Its interesting to me how many times I passed by this rock formation and how it never crossed me this would be a mine. That first day, Pat and I wanted to dig as far back as possible. Just to see if it goes far back. After about 10 minutes, we hit an air pocket and our shovel went back about 3 feet. It was tunnel #5!!!
We schedule an actual digging day one week later with Will Coso.
I came to the mine late that day but found Pat and Will have dug down and made the tunnel a crouching height.
6 months later, the man, the myth, the legend, Dima Kogan assists me in the excavation. We reach a well sized room that appears to not lead anywhere which was a bummer but in two days, we made the tunnel about 15 feet deeper.
Dima and I became dissapointed that after 15 feet of digging, the room we found didn't lead anywhere. I looked at the room one more time and found some roots covered in dust and webs in the back of the room. I broke open a hole to see through and as I shined my light through, I found the tunnel continue farther than my eyes could see! This discovery was huge but we still had a lot to dig.
Day 5 of digging. Dima, Matthew, and Eli Roberts work together to move dirt in an efficient way with a sled. We notice a lot of loose rock in the room and decide it will be dangerous to continue. I took some long exposures of the tunnel through the hole and noticed that the mine turns to the right after about 50 feet or so. We put a pause on the excavation of tunnel #5 as we figure out a better and more safer way to go about this. We don't recommend anyone excavates mines without some helmets, buddies, and some self control. But this mine couldn't have been found without the help of Patrick Jackson, Dima Kogan, Will Coso, and Eli Roberts.
I will make a second post about the new exploratory tunnel we accidentally found above the trail!
