Discovering The Secrets Behind The Soaring Eagle Mine's Escape Route

discovered in 1880 and worked off and on until 1982 the soaring eagle mind provided miners old and new a wealth of gold silver lead and ferrite modern miners from the early 1980s erected a mill and gravity separation equipment which utilized water from a nearby spring and collected into holding tanks that can still be seen today rusted dreams of miners long gone are evident in the copious amounts of trash and decaying structures scattered all throughout the area including a collapsed office miners sleeping quarters and a blacksmith's shop with nearby concrete foundations that once supported ambitious projects such as an aerial tram Tower and rail platform utilized unloading rich ore into waiting trucks long before modern chainsaws hatchet marks high on the hill indicate the manual removal of western juniper and single leaf indian pine trees to make way for a cable tram system located high on the crest of the hill today on abandoned and forgotten places I take you to nearly 8,000 feet above sea level follow an interesting rail system which once led to a manually handbrake tram tower erected in place by miners from the 1940s this rarely-seen steel cross tie rail system winds its way up lifted dolomite limestone and native pine trees to reveal long abandoned artifacts such as a dual piston compressor and flywheel from the 1920s so today come along with me as I explore the soaring Eagles 500 foot long College at it follow its extensive drifts fine sketchy ladders into huge stones only to reveal its massive tabular or deposit and discovered its long-lost artifacts deep in this abandoned mine [Music] [Music] all right everybody let's explore this old mine alright well the first thing I see coming into this one is we've got a bunch of compressor pipe off to our left and an old once we got here transmission fluid john deere five gallons of john deere transmission fluid unless we have up in here over here we're not even in the mine twenty feet and we've already seen an explosives box danger high explosives I think that's just the top let's take a closer look at this yeah DuPont looking for dates sometimes we can get lucky and find a date on these but not that one all right well let's continue on so we're going through a bunch of country rock initially right here and I think the way this one is laid out geologically is there's veins higher up on the hill that are angling down and then they're going to try to intersect those veins here we have a interesting Oh what's an interesting stuff here okay whole box with a some writing on it and oh this is gonna be where the powder mag was there's the compressor that could have been linked up to that old compressor engine outside that we saw on the drone video okay let's work our way up into the powder Maggie R oh yeah the bottom of a dynamite box and two bags of ANFO right they're all hardened now cuz ANFO is hydroscopic and here we have a date November 11th 1975 now if you guys are wondering what that disk of paper is so that would have been on the ends of the blasting fuse and let me show you what I'm talking about back up here here's some right here there's some blasting fuse laying on the floor there okay this little cove and we're gonna continue on this direction what's that say here escape route well that's interesting we haven't phone too many too many signs like that have we with a drift off to the right and one straight okay well let's keep the right-hand drift on the menu we'll just keep going straight down the main haulage at it we've got a little arrow here pointing pointing the way out oh there's another drift going up that direction alright we'll come back and revisit that let's just keep working our way up the main haulage at it walking the rail here at a pretty good pace if I see something interesting like artifacts make sure to show it to you guys yeah right what do we have here we've got a ladder going up oh cool look at that escape route with a real nice looking ladder right there and I can see ladders going all the way up that thing look at there well definitely we're gonna have to come back and and revisit that but first let's continue on let's continue on the main hall edge at it here how do we have down here old bucket bladder a bunch of smoothbore wire okay the drift we've got a drift going off to the left and it looks like they yeah they backfilled that instead of hauling that waste rock out of the mine they just threw it up in an old drift now we get another one going off to the right okay we'll come back and revisit that but for now let's just keep going straight now here's some graffiti it's really hard to make out I da and I can't quite read the rest of it okay let's see what else we could find in here I'm still not seeing any real defined structural or body now this is really interesting look at the slick and slide on the right-hand wall right over there right there okay now I'm gonna put my hand out here to show it to you guys now that looks like rock but it's actually like a clay and over here to this here looks like rock but I can actually pick into it with my fingernails it's it's it's a clay that's because when you get those those two fault boundaries