Nice you two! You love to explore these mines and document what is left. The Newspaper from 1921 was a very important find. Keep up the great finds and stay SAFE!
For years I have been of the opinion that it takes a level of intelligence above the average to appreciate the beauty of the desert. Anyone can see the beauty of a bright green bougainvillea with giant red flowers but it takes a a higher level of intelligence to appreciate the millions of subtle hues and textures that change as the day goes on , of the desert land and sky.
At first glance the desert might seem like a lifeless place. That is definitely not the case. The beauty is different than a well watered landscape, but, every bit as beautiful to me. I love the ruggedness and the dry climate of the desert. Artifacts seem to last almost forever without rusting or rotting. All the plants want to poke or stick you, snakes want to bite you, the heat and lack of water want to dehydrate you, and there is no one around to come to your aid. Perfect!
Hi Tom and Julie, Another great video! Thank you for posting your adventures for all to follow along and enjoy. The timbering in the picture at 17:22 looks spooky. If you look at the two vertical posts to the left of Julie, they are about to buckle by pushing the horizontal cap pinched between them (at the same level as Julie's head) to the right towards Julie. A gap appears to have already opened between that cap and the girt to its left. When those posts buckle, the upper lagging and rock at the top of the picture will dump downward where Julie is standing. Probably the only thing preventing it is that the lower lagging several inches above and behind Julie is spiked to that cap on the left. Although the weight of the wood and rock on the upper lagging is considerable, the angle of the lean in the two posts is somewhat gentle, so the spikes have a mechanical advantage in resisting that rightward shear force. Julie appears to be shining her light on a timber which might be a girt originally spanning between the cap on the left over to the cap on the right to keep them both in place. Having said that, it probably wouldn't stop be from being there either. I think I'd try not to linger while under it. The view at 1:48 is superb. I was more involved with the desert on a somewhat regular basis when I was younger, but now I haven't been there in about 20 years. The wonderful scenery in your many videos reminds me of how much I miss it.
Wow, nice detail in your comment about the timbering. I'm guessing you have some sort of engineering background. You probably don't want to know about some of the buckled timbers we have been under and squeezed through. It is a spectacular view up and down the huge Buckwheat Wash, and the dunes are amazing. Thanks for watching and for the nice comment!
We absolutely love following the old miners trails and follow them every chance we get. They almost always end up going to someplace interesting. Thanks, Ken!
Hi Tom & Julie, I wonder what makes kids think it's okay to burn down history 😢. I agree do they all have their own personalaties, for what there was there you would think it would have been a lot bigger. Some great views and photo opportunities though. Thank you for sharing, much love to you both. xx 💖
Hi Sue! I wonder the same thing. I just don't understand why people would want to burn things up like that. Think of all the timbering that was burned up! The mine was ugly but the views were pretty awesome. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment, Sue. ATB, Julie
That was better then a movie. When you said look at those big chunks we were like OK. Wow!!!Then one loud noise and one of these could fall it was time to get the popcorn. Thanks for another outstanding video. Take care and stay safe, Al
Hello Julie hello Tom Thank you for taking us with you on your exploring hike That was a good mine i think the smoked out the bats So that they can work without their left overs What else should burn their Take care have a good weekend Yours Frank Galetzka
Hi Frank. I think that some vandals burned the timbering in the mine. The miners wouldn't light the timbering on fire. This is a problem we have in parts of our country where people do things like this. Hopefully, in Germany it is different. Thanks, and good to hear from you!
@@TomandJulieMineExploring yes in Germany it is not able to go in old mines . Normaly when they close the mine Portal got shut of by the Goverment So nobody can get in there When old mines were open than they were Museums or for sience You live in a Paradies for mineexploring
Been to this one a few years back but accessed it from confidence wash to the north. I remember reading that newspaper with my pops. Very cool you guys made it to this one. Keep up the awesome videos!
Love the still photos. Like all the spirit orbs surrounding u guys inside the mines you explore. Your angels are making themselves known in the photos. Neat explore. The burned part is due to people trying to get the bats out of the mine.
I'm glad that our angels are looking out for us. I know that small fires are sometimes started to drive out bats, but here the timbering was set on fire, which no one would do to drive out bats. Thanks for the comment, Kimbra!
Thanks Tom and Julie! Another awesome adventure! Yeah not a pretty mine but still some timbering that was pretty impressive too bad vandals had to burn so much of it.
All these mines really do have what seems like personalities of their own. This one was not so pretty, as you said. Still fun though, and we're glad that you watched it!
That was a strange talc mine! Must've been a lot of timbering in that one which has since burned. What else would there be to burn? Interesting seeing the water and air lines suspended from the ceiling in that one area. They're usually on the ground next to the tracks. Yes, there was still a lot of good, non-burned timbering left in the mine in the latter portion of your video. Your description of the mine being ugly was a good one. They all do have their own unique characteristics, that's for sure. Interesting video, Tom and Julie!
