Would you walk into a mine shaft?

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

1 Dec 20

I wasn't worried that it would suddenly collapse on us or anything.

2 people like this

CarolDM

@CarolDM (203454)

• Nashville, Tennessee

2 Dec 20

@TheHorse Being adventurous is fun.

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

@CarolDM It really is. And I like learning new things.

1 person likes this

Thelma

@thelme55 (76477)

• Germany

1 Dec 20

Yes, it is a cool photo. I think I would go inside out of curiosity but with other people.

2 people like this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

1 Dec 20

There was a family outside, waiting to come in. So had the shaft trapped us inside, they would have called for help.

2 people like this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

1 Dec 20

@thelme55 I wasn't THAT concerned, but I did take note of that fact.

2 people like this

Thelma

@thelme55 (76477)

• Germany

1 Dec 20

@TheHorse That is good that there are some people outside just in case of an emergency.

2 people like this

BarBaraPrz

@BarBaraPrz (45437)

• St. Catharines, Ontario

1 Dec 20

Yes, it is kind of a cool photo. It is also sort of a spooky one, too.

2 people like this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

1 Dec 20

I like it because it's different from any other photo I've ever seen. It looks like there's electricity in the shaft. But it's really just his flash reflecting off of the rocks, my body, and my Gatorade bottle.

2 people like this

Jabo

@jaboUK (64362)

• United Kingdom

2 Dec 20

Yes, good pic. I would find going into a mine shaft interesting.

2 people like this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

I felt safe in there. But I bumped my head a few times.

2 people like this

Marie

@Tampa_girl7 (48890)

• United States

1 Dec 20

It is very cool.

I’ve been in a salt mine in Germany and a coal mine in West Virginia.

2 people like this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

Were the caverns big? Or small like this one? Many of the Black Diamond Mines caverns are quite wide and tall.

1 person likes this

Marie

@Tampa_girl7 (48890)

• United States

4 Dec 20

@TheHorse they were very large.

Judy Evans

@JudyEv (325345)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Dec 20

That's a great photo. I love these old shafts. That is really cool. I'm very envious.

2 people like this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

I don't find the Bay Area that pretty overall. But I'm glad there's nice scenery and good hiking nearby.

1 person likes this

msdivkar

@msdivkar (23359)

• India

2 Dec 20

Your expedition is praise worthy. We don't have coalmines nearby and even if they had been, I don't think I would have hiked into one.

1 person likes this

msdivkar

@msdivkar (23359)

• India

3 Dec 20

@TheHorse That is because I don't know anything about it. May be it may decide to cave in at some stage. Heard of lot of coalmine accidents.

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

How come? I think it's actually pretty safe.

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

3 Dec 20

@msdivkar They're generally "deeper" in the mine. But I understand.

1 person likes this

AmberLynn

@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)

• United States

1 Dec 20

That is a kind of cool photo, and yes I would. I've watched videos of this guy on youtube who does metal detecting around old properties. He's gone into the river and old mine shafts too. He's squeezed through some pretty narrow spaces.

2 people like this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

1 Dec 20

I'm OK with narrow spaces. As long as I know how to get out. Has the video guy gotten rich yet?

1 person likes this

Greg

@xander6464 (40826)

• Wapello, Iowa

1 Dec 20

That's all I've been doing for the last two days. Exploring abandoned mines in California, because all those Trump votes have to be somewhere!

1 person likes this

Greg

@xander6464 (40826)

• Wapello, Iowa

2 Dec 20

@TheHorse I was hoping for Iowa, too. But I was hoping even more for Texas.

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

@xander6464 Do you have ties with Texas? I was born in Illinois, but spent my first year in Austin.

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

1 Dec 20

I knew Montana would go for Trump. I was hoping Iowa (where I lived for seven years of my life) would go for the old guy.

1 person likes this

@DaddyEvil (137145)

• United States

3 Dec 20

Yes, the photo looks interesting... although, I probably wouldn't have taken one showing some dude walking out of the mineshaft. *shrug* And no, I wouldn't go into an abandoned mineshaft. I have a little trouble going into the cave on my family's land. (The entrance is small enough that it worries me. I'm just glad it opens up once past the entrance.)

1 person likes this

@DaddyEvil (137145)

• United States

3 Dec 20

@TheHorse I know too much law to trust lawyers. Where is the lawyer in this?

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

3 Dec 20

You don't trust lawyers? I think it's a way cool picture.

1 person likes this

Fleur

@Fleura (29097)

• United Kingdom

1 Dec 20

That's a really cool picture! I'm not sure that I would hike into an empty abandoned mine-shaft, in case it was unstable. Having said that, I did used to go caving years ago. But then those are a bit different, you kind of figure that if it's been there for thousands of years already, the chances of it collapsing just when I happened to be there are pretty small.

