JeepAndrew’s Abandoned Mines Thread

I have hundreds of pics I’ve taken over the years, gonna blow this thread up with them!

 

I agree!

 

We shall talk soon again brother. Miss you guys

 

This next one is a killer site. Been here a couple times now and it’s been just as awesome each time.

Located in eastern California, this was a large above ground and underground gypsum mine that was closed in the 1970s. Prior to the closure, during the Cold War, the underground portion of this mine was designated as a Nuclear Fallout Shelter by The Office of Civil Defense. In the late 1960s, the mine was retrofitted and stockpiled with tons of survival supplies and was intended to house up to 5,000 people for up to 2 weeks following a nuclear exchange. Most of the supplies are still intact, although after closure lots of supplies were stolen or trashed, which led to the mine being sealed up. This site is difficult to get into, as most of the openings have foamed or dynamited.

Case and point, here’s one of only 2 known ways in. The other way in is 10 times worse.


The upper portions of the mine are all huge room and pillar stopes where the Gypsum was removed. Pillars of pure Gypsum were left in place to support the roof. The rooms were so large that our brightest lights (3000-5000 lumens) wouldn’t light up this whole place.


A pillar or Gypsum left in place. It was 25 feet across!


Wear marks in a Gypsum pillar from the winch cable systems the miners used to remove the rock after it was drilled and blasted.


Drake peeks out of a huge rail mounted Gypsum loading ramp left in place in a drift.


HOLY SHIT!!! Fallout shelter supplies!


This tunnel went on for over 300 feet, completely full of pallets of 17 gallon water cans, food rations, first aid kits...


Some ransacked food rations. They were similar to graham or saltine crackers. We tried a few from a sealed container, not too bad for 1960s rations!


More water cans and food rations. It’s mind boggling imagining 5,000 people crammed in here after a nuclear war...


Here’s a link to the video my YouTube buddy did on this mine-
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XCmyQph9LAE

 

seeing these posts a couple days after reading the Ted the Caver story gets me going

 

Almost identical rations to those in the Grand Canyon caverns minus the ransacking.

 

very cool

 

Yep! I’ve only seen pics of the stash in the Grand Canyon Caverns.

 

SUBD!

 

Subbed, very interesting stuff, read it all word for word. Cant wait for more lol. So is the reason you have to rappel down vertical shafts just because the other entrances are blocked off or collapsed? Or was that the intended entrance? Did they have to bring all the supplies like those heavy cars and muckers down a vertical shaft like that?

 

spelunking thread! nice pics OP

 

In for the pictures - livin vicariously

 

Sometimes there were other openings that were closed or had collapsed. Most of the time that was the only entry point and all the equipment had to be hoisted down the shaft. Most equipment was taken down in pieces and reassembled underground.

I’ve seen regular sized bobcat loaders 600 feet down a shaft! Those were definitely hauled down in pieces.

 

Since you put it that way.....sub'd

 

More from the “Fallout Shelter Mine”

So you’re probably asking, “JeepAndrew, just how big were the room and pillar stopes in that Mine?” Well.. they’re fucking huge..

To give some perspective on the size of the gypsum deposit mined at this site, old records indicated that the deposit “ran east to west on a 40 degree slope, approximately 9,600 feet in length and 750 feet from top to bottom”.

Drake and I up near the top of some massive room and pillar.


On a ledge...


Shining our lights up at one of the vent shafts from the surface.


A large electric hoist near the top of the mine.


Posing with the shelter supplies.


The water cans had plastic bags to contain the water. The many sealed cans left over are still drinkable I’m guessing. This one probably not.


A lower level at the base of the stopes, used for haulage. Numerous loading platforms for hundreds of feet. Gypsum was loaded into huge ore cars that ran on full-size railroad rail and transported to a chute and conveyor system that led to the lower dump truck loading stations 100 feet further down.


Descending below the haulage level on some really cool access catwalks, now over 600 feet down.


The lowest level in the mine. A inclined tunnel (like in a parking garage) originally came into this area from the surface but has since been sealed up. Full-sized dump trucks were driven in from the surface, and backed up into these numbered spots to be loaded with raw gypsum.


Loading chutes and an access ladder.

 

Badass

 

Th at one is really cool Andrew. All those rations and huge rooms . That's really cool. I want one of those old ration buckets for my garage

 

Subd to read later!

 

I got to go back thru my photos and see if I have any to add from our adventures.

 

Awesome, thanks for sharing these!!

How do you keep track how far down you are?