Imperial County: The Cargo Mine

[Mike Schriber]

I completely neglected to post a trip report after our adventures in the Cargo Mine at the end of January. We'd heard good things about this former gold mine near Yuma and all the stories were true. The mine entrance is a near vertical shaft with timbers and a ladder. Stacy and I rappelled in while Jeff climbed down (as usual). The mine was quite warm and contained more than six levels. Using three pitches (150' rope, 200' rope and 300' rope) we made it to the bottom. The altimeter readings were suspicious but based on rungs and the amount of rope we estimate the bottom level was around 600' below the surface. There was some amazing timbers near the bottom. Interestingly, the lowest levels seemed to be the oldest with square nails, site made rollers and bark on the timbers. The wood must also have been infested with termites when it was harvested because much of it was brittle and very light. We explored all of the bottom level and one level up before we got worn out. The ascent took a while as well and we emerged back on the surface after 13 hours underground. The rest of the mine will have to wait for another trip!

The next day we explored the area which is loaded with mines. Unfortunately, most of them have been converted to open pit mines. There are a few prospects for future trips plus additional mines across the border in Arizona.

Pictures are on-line at www.undergroundexplorers.com.

Mike

[Stuart]

13 Hours underground is a good amount of time, especially going down and exploring only a couple levels. Those are my favorite kind of mines, the ones that take multiple trips to complete. One of our favorite mines that we have been working on down in the lower parts of Utah took us about 12 hours just to climb down to the bottom level at 1100' below the surface and get back out again, we didn't even really explore anything. The amazing part is that we only made it half way to the bottom stoping our way down. From the 1100' we could potentially go down another 1000' before we hit the water level.

I wonder why the lowest levels seem to be the oldest... Usually it is the opposite with the mine starting where the ore gets near the surface. I wonder if maybe the mine started deep and they followed the vein upward or maybe they re-worked the upper levels in later years. I'm sure you guys will figure it out when you finish exploring the rest of the levels.