Finding A Passage Into A Mountain Hollowed Out By Miners

The first part of this mine can be found here: • Bear In An Abandoned Mine
Not the first time that I have underestimated a mine… And, undoubtedly, it will not be the last! The unfortunate bear we found in the first video may have underestimated this mine as well. By the way, that reminds me that you’ll be able to gain a better understanding of what I was talking about when I said it is difficult to imagine how the bear ended up in the ore chute after seeing this level in the video.
That first adit with the fortification and the firing ports remains a mystery. Again, I’m joking about the military intent behind that stone wall, but, you have to admit that its merits as a defensive position are pretty top notch. It would be extremely difficult to storm that position and to root out any defenders (I haven’t been in any formal military service, but those of you that have been with us for a while may know my story and why I may know more than a small amount about conventional and unconventional warfare).
Two of my friends had visited this mine before. However, on their prior visit, they had failed to notice the small passage I located that led into the “hollow mountain” guts of this mine (the second adit we went into in this video). So, that was new for all of us. It is still not entirely clear to me how this level fit into the broader scheme of the mine. Perhaps it should simply be viewed as a large sublevel? Without knowing how the miners accessed this level or worked it, that may remain another mystery. That tiny passage we entered on may have been an old adit that was expanded or it may have been created simply for ventilation or an emergency escapeway. What I can tell you with certainty is that no ore cars were running through that passage in the modern mining operation!
For those of you that missed the first video, this was a tungsten mine that was active during World War II and, apparently, for just several years after. As I understand it, when the government stopped supporting the price of tungsten in the 1950s, many of these tungsten mines closed virtually overnight.
We’re still not done with this mine as there is one more video after this one. The level above this one is pretty interesting as well… I’ll also show you more of the mine and the surrounding area with the drone.
*****
All of these videos are uploaded in HD, so I’d encourage you to adjust your settings to the highest quality if it is not done automatically.
You can see the gear that I use for mine exploring here: bit.ly/2wqcBDD
As well as a small gear update here: bit.ly/2p6Jip6
You can see the full TVR Exploring playlist of abandoned mines here: goo.gl/TEKq9L
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. But, you know what? We enjoy doing it! This is exploring history firsthand - bushwhacking down steep canyons and over rough mountains, figuring out the techniques the miners used and the equipment they worked with, seeing the innovations they came up with, discovering lost mines that no one has been in for a century, wandering through ghost towns where the only sound is the wind... These journeys allow a feeling of connection to a time when the world was a very different place. And I’d love to think that in some small way we are paying tribute to those hardy miners that worked these mines before we were even born.
So, yes, in short, we are adit addicts… I hope you’ll join us on these adventures!
#ExploringAbandonedMines
#MineExploring
#AbandonedMines
#UndergroundMineExploring