Other Stuff

• Human Waste Considerations
• Mine Safety
• Homemade Snowpeak Windscreen

If you're thinking about going in some of the mines that can be found on this website, we'd recommend that you first get a copy of Discovering Washington's Historic Mines. This book has a good section about what you will need to know if you're considering a trip inside a mine - plus, if you've found a mine that you want to explore, information about that mine can probably be found in this book. You can also check this book out from the Seattle and King County library systems, although once you read a little of this book, you probably will want your own copy.

Going in a mine is dangerous. The best way to insure your safety is to practice abstinence. We have gone to quite a few mining sites, and been content to just look around the surrounding area and not bother with an obviously dangerous looking mine.

Mines We Won't Go In:

• Coal Mines. Poison gases inside would more than likely kill you. No one explores these, most are sealed anyway.
• An adit dug in overburden (dirt & loose rock). A collapse here is a real possibility. A mine blasted into solid rock is better.
• A Collapsed Adit. We see some with good evidence of cave-in activity. If it happened once, it can happen again.
• Deep Water Inside. Forget it - no swimming for us. Too cold, bad footing, bad visibility, no fun.
• Vertical Mine Shafts. If gravity wins here, you lose.

Let your intuition take over in situations such as the ones above. It something seems dangerous, it probably is. Even mines in solid rock can have caved-in sections deep inside. We turn back when we encounter anything that doesn't look solid.

Dangers Lurking Inside a Mine:

• Darkness. If your source of lighting goes out in a deep complicated mine, this could be serious problem. You may never get out.
• Winzes. These are vertical workings dug down from inside a tunnel. Sometimes full of water, sometimes not, waiting for you to fall in.
• Old Wooden Structures. These can be rotten, just brushing some shoring could cause it to come tumbling down. On top of you.
• Old Explosives. These are sometimes encountered in old mines. Extremely dangerous and unstable.
• Bad Air. Some mines are oxygen deficient. You won't know until you pass out (and probably die).
• Caved Sections. If something has caved in, it isn't stable - more could come down at any time.

It's interesting how dark it really is inside a mine. It's not like your bedroom at night, which gets some light from dim sources. The darkness deep inside a mine seems to swallow up light. Interestingly, the hardest place to see in a mine is just inside the portal, where you can suffer from the "twilight effect" (still too bright for your flashlight to do much good, but dark enough for your eyes to lose effectiveness).

One can encounter a winze anywhere in a mine. Winzes can be full of water, waiting for you to accidentally slip in (or not notice due to water in the mine) and sink to unknown depths, weighted down by your gear. A dry winze isn't much better, if the fall doesn't kill you, the inability for a timely rescue might. Some winzes contain some water at a lower level. If you fell in one of these, just think of treading freezing water with all your gear, with no way to climb up. Sometimes old boards or timbers are in place over winzes - always be suspect of walking on any boards in a mine. Give any winzes you may encounter a wide berth.

One of the cool things about old mines is the stout timbers and carpentry skills that were utilized at the time to put up shoring, ore chutes, and other structures. Most look pretty solid. Some don't. After many years, water and rot can affect this old wood. It's better to view all wooden structures as potentially dangerous.

Don't go into a mine alone. A partner can always go for help if danger does strike, or yell at you if you're about to do something crazy.

About Equipment:

• Lighting. We take at least three sources of light each inside a mine: usually a headlamp, since it requires no hands, a small bright light for one hand (a small tactical light is good here) to shine where you want it to, and lastly, something like a small 1 cell flashlight in a pocket. This small light is there to get you "out" if your other lights fail. Of course, extra batteries and bulbs can make or break a mine trip.
• Hardhats. These are a nice to have if you're going to be in a mine for more than a few minutes. These can be purchased from your local mega-hardware chain for a few bucks. A headlamp can usually be fastened to a hardhat, and it will protect you from tunnel ceilings that are lower than you think. Ouch.
• Rubber Boots. Most mines have water seepage inside, and some drain out, while others don't. Usually a calf-high pair of cheap rubber boots comes in handy. Also good for the ever-present mud inside the mines.
• Clothing. Mines are wet and cold, and sometimes rain gear will keep you dry while walking under the many small drips present in a mine. In the summer a mine can be much colder than the outside temperature, so a fleece jacket might be a good idea too.

Here is another article with some information about the dangers surrounding old mining areas.

If you're thinking about going in some of the mines that can be found on this website, we'd recommend that you first get a copy of Discovering Washington's Historic Mines. This book has a good section about what you will need to know if you're considering a trip inside a mine - plus, if you've found a mine that you want to explore, information about that mine can probably be found in this book. You can also check this book out from the Seattle and King County library systems, although once you read a little of this book, you probably will want your own copy.

Going in a mine is dangerous. The best way to insure your safety is to practice abstinence. We have gone to quite a few mining sites, and been content to just look around the surrounding area and not bother with an obviously dangerous looking mine.

Mines We Won't Go In:

• Coal Mines. Poison gases inside would more than likely kill you. No one explores these, most are sealed anyway.
• An adit dug in overburden (dirt & loose rock). A collapse here is a real possibility. A mine blasted into solid rock is better.
• A Collapsed Adit. We see some with good evidence of cave-in activity. If it happened once, it can happen again.
• Deep Water Inside. Forget it - no swimming for us. Too cold, bad footing, bad visibility, no fun.
• Vertical Mine Shafts. If gravity wins here, you lose.

