Exploring Cerro Gordo Bellshaw Mine The Ghost Town Water Supply

[Music] fear is caused by ignorance how can you pass judgment on something you know nothing about once you've experienced something you can say okay I didn't like that or it was gray when can we do it again if you see someone having a ball doing something you don't want to do that's a sure sign you're probably afraid of doing it chances are you're on the dial of your fear most of us are that way we're all in the same boat I found by experience that fear of the unknown is the greatest fear most of us ever faced Steve bisciotti 1994 its natural right now you should get me somewhere that coffee Norman that were professional ghosts tires and we're here to look for some swinging chains and a gun and there's a mine tunnel up on the hill and we're gonna crawl into the mine tile look for the ghost and it's a 4,000 foot tunnel and it connects to the ocean when this is Kevin from Mojave underground and that's Travis and the elevation is so high that we've all been puking because were like 35,000 feet and the mind goes down 40,000 feet to the ocean and will be below Death Valley or gonna make it to the 40,000 foot level where there was a ghost looks like you had granola for breakfast [Music] all right let's go almost like a pull a little bit further this way just pull that down all right well we could try a good thing we got the blood supply up here in case someone Falls [Applause] okay okay the ultimate tool for mastering fear I have seen dramatic changes take place in the lives of people after they've learned to fire walk fire walking is a dramatic encounter of fear the definition of fire walking hits walking barefoot over hot coals measuring about 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit raked out onto a pad of glowing embers all your life you believe that coming into contact with red-hot coals will burn you one night you decide that you're going to walk on hot coals so you do it you don't burn your feet that experience can begin to short-circuit your belief system time check zero eight fifty one now go ahead on rappel the life of this world so today's June 10th we're at Sur Bordeaux this mind goes down 900 feet straight down to a drift and then down another 200 feet to an 1,100 feet so nobody has been in this mine that's alive all the way down to the bottom so nobody's been to the 900 we have no clue what we're gonna find and we're gonna give it a shot you want to talk about how this is just a straight ladder with yes sir so this particular mineshaft it's it's really one compartment there's a couple beams here that separate the manway where the ladder is to the hoistway where the this hoist goes but once you get past this point it's all open it's one big hole straight down there's no more platforms there's no braces if you go one step you might as well have gone 900 so this is a pretty dangerous shaft to descend because there aren't platforms to say stop rocks that could fall gear from falling this is one hole straight down 900 feet all right boxes heading down Bell sha shaft at Cerro Gordo have anything to say boxy roji tweet border days Iowa zebra all right good luck see at the 450 boxy yeah as you swing down I can go grab what you want so tell us about your experience first of all ordered seat what do you think all right 400 level go check out the 400 level how far did you go good airflow blowing at me so to the right that that gets really amazing and keeps going yeah see this rotten timber yep this place was all rotten and throw it away I'll give you the phone okay there's a there's a winch up here no go I can break it up I don't know if I can get down there yeah it's definitely a hand-cranked Lynch you know check out the other direction all right we got another eggs sign pointing into that I don't know once you get out of the main shaft the timber is all garbage so here's an example of what water can do to Timbers over time looks like some good Timbers right they can think have a little bit of water in them though a lot of time this is what happens right into it big but the strength of toothpicks still good airflow blowing at us this is one of those low-budget 1800s mines where as you get down towards the end of the drift the ceiling gets smaller and smaller that's a face right there right yeah that's the face let's go this way jeez what a Oh so this is uh this is never Bhasin never-before-seen footage not that you're seeing anything special but that's a face - right there never-before-seen footage here's something a little interesting calcio genuine volcanic ash for barbecue really listen to that bass I love my new volcanic ash volcanic ash makes my ribeye steak taste like propane so this is the direction that says exit and I don't know about this not real interested check out this old miners cup very classy very classy it's probably from the 1800s anyway exit they're pointing back towards the main drift we came in and we got a split here goes two different directions now let's go this way interesting so this must be the man way to the next level down maybe it was the manway what that was but it looks like it failed I bet this said water running out of it at one time and again total failure all right danger area I'm sure that is MSHA and OSHA proved so this is like an old powder magazine slash carbide and I'm not going to walk too deep in here but you can see it looks like it's built some carbide it's so humid in here I'm sure it's off gassed all of its acetylene already [Music] Wow old-school hundred-watt GE and this one's a different there's someone's different nothing on the top all right so this is a 400 we're on the 400 and there's a hand crank winch here and this was obviously a winds