploring playlist of abandoned mines here: https://goo.gl/TEKq9L

You can see the gear that I use for mine exploring here: https://bit.ly/2wqcBDD and here: https://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!

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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!

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Видео Big Things Have Small Beginnings - Part 2 канала TVR Exploring