Sand to Snow Expedition: Forgotten Mines In Extreme Contrasts
We’re traveling from abandoned mines in the desert heat to snowy peaks in this one… However, it will most likely not shock you, dear viewers, to hear that our mine exploring in the highest reaches of the Sierra Nevadas and the Rockies is now over for the season. Does this stop us from exploring? Not at all. However, it does require a recalibration of the abandoned mines and historical sites that we choose to visit and explore. As you know, the places that we prefer to visit are the obscure, difficult-to-reach, lost, etc. where one typically cannot just roll up to a mine portal in a Jeep and step inside. No, we prefer those that require an exhausting hike in that leaves our feet blistered and our backs aching from the packs of heavy mine exploring gear. Such places do not have maintained roads (or roads at all). So, when the snow accumulates, we must accept the power of Mother Nature and retreat.
“Just go to the desert!” some have thundered at us… Well, it is not so simple. Even the deserts are not a sure thing as many parts of the high desert are inaccessible in the winter due to snow, mud and washed out roads in the winter. And, bear in mind, even a light dusting of snow can be enough to cover artifacts or openings that we would easily spot in the summer. This is why our visits to the warmer climes of Arizona and southern Nevada have mostly taken place in the winter. These are long journeys for us though.
There’s a new (new to us) area at lower elevations that we started working on last year and have resumed this year. It is closer to our U.S. base of operations and so we’re able to visit more frequently and to put in more time. Also, this area is really only viable for the winter season as, in the summer, the terrain is saturated with illegal grow ops, thick brush and poison oak, terrible heat and way too many mosquitoes and yellowjackets. In the winter, the growers tend to migrate to places like Mexico or, at least, to lower their guard since they are not growing anything then. The brush and poison oak have lost their leaves and are at a low ebb. The cooler winter temperatures make the hiking far more comfortable and greatly reduce our water consumption. And, of course, the cold weather keeps the mosquitoes, yellowjackets and other unpleasant flying insects in check. I’ll start posting videos of this new area soon, although it might not stand out that it is a new area unless one studies the vegetation carefully. We didn’t finish any of the sites last year (steep canyons, thick brush and barely or non-existent roads = they take a lot of time and energy to properly survey and cover) and had to push into this year to finish them.
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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!
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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!
#ExploringAbandonedMines
#MineExploring
#AbandonedMines
#UndergroundMineExploring
Пікірлер: 65
That winze area was cool 😎 👌
Veritable museum of a mine.
ITS PEOPLE!!!!! SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!!!!
You can really see the sparkles in that gobbing in 2nd mine. Cool video as always!
Those workings look like old-school ingenuity.
It's nice to find a winch still in one piece. That old cut and fill mine was pretty cool as well. Genuine skill stacking the rock! Thanks Justin and Crew!
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
Indeed, a winch like that is a rare find! You can really see in a glance when you're in a mine where the miners knew their business (like in the second mine with that stacked rock).
Great video TVR is the best. One of the coolest mines I’ve seen online. I’m joining the team! 🪓
Nice explore, that first mine was awesome. The second, not so much. Bet no one is more disappointed than you. Thanks for the effort just the same. Till the next, take care and stay safe. Greetings from southwest Oregon. ⛏⚒⛏
Hi Justin, cool skip and hoist, and yes they look like teeth guarding the opening. WOW !!!! I would love to get a sample from that quarts. What a ton of gobbing, how much time it took to stack that much. What a mess,and only one little pole. Thanks again for the video
the lighting fixture over the hoist is just 👌🏼
Soylent Green, that’s funny right there. You dudes are always entertaining. 😊
Good afternoon from California near Donner pass
Hi Justin, that Quartz vein was crazy. Some nice sparkles of micro Quartz crystals, very pretty. Those mountains look so beautiful and majestic and yes that was very picturesque driving down that snowy road. Thank you for sharing, much love. xx
Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦
Good afternoon Justin & all TVR fans from England ❤❤❤ fab explore as usual. 😊
@TalRohan
4 ай бұрын
I'm in Wales ..hello too
Wahoo, love the different mines. Thank you
My mother's home had those old school pillars in the basement, every time I see them I think of that. I would have stayed in the desert heat after all the rain & snow you folks got. Another great video thanks.⚒
@TalRohan
4 ай бұрын
I put pillars in one of the houses I lived in, the floors used to bounce as you walked so I wedged all sorts of stuff down there to sure them up.
Good afternoon from Southeast South Dakota
It was great to see another video, and the assortment was a nice feature. Hope all is well with you and your family, Justin. Keep on keepin' on and stay safe out there.