Hey, Frank. Yes, the vandals burned some of the timbering in this one. I don't think it takes a huge quantity of wood to make a lot of smoke and soot. Especially when the mine drifts are bright white. We could only see a few timbers that were burned, although there could have been many more that turned to ash. It seemed like something was strange about that stope, like there may have been more timber in there. Yes, the mines do all have their own unique qualities don't they. Good to hear from you!
great stuff inside and out /// ive been to ibex springs in the area but not any of these mines. around 12:10 the tunnel sure is big wow... neat that the timbers are not milled and round. also interesting about the tracks being left but the ties are gone , weird.. great exploration thanks for taking us with you
Thank you for sharing this mine with us. That newspaper was interesting - 100 years old; makes me think of the Dead Sea Scrolls. At least you can confirm when it was mined. I am wondering how you could have time to drive, hike, and explore all in one day. That area looks very remote. That wood will last a very long time. There are Salado Cave Dwellings in our area from 700 years ago and some of the wood has still been preserved. Thanks again for the video and photos. Stay safe!
It was fun to see the 100 year old newspaper. I wish there was a little more left of it to see what the news of the day was. Some of these explores do make for a long day. We are always prepared with food, water, extra clothing and the means to make a simple shelter, in the case that we have to spend the night some where. I'll have to look up the Salado Caves, I've never heard of them. Thanks, Phil!
Always amazed they say CA. is so crowded but you're out exploring some of the most remote parts of California, if not parts of the 48 states! Awesome exploring...⛏️ ⚒️⛓️⚙️🏚️📹
This is part of Death Valley National Park, so it is very remote. Parts of California are beyond ridiculously crowded, and others like this are deserted with miles of nothing but desert and rugged mountains. Glad that you enjoyed the explore, and thanks for commenting, Amboy!👍😁
Could be. I don’t know what was in that box. Lots of cool minerals in this area, but, being a national park you can't legally remove them. That doesn't stop some people. We have seen people with 5 gallon buckets full of rocks in the park. Thanks, Daniel!
Im jealous of you two The wife and i been wanting to go ghost town hunting.but stuck in missery. So i watch you and others on you tube.for now. We will make our goal. Thank for your videos.
Sorry to hear you are not able to go ghost town hunting. Where are you located, we are in Nevada, California and Arizona for the winter. Thanks for watching!
Can you smell a mine that has caught fire or is it when you see the visible signs that a fire took place? It’s hard for me to imagine a mine catching fire, it has to be man made. Any who, thanks T&J for another fine video!
Sometimes you can smell a smoky scent in a burned mine, but not this time. It's quite obvious when you see the black color on white talc that there has been a fire in here. I'm fairly certain that this was started intentionally by a human. That's not to say that a working mine couldn't catch fire. You have equipment running that could overheat, flammable oil and fuels around, explosives that are being set off, miners smoking etc. Thanks for the comment, Ralph!
There is definitely a lot of wide open space here. That is part of the appeal. Yes, sometimes people will light a fire to chase out bats. Other times they light the timbering on fire. Who knows what happened here. Thanks for watching and commenting, Jeffrey!
That is true, however, that would be done with a small fire in the middle of a drift. Here the timbers were burned. The miners wouldn't do that. Thanks for the comment, Kenneth!
This one is a bit sketchy. I've been in hundreds of mines and you develop a gut instinct about that. It doesn't look too bad, but it feels like you are about to get squashed by falling rock. Thanks for the comment, Mark!
Hello Tom and Julie. Interesting how burnt that mine was. I had heard sometimes they will light a fire in a mine to drive out the bats but I think that is a lot more than that.
That is true about the lighting of fires to drive bats out. They wouldn't light the mine timbering on fire, though. Vandals and Pyro maniacs do things like that. Thanks for watching and commenting, Stephen!
Could you guess as to how many miners worked a mine this size. Two or twenty? Did they live on site or "commute"? What were the load counts for? Enjoy your stuff.... thanks.
Sorry I missed your comment until now. I would guess there would be fewer than twenty men working on a mine like this. Probably ten or less. There is a miner's cabin about a half mile away and a bigger mining camp about 4 or 5 miles away from here, which I would think is where the miners stayed. The load counts are usually for filled mine car or skip load. Since there is no skip here I would assume a full car of ore. Thanks for the nice comment , Andy!
Hi, what a nice view, talc mines look so dangerous but I know that you check beforehand? Great hike to the mine, what part of Death Valley was this? Stay safe. I know that you like bats Tom!
Yes the views in this area are great. This is really an unstable mine with all the rockfall. This is in the southern part of Death Valley up Buckwheat Wash. Thanks for watching, Ron!
We like to hike. If it's too rough for he Jeep we hoof it. We started our TH-cam channel as a hiking/backpacking/climbing channel, so not a big deal. Thanks for the suggestion anyway, Les!
There was a big lumber industry that supplied the mines. The timbers for many of the mines we see is from the eastern Sierra Nevada. Thanks for the comment, Larry!👌
You are right, that was really odd to see the ties taken, but the rails left behind, have never seen that before. They must have been stacked up by the mine entrance, and either someone set them on fire, or long ago there was a wild brush fire in the area that ignited them. Very odd.
We were keeping an eye out for the talc mine on the way up but didn't find it until the trip back down the wash. I guess it didn't make a difference which one we found first. Thanks for the comment!
The road up this wash is not too bad. I didn't show much of it because I have included it in other videos from years past. There is a wilderness area where the first mine is, and no mechanized travel is allowed, so we stopped the Jeep. This area is hard on vehicles, as you said. Thanks for watching, David!
My impression of the burned timbering is that there must have been a fire in the mine and some timbering was put back in place afterwards. There is no reason for the area just before the intact timbers to have burned and not that area also. Another thought about deeper in the mine is that the fire probably ran out of oxygen in that area. But, you were there and had better eyes on it. Also, the cardboard boxes obviously came after the fire.
