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Mojave Underground just went on another great adventure. I led a group up to the upper oxidized zone to extract more malachite, smithsonite, azurite, and other minerals that are up there. Crystal, Miah, and Derek went in through the Hidden Treasure to drop into the Buckhorn. Their story will be told when one of them decides to write it 
We began our trip by heading to a section of rich galena ore and hounding it with chisels and mini sledges. The weight of the ore was incredible, 5-6x heavier than the standard limestone host rock in which it resides. We then climbed up to the next level where we extracted selenite satin spars. After being satisfied there, we dropped over to the muddy incline which we rigged with rope on a previous trip and began climbing the 350' to the upper level. Our first stop was the Upper HT Cave, a unique, dome shaped cave full of greenish flowstone. Written in carbide on a small section of the cave was 2 miners signatures from 1946. When finished enjoying the cave, we moved to the oxidized level and immediately found great specimens to extract. With the constant hammering and chiseling, the mine was once again active with sounds it hasn't heard in many decades. Each of us had the opportunity to extract a full backpack of minerals before heading back down. I had to bring the rope down with me to use on a later adventure, but the incline is too steep and muddy to traverse without a handline. Two pull through systems were able to get us just down to the bottom.
Overall, the trip was a lot of fun! Thanks everybody who showed up and we look forward to seeing you next time.
Some of my photos can be found in our gallery, here:
We began our trip by heading to a section of rich galena ore and hounding it with chisels and mini sledges. The weight of the ore was incredible, 5-6x heavier than the standard limestone host rock in which it resides. We then climbed up to the next level where we extracted selenite satin spars. After being satisfied there, we dropped over to the muddy incline which we rigged with rope on a previous trip and began climbing the 350' to the upper level. Our first stop was the Upper HT Cave, a unique, dome shaped cave full of greenish flowstone. Written in carbide on a small section of the cave was 2 miners signatures from 1946. When finished enjoying the cave, we moved to the oxidized level and immediately found great specimens to extract. With the constant hammering and chiseling, the mine was once again active with sounds it hasn't heard in many decades. Each of us had the opportunity to extract a full backpack of minerals before heading back down. I had to bring the rope down with me to use on a later adventure, but the incline is too steep and muddy to traverse without a handline. Two pull through systems were able to get us just down to the bottom.
Overall, the trip was a lot of fun! Thanks everybody who showed up and we look forward to seeing you next time.
Some of my photos can be found in our gallery, here:
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