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Hello!
My name is Christian and I go by the name headhunter on most forums. I live in the greater Los Angeles area. If any of you are members of Jeep forums, you may know me. Others may know me from scuba forums, since that has also been one of my pursuits for quite a long time.
I've been driving on and off-highway around the mountains and deserts of Southern California for decades. I currently use a 1985 Jeep Scrambler for most of my off-road adventures. It was down for a couple of years while trying to chase down reliability and overheating issues. That took me out of the loop with many of the people I used to hang out with in the wilderness and I've found that for many of them, life got in the way and they are no longer actively seeking adventure. I finally had a replacement engine and transmission transplanted into the Jeep and started taking it out on some shakedown runs in late 2019 to work out the kinks of my, new to me, stock 2000 engine, 2006 transmission and 1995 wiring. After a few tows and minor adjustments and upgrades, it was finally a reliable platform again. Then came the pandemic, which speaks for itself. I prefer to travel as part of a team to places unknown in the wilderness, so I haven't been out much since the pandemic began.
In my travels, I always keep an eye out for signs of abandoned mines (or caves if in other parts of the country). Since I am not trained for this type of advanced exploration, I have learned as much as I can on my own and limited my exploration to adits in hard rock that looked like they were in good condition. I avoid questionable ladders and stay away from shafts, since I have no training with ropes. I also visit mines that are better known where I might venture a bit farther. The Bismark Mine in the Calico Mountains or the Dawn Mine in the Angeles National Forest would be examples of what I'm calling well-known mines. I took my GoPro mounted on a helmet through the Dawn Mine the week before they put bars over the entrance. Unfortunately, many of the mines that I used to frequent have been closed with bars or even worse, blown up.
What interests me most about mines and caves is a combination of adventure and history. This combination has always interested me. It's fun to go somewhere that has been lost in time or even a place that may not have been lost, but still has that wild and abandoned feel to it. In the mid 2000s, I took a 44-day road trip up the coast to Canada, across the upper states to Illinois and back to L.A. via old Route 66. I did my homework, found as many commercially toured mines and caves as I could and also pulled off the road anytime I saw a sign for something that said anything about a cave, cavern or mine. Of course, I saw a ton of other things too, but this was what always got me the most excited. Not that these places had a wild and abandoned feel to them, but it was as close as I could get with the knowledge that I had.
At some point, I plan to get trained in cave diving, which would add an interesting dimension to my underground adventure. I have quite a few friends who are cave divers.
I've known about Mojave Underground for a long time and signed up to the forum a little over 10 years ago, but I think I was dropped for not posting and just reading a lot. I think I remember learning about the group either via a Google search or from members in another forum. I looked for the site again, since I've recently decided to head back in that direction.
I would like to expand my knowledge and experience with regard to mines and hope that this forum can lead to meeting others who I can explore and learn from.
It's nice to virtually meet you!
My name is Christian and I go by the name headhunter on most forums. I live in the greater Los Angeles area. If any of you are members of Jeep forums, you may know me. Others may know me from scuba forums, since that has also been one of my pursuits for quite a long time.
I've been driving on and off-highway around the mountains and deserts of Southern California for decades. I currently use a 1985 Jeep Scrambler for most of my off-road adventures. It was down for a couple of years while trying to chase down reliability and overheating issues. That took me out of the loop with many of the people I used to hang out with in the wilderness and I've found that for many of them, life got in the way and they are no longer actively seeking adventure. I finally had a replacement engine and transmission transplanted into the Jeep and started taking it out on some shakedown runs in late 2019 to work out the kinks of my, new to me, stock 2000 engine, 2006 transmission and 1995 wiring. After a few tows and minor adjustments and upgrades, it was finally a reliable platform again. Then came the pandemic, which speaks for itself. I prefer to travel as part of a team to places unknown in the wilderness, so I haven't been out much since the pandemic began.
In my travels, I always keep an eye out for signs of abandoned mines (or caves if in other parts of the country). Since I am not trained for this type of advanced exploration, I have learned as much as I can on my own and limited my exploration to adits in hard rock that looked like they were in good condition. I avoid questionable ladders and stay away from shafts, since I have no training with ropes. I also visit mines that are better known where I might venture a bit farther. The Bismark Mine in the Calico Mountains or the Dawn Mine in the Angeles National Forest would be examples of what I'm calling well-known mines. I took my GoPro mounted on a helmet through the Dawn Mine the week before they put bars over the entrance. Unfortunately, many of the mines that I used to frequent have been closed with bars or even worse, blown up.
What interests me most about mines and caves is a combination of adventure and history. This combination has always interested me. It's fun to go somewhere that has been lost in time or even a place that may not have been lost, but still has that wild and abandoned feel to it. In the mid 2000s, I took a 44-day road trip up the coast to Canada, across the upper states to Illinois and back to L.A. via old Route 66. I did my homework, found as many commercially toured mines and caves as I could and also pulled off the road anytime I saw a sign for something that said anything about a cave, cavern or mine. Of course, I saw a ton of other things too, but this was what always got me the most excited. Not that these places had a wild and abandoned feel to them, but it was as close as I could get with the knowledge that I had.
At some point, I plan to get trained in cave diving, which would add an interesting dimension to my underground adventure. I have quite a few friends who are cave divers.
I've known about Mojave Underground for a long time and signed up to the forum a little over 10 years ago, but I think I was dropped for not posting and just reading a lot. I think I remember learning about the group either via a Google search or from members in another forum. I looked for the site again, since I've recently decided to head back in that direction.
I would like to expand my knowledge and experience with regard to mines and hope that this forum can lead to meeting others who I can explore and learn from.
It's nice to virtually meet you!
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