We have been in several mines that have been burned. It doesn't take a huge fire to leave soot throughout a big part of the mine. I also don't get the feeling that a fire would spread easily, from the timbers that are on fire, to others that are several feet away. I agree with you that low oxygen might be a factor in slowing the spread of fure in an enclosed space like this. We have seen fire damage before in a vertical shaft, that someone must have tossed a flare, or other incendiary device into, and that would spread easily. It would come roaring up from below like a chimney on fire. In other words, just a small part of this mine burned leaving soot throughout a large part of it, but, there wouldn't have been flames, or extremely high heat throughout most of the mine, leaving the cardboard boxes and other timbers in the mine unburned. Thanks for your input, David. We appreciate it!
While that may be theoretically possible, my thinking is that it is more likely arson. We have seen many times where an attempt has been made to ignite the timbering inside of mines. The same with ore bins, headframes and cabins outside of mines. It's really a shame as the timbers are mostly old growth, full dimension lumber. Thanks for your input, Dan!
There was an area of burned timbers, Max. It doesn't take a lot of fires to really soot up a mine since the smoke has nowhere to go. Especially a white talc mine. Thanks for the comment, my friend!
The burning you find in these old mines is often caused by new folks trying to chase the bats out of these mines before they start looking fur gold silver and other minerals
That is true, David. The size of some of the chunks that have come off the back of this mine were as big as a VW Beetle. Some, I'm sure, because of earthquakes, and some just from time and how brittle and unstable talc is. I don't know if you've ever handled a talc rock, but, they are very heavy and dense. You could almost sense the weight of the rocks hanging over our heads in this one ready to come down at any time. I wouldn't want to bang around in this mine any more than necessary to explore it.
The black layers through out the mine is due to an increased concentration of carbon dioxide. This is referred to as black damp. Additionally the exposure of minerals to the mine air will create the black damp, mainly due to poor air circulation. I don't think what you saw was burnt debris. Just an opinion. You're a great team. Enjoy your videos. 👍
Thanks for the nice comment and for adding your input. The black color in the mine was caused by soot from the burned timbers you see at about the 14:10 mark in the video. Black Damp is usually seen in coal mines, or other spaces, where there is very little oxygen. With the burned timbers, and this mine having an oxygen percentage of 20.5, the soot 2 was caused by smoke from a fire. That, and we have seen several burned mines and this is what they look like. Thanks for watching!
The waste rock pile, or mine dump as it is also called, is just that. Rock and other material that is unwanted and needed to be moved out of the way to get to the desired ore body. Talc mines are kind of confusing since the waste rock looks like it should be valuable because of it's white color. Apparently that is not the case. Thanks for the comment!
Interesting idea. It doesn't prevent anyone from from using it though. A couple sticks of dynamite near the portal would work better. Thanks for your input!
How tall is Julie? I’m trying to get a prospective of the height of these shafts. Some look very low while others have plenty of head room. Why would someone set fire inside a mine? Are they trying to destabilize it, or cause cave-Ins ?
Julie is 5'8" tall. Mine adits and drifts do vary greatly with some being 10' tall and others so low you can't stand up straight. Setting the timbering inside a mine on fire is pure vandalism. I don’t know why some people like to vandalize things. We have seen ore bins, a headframe and beautiful timbering inside of mines purposely torched. Maybe a Pyro maniac? Thanks, Jake!
No it wasn't much, although the 100 year old SF newspaper was fun to see. I think the shaft higher up was probably the main working of that mine. Too bad the headframe was collapsed into the shaft. It it wasn't you could get down the shaft with rope. There is too much unstable timber at the top of the shaft to do that here. Thanks, Duck!
To me it looked like sunlight coming in a hole in one of the stopes, if so that would make smoke head to that hole causing smoke to stain the walls on the way to the hole...
I don't remember seeing an open stope there. We spent a few minutes there considering going up the ladder and didn't notice any airflow there, either. It is such an unstable mine we decided against going up the ladder. I think the smoke would still fill up the stope first, before filling up the rest of the mine, as heat rises. That area looked to be the main site of the burned timbers, as well. Thanks, Graham!
Was just thinkin’ that with all of that back-fall of large material, that maybe, just maybe this damage was caused by an earthquake that “could have” possibly included large rock material to have fallen on top of some old dynamite sticks, pinching those in just the right way to explode them. If said sticks of old unstable dynamite was stored in an area with a lot of small wood bits, near larger chunks & possibly newspapers, would’ve acted as kenneling… but then again, even if said fire happened in some way like this, it still wouldn’t account for them tracks being all taken apart w/their ties missing
Well I have to admit, I never thought of that scenario. I love your great imagination. Who knows, maybe that's exactly what happened. Thanks for the fun comment, Sean!
It's never a good practice to remove anything from the old mines. They are protected against taking anything by law. I'm sure a resourceful person could find firewood elsewhere. Thanks for bringing up the subject. 👍
Total guess on my part but seeing how the railroad ties were gone and the big fire inside and yet the railroad ties are still on the pile outside makes me think somebody took all them tires and set them on fire and they're on purpose or something or something but that's a lot of work just to get something to burn
We have not have any animals come after us. The rats and bats are usually pretty active in the mines, but they don't really bother you. Thanks for the comment, Paul!👌😄
Hi, Jason. We've been putting out a video every Friday for months. Julie is doing pretty good with some lingering side effects from her radiation treatments. Thanks for asking.
