Exploring the Abandoned Big Horn Mine

goal the most viable element in the world the desire to grasp gold and hold onto its riches once led to a boom around the world suppose this could be a giant gold nugget not that just the big rock darn oh hi I'm drew and that's happening I'm January 24 1848 gold was discovered in California from there the gold rush began the dubbed 49ers used every method they could think of to find the gold from the bare hands to pans in the river to building giant mines some struck it rich and some lost it all and the mines were abandoned as quickly as overnight today we're outside Wrightwood California to explore what could be the king of all mines in Southern California it's the Bighorn mine coming up on yet I ever tell you one of my biggest fears is being trapped in a small space oh you mean like a mine yeah well one of my biggest fears is having to wear wet socks for hours great so now we're heading to an abandoned mine with small spaces and stagnant water we'll probably get our socks wet doesn't deal with this well anyways here's how you get there from the 210 in the Flintridge profiting area take the two north don't forget to pick up a $5 parking pass at the Clear Creek Information Center on the way the trailhead is about an hour and a half drive to the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains to the Vincent Gulch divide or you can approach from the right Woodside during the winter when the two is closed so we parked here at the Vincent gap parking lot as you can see it's a popular destination for hikers that's because there's a number of trails that converge right here including the Pacific Crest Trail I believe but the trail we want to take right here beyond this road closed barricade you brought your gold-mining pan right of course got it right here in my pants trails about two miles there two miles back about five hundred feet elevation gain so shouldn't be too difficult the Bighorn mine was created by Charles Tom Vincent he was a recluse and serious mountain man who happened to be hunting bighorn sheep on the day he found the area that was a gold-bearing quartz fame in 1902 Vincent sold the mine to Lowell and California mining company about four years later the production of the mines seemed to run dry and it was left in the shadows of the broken promises of riches [Music] one of the nice things about this trail compared to some of the other trails that we've been to the nice sign here saying big whore mine two miles that way you can't get lost must be the right way then come on we're already like a mile in no it's only been about 50 feet sorry so what we've seen from pictures and videos online from fellow explorers is the outside of the minds should still be intact the inside however might be barred off we don't even know we can get in yet there it is [Music] they are from inside there is super cold yeah you're just in the Sun and I was like the artist of winter this is so cool you can see so far back in here is all going to be a different way now [Music] cause also standing that's crazy the Bighorn mine look at that up there where it's all collapsed yeah I could probably happen any second to where we're standing - yeah the rest of us could just collapse what of you well there has to be a way into the mine is that it right there be just I'm not going to man oh I think that's it you see that up there oh I bet I bet they brought all the gold out there and they ran it down some kind of conveyor belt down to whatever this place is we would have to climb this unless there's some other way around call me up here oh boy I don't know if we should go up there alright I'll have to find the entrance I'm going without shoes [Music] oh man we got to climb up that thing sniff is the entrance and yes alrighty that's how I just do one of the times gonna be too much weight oh right good call wait a minute you call me fat oh my god and got me open collapses you get me tumbling down the hill easy boy oh my gosh man so cool so I guess I drew the short straw of course you did here rumbling run right oh boy times like these I wish I didn't have equipment okay alright lady Hugh turn oh shut up shut up did that in like two seconds and easy I hate you so much so this place is supposed to be profitable for about a decade and then after that I heard it stopped producing goals and then just it's abandoned we're to see these tracks I think that cars wants friends were here yeah mine carts I think this was just put in after a cave-in or something the body is getting smaller and smaller oh god please no earthquakes today I know he can move mountains I just hope he doesn't do it today oh this is you know where this goes no but I bet this flows out to that to those round pipes where we were looking in earlier that could be doing yeah upon my jacket look quick air-conditioned inside the mine yeah I guess any time of year God made this the Lord's need to keep it standing today okay then I can't get through oh look at this how many years ago you suppose this happened I'm gonna say in five minutes ago yeah most likely it was probably that sound that we heard when we were outside the mine all this was supposed to be built I think in 1895 sounds right people who have mapped it out that it's twelve hundred feet in length and three hundred feet deep which means this isn't supposed to be the only level numerous people have tried to map these tunnels but with all the cave-ins and everything it keeps changing inevitably it'll be different each time we come oh man look up here this goes up like hundreds of feet could you leave that it's stray light ah right not in this water right in the eye oh no Jerry yeah just come around me I fought it off good good old-fashioned cave water this place produced a lot of gold in its time how much gold did it produce I think it was like three thousand seven hundred and one ounces okay oh yeah we're starting to get all kinds of different turns and stuff look at this - it's nothing if not extensive what is this art that's that's natural cave art ah they were smart about beer oh man this is like a real mine here what did you think it was see any gold yeah I kind of doubt there's going to be gold just lying around oh man I really don't want to fall in there that's like a hundred feet down right there so I kind of want to see what's over here oh god everything's so wet and slippery oh my god this is good all right this is stupid what we're doing the cave and happened man it just goes on and on but there's that 300 feet deep part that you're talking about a lot of this wood is so old it's like really soggy and I don't want to touch it too much nice and easy under if this is the constant temperature probably is it's probably like a 60 65 degrees all year round I bet I'm wondering even if it's cold outside it's not going to matter in here yeah because the sunlight never reaches in here haven't seen any bats or anything oh don't drink this cloth there's something I haven't seen this before look at that supports 100 years old holding this rock up it doesn't make me feel super comfortable [Music] like a Ghostbuster okay you know you kind of look like one with all that gear don't let me fall okay a couple of planks coming up behind you that's a buck oh shoot hmm ha ha wonder what this was used for what you seen anything up there planks graffiti which means there's a way to get out there be another level we don't know about yeah supply or the bats lid yeah I caved in a long time ago and now only the bats can access it how did you see this it's like a chain-link fence if somebody put up this'll solve alters she'll be fed us yeah alright I'm going to stop standing under it I think we're back to the main drag here Oh yep so you saw that yeah really go okay no no no no you see him I was over your right shoulder they still sitting that is I was looking right into his face oh I do if you see him he's cute tiny not cute I was a lot bigger than I thought it would be yeah me too hiya Nick we saw we probably didn't see half of it we an see the gold yeah that was the big part that we missed where's food don't say that we haven't made it to the end yet could cave in about five feet out yeah right at the entrance great the Bighorn mind wants valuable for its gold has now become a valuable monument to explorers and hikers I'll say listen we don't recommend that you breach these bars and actually enter the mine without the proper gear and protection but if you must please let somebody back home know where you are and when you'll be back for bonus content from today's episode check out our website www.visaplace.com [Music] it wouldn't be too smart to split up [Music]

Channel: Oddity Odysseys

Views: 52,395

Rating: 4.9318571 out of 5

Keywords: gold mine, underground tunnels, san gabriel mountains, charles tom vincent, vincent gultch, wrightwood, california, urban, exploration, unusual, odd, bizarre, hiking, spelunking, caving, caves, mines, gold rush, pretty girl, drone shot, atlas obscura, big horn mine, abandoned gold mine, drone shots, California history, abandoned, history, gold nugget, go pro, gold rush era, 49ers, mining, famous gold mines, gold, phantom drone, drone

Id: h12CCvuQufI

Length: 14min 28sec (868 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 17 2017