rubbing up against each other it creates that really soft material of all the grinding and faulting all right we have another split left and right well we're gonna stay along the right hand side and we'll revisit that okay well it suddenly just got really humid in here and the reason why is because we're kind of tunneling through a bunch of clay type material oh just had a bunch of rock fall on my head alright let's look and see what we have up in here as soon as they get all the rocks off my head all right so that's the face of this drift okay we're gonna work our way back out and we'll explore each one of those drifts I'll see you back there okay so I'm looking up at the at the back of the mine here let me point this out to you I was notice how right there it's probably about three to four inches wide they're chasing that zone right straight down this holler at it that's why they went this direction you're always going to have your higher concentrations of gold right along the edges of the vein or the the faulting area and you see here they chased it right up into that but off to my left is more of that clay material see over the millennia the two the two sides slipping against each other just ground and ground away and right above my head here it's really soft flaky material see that okay well what we're gonna do now is uh we're gonna work our way back to that ladder and see what that's all about I'll see you over there all right we're back at the ladder we just came from over there and once again these ladders go up that xscape route right there this is really peaking my curiosity but I'll tell you what we missed a drift off that that went off to the right immediately when we got into this mine let's go back over there and explore that first we'll save this for later I'll see you over there okay but I'm about halfway back to that first drift level that went to the right we just came from right over there I forgot about this one we still need to get up in here and see what's going on what do we have hiding up in this one a bunch of old tree branches and sticks we've got a hibernating bat right there cute and what do we have up here oh so here's the spool that the blasting cord would have been wrapped around remember that paper disc I pointed out to you guys so that paper disc would have went on the end there okay back to the next drift okay we're back to the right hand drift there who were just right up there straight in front of us now we're gonna turn off to the right here and see what this is all about this should be interesting because this is the direction that all the compressor lines are going to oh we've got an or chute right above our head here well that's kind of interesting let's look at that real quick Bethlehem wire rope that's what it says on there probably head up that was a spool of cable that's as far as that little drift goes okay okay there's another escape route sign all those signs are pointing back to them vertical ladders that's really interesting we've got a ladder right here look up there oh one goes up to like a little Terrace we're definitely gonna have to come back and take a closer look at that but for now I'll take a look here guys look at the foot wall running down the side of that see how they cleaned all that out nice and smooth and this right here this is the material that they want as they're working their way higher and higher up into the mountain okay let's keep on going or shoot I'll bet we've got ourselves a great big or bin above our heads that's where that ladder goes right there there's some communications communications wire hmm those are interesting not quite sure what those are part of the track I wonder if those are track Stoppers okay what do we got up here that's yeah no sense in showing you guys that it was just a tiny drift that went off to the left and right just a few feet in but clearly once again for all you geologists in the crowd you can clearly see the vein right through here from there to there and that's exactly what I thought that they were doing they first punched in that main hall edge at it and now they're following this vein to the right and stopping above it and dropping all the material into these into these or shoots bunch of scraps of lumber and stuff laying on the ground here probably leftover from makin making these or shoots here and we've got ourselves another ladder again that's that's intriguing look at that guys well we're just gonna have to go up there aren't we yeah we have to see what that's about all right but before we do that let's keep following this foot wall here you know on second thought that spool of wire we just saw hanging on the nail back there that I said was communications wire how that they were using that for blasting yep that makes more sense all right we're in a little bit of a Cove area here that they were cleaning out and then they back filled and they went right here and stopped okay I really want to get back to the first ladder let's head back there and go up it and see what we can find I'll see you back there alright we're back at the first ladder where the escape route sign was let's go up this thing see what we can find up here Wow look at how wide the rungs are on this ladder it was me