That is true, and we have seen that several times. In this mine the timbering was burned which no one would purposely do. In mines that large bat colonies have been in you will see the guano still there after the bats were driven out. Thanks for your input, Jim!
Ys, that's one thing that has been used to keep bats out of mines. Most times what we have seen is just a small wood fire built on the ground in the middle of an adit. Not the case in this mine. Major support timbers were set on fire either accidentally or on purpose. Thanks for your input!
I'd love to hear what you think we're seeing, as far as the blackened drifts are concerned, if it's not soot from fire smoke. Thanks for the comment, Scott!
Maybe in a coal mine. In the desert mines I hink they used if for cooling. They would cover the box with wet burlap and use evaporative cooling. Thanks for your input, Rich!
That could be. I've never seen the ties removed and the rails left behind until this mine. We didn't see a pile of burned ties, but, there was a large slide in that area that could have covered it up. It seemed like there might have been more timbers in that stope that got burned. Thanks, Robert!
Okay now i'm angry, i was watching a video by TVR and started thinking, hmm i haven't seen a video by Tom and Julie in a lil while, hope they're okay, so i came to check and i've missed ALLOT of videos thanks to youtube unsubbing me from the channel without asking me, 😡😡😡
Well that stinks. I've had the feeling that something funny has been going on with my subs for the last few weeks. Thanks for thinking of us and hopefully re-subscribing.
@@TomandJulieMineExploring Re-subbing, oh yes, i sent off a nice little email to youtube as well, not like they're gonna respond but that's not okay, and you guys are great, see ya in the next one 💖🤍💙
@@TheDisabledGamersChannel I sent a screenshot of your comment to YT support. I'll let you know what I hear from them. They are usually pretty good at helping creators.
Nice you two! You love to explore these mines and document what is left. The Newspaper from 1921 was a very important find. Keep up the great finds and stay SAFE!
Thanks, Duane! Yes, we love hiking and exploring the desert. The 100 year old newspaper was fun to see. Thanks for the comment.
For years I have been of the opinion that it takes a level of intelligence above the average to appreciate the beauty of the desert. Anyone can see the beauty of a bright green bougainvillea with giant red flowers but it takes a a higher level of intelligence to appreciate the millions of subtle hues and textures that change as the day goes on , of the desert land and sky.
At first glance the desert might seem like a lifeless place. That is definitely not the case. The beauty is different than a well watered landscape, but, every bit as beautiful to me. I love the ruggedness and the dry climate of the desert. Artifacts seem to last almost forever without rusting or rotting. All the plants want to poke or stick you, snakes want to bite you, the heat and lack of water want to dehydrate you, and there is no one around to come to your aid. Perfect!
Hi Tom and Julie,
Another great video! Thank you for posting your adventures for all to follow along and enjoy.
The timbering in the picture at 17:22 looks spooky. If you look at the two vertical posts to the left of Julie, they are about to buckle by pushing the horizontal cap pinched between them (at the same level as Julie's head) to the right towards Julie. A gap appears to have already opened between that cap and the girt to its left. When those posts buckle, the upper lagging and rock at the top of the picture will dump downward where Julie is standing. Probably the only thing preventing it is that the lower lagging several inches above and behind Julie is spiked to that cap on the left. Although the weight of the wood and rock on the upper lagging is considerable, the angle of the lean in the two posts is somewhat gentle, so the spikes have a mechanical advantage in resisting that rightward shear force. Julie appears to be shining her light on a timber which might be a girt originally spanning between the cap on the left over to the cap on the right to keep them both in place.
Having said that, it probably wouldn't stop be from being there either. I think I'd try not to linger while under it.
The view at 1:48 is superb. I was more involved with the desert on a somewhat regular basis when I was younger, but now I haven't been there in about 20 years. The wonderful scenery in your many videos reminds me of how much I miss it.
Wow, nice detail in your comment about the timbering. I'm guessing you have some sort of engineering background. You probably don't want to know about some of the buckled timbers we have been under and squeezed through.
It is a spectacular view up and down the huge Buckwheat Wash, and the dunes are amazing. Thanks for watching and for the nice comment!
I had fun watching, I loved the single track hiking trail the most, you never know where they lead. Thanks guys
We absolutely love following the old miners trails and follow them every chance we get. They almost always end up going to someplace interesting. Thanks, Ken!
Hi Tom & Julie, I wonder what makes kids think it's okay to burn down history 😢. I agree do they all have their own personalaties, for what there was there you would think it would have been a lot bigger. Some great views and photo opportunities though. Thank you for sharing, much love to you both. xx 💖
Hi Sue! I wonder the same thing. I just don't understand why people would want to burn things up like that. Think of all the timbering that was burned up! The mine was ugly but the views were pretty awesome. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment, Sue. ATB, Julie
Enjoyed the video, Tom I like the way you explain everything as you go along. Hope everything goes well with y'all. Until next time, may God bless.
Glad that you enjoyed it, Jimmy! Thanks for the nice comment and blessing.
That was better then a movie. When you said look at those big chunks we were like OK. Wow!!!Then one loud noise and one of these could fall it was time to get the popcorn. Thanks for another outstanding video. Take care and stay safe, Al
Haha, Yes, those big rocks falling down is a little unsettling. Thanks, Al. Hope the popcorn was good!
