I looked up some stuff on the internet.
Here is one story about old mines. Note the numbers. A larger shaft near the one I nearly fell in was surrounded by a single strand of barbed wire. That shaft opening was larger than the SUV parked beside it.
BLM website link to get video on old mine shaft safety. I dont know how good this is. BLM site link that discusses some of the types of shafts.
Az Mine Inspector's link to get a mine safety pack. There is a map of old mines on there, but keep in mind that not all mines are known.
I recall hearing that many cars stolen from Phoenix end up in old mine shafts around the Phoenix area. I was surprised since I didnt realize we had mines here. I thought they were in southern Arizona, along the Colorado or in the mountains north and east of Phoenix. I dont really have any good safety tips except to watch carefully where you step.
I could only find one photo online. This one has more stuff around it then you would see. Normally it would only be a squarish hole, there may be mine tailings you can see nearby, there may not. There may be brush surrounding it, there may not. There may be a sign or a marginal bit of barbed wire. Most likely there wont be.
Anyone have photos to share? Or other info?
Josh Simpson <
simp_jk@yahoo.com> wrote: I vaguely heard about this tonight. I'm a new geocacher and typically geocache alone. My parents were born in AZ and I have lived here my whole life, yet I'm unaware of the hazardous abandoned mineshafts. I would appreciate it if you can give some tips or even pics on what to look for to avoid old mine shafts in the desert. I don't really know what an old mine shaft would look like so I'm not sure how to avoid them. Thanks.
BTW, this is the first time I'm using this listserv forum thing.....so I'm also trying to see how it works.
Gale <
sonoralovesmommy@yahoo.com> wrote: By now, most of you have heard about the 3 girls on their atv near Chloride who fell into an old mine shaft. Ive lived in Arizona for decades. I had the dangers of old mines drilled into me. Ive always been careful when Ive been out wandering in the desert. Despite that, I nearly fell into an old mine myself back in 1986 or 1987. I was watching where I was going, in an area around Pearce in southern Arizona. I took a step over a rise, around a bush, and nearly stepped right into a shaft. The angle of it prevented me from seeing it. I tossed rocks into it, and could hear them land far down the shaft. As geocachers, many of us go out in the areas where there are old mines. I urge people (especially those new to Arizona) to be careful and never underestimate the dangers of those old mines.
Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking
Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes
On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so:
"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges --
"Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!"
Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898
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