that went down here along these maybe they were using these two pipes as rail is that what we're thinking yeah but we think under this collapse as a whole that goes down [Music] so an over quick overview of this level a lot of collapse every drift I every direction ends pretty much in a collapse except one where I hit the face Stolp rotten wood there's rotten wood below all the Stopes very few artifacts no big equipment a few signs very little to write home about so far it's around the 400 level we found a hand-cranked hoist just about 20 feet up here to show a picture of and this area used to have wood a frame but over the years it's run it away completely gone and it's all fallen right here and this is where the hole is it since then covered up so you're gonna stay away from this area yeah this is eroded away maybe could demonstrate how what good shape that wood is in just yeah this is the break this wraparound band this is an emergency break us we're walking it off so it doesn't come out yeah it could be yeah so this goes back yeah this is the problem oh it doesn't go it is that you need to ask the worst technician Joshua Hindi company news early so we're still at the 400 level we found this man way we can't really tell how far it goes but we're belaying two people down right now it's 150 feet to the next level which is the 550 level and everything seems to be clear and great ladders and so they lay on each other down and we're gonna take the shaft down to the 550 and meet them there oh nice all right we're in a man way here comes Travis and the man way continues down we got basically 150 feet to the next level so I like man ways a lot more than I do shafts it's a personal preference 100% cribbed all right are we rolling came down right here and what a freaking amusement park [Applause] yeah I am but I think we might be boxed in behind collapses but come on down [Applause] copy that you want to hang there for a few minutes yeah the ladder was partially sketchy but yeah here's where we came down look at that old hemp rope and through this whole wheelbarrow here this is something mice haven't set on for in a hundred years so anyway there's a bunch of stuff stored here who knows what kind of artifacts you could find in that if you wanted to dig through it that's a face free confuse cuz you're shoot from the sublevel above us and I guess what I should do is follow this pipe this pipe would head back towards the main shaft and or core samples he's see how the pipe heads right into the collapse bomber so that hits back towards the main shaft and that's caved right there so danger area the only hope as if this was to loop back around and yeah that is a danger area so under if this we got some airflow here so this is that collapse just plugged with I could get through that and that does look like that clap let me get through that alright look at that that's collapsed I believe that I'm blocked off from the main shaft it is wet and rotten down here I know there's water dripping in keeps going alright continuing on the 550 level the way this snakes around in here there's some gobbing some fill but I don't think I'm yeah this is it everything runs into a collapse so I'm on the backside of I'm on the backside of the the collapse from the shaft so I guess I'm gonna be the only one to ever document this that's for sure and it's interesting how there are parts of this that are wet and parts of it that are dry look at that failing Timbers so now I got to figure out how the hell [Music] [Music] crawl back through this no I'm good I'll go right up that ladder copy that let me finish this video and then I'll be right over there to untie the knot all right 550 level no way - no way to get to this level from the shaft the actual shaft station anymore the shaft station would be that direction and also this loops around here and would go back to the shaft station and every way you go it's just collapsed I mean right right here there's like a column of bad ground between me and the actual shaft so yeah I came down the man way on the back side of the collapse so I'm I'm the only one to see this in probably a hundred years and I doubt anyone will ever see this again this is deep farmer brothers coffee Hills brothers coffee the hand just is disintegrating in my can is disintegrating in my hand as I touch it anyway here's a pair of shoes I know would you say American rubber company Maine you know in it all right we're headed down the 550 and here's the eggs at which I came down this is from the shaft station side and we're headed towards the collapse the wet area that came down on the backside of alright well it kind of looks like it's we're getting towards a this is the wet area see this is what I mean see how it's dripping right so yes I was on the other side of that right there [Music] so as he gets off the phone maybe we can hear the dripping in here did you hear the dripping over here you didn't hear it dripping yeah so I was on the backside of this right here I could hear something breaking through but I thought it was Travis there's another shovel head so did you follow through here yeah it's just collapse after collapse after collapse this is in bad shape too wet it's dripping the need oil can this is a 550 shaft stationed and snore Shawn McNair girls are lame I'm tired yes all right I mean I'm fine you're going yeah that kind of rack is easier to drop bars on tonight yeah Hyderabad yeah because you can't pull the rope out right right well yeah only you end up with like two bars so we'll pop off so you end up with like just two bars at that point yeah all right ego tripping is an act or course of action that enhances and satisfies one's ego the ego is closely related to fear you use