Hello Julie hello Tom
Thank you for taking us with you on your exploring hike
That was a good mine i think the smoked out the bats
So that they can work without their left overs
What else should burn their
Take care have a good weekend
Yours Frank Galetzka
Hi Frank. I think that some vandals burned the timbering in the mine. The miners wouldn't light the timbering on fire. This is a problem we have in parts of our country where people do things like this. Hopefully, in Germany it is different. Thanks, and good to hear from you!
@@TomandJulieMineExploring yes in Germany it is not able to go in old mines .
Normaly when they close the mine Portal got shut of by the Goverment
So nobody can get in there
When old mines were open than they were Museums or for sience
You live in a Paradies for mineexploring
Pretty cool! Exactly 100 yr old newspaper!
It was fun to see the newspaper, too bad the rats chewed most of it up. Thanks for watching!
Been to this one a few years back but accessed it from confidence wash to the north. I remember reading that newspaper with my pops. Very cool you guys made it to this one. Keep up the awesome videos!
That's great that you've had the chance to see this mine. There are some pretty cool things to see in this area. Thanks for watching!👍😊
Love the still photos. Like all the spirit orbs surrounding u guys inside the mines you explore. Your angels are making themselves known in the photos. Neat explore. The burned part is due to people trying to get the bats out of the mine.
I'm glad that our angels are looking out for us. I know that small fires are sometimes started to drive out bats, but here the timbering was set on fire, which no one would do to drive out bats. Thanks for the comment, Kimbra!
Cool video, that was a hell of a hike thought yall be safe ill catch you on the next one take care
Yes, it was a good hike. Thanks, Gunny!
Thanks Tom and Julie! Another awesome adventure!
Yeah not a pretty mine but still some timbering that was pretty impressive too bad vandals had to burn so much of it.
All these mines really do have what seems like personalities of their own. This one was not so pretty, as you said. Still fun though, and we're glad that you watched it!
That was a strange talc mine! Must've been a lot of timbering in that one which has since burned. What else would there be to burn? Interesting seeing the water and air lines suspended from the ceiling in that one area. They're usually on the ground next to the tracks. Yes, there was still a lot of good, non-burned timbering left in the mine in the latter portion of your video. Your description of the mine being ugly was a good one. They all do have their own unique characteristics, that's for sure. Interesting video, Tom and Julie!
Hey, Frank. Yes, the vandals burned some of the timbering in this one. I don't think it takes a huge quantity of wood to make a lot of smoke and soot. Especially when the mine drifts are bright white. We could only see a few timbers that were burned, although there could have been many more that turned to ash. It seemed like something was strange about that stope, like there may have been more timber in there. Yes, the mines do all have their own unique qualities don't they. Good to hear from you!
That sure was interesting views and footage nice adventure
Thanks man!
Great hike!
Looked like it was quite a fire. Spooky indeed!
👍👍😎
Yep, all burned up. Definitely a fun hike. Thanks, George!
great stuff inside and out /// ive been to ibex springs in the area but not any of these mines. around 12:10 the tunnel sure is big wow... neat that the timbers are not milled and round. also interesting about the tracks being left but the ties are gone , weird.. great exploration thanks for taking us with you
Thanks, Thorn! Glad that you guys have been around the area a little. Lots of fun stuff nearby. Thanks for the comment, we appreciate it.
Thank you for sharing this mine with us. That newspaper was interesting - 100 years old; makes me think of the Dead Sea Scrolls. At least you can confirm when it was mined. I am wondering how you could have time to drive, hike, and explore all in one day. That area looks very remote. That wood will last a very long time. There are Salado Cave Dwellings in our area from 700 years ago and some of the wood has still been preserved. Thanks again for the video and photos. Stay safe!
It was fun to see the 100 year old newspaper. I wish there was a little more left of it to see what the news of the day was. Some of these explores do make for a long day. We are always prepared with food, water, extra clothing and the means to make a simple shelter, in the case that we have to spend the night some where. I'll have to look up the Salado Caves, I've never heard of them. Thanks, Phil!
Awesome video!
Thanks, Nick!
@@TomandJulieMineExploring you're welcome!
Always amazed they say CA. is so crowded but you're out exploring some of the most remote parts of California, if not parts of the 48 states! Awesome exploring...⛏️ ⚒️⛓️⚙️🏚️📹
This is part of Death Valley National Park, so it is very remote. Parts of California are beyond ridiculously crowded, and others like this are deserted with miles of nothing but desert and rugged mountains. Glad that you enjoyed the explore, and thanks for commenting, Amboy!👍😁
A good video. Thanks for sharing. 👍
Thanks, Jacob! We appreciate your support.
You found the bird box! 😱😳🤣 would love to explore the scree piles for minerals and crystals! Thanks for sharing your explore!
Could be. I don’t know what was in that box. Lots of cool minerals in this area, but, being a national park you can't legally remove them. That doesn't stop some people. We have seen people with 5 gallon buckets full of rocks in the park. Thanks, Daniel!
Im jealous of you two
The wife and i been wanting to go ghost town hunting.but stuck in missery.
So i watch you and others on you tube.for now.
We will make our goal.
Thank for your videos.
Sorry to hear you are not able to go ghost town hunting. Where are you located, we are in Nevada, California and Arizona for the winter. Thanks for watching!
Very interesting as usual. Thanks
Thanks for watching, Joel!