Let your intuition take over in situations such as the ones above. It something seems dangerous, it probably is. Even mines in solid rock can have caved-in sections deep inside. We turn back when we encounter anything that doesn't look solid.

Dangers Lurking Inside a Mine:

• Darkness. If your source of lighting goes out in a deep complicated mine, this could be serious problem. You may never get out.
• Winzes. These are vertical workings dug down from inside a tunnel. Sometimes full of water, sometimes not, waiting for you to fall in.
• Old Wooden Structures. These can be rotten, just brushing some shoring could cause it to come tumbling down. On top of you.
• Old Explosives. These are sometimes encountered in old mines. Extremely dangerous and unstable.
• Bad Air. Some mines are oxygen deficient. You won't know until you pass out (and probably die).
• Caved Sections. If something has caved in, it isn't stable - more could come down at any time.

It's interesting how dark it really is inside a mine. It's not like your bedroom at night, which gets some light from dim sources. The darkness deep inside a mine seems to swallow up light. Interestingly, the hardest place to see in a mine is just inside the portal, where you can suffer from the "twilight effect" (still too bright for your flashlight to do much good, but dark enough for your eyes to lose effectiveness).

One can encounter a winze anywhere in a mine. Winzes can be full of water, waiting for you to accidentally slip in (or not notice due to water in the mine) and sink to unknown depths, weighted down by your gear. A dry winze isn't much better, if the fall doesn't kill you, the inability for a timely rescue might. Some winzes contain some water at a lower level. If you fell in one of these, just think of treading freezing water with all your gear, with no way to climb up. Sometimes old boards or timbers are in place over winzes - always be suspect of walking on any boards in a mine. Give any winzes you may encounter a wide berth.

One of the cool things about old mines is the stout timbers and carpentry skills that were utilized at the time to put up shoring, ore chutes, and other structures. Most look pretty solid. Some don't. After many years, water and rot can affect this old wood. It's better to view all wooden structures as potentially dangerous.

Don't go into a mine alone. A partner can always go for help if danger does strike, or yell at you if you're about to do something crazy.

About Equipment:

• Lighting. We take at least three sources of light each inside a mine: usually a headlamp, since it requires no hands, a small bright light for one hand (a small tactical light is good here) to shine where you want it to, and lastly, something like a small 1 cell flashlight in a pocket. This small light is there to get you "out" if your other lights fail. Of course, extra batteries and bulbs can make or break a mine trip.
• Hardhats. These are a nice to have if you're going to be in a mine for more than a few minutes. These can be purchased from your local mega-hardware chain for a few bucks. A headlamp can usually be fastened to a hardhat, and it will protect you from tunnel ceilings that are lower than you think. Ouch.
• Rubber Boots. Most mines have water seepage inside, and some drain out, while others don't. Usually a calf-high pair of cheap rubber boots comes in handy. Also good for the ever-present mud inside the mines.
• Clothing. Mines are wet and cold, and sometimes rain gear will keep you dry while walking under the many small drips present in a mine. In the summer a mine can be much colder than the outside temperature, so a fleece jacket might be a good idea too.

Here is another article with some information about the dangers surrounding old mining areas.

Homemade Snowpeak Giga Windscreen

A few people have emailed us asking to see more photos of how a homemade windscreen for the Snowpeak Giga stove can be made. The windscreen offered by Snowpeak seems to be made of bulletproof steel, and weighs about 1/2 of what the stove weighs. Forget that. If you have an old pie plate handy, you can made one that works just as well and only weighs .1 oz. (that's one tenth of an ounce!) Here are approximately the steps to make one:

Step 1: First download this Word doc template. It was created by tracing over an actual Snowpeak windscreen, and adding some room on the outside diameter for curving up at the end. Print the template, cut it out and also cut out the inside pieces for the supports and burner. If you have an igniter, cut out the optional small piece near the center.

This is the original heavy Snowpeak windscreen

Step 2: Cut the bottom out of an pie plate (eat pie first). Trace the outline from the template onto the pie plate, and cut out the outer circle. The diameter of the outer circle should be 5 1/2 inches. Trace the cutouts for the supports and center. These can be cut with a utility knife or an exacto knife. A compass (drawing kind) can be used to trace the inner circle on the tin where the edges will be folded up.

Here are all the materials and tools used to make the windscreen

Step 3: Now the actual part that screens the wind. The Snowpeak stove works great in calm weather, but try to use it without a windscreen in any breeze, and you're going to waste fuel. The little lip that curves all the way around serves as the wind block. In the homemade version, this fold was accomplished by ungracefully making small cuts all around the perimeter of the cutout pie plate, and folding each section up one side against the one next to it. It works! A better idea of how the folds work can be seen in this closeup shot.

Edges bent up, showing the finished windscreen by original

Step 4: There are no more steps. Just put it on the stove now. If you have cut the support holes too narrow, the tin likes to bind and makes it tough to seat correctly. Also, as with the original windscreen, you need to kind of jockey the supports to get it on & off. So it's not an item of great beauty - but it works, is cheap, and very lightweight.

Homemade windscreen shown here on the stove. What a looker!