I wouldn't have built it that way it's like six or eight inches wider than your typical okay up here well definitely a false floor and be careful with that okay well let's pan around in here real quick see what we can see notice how the compressor pipe came up that ladder and goes right into the side that's gonna be an orb in right there that's what that is because just below the ladder on the left is an ore chute so this is where they would drop the or down from Stopes high above and they would collect it shoot it down into the ore carts alright what do we have over here yeah we have a grizzly that they made out of old rail see that that's so that no rocks larger than the width of that go through just the smaller material and then it just gets it goes down the chute above it we have a ladder that goes up to another terrace okay cool but before we go there we need to see what's up in here Oh nice big pocket yeah look at that vein isn't that a pretty looking or body see all the iron mixed in that it's not as defined as that vein lower in the lower haulage yet but nevertheless you can still you can still make it out see it's running from right there it's about right there okay we're gonna work our way back to this ladder here yeah you know what this is gonna do guys this is gonna go up in a Stolp oh that's a pretty sweet looking ladder I think we can manage this one there we go what's up here uh-huh yes look at there all right well be just a second folks I have to climb up under this false floor there we go very good yeah we're in we're gonna stoked out area getting into one at actually I should say what do we have in here milk jug and an old oil can all right yeah now we're back to that foot wall remember when we were in the hollow jabot I pointed out the foot wall there it is it just keeps going up and up and that's what they're following they following that vein right there now down below me here whoo look at the size of em boulders that came down from the ceiling actually I should say from the back of the mine and over here now we're on the other side of where the or bin was remember the wood with the compressor pipe going through it now I'm standing above it and it has a grizzly on it okay I'm gonna carefully step across this grizzly here without falling through there we go okay decisions right or left well this doesn't look like it's gonna go very far let's check it out oh here we go guys look at this dynamite box heaven up in here I gotta be real careful because we certainly don't want to be fine enough full case of dynamite and stepping on it alright let's do some close-ups there we go I can get a better angle than that 50 pounds special gelatin 40% strength one inch by eight inches long DuPont still no date anything on top let's look there we go just like the one we found in the lower haulage at it same thing no sometimes on the bottom of these boxes I'm gonna try to find it here for you that one doesn't have it maybe this one no on the bottom of these dynamite boxes is going to be the round UPC box construction label you can get a date off of that occasionally let's look at this one no the pack rats chewed through it okay pretty darn stinky like Packer had up in here look here they were they had a cable or something off of here that they were hooking to all right there's an old miners glove and to point out the smell of this place it smells like creosote oh that is a big big nasty Rock above my head here we need to get out from under that just got stuff all over the place in here here's some ladders brush there were some bags of ammonium nitrate right there Oh the miners pants they're a piece of coveralls yeah sure is pants down there's a big box of nails all right now you guys have heard me in the past talk about false floors well here's here's a beautiful example of a false floor see that now bet if we go up there and you look on top it's all going to be covered with rock and it would look just like the floor of a holiday at it but look completely all the way underneath it it's hollowed out and that's what's real dangerous in these mines yeah I know where you're walking because you could fall straight through a false floor and down into another level all right let's go up in here and see what we can find you wouldn't fall to very far in this mine but I've been in locations where you would fall a hundred feet or more oh we've got an ore pass yep sure is sketchy or pass that goes right down into a chute right there look there's the top of that chute and how much you want to bet that is where the second ladder comes up so you can service the chute we're gonna be going back there but not only is it passing or from the level I'm standing on now look here it goes way up there - and hold my arm out that's why I'm shaking okay okay let's uh we need to turn around here oh look here guys sunlight so indeed we've got ourselves an open stope see that okay okay let's go back to that aluminum ladder over there see what that's all about okay we're back to the aluminum ladder I'm really curious I want to see what's up here what's on top of this big Falls for you oh we got an artifact or something hiding up in here I'm gonna have to you have to bear with me a moment because the only way I'm gonna