Can you smell a mine that has caught fire or is it when you see the visible signs that a fire took place? It’s hard for me to imagine a mine catching fire, it has to be man made. Any who, thanks T&J for another fine video!
Sometimes you can smell a smoky scent in a burned mine, but not this time. It's quite obvious when you see the black color on white talc that there has been a fire in here. I'm fairly certain that this was started intentionally by a human. That's not to say that a working mine couldn't catch fire. You have equipment running that could overheat, flammable oil and fuels around, explosives that are being set off, miners smoking etc. Thanks for the comment, Ralph!
Aint no doubt them boyz back then earned every penny they took home!
Yes, they did. The old miners were a tough bunch.
It was nice as usual thank you
Glad that you liked it, Tim!
Great video guys, beautiful country,lots of wide open space, sometimes they light fires in mines to chase out the bats.
There is definitely a lot of wide open space here. That is part of the appeal. Yes, sometimes people will light a fire to chase out bats. Other times they light the timbering on fire. Who knows what happened here. Thanks for watching and commenting, Jeffrey!
A LOT BURNING GOING ON. THANKS FOR THE TOUR.
Yes, there is a lot of burning. It kinda sucks. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the tour. I heard (on a different mine explore channel) that sometimes burning is to get rid of bats?
That is true, however, that would be done with a small fire in the middle of a drift. Here the timbers were burned. The miners wouldn't do that. Thanks for the comment, Kenneth!
Great video!!!!
Thank you very much!
Interesting workings. Majorly sketchy condition!
This one is a bit sketchy. I've been in hundreds of mines and you develop a gut instinct about that. It doesn't look too bad, but it feels like you are about to get squashed by falling rock. Thanks for the comment, Mark!
Best view as always is Julie !! Everything else looks like your on Mars 😂
Haha, yes sir. 🤣
Hello Tom and Julie. Interesting how burnt that mine was. I had heard sometimes they will light a fire in a mine to drive out the bats but I think that is a lot more than that.
That is true about the lighting of fires to drive bats out. They wouldn't light the mine timbering on fire, though. Vandals and Pyro maniacs do things like that. Thanks for watching and commenting, Stephen!
@@TomandJulieMineExploring Yeah thats sad vandals have to do that
Could you guess as to how many miners worked a mine this size. Two or twenty? Did they live on site or "commute"? What were the load counts for?
Enjoy your stuff.... thanks.
Sorry I missed your comment until now. I would guess there would be fewer than twenty men working on a mine like this. Probably ten or less. There is a miner's cabin about a half mile away and a bigger mining camp about 4 or 5 miles away from here, which I would think is where the miners stayed. The load counts are usually for filled mine car or skip load. Since there is no skip here I would assume a full car of ore. Thanks for the nice comment , Andy!
Hi, what a nice view, talc mines look so dangerous but I know that you check beforehand? Great hike to the mine, what part of Death Valley was this? Stay safe. I know that you like bats Tom!
Yes the views in this area are great. This is really an unstable mine with all the rockfall. This is in the southern part of Death Valley up Buckwheat Wash. Thanks for watching, Ron!
Need to upgrade the suspension. Saves on walking! Allows more mine walking. 😁 🇨🇦
We like to hike. If it's too rough for he Jeep we hoof it. We started our TH-cam channel as a hiking/backpacking/climbing channel, so not a big deal. Thanks for the suggestion anyway, Les!
Sad Somebody burned it definitely had nice Timbers!!!; )
Yes, too bad. At least there are some nice timbers left.
Where did the miners get all the timber from, they are in the middle of the desert. Love your videos so interesting. Thanks for sharing
There was a big lumber industry that supplied the mines. The timbers for many of the mines we see is from the eastern Sierra Nevada. Thanks for the comment, Larry!👌
We explored the talc mine in 2006. It had been burned by then.
Thanks for that information, Jan. We love this area. Lots of cool stuff within a few miles.
You are right, that was really odd to see the ties taken, but the rails left behind, have never seen that before. They must have been stacked up by the mine entrance, and either someone set them on fire, or long ago there was a wild brush fire in the area that ignited them. Very odd.
Yes, usually it's just the opposite, where the rails are removed to be used elsewhere and the ties left behind. Thanks for the comment, Dana!
@@TomandJulieMineExploring Odd too that the rails and ties were left on the outside.
The plates for holding rail together are called Fish Plates, Splice bars or Joint Bars.
Thanks for that information. Richard!👍
Enjoyed the mine explore! I see you passed the talc mine up and kept heading up the wash to the Rusty Pick mine, then doubled back to the talc mine?
We were keeping an eye out for the talc mine on the way up but didn't find it until the trip back down the wash. I guess it didn't make a difference which one we found first. Thanks for the comment!
Rough on any truck including 4 wheel unless you upgrade with heavy duty after market stuff
The road up this wash is not too bad. I didn't show much of it because I have included it in other videos from years past. There is a wilderness area where the first mine is, and no mechanized travel is allowed, so we stopped the Jeep. This area is hard on vehicles, as you said. Thanks for watching, David!
My impression of the burned timbering is that there must have been a fire in the mine and some timbering was put back in place afterwards. There is no reason for the area just before the intact timbers to have burned and not that area also. Another thought about deeper in the mine is that the fire probably ran out of oxygen in that area. But, you were there and had better eyes on it. Also, the cardboard boxes obviously came after the fire.
