We are going to climb these ladders to the 6600 Level. Tom is going first.
These ladders are in pretty good shape and there are platforms,
so it's not one straight shot. TOM: "It's really tight there!" These ladders have the three nails
on both sides of each rung, and they're notched which makes them really safe
and sturdy. TOM: "Switching over! This one has a large pipe alongside of it -- two pipes!"
Yes, so you transfer to the other platform, climb up the next ladder, and then transfer back over
to the other platform. It alternates like that all the way up. We just don't know how tall this
is. It could be 200 feet, 500 feet, or maybe 100 feet. We are climbing up this raise. We have come
up a couple hundred feet if not more, and here's a good shot showing the ladders alternating with
these platforms. That's Julie up there. I think that's the last ladder. Tom is already up there,
and he's at the 6600 Level. We've just come up from all the way down there. There
was one tight squeeze with the pipe here, but we got past it and that's where we're headed.
There is the top of the ladder at the 6600 Level. I noticed right here on this platform is a metal
bracket that says.... Let's see if I can get the lighting right....
So here at the 6600 Level at the top of the manway are two big grizzlies. A grizzly is the metal bars
you see here. The miners would dump the ore down into it. The rocks that can fit through there fall
down the chute to the lower tunnel. The rocks that don't fit through get stuck
and are discarded. Those are ore passes that go down to the main haulage tunnel we were in
where those metal ore chutes were with the pistons.
There is another grizzly over here. It's the same thing. This one has
bars that might be a little bit closer together. It's all fallen into disrepair.
Tom thought that these might be ore passes coming down from above. We believe there are two more
levels above us and this was the collecting point. See over here? It says 6700 Level up through this
blocked ore pass. See right there? It says 6700 Level with an arrow, so this was a collecting
point. Here is the manway we just climbed up. We calculated that we climbed about 300 feet
up these ladders. That's a shot looking down down at what we just climbed up. Look how there's
a trap door right there to keep it closed . The tunnel goes off that way,
and there's some miners' graffiti right here.
Joan 79.
And that must be Joan!
Somebody wrote "putz." So we got a Joan and we got a putz.
Take your pick! Here is looking up at the overhead, and we're going to head down this way.
Here is tubing for ventilation
and water or air. That's what this tubing is.
So we're continuing down the 6600 Level. They did some ore sampling here, and this says "No Good."
Well, we've passed a couple branches that look like they went really far, so this is a really
extensive mine.
It looks like that's the end, and same thing here.
So we found here in the mine a pair of rubber coveralls that are yellow in color
that the miners probably wore. TOM: "Julie's doing a nice job of modeling them!"
She is! TOM: "She could be on The Price Is Right TV show! Those
are probably waterproof so when you're drilling the water doesn't soak you." So this is the drift
off the main tunnel. We didn't check this out so we're checking it out now. This tunnel has a
different characteristic. I think that's just dirt and dust. I don't think that's mold or anything.
Here's a very intricate section of pipes. A junction of all these pipes!
This right here looks like it may have been a dead end. No,
that's another branching tunnel. It looks like it might have a dead end down there, though.
We are continuing down the drift tunnel here. It's kind of a long, straight section.
You can see here on the pipe
the dirt and dust that's accumulated, so that's what's on the tunnel wall. That's not mold or
any kind of growth. That's just dirt. These tunnel walls are probably actually a dark
brown color but all this dust makes them look like a light tan color, so it's kind of deceiving.
So here is another branch that keeps going there to the left. We will
continue down the main tunnel here. We're approaching a timbered section.
A short timbered section.
Here it says "825 Raise." There must have been a raise here at one point -- a shaft going up
with ladders like we climbed earlier -- but it looks like they took it away and filled it in.
Now we're approaching some kind of junction, I think. Or maybe not. Maybe it's a dead end.
"Danger. Explosive. Powder Magazine." That's the powder magazine. That's what that says.
Yes, here's where they kept the explosives.
TOM:
"Maybe they're still in there!" Danger. Explosives. Powder Magazine 6600 Level.
TOM: "Ready?" Yes. It's empty. That's got the wooden floor like they always seem to have.
These pipes are made by Northwest Pipe Casing Company. They are all over the place
here and right here suspended. That is who made those. We are headed that way back towards
Julie. So when we were checking out this other drift, I noticed right here
"Abba Zabba."
It looks like there are a lot of ore cart tracks up here to the right. Buckets. A big metal bucket.
A ladder. Big, square timbers.
And a tapioca pudding can. A lot of ore cart tracks, though.
And a bucket.
An empty bucket. Wow! This just keeps going!
We are finding very extensive drift levels in this mine.
I feel that we have walked a couple miles. I'm not sure how far we've walked, but it seems that way.
So we've reached the end of this drift. This was a long one!
Here at the end of the drift you can see the blasting holes that are left behind.
Here's a closer look at all these timbers. We are going to head back out that way.
We're now back at the manway we came up, and we're going to check out this
branching drift to the left. We've checked all the stuff to the right.
Look at this big ore chute. TOM: "This is an inclined shaft, Frank, that
had a lift on it at one time." Yes, we're at the bottom of an inclined shaft. Look at that!
They blocked it off. They quit using it. TOM: "I wonder if the ladders keep going up?"
They probably do. TOM: "Want me to go look?" It looks like it continues that way. Here is some
kind of shipping box, and Tom said there's a label on the end here that was kind of interesting.
Oh, yes! Battery locomotive. They must have had a locomotive-type thing in here to
pull the machinery through. I don't know. Check out these miners' dots. They usually
put them in a grid pattern like a square, but these ones kind of go off and they trail up
and curve upward to the right. A little bit of artistic flare right there!
We think this blocked-off inclined shaft are some of the older workings. Over here is
a little shelving unit -- a little cubby.
We're continuing down past this shipping container that had a locomotive in it.
They would sometimes bring those big pieces of equipment into the mine in pieces
and then build them inside the mine. That's what that was all about.
Here is more ventilation tubing. They would hang that cloth or plastic bag from
the tunnel ceiling and blow air through it to keep the air circulated for the miners.
Some collapse there, and the tunnel just keeps going! Check out all the blasting holes.
Well, the main tunnel goes that way but there's a branch here that looks like it keeps going.
Wow! Look at how new this lumber looks! There is just no moisture in here
or not enough moisture to cause any severe damage to the wooden timbers. Those look
brand new like the day they were brought in here decades ago! It's the same thing
with the timbering in this arch. It's in really good condition!
It looks like the tunnel turns to the left up here, and we're approaching a junction. Wow!
Branches off of branches off of branches! TOM: "Alright you two jokers! I'll see you later!"
Tom is making his descent back down to the main haulage tunnel. TOM: "Don't drop rocks
on my head!" Julie and I will go down in turn. We only keep one person on the ladder
at a time. That way if a rock gets knocked down, it won't hurt somebody that's lower.