1 person likes this

Fleur

@Fleura (29097)

• United Kingdom

1 Dec 20

@TheHorse It looks pretty safe in the picture. Not like those tunnels shored up with rotten beams that are all leaning higgledy-piggledy.

2 people like this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

1 Dec 20

That's sort of the way I think. In this case it's "If this were unstable, the Park would have closed it years ago."

2 people like this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

1 Dec 20

@Fleura Exactly. There are a couple of shafts I've hiked into in Montana. They were all rock, with no rotting beams.

2 people like this

Shiva

@Shiva49 (26192)

• Singapore

2 Dec 20

I visited tunnels in Vietnam, underground trenches but I didn't go into them. I really wonder how the war guerillas were hiding inside them as conditions were indeed tough to endure.

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

I suppose they grew used to it.

1 person likes this

Shiva

@Shiva49 (26192)

• Singapore

3 Dec 20

@TheHorse Anything goes in war. I heard dogs were used to sniff out the presence of humans and poisonous gas was pumped in to kill them.

Felicia Kane

@DesirousDreamer (34783)

• Peoria, Arizona

1 Dec 20

Such a cool photo! I have explored a mine shaft before when camping and they are so cool. we even got to see some stalactites, they were tiny, but still so neat.

2 people like this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

1 Dec 20

That would be fun to see. I'll have to research how they are formed. If they are made of sandstone, they could be easily destroyed.

1 person likes this

Scott Andersen

@DocAndersen (54413)

• United States

1 Dec 20

i used to go caving all the time - love being underground

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

1 Dec 20

I think I could enjoy it. But anything deeper than a 100 foot mine shaft (unless it's lit) would be new territory for me.

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

@DocAndersen I think that's a good idea. We had people outside the mine while we were inside.

1 person likes this

Scott Andersen

@DocAndersen (54413)

• United States

2 Dec 20

@TheHorse growing up in Indiana we were always exploring caves. A few times we realized we shouldn't be where we were. Luckily we always told someone what cave we were entering.

1 person likes this

Anna

@LadyDuck (457412)

• Switzerland

2 Dec 20

I walked into a mine shaft in Nevada and I am not going to do this experience again.

1 person likes this

Anna

@LadyDuck (457412)

• Switzerland

3 Dec 20

@TheHorse Chollar mines in Virginia City (Nevada) were ore mines. They are abandoned, but it is possible to visit. My husabnd and I went inside with a guide, I am only 5 feet 2 and I was the only one who did not need to bend... you go down, there is water on the floor, only the torch of your guide to bring you down and down... when you are where people used to dig, the guide turns off the torch to make you experience "total darkness".... well I did NOT appreciate, not at all, I almost panicked.

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

Tell me why! Abandoned mine shafts CAN be dangerous.

1 person likes this

Eva James

@wolfgirl569 (94778)

• Marion, Ohio

2 Dec 20

Great photo. Not sure I would go in.

1 person likes this

Eva James

@wolfgirl569 (94778)

• Marion, Ohio

3 Dec 20

@TheHorse Lighting and how well braced up it is.

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

Heh. What would it depend on?

1 person likes this

George B Vieto

@Deepizzaguy (94295)

• Lake Charles, Louisiana

1 Dec 20

I would walk into a mine shaft if it was safe to do so.

1 person likes this

George B Vieto

@Deepizzaguy (94295)

• Lake Charles, Louisiana

2 Dec 20

@TheHorse Thank you for sharing the information with me.

1 person likes this

Angie

@andriaperry (116860)

• Anniston, Alabama

2 Dec 20

Yes it is and yes I would.

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

It was fun.

LindaOH

@LindaOHio (155562)

• United States

2 Dec 20

That's a very cool photo. I have been in both a coal mine and a salt mine. My husband and I both worked at Morton Salt (he was in the mine; I was in the office); and I have been down in the mine several times -- I did the company newsletter and would go down to take pictures.

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (205263)

• Walnut Creek, California

2 Dec 20

Do you have any pictures? I'd be interested in seeing some!

1 person likes this

LindaOH

@LindaOHio (155562)

• United States

3 Dec 20

@TheHorse Yes. I have quite a few. Some time I will have to find them out and write something about them.

Jim Bauer

@porwest (78761)

• United States

1 Dec 20

I don't know. I guess if I was assured it was deemed safe I might. I suppose if some are closed, it means SOMEONE is at least monitoring the shaft for safety... So it might be a cool thing to do.

1 person likes this