be able to get up here there we go boy I never took gymnastics in school but that was a pretty slick move okay now I'm standing on top of that false floor held up by stoles and let's take a quick peek looking right up the footwall and you see that see how they went clear up outside help that shaft and they clean this whole area out okay I'm gonna stay to the left we don't want to be breaking through this thing there we go and no no no interesting artifacts hiding up here let me go around here and give you guys one more look okay that's a just a fantastic view of a classic vein that they're working looking right up the foot wall here cleaning that all out right straight up outside there okay now we're gonna head back down to the main holler at it because we had that remember we had that second ladder that went up next to the or bin let's go see what that's all about okay now here's that or bin that I was telling you about with the next ladder now I almost guarantee you guys that this is gonna be on the far side of that big false floor okay I gotta get a little tricky here with the camera there we go yeah okay let's pick up it climb that get around this just a second guys there we go there let me show you where I just came from dear and now we're at the top of that or bin right there and just like I said there's your pass that's where we we just were so if we were just to climb up that little segment right there we'd be right back to the false floor you can see it over there and that's where this one is but there ain't nothing here no cool artifacts all we've got is a cute little cute little bat alright well what we're gonna have to do now is work our way back to the escape route ladder and see what that's all about I'll see you over there alright guys we're back at the ladder let's just call this the escape route ladders I'm gonna show you where we're going here so now this is gonna be a first for abandoned and forgotten places I'm wearing the new gimballed helmet cam so that I can be hands-free in situations like this now let's see why they call this an escape route let's look up there alright so we got to do step over in these whoo that's a sketchy that's a sketchy Terrace you know what we're gonna have to do guys we're really gonna have to think we're gonna have to think light thoughts well so far so far these ladders are in really nice shape yeah that Terrace is in good shape okay let's keep on going I can't imagine too many people have explored this oh wow look here guys all right let me there we go look at that oh very cool look at the size of this scope Wow Wow and the ladder goes right over there okay which means we're gonna have to climb up there here shortly now what do we have what do we have hiding up in here I'm down on my hands and knees right now okay another great big stoked out area look up in there it goes way up there and a nice a really nice view of the vein anything interesting hiding back here no nope but they are following the edge of that vein and I've got a false floor above my head here looking back that's where we're gonna go right up there alright first we got that you got to go through this adjustment here guys sorry let's get through this skinny spot dykes don't want that rock coming down in my head here we go okay all right higher and higher we go up this big old Stoke okay there we go oh that's a nice ladder that ain't going anyplace take the darn things made out of two by fours all right higher and higher let's get up here and see what we have ladder keeps going off that way we've got some old bottles and artifacts down here huh oh that's left of a big like a wine jug and down here there's a pickaxe handle right there but that's as far as that's as far as that little drift goes okay what's this no label what's down here oh Polaroid okay well yeah this mine just got a whole lot more interesting didn't it look at here this is fantastic all right I'm gonna take a break catch my breath I'll be right back okay let's see what's up the next ladder oh I've got a bunch of wind here just screaming in my face and this is a really tiny area to crawl through guys that's cheap okay let me get my footing here okay oh hey what are we coming into okay let's get up here there we are grab my flashlight oh we're definitely standing on a false floor look down there we wouldn't want to fall in that and this ladder still still keeps working up into these big Stopes right there all right but first it's turning back around we had a drift going off this way and it's only about 20 inches tall let's see if let's see if the miners hit anything up in here huh no no they ain't nothing up in there just goes and stops and they were using it as a place to throw waste rock okay and be a quick adjustment on my audio there there we go like I said this is somewhat experimental boy that ladder is rickety and look if I if it breaks on me that's where I'm headed down in there all right well we're gonna have to be very careful on this one I can't imagine anybody's been on this ladder in a long time okay quickly there we go got a handhold oh that was sketchy okay next ladder fantastic where are we we just keep getting higher and higher in this dope and now you can see we're still following with a