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
Thank you. Indeed, all is well. Yes, more often than not, we actually get an assortment of mines like this. The videos that get posted are usually the success stories.
Cool!
You guys are still in my top 3 favorite YT channels! No BS, no virtue signaling, just great content. Looking forward to checking out your "new" winter operations!
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
Thank you very much for the kind words. Yes, we try to keep the hype to a minimum unless it is part of a joke and, certainly, the virtue signaling at a zero!
Soylent Green IS PEOPLE!!!!
You're correct in your assessment where you say it's a numbers game with the abandoned mines. The junk ones greatly outnumber the good ones, here in coal country at least. That last one looked familiar to what we encounter & the timbering is the same thing as here also. Love those mountains in the snow!
@577buttfan
4 ай бұрын
King of Coal!
Very interesting stuff Justin. Yes weather in our Sierras can be a challenge, you guys don't seem to let it stop you though.
Love the OLIGHT Marauder 2 flashlight.
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
It's a great light... The lads in Australia (QLD Abandoned Mines) put me onto it.
Neat hoist!
Found your channel recently and its all ive been watching. Great way to relax in the evening watching the mine tours.
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
Thank you. I'm glad that you're enjoying them...
And here i was getting worried because you hadnt posted a vid for 4 weeks, good to be back
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
Just super busy with a couple of other projects and taking a little break after an intense mine exploring run in December/January... Thank you for your concern.
You were able to get a lot in this one really cool.
Great Video as always! I would like you to give strong consideration to explore the old Union Carbide Tungsten Mine above Laurel Lakes in the Eastern Sierra off Hwy. 395 south of Mammoth Lakes, CA. I have hiked to the top of the hill and made it to the entrance of the mine years ago, but it had water in it so I went no farther. I can't find any info on it. The waste rock pile is immense so it was probably a huge undertaking! My curiosity runs high on this mine. Keep up the great work and stay safe! Mel The Ice Man, Acton, CA.
Who knows what down there in the winze of that first mine, maybe the longest mine cart train ever seen. That snow is beautiful, sad to see a landslide closing off that portal.
Oh! I know exactly where that opening shot was taken, oddly. I think so anyway, unless theres a dead ringer lookalike location somewhere. Considering its very much smack in the middle of absolutely nowhere, I was kinda surprised to recognize that stretch of desert road. My ex and I were out there on an aimless drive one evening and pulled over to look around, and some random guy came hauling ass out of the desert in his truck to tell us that we should get back in our vehicle and leave because there was quite a bit of danger of falling through completely undetectable thin ground into superheated geothermal steam/springs. Needless to say, we took off pretty quickly, because falling victim to nature's false floor and ending up becoming human soup didn't sound all that fantastic...
@TalRohan
4 ай бұрын
its logistics spreading soylent green across the countries ....theres load of em!!!!
I remember my Dad watching the movie Soylent Green back in the late 70'. It was a low budget science fiction film where ill and old people are killed and turned into a dehydrated chip of food for the world..
Rat poo builds character :)
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
We must be loaded with character then because we sure wallow through a lot of it! LOL.
The quartz was never molten. It precipitated out from a hot solution.
@jacksonholenc
4 ай бұрын
Yes it did !
@rsutherland76
4 ай бұрын
Thank you, came here to say this. This quartz was precipitated through hydrothermal circulation not magmatic.
👍
@TVR Exploring - what got you into old mine exploration?
A bit off all kinds and everything, a few nice surprises aswel, guess getting there was longer than the explore?
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
Ha, that is usually the case, I'm afraid.
Just run the juice to that winch with a little cleaning and grease and it's ready to get to work. How often do you see that. Great explore!
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
Pretty awesome, huh? That is indeed a rare find...
What happened in the first mine. Looked like there could of been more levels up or down
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
Nothing above and the levels down that winze were all flooded...
Molten quartz?!?! 1700 deg. C.
What is the rat’s food source in an abandoned mine? 🤔
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
They go outside for food and take it home with them or consume it outside.
I think a correction may be in order. If that false floor had given way under you, your last video would have been your last video. 😂
That last one you visited (IM) was one of the ugliest ones we ever visited
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
Yes, that ground was terrible! Did we miss anything there that you saw?
@goldcountryexplorers8332
4 ай бұрын
@@TVRExploring other than the large partly buried steam boiler and the ugly small adit we went into there were some random old mining equipment artifacts (metaly-bits) downstream strewn in the creek bed from what I recall.
@TVRExploring
4 ай бұрын
OK, cool. I'm glad that you didn't tell me that we missed a huge open adit... I believe that we saw the stuff in the creek. @@goldcountryexplorers8332