what you experience when you're afraid of burning yourself that's a confession that your fire walking on your own steam walking myself will you take him on 100% responsibility for the results of your fire walk it's useful to have a healthy respect for the ego ego is like the red light on the dashboard of your car we're into the brakes are on obviously you don't want to move the car until you take the emergency brakes off you also don't want to step into the fire until your egos in check when your mind is focused on walking on fire it's best to let go of an egocentric attitude you can only pay 100% attention to one thing at a time a little bit to ego or into a focus Hey welcome to the 700 yeah 700 feet straight down oh it's a Slusher ramp that's a Slusher ramp right there they rolled the bucket under that and then they push your up on top of it interesting odd Norman just blew it dude 700 level so this is the 700 and this is where the water supply so that's a no-go through there huh that's Travis hanging out in the slush sir ramp so let's go Kevin so there's a pump here that the town has used for water for a number of years it hasn't stopped working we're the first ones down here in left 15 years to see why it's not work could be out of water the pump could be bad for the first place lights on this at least 15 years so I'll look at this here's here's the old original pump right here reciprocating pump three cylinder reciprocating pump and yeah so where's the water coming from that's a question okay well we this thing is pretty funny it was this like five horsepower motor you're like five horsepower like actually meant something so it's uh wow you got lucky on that one John it's a five horsepower 220 volt that one there is not close to five horsepower well on those old murders or rates II may be rated very concerned he liked that way more torque than like a letter you might how so the water line is going this direction and there is water oh I bet there's a pusher here I'll push your pump oh you mean like a like a pre pumper and after all this year these years it doesn't come any higher than this it just stays there I was gonna do that I would probably radio locate it that's how you did you'd regulate okay well there you go pictures I cannot you know try some out delicious water anybody who's first tune will walk that ramp of death yeah except you realize they're gonna have a really shitty time if you fall on that yeah it's not that deep but its manufacture get me out find out waters probably not very well you're gonna be so much the next five hours okay here yeah the bottom of the shaft is 900 level for the cool sign out here the Bell sign some more carabiners there I'll add that to my pile of other pieces of gear a little bit of rotted wood and some collapse just going that way and a sign marking the way out okay so I just got down to the bottom of the 900 foot level went down one of the drifts just split into three that's the end of one of them it's just dead ends down there so here we are coming back down now I'm coming up to that three-way intersection some more mind goofy mine has more graffiti in it then I think I've ever seen pretty cool stuff that's a four-way intersection somewhere that's back to the main shaft oops the water dripping on my head right now so we have water down here looks like a bunch of rusty track everything's very very corroded not much down here a lot of rod of timbers and everything that's metal is rusted everything that is wood is practically powder here we have a collapse into that drift so let's go back I'll shut off the video until we get back to that three-way intersection okay back at the 4-way intersection that's the one with the track some more minecraft video right there okay so now we're gonna go this way these cuddles are pretty wet a lot of moisture Griffin from the ceiling the track is very rested this one looks like just hitting dryers or how things just dry it out a little bit different geology in here some collapse we're back into wet part of the mind once again throw nades you know some collapse okay and back at the 4-way intersection that little collapse I was looking at that dead ended with more collapse right around the corner so I'm going back down the drift back to the bottom of the shaft the quite a bit of old miners graffiti on this wall right here and then coming up to so here we are now we're just getting into extent to the mouth ain't on the walls here of dates 1931 I've seen from the 20s a lot of drawings to 1929 a lot of names there's a 1889 we pick a Chinese symbol or something like that and then we back out here in the main shop station here bad booth rotted all the timbers are pretty much just crushed if you step on them they just crushing the powder and there's the station going up [Music] all right so this is all stuff that's falling down this shaft has no fire Wow all right all right so let me give it a break ball rack out so we don't don't take your mask off dude um I really like all right I need one of those perfect huh see ya survival Vinny yeah all right si can use that stays are gonna use that before you hashed out a backpack whit oh that's like the other half of felt good for a part that's it yeah beanie sweet some prusik cord and more mold taxi you might wanna ask some of those hand warmers some power bars now that would have eaten that one might not be good where's the radio we're gonna learn more something we didn't want to about this guy probably some gravel now homeboy is pretty into the Power Bars with me oh there's a little I went to that Camelback that I recovered like it 800 oh yeah yeah HEC yeah an old school of Shannara TTC shanaar TTC yeah he's a dude was he connected vertical here with