football okay turning around what in the world look at this look how tiny that little hole is that they went up into you well we're just gonna have to explore that now if you guys can see it you see right here along the the foot wall or actually technically this might be the hang of wall by now there's about a two inch section right between the two that would be a great concentration for gold right through there and that's why they're following that okay let's see what they're going after here well we have what's left of a the side of a dynamite box right there okay they made a raise right there and went up that direction and there's a drift it goes around the corner and just stops okay well so you know what that means well that means that there's only one way up and out of this mine and we're gonna follow the airflow this is fantastic okay now we're in a nice drift here I'm hunched I'm pretty much crawling there I get back on my feet now so down below here that's a that's a kerosene tin that's been repurposed as a bucket to hold or okay now remember those signs those signs said escape rally well I feel air coming from this direction so we've got artifacts what are these nothing that one pretty much it was just no paint can but that's the end of that drift okay ooh there's a great big black widow fighter nest right kind of interesting all those were propped up all right now we're headed back to the ladder I mean it felt like it didn't feel like there was air going up this direction but it's all blocked off okay go so maybe there's maybe there is uh I'm just sorry guys but our microphone moved out me well the only other place that we didn't explore is right there but that doesn't go anywhere that's just a raise and stops right there sure is a lot of beautiful looking quartz stringers running through this rock okay well our only option now is to head back down so that's what I'm gonna do I'm gonna work my way down and see if I can find why are they were calling this the escape route because as far as I'm concerned I'm not seeing anything any place where one could escape okay I'll meet you back a little bit lower see you down there okay guys we're back down by those jars and I've been looking all over the place trying to find where it is these miners escape route was and I'm just not seeing it the only thing I can think of is maybe there was a bunch of material collapse from an upper from an upper vertical shaft and it's filled in that at it where we saw all those cans look here's some there you go imagine all day long banging that in huh whack whack and taking off pieces that's what that's for but now we're looking down where I came from see down there and look there's pine cones there pine cones in that section so somehow those are coming down from somewhere but once again now I got to go back down this sketchy old ladder yikes there we go going down there's always a little bit more crazy than going up them Thanks okay I'm going to go down the next one here oh wait before we do that let's look up how in the world see look here if you look above my head up into this taupe there's there's nothing to be surface so how did all my cones get in that pile on top of the pillar what a crazy place for a packrat to drag a bunch of pine cones huh okay working my way lower here there we go and we were already up in there so we know that doesn't go to an exit alright guys well if there was an exit or escape route it's now blocked off so I've got to work my way all the way down them sketchy ladders right there I'm just going to go ahead and keep the camera on because it sure would make some pretty fun footage if I did the the YouTube ladder slide we'll call it okay looking down I see I need to make an adjustment here I'll be right back okay looking back down the crazy ladders and terrorists that's where we're headed and I'm glad I did do an adjustment because the I hit the camera on the wall and kind of messed up the shot but we're all good now okay looking down the next set here we go well I was really hoping that we could have found the escape route out of this mine and exces it hi exited out of the mountain higher up that would have been pretty darn cool okay one more ladder to go and there we are made it to the bottom all right well that's not an escape route anymore well alright guys that's going to have to do it for this mine there's nothing left to crawl up into we've pretty much covered it all so I appreciate you once again coming along for a fantastic explore and I'll see you guys next weekend okay take care bye bye [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Abandoned and Forgotten Places

Views: 78,100

Keywords: A&FP, Abandoned, Forgotten, Places, Mine, Mines, Tunnel, Exploring, Adventure, Hiking, Artifacts, Antiques, Geology, Prospecting, Gold, Silver, Quartz, Dynamite, Blasting, Adit, Gly, Bobbie, Quackers, Gly Coolness, Old Bob, Old Mine, Old Building, Gold Mine, Ghost Town, Abandoned Mine, Abandoned Mines, Abandoned Place, Abandoned Places, Forgotten Place, Forgotten Places, Mine Exploring, Abandoned Mine Exploring, Exploring Abandoned Mines, Abandoned and Forgotten Places, Abandoned & Forgotten Places

Id: EdcGkIVM9uE

Length: 54min 2sec (3242 seconds)

Published: Sat May 23 2020