Havasupai, Grand Canyon, AZ (Part 3. Silver Mine)

During our trip to Havasupai Indian Reservation one of my friends spotted  an old mine in Carbonite Canyon near Havasu Falls. We asked locals about it and a woman said that it was silver mine but she wasn't sure.  After i came back home i tried to find  what kind of mine it was on the internet. The only information i found was that during the late 1800s and early 1900s, miners searched for minerals throughout the Havasupai area. Most of the major activity took place in Carbonate Canyon near Havasu Falls, but tunnels and other evidence of mining activity can be found all along Havasu Creek from Havasu Falls to the Colorado River.

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When we entered the mine day light was still coming from the outside.

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As we entered the mine we saw tunnels that were going in different directions. Left, right, up. We could see the way the miners  searched and tried to find whatever they looked for.
     

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When we went deeper down the main tunnel we saw rails for cart that miners use for transporting rocks. We followed  the rails. When i looked back i couldn't see light from the outside anymore.

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Following the long tunnel we went to the end of the rail, where we saw big hole going down. Looks like they lifted something from that hole, loaded on the cart and then took it out of the mine. It was toо dark to understand how deep was that mine.

  

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Then again there were several tunnels in different directions from that room. We explored all of them except this one which went up. It was hard to reach first step to go up, moreover, everything looked so old we were afraid that everything could collapse on us. 

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Then we found a tunnel going down, my buddy went there and found someone's old t-shirt. There was dead end there.

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Then we found another hole going down.   

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First, we had to go on lower level that looks like a balcony. After that there was a narrow hole going down, just a human body could fit in there.

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The way down in that hole was almost 90 degrees. We had  to use rope to descend down.

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This is the second level or... i don't know how to call it "-2 " maybe. It was much  more narrow than main tunnel above us. Don't even ask what i felt when i was down that hole. 

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Then we followed that tunnel and explored few other rooms there. That was a little tricky to move around -2 level as we had to snake around wooden balks that hold a ceiling.  

Following the tunnel we came to the hole going up. When we looked up we recognized that big hole on the upper level, as we could see the end of the rail.   

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And then if you look down there is another mine going more deep in to the ground flooded by water. And it looks like there is one more level there. Here we stopped. The way down was pretty steep. Without another rope it was just impossible to get back from there.

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Upper tunnel on the way out. 

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Upper tunnel on the way out.

 

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Finally we saw the light in the end of the tunnel.

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That's us, two crazy dudes.  

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Please also read:

• Havasupai, Grand Canyon, Arizona Part 1 (Supai Village)
• Havasupai, Grand Canyon, Arizona Part 2 (Water Falls )

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