non-locking I know sounds only oceanography in there [Music] yeah that's right and then one smashed body in the radio hey all right oh wow where'd you return yeah that's it actually no mic retraction couldn't find it and no wasn't it silver flashlight well that fleshlight we found it five-fifty was that that's Roberts okay so we're gonna bring that back to a response a it's the work - yeah all right we're gonna we're gonna crack open a Crystal Pepsi here I got a few of these left we do and now it won't be centered so see that's her that's how we know it's not old is its first no no no what this is that's right it's like SEMA they brought it back cheers guys could be a part of this trip that's amazing you remember that flavor yeah it's like Diet Pepsi even though it's good yeah there you go all right so Norman is Norman erase app are you yeah why don't just use it okay sorry so this is a 700 level we're done here hello and I'm gonna light it up over here basically there's cave-ins these are big levels but they're just caved everywhere as you can see so what was the 900 like Travis I think I got that already but rotten so this is a 400 level right here ah straight vertical going up 700 feet straight vertical have you ever climbed a 700 foot vertical ladder so we're getting off taking breaks and yeah walking across the ledge with 500 feet below you it's a pretty thought alright so I'm at the 200 level here and you can see it's walled off you can see the pipes going through it there's the air line there's Travis and they replace the section of right here they replaced the section of the galvanized water line and here's the section right here well maybe not that's what was keyed in but they replaced it because it was teed into the 200 so walled off maybe air flow who knows could probably get through it right there if you were dingo crank delicious all right here's the 86 level Travis crawling the wall so 86 minus 900 is what I don't have service I can't ask my damn phone too far to fall too far to fall so how do you like just hang in there yeah yeah just there you go light it up yeah yeah hold on I gotta get a picture that that is sexy 9:17 I don't know what time we went in but I'd say that's just about 12 hours so 13 hours overall not much of the mines accessible a lot of collapse a lot of bad ground a lot of rotten timber I would say we saw 15 to 20 percent of the total drift if that it's an old mine old mine and you know the standards weren't there and this is old it's rotten it's wet anyway you're lifting a thousand feet of rope here Kevin's packing it into the bag it's a video if you don't mind maybe that's explaining what you're doing as you as you do it first of all I put a brake lock on here for Legion if someone broke into here started fooling with this thing although they wouldn't be able to go too far with it put a brake lock you don't want to have a problem Lisa you have a brake lock okay power on here we go does Bob have trouble hearing when this noisy what did they convert this to hydraulic when Jody got it about 1988-89 okay yeah over there compared to that big electric one next to it yeah slight difference I love the timer on here yeah yeah so how did so that cart would have to be darn near perfect with the level for them to get the ore cars loaded yeah how would they how would they find tune it that's a good question because there is usually a mark on the drum well there see that see that pointer right there oh so that's for the fine tuning yeah pointer is right and there's usually a mark okay so we can find yeah that's what they use the dial the ballpark it in yeah and then that bow there okay yeah in gorilla tech ten ingersoll-rand right now token equipment was so badass it had its own like formal title I like the belt tensioner yeah it's just insane look at that that thing right there know that yeah the thing right that roller right there oh that's just a big rowdy weight isn't it yep it's a compressor for the mine [Music] dual-stage big one pumps into the small one there's a hoist which has been converted to hydraulic there's the original motor over there too bad they just took that and tossed it to the side there's a clock this is the pointer to line it up accurately it's a break over here this is the original resistor packs speed control big compressor right turns pretty slow the front of this building was not here it was all rotted out half the roof was gone in one winner I came up to read the meter for Edison because we're on a pretty good report so I see the track going in a couple dozen feet and I go that's a mountain lion the tracks are going that way there's no charts coming out Oh careful is that good because I've got coyote on my back porch Bobcats on their back porch red tail Fox great box I've had a badger on the front porch I caught a skunk in the hotel Wow and you have a coyote currently coming up to your this is a boiler because this whole thing used to be steam-powered and the steam motor used to be right there on that slab so yeah this was all steam-powered big boiler nice placement it was new look at the grease up there on the on the wood that it had a nice ceiling it's a beautiful hoist house mind really rich mine yeah you have to release it pressure down so there's ice the bungee cord it was a bungee cord to lock this in the opposition yes they're a bunch of queer I see that it's black oh they're up this down and down this up they moved when they built

Channel: Mine Explorers

Views: 82,417

Rating: 4.6446056 out of 5

Keywords: cerro gordo, abandoned mine, mine exploring, cerro grodo mine, california ghost town, ghost town for sale

Id: 1_gFYPUqXk8

Length: 61min 19sec (3679 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 29 2018