Delamar Mine

[go_browns79]

(Continued from the Delamar Perlite Mine trip report).... After exploring the Delamar Perlite Mines it was time to head over to our target, the Delamar Mine. After taking a quick "shortcut" we were on the right path. The only other time I was out here I took a Dodge Stratus. Now that I have a Ram truck the 15 mile dirt road was much more fun. Before heading around the mountain to get to the mine we stopped to see one of the old cemetery's. What make someone vandalize a cemetery is beyond me. It is still an impressive site. While standing out there we heard a couple sonic booms from a plane that we never saw, you could feel it in your chest.

As we got around the mountain we could see the remains of the old mill.

We set up camp near the entrance and were getting hungry. We decided to take a quick look around the mine before dinner and Tony quickly decided he wasn't hungry anymore so we explored a little bit. Afterwards Joanne cooked what she called a simple meal, spaghetti and garlic bread. It was an amazing dinner and we still had enough left for the next day. We knew it was going to be cold so we camped in the mine. When we woke up we thought we heard rain, we were kinda off on that thought....SNOW!!!


After a delicious breakfast ( Thanks Joanne ) we headed in to drop one of the 3 shafts we found. This one looked in worse condition so we decided to drop down the other one that looked just as deep, 200' at an 85 degree angle.

I was the first to head down and after getting within 40' off the bottom I could see the wood was completely collapsed which made me a little nervous. But dropping strait down the rope was fun. This is only my 3rd time rappelling down a shaft and definitely the deepest. After looking around the collapsed ruble I saw a path through to what looked like a cart of some sorts, so I radioed up and told Joanne and Tony to head down.

The timbering down here was just as impressive as it was at the surface level. Being a carpenter I can really appreciate the work that went into this mine. At today's prices I can easily estimate the cost of wood and labor at close to $1,000,000.

After carefully crawling through the ruble we found that cart, of coarse with no wheels. We were able to spend several hours down here. We made our way over to the first shaft we saw. From the surface it didn't look as stable, but it wasn't collapsed at all and went down another 30'-40' further. There was another cart crashed at the bottom. I saw what looked like another level about 20' down so Tony jumped on the vertical tracks and climbed down like a monkey on Redbull, they don't call him Speedy Caver for nothing. This was just a small room for the guy who operated the wheel to open the lowest ore chute. It had a real comfortable wood chair inside. We kept going and finally found a cart with wheels on tracks!!! Joanne was nice enough to give me a push while Tony shot some video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdn5h2L4FZs

We continued to explore and covered everywhere that wasn't collapsed. We never did find the third shaft so we have a good reason to plan another trip. We made our way back and ascended back up the shaft, cleaned up our gear and headed out for dinner. We finished up the leftover spaghetti and Joanne cooked up some garlic bread and toasted fruit bread, thanks again.

I had to leave that night so I packed up all my gear and headed out. Joanne and Tony stayed the night and I think they did a little exploring the next morning. We still have more to cover next trip in this mine, plus other mines in the area. I will probably never see all that Delamar has to offer but I'm gonna try.

Entire album: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...663.1253455143

Pics from my first trip: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...264.1253455143

Video rappelling down the shaft: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n6f_iulVo8

[offroadcmpr]

Looks like a fun trip. I would love to go back there someday.

I camped outside of the mine with my family on thanksgiving, we had pre cooked spaghetti for dinner...

Where was the entrance that you entered into? I have been into 2 different ones. One was lower down, and the other one was much higher up; we had to drive up a narrow road a several hundred feet above the rest of the valley. There was also another smaller entrance that had a fun ladder that dropped down a couple hundred feet. It was about 2 or 3 feet square, completely enclosed with wood. When you got down to the bottom you could walk out a different entrance lower down the mountain.

[go_browns79]

We entered the lower adit that is level with the road. The entrance was less than 100' off the road, just past the old mill. This is where we set up our camp.

We did explore a couple other adits just around the corner, but they were just one level up. One had a rabbit pretty deep inside at the end off a drift. We definitely didn't find the upper one's you're talking about, but I'll be looking for them next time. I was planning to do some exploring up the mountain but the rain, snow and wind chased us in the mine right after breakfast.

[Kiel]

Nice trip report

[Joanne]

Yeah, this is a really great mine. From the main level there are three deep shafts that drop to the lower working level. We dropped the center one because it had a ladder. Once down at the working level we found our way to one of the other shafts. We wanted to find the third shaft but a collapse barred our way. Now we will have to head back and drop the last shaft.

Here's a photo of bill rappelling down the shaft. This is the one that Bill mentioned ends in a large chamber where all of the wooden structure collapsed.

Warning! If you decide to drop this shaft make certain that you have a 300 foot rope! A 250 foot rope MIGHT be enough depending on how you rig your anchor. Since the final section of the drop is an free rappel you don't want to be short of rope.


Once at the end of ladder it's a free rappel onto the collapse. Here's Bill heading down into the collapse.



This photo is of me climbing down through the collapse into the lower working level. Everything is unstable so you have to be REALLY careful climbing down through there.


All this work was rewarded with some amazing square set timbers. This was my first exposure to expansive sections of square set. I'm just amazed!



We explored this level from end to end before it was time to head back out. It's certainly worth the effort to get down to this point.

[John]

Really nice pictures.