Finally found a desert tortoise inside an abandoned mine after thirteen years of exploration! The tortoise seemed to be in good health as it prepared for its long, winter hibernation. I joined with Tom and Julie for this exploration and ended up finding a lot more than just the tortoise. Further in the mine we came upon an inclined shaft that was also vertical in certain areas. When we were exploring outside the mine, we found where the shaft came out of the ground. Some other workings led to other portals on the hillside as well as to another inclined shaft. It was quite a day of adventure and exploration!
#ExploringAbandonedMines
#AbandonedMines
#MineExploring
#UndergroundExploration
#DesertTortoise
#Tortoise
#Turtle
45 Comments
Please go back to the horton mine I know it was 7 years but still do it with a drone at least wase
loved the vid frank well done .
Must have at one time been a lager operation with all that crumbling rock it must be collapsing all over. I never expected to see a tortoise in a mine! But there's a first for everything! Great video can't wait to see the second part👍
Never thought see a tortoise in a mine cool and mad lad Tom in his habitat lol
have you ever found any old spaniard mines that are 1600s age ?
at the first portal those timbers had cuts that looked like places for RR track, so cross ties. i would have thought of taking the tortoise out too. i didnt think of it hibernating. i know they have good sense of direction and they can move faster than you would think, if you arent watching. hahaha. that was a good trip again. thanks Frank.
Nice one but is there more mine? 🙂
That tortoise is so cool! I can't believe you found one in a mine. I'm glad you left him alone, though I'd be interested to learn about how common it is for them to enter such places. I've never found one, that's for sure, but there's a first for everything! Thanks for sharing!
Did you make sure he could get out?
A very unusual find! At least, most enjoyable than bats imho haha
You feeling ok, Frank? Noticing lots of sniffles the last couple videos…
-Ed
tortoise appears
frank: “look at that curved piece of metal”
classic frank
Great Video Frank and Tom And Julie. Tom"s a trouper and adventure that does not give up.
did you help the lil guy get out? he's probably lost and hungry😞
It is very odd when you mentioned your concerns about the false floor, because I was thinking precisely the same thing when the camera first showed that stretch of tunnel. I don't know what I keyed on but I immediately thought there was a long drop beneath there… I hope we were both wrong!
Super awesome mine explore mate felt like i was there with you exploring, that shaft sure did look steep no wonder tom came back up .
You should go back to that Scary Mine place ..
Where We heard the Whispers 🌬
❤😬
1:49 Gentlemen, this tortoise is the proud owner of the back half of the frame for a Ford Model A, probably a pickup.
If you’re ever in the Appalachian region, you should do some abandoned coal mines
Inside of that Mine is Just as Cool as The Outside Area of the Mine… 🐢
Great Video Frank 👍🏻🤠🇺🇸
Railroad ties
Cute!
Your right about those crumbly rock floors of the tunnel with smooth sides that look like it may be a concealed bore, especially in regard to short 'cross cuts' or off shoots to the main drives. When I was working back in the underground mining game, I was told about a few incidents in regard to these. One of these incidents was when a miner walked over a 'ore pass' that was choked up or blocked. Apparently, a bogger/loader, had bogged out the ore below on the next level, however the ore was chocked up or jamed in the ore pass and failed to keep on dropping or clearing itself. The ore partly gave way when the miner walked over it and the miner went with it. The only way they got the miner out was by freeing up the remainder of the ore and letting the miner fall with it out to the lower level. So be carefull when walking in those areas!
Thanks again for another great video!
Is there any reasonable way to map the mines you are exploring? Maybe the Lidar feature on the newer iPhones could give a 3D map of the tunnels you are in. I’d love to better visualize how far down and around some of these places go.
👍😊
I think you should buy a small drone that you could fly into some of the tighter or dangerous spots of the mines where you cant get past. slap some LED lighting on it and you should have pretty decent footage.
To a You Tube friend, whose hand I will never shake, way out there in John Ford's country, HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Nice views looking back. Great video. Love that tortoise.
https://youtu.be/DGgjLPDuiYk In Mexico there is a town called Real de Catorce, its entrance to the town is an old mine called Ogarrio, the town is located in the state of San Luis Potosí. a place you must visit
Very cool. I came across your channel after seeing a mine tunnel in Almaden Quicksilver park and I wanted to see if anyone had been inside. Are you familiar with the Almaden mines in San Jose? The San Cristobal tunnel looks like it used to be open in older pictures, but it's got a grate now. It would be cool to see inside, I think it was shut down in the 1920s.
A Blessed 2021 to U & Yrs!
Awesome find in a sick abandoned mine!
good explore
Vuelve a la mina porfa
Will you enter again in the Horton mine??
Go back to Horton cave with group
I try to imagine the mines working like back when to hey did , all the things that were going on 🤯😎!!!!!! Thank you all !!!!!!!
Cant wait for you to have a new mining video uploaded.
i remember as a kid exploring in the UK ,in my home town there was a very old building not guarded so we all used to play around in there and we came across something odd….
we found a slope going downwards into a T section underground below the building (there where remains of an old wooden staircase , not much though) we being stupid kids made out way down there by sliding on our butts lol ….one side went to a room and the other went on for what must of been about 500 yards to a door and not just any door ….it was like what you'd see in an old sub solid steel painted grey 4 bar locks (one in each corner) and you could clearly see a rubber seal around the door old and worn , it was welded shut.
after further exploring we managed to get back and get out always wondering what was behind that door.
couple of days later we stupidly decided to go back and try and open it only to find we couldn't as a concrete company had been called in to fill in everything leaving no trace of tunnels and these guys doing the filling where happy chatting telling us they had a work order to fill it all in as it would be built over but the work order had specific instructions NOT to open that door under any circumstances and to top it off there was a guard ordered at the same time to accompany them and monitor them at all times but never spoke at all.
Fly High
The guy on these acorn ads looks like Kelso off that 70’s show.
One Of The Best Blogs I've Seen And All The Best For Your Channel Frank.
I think the Tortoise was trapped. I see many ways he could have fallen in but no way those short legs could get him out. Another explorer found a tortoise and left him and when explorer went back tortoise was dead. If they get trapped they die.
loot get