This weekend is now over and it was an interesting one, myself and the little ones went out for a bit of GPS and map work. I have for a while wanted to go out and check out several mines in the rough area so this was a perfect opportunity to do so. This was also an opportunity to do some hiking with our BOB's and really relax and explore a little.
In the back of my mind I also had an ulterior motive for doing this little jaunt, I am a mine junkie, you can't keep me out of them, I love to see anything old, it's history that we are loosing everyday. One of my reasons for locating this mine area was to see if it was a suitable location to go to in case of a major civil disruption or environmental disaster. I like to have multiple locations to go to in these cases, just having a place to go to that is preplanned is one less stress that you will have to deal with when or if you ever have to.
This is one of the caves that we tracked down, it is hard to tell from the photo but you could drive a small car or truck down this entrance. The incline is at about 15% and the ground is pretty free of obstacles.
I would remind everyone that mines can be extremely dangerous to enter either by potential cave in or by noxious gasses that can be present. The cave we went into was well researched before hand and due to it's size and the amount of supplemental air shafts it had been deemed a very safe mine to enter but always do your research.
One of the things that you notice about this mine is that as soon as are about 20 feet in the temperature drops dramatically. The outside temp for the day was hovering around 110 but as soon as we were in the mine the temp dropped a good 30 to 40 degrees and we even had a slight breeze.
While my kids were having fun looking around for bats, yes there were bats, I was busy looking, thinking and checking to see if this mine would be a good temporary bug out location. The reason why I wanted to look into a mine for that purpose is that out here the heat kills, I don't care how tough you are if you are in 100 degree plus heat for any amount of time you will be very uncomfortable and also at risk of heat stroke. While in it's current form this mine will be a poor substitute for a long term shelter but for a few days you could get along depending on what you brought along for supplies.
This part of the mine was used as one of the airlock/ escape areas, further to the rear was a ladder that leads out of the mine via one of the air shafts. This is one area that could be repaired and sealed off if one was faced with an NBC event. If this were used for that event you would have to replace the natural ventilation with some type of filtered mechanical ventilation, I.E. hand powered pump or battery powered. While it could be done it would be a lot to do post event but keep in mind this is an alternate location if a primary or secondary is compromised.
I would like to stress that having multiple options before an event is crucial, you do not want to have to think about "where will I go" if something happens. Thinking about where to go can take up valuable time that you may need, make it automatic, have your plan. I have now added this location as an option, I know how far away it is, I know how much time it will take and how much gas. Granted time and distance could vary if you have to take a different route but that is why we should test our routes and alternative routes, again have a backup to a backup....
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