We have been in several mines that have been burned. It doesn't take a huge fire to leave soot throughout a big part of the mine. I also don't get the feeling that a fire would spread easily, from the timbers that are on fire, to others that are several feet away. I agree with you that low oxygen might be a factor in slowing the spread of fure in an enclosed space like this. We have seen fire damage before in a vertical shaft, that someone must have tossed a flare, or other incendiary device into, and that would spread easily. It would come roaring up from below like a chimney on fire. In other words, just a small part of this mine burned leaving soot throughout a large part of it, but, there wouldn't have been flames, or extremely high heat throughout most of the mine, leaving the cardboard boxes and other timbers in the mine unburned. Thanks for your input, David. We appreciate it!
Lightning may have started the fire in the mine, tracks and air and water lines make excellent lightning rods.
While that may be theoretically possible, my thinking is that it is more likely arson. We have seen many times where an attempt has been made to ignite the timbering inside of mines. The same with ore bins, headframes and cabins outside of mines. It's really a shame as the timbers are mostly old growth, full dimension lumber. Thanks for your input, Dan!
Most of the timber was scorched but not burnt... Wonder what did burn to soot up most of that mine????
There was an area of burned timbers, Max. It doesn't take a lot of fires to really soot up a mine since the smoke has nowhere to go. Especially a white talc mine. Thanks for the comment, my friend!
Where did you get. Your backpack. From
REI sells the Osprey brand packs that we use. Thanks for the comment, Allen!👍
Like finding the dead seas scrolls
You mean the 100 year old newspaper? That was pretty cool to see. Thanks, Robert.
The burning you find in these old mines is often caused by new folks trying to chase the bats out of these mines before they start looking fur gold silver and other minerals
And sometimes it's drug dealers making meth and they also start fires to chase the bats out of these mines
That's true, although those are usually a small fire like a campfire set in the middle of the floor and not lighting the mine timbering on fire.
The reason for falling rocks is over the years these old mines have had earth quakes long after these mines activity has stoped
That is true, David. The size of some of the chunks that have come off the back of this mine were as big as a VW Beetle. Some, I'm sure, because of earthquakes, and some just from time and how brittle and unstable talc is. I don't know if you've ever handled a talc rock, but, they are very heavy and dense. You could almost sense the weight of the rocks hanging over our heads in this one ready to come down at any time. I wouldn't want to bang around in this mine any more than necessary to explore it.
The black layers through out the mine is due to an increased concentration of carbon dioxide. This is referred to as black damp. Additionally the exposure of minerals to the mine air will create the black damp, mainly due to poor air circulation. I don't think what you saw was burnt debris. Just an opinion. You're a great team. Enjoy your videos. 👍
Thanks for the nice comment and for adding your input. The black color in the mine was caused by soot from the burned timbers you see at about the 14:10 mark in the video. Black Damp is usually seen in coal mines, or other spaces, where there is very little oxygen. With the burned timbers, and this mine having an oxygen percentage of 20.5, the soot 2 was caused by smoke from a fire. That, and we have seen several burned mines and this is what they look like. Thanks for watching!
I wonder what the waste pile is made of that it wouldnt be milled as well?? ?
The waste rock pile, or mine dump as it is also called, is just that. Rock and other material that is unwanted and needed to be moved out of the way to get to the desired ore body. Talc mines are kind of confusing since the waste rock looks like it should be valuable because of it's white color. Apparently that is not the case. Thanks for the comment!
@@TomandJulieMineExploring Yep, thats what I'm takin bout here is the waste pile looks like the good stuff too!!
They used their spare propellant to set fire to the timber to prevent anyone else from taking advantage of the mine after they decided to abandon it.
Interesting idea. It doesn't prevent anyone from from using it though. A couple sticks of dynamite near the portal would work better. Thanks for your input!
How tall is Julie? I’m trying to get a prospective of the height of these shafts. Some look very low while others have plenty of head room. Why would someone set fire inside a mine? Are they trying to destabilize it, or cause cave-Ins ?
Julie is 5'8" tall. Mine adits and drifts do vary greatly with some being 10' tall and others so low you can't stand up straight. Setting the timbering inside a mine on fire is pure vandalism. I don’t know why some people like to vandalize things. We have seen ore bins, a headframe and beautiful timbering inside of mines purposely torched. Maybe a Pyro maniac? Thanks, Jake!
That first adit wasn't much to speak of but it looks like you may have been the first people in there in a very long time.
No it wasn't much, although the 100 year old SF newspaper was fun to see. I think the shaft higher up was probably the main working of that mine. Too bad the headframe was collapsed into the shaft. It it wasn't you could get down the shaft with rope. There is too much unstable timber at the top of the shaft to do that here. Thanks, Duck!
😎👍👍
Thanks, George!👍👍👊😎
@@TomandJulieMineExploring Yup! Keep exploring
To me it looked like sunlight coming in a hole in one of the stopes, if so that would make smoke head to that hole causing smoke to stain the walls on the way to the hole...
I don't remember seeing an open stope there. We spent a few minutes there considering going up the ladder and didn't notice any airflow there, either. It is such an unstable mine we decided against going up the ladder. I think the smoke would still fill up the stope first, before filling up the rest of the mine, as heat rises. That area looked to be the main site of the burned timbers, as well. Thanks, Graham!
@@TomandJulieMineExploring Must have been an Optical Delusion on my part....
I bet that screened box housed the mine canary???
Who knows. It must have been used to hold some type of living animal.
