Field Trip Report:
Abernathy
Mica Mine, Another trip to the Abernathy Mine in Mitchell County today. We had a small turnout as I think the weather scared many members away. It was bitterly cold this morning as I made my way to the Armadillo to meet everyone. John D. was the first to arrive, then Josh, Wife and kids showed up. When we arrived at the mine, Debbie and Betty were already there and ready to go.
Hiking the mile and a half to the mine. Once we arrived at the site, the members began searching the dump piles which run from the railroad tracks down to the river below. My mission of the day was to search inside the mine, and for the fifth year, photograph the bats that migrate to this site each winter. I spent two hours in the mine taking pictures and observing the many pieces of old equipment still in place that the miners had left behind years before.
My first bat of the season was this Eastern Brown Bat. He had snuggled himself against a piece of wedge wood used by the miners in a drill hole.
Close up of above Brown Bat.
A pic of another Brown Bat that was well hidden from my camera. After taking pics of the two Brown Bats, I worked my way to the main room of the first tunnel. As you come into this area you will observe the remains of a collapsed wooden structure that was the framework for a hoist. This hoist was used to raise and lower materials and ore from the lower shafts and tunnels below this tunnel.
Collapsed hoist framework.
Under this framework is a vertical shaft that drops about 30 feet into the tunnels below. |
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