Was just thinkin’ that with all of that back-fall of large material, that maybe, just maybe this damage was caused by an earthquake that “could have” possibly included large rock material to have fallen on top of some old dynamite sticks, pinching those in just the right way to explode them. If said sticks of old unstable dynamite was stored in an area with a lot of small wood bits, near larger chunks & possibly newspapers, would’ve acted as kenneling… but then again, even if said fire happened in some way like this, it still wouldn’t account for them tracks being all taken apart w/their ties missing
Well I have to admit, I never thought of that scenario. I love your great imagination. Who knows, maybe that's exactly what happened. Thanks for the fun comment, Sean!
Dang!
Thanks for watching!😊
Just a thought, if someone wanted wood for a fire, those mine track ties would work nicely.
It's never a good practice to remove anything from the old mines. They are protected against taking anything by law. I'm sure a resourceful person could find firewood elsewhere. Thanks for bringing up the subject. 👍
@@TomandJulieMineExploring Very true, but if your setting fire to a mine, I don't think they are concerned about Laws
@@DesertRunner9875 Anyone who sets fire to a mine is an arsonist, and should be arrested, and then put in jail.
Total guess on my part but seeing how the railroad ties were gone and the big fire inside and yet the railroad ties are still on the pile outside makes me think somebody took all them tires and set them on fire and they're on purpose or something or something but that's a lot of work just to get something to burn
I really don't know what motivates people to make the effort to burn mine timbers. Like you said, it's a lot of work. Thanks, Mike!👍😁
Hi Tom and Julie have you ever had any animals come after you?
We have not have any animals come after us. The rats and bats are usually pretty active in the mines, but they don't really bother you. Thanks for the comment, Paul!👌😄
I haven't heard from you guys in awhile. Is Julie ok?
Hi, Jason. We've been putting out a video every Friday for months. Julie is doing pretty good with some lingering side effects from her radiation treatments. Thanks for asking.
The burning is usually done to drive bats out of mine for either working or exploration.
That is true, and we have seen that several times. In this mine the timbering was burned which no one would purposely do. In mines that large bat colonies have been in you will see the guano still there after the bats were driven out. Thanks for your input, Jim!
BY THE SIZE OF THOSE TIMBERS THAT WERE NOT BURNED YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE SMOKE CAME FROM IN THE BURNING OF THE TIMBERS THAT'S WHERE THE SAME SIZE
Yes, the timbers were pretty good sized and it's hard to tell how many were originally there that were burned. Thanks for the comment, David!
Need that drone for surveillance
More fun to look around on foot for us.
hmm well thats my last name too Fields what did Mrs .Fields do in 1921 ?
That's interesting. I'll see if I can see more of that name in the paper if I zoom in on a couple of my photos. Thanks, Roy!
The fire can heat the rock's And bring it Down
That is a possibility depending on how hot it got. Thanks for the comment, Mike!👍😊
Maybe several... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smudge_pot used to smoke bats out of the mine, could leave a black residue on surfaces.
Ys, that's one thing that has been used to keep bats out of mines. Most times what we have seen is just a small wood fire built on the ground in the middle of an adit. Not the case in this mine. Major support timbers were set on fire either accidentally or on purpose. Thanks for your input!
Damn Vandal's Destroying HISTORY 😢 No body ever told them not to ?
Yes, this fire looks to be arson. I don't understand it.😬
I don't think what your seeing is really the results of a fire...
I'd love to hear what you think we're seeing, as far as the blackened drifts are concerned, if it's not soot from fire smoke. Thanks for the comment, Scott!
Probably for canary’s
Maybe in a coal mine. In the desert mines I hink they used if for cooling. They would cover the box with wet burlap and use evaporative cooling. Thanks for your input, Rich!
Absolutely love your videos.
Maybe the ties were pulled to start the fire.
I suppose that could be. The only evidence I saw of any burned things were the obvious timbers. Thanks for your input, Bruce!
I bet all the rail ties were all piled up in one spot to be removed,and that was burned by some Idiot...
That could be. I've never seen the ties removed and the rails left behind until this mine. We didn't see a pile of burned ties, but, there was a large slide in that area that could have covered it up. It seemed like there might have been more timbers in that stope that got burned. Thanks, Robert!
Perhaps if there was a lot of that white stuff suspended ion the air and someone lit a match. End of mine.
@richradley2706 Hi Rich. I guess that would be possible. Thete are people who like to light fires, too. Thanks for commenting!👍
Okay now i'm angry, i was watching a video by TVR and started thinking, hmm i haven't seen a video by Tom and Julie in a lil while, hope they're okay, so i came to check and i've missed ALLOT of videos thanks to youtube unsubbing me from the channel without asking me, 😡😡😡
Well that stinks. I've had the feeling that something funny has been going on with my subs for the last few weeks. Thanks for thinking of us and hopefully re-subscribing.
@@TomandJulieMineExploring Re-subbing, oh yes, i sent off a nice little email to youtube as well, not like they're gonna respond but that's not okay, and you guys are great, see ya in the next one 💖🤍💙
@@TheDisabledGamersChannel Thank you. I am looking into it as well. As you indicated getting through to support is not easy.
@@TheDisabledGamersChannel I sent a screenshot of your comment to YT support. I'll let you know what I hear from them. They are usually pretty good at helping creators.
ugly mine is right but outside was beautiful
Exactly, Jerry. That is one ugly mine in a beautiful desert area. Thanks for the comment!