My Biggest Mine Discovery Yet (Down A 1,100 Ft Pit) 

Thank you all so much for following along for the adventure! I'm planning on going all the way to the bottom of the Jefferson Chimney here soon. If you aren't already, I hope you'll subscribe! Let me know below what other videos you'd like to see in the future!

definitely go deeper bro stay safe

I’d say yes, go deeper. However, from what I’ve watched, you really need to learn how to utilize multiple anchor points (rebelays and deviations) to reduce the risk of rub points and ultimately protect your ropes and life.

That single-strand rope draped across the rocks at 10:46 was scary. When I was a teenager our group got into rappelling and we found out pretty quick how dangerous a single-strand of rope rubbing on sharp surfaces can be. One of the guys' rope snapped from rubbing on the rocks. Luckily for him he had descended most of the way and the injury was only a broken arm, but it could have been much, much worse. A humble suggestion would be to invite one of the mountaineering/exploring clubs out to explore some of your site. The amount of information (technique and safety) you can pick up from a group like this would be invaluable and they would be thankful for the rare experience.

Watching the slow, meticulous climb down all that descent, passing by countless ladders and some platforms, made me really think about the massive human undertaking of the miners building the way down there as they mined further and further.

when you go down into mines like this bring a cordless hammer drill then you can set really good rope anchors which will make your accent far easier

28:50 when you've been playing Minecraft for like 2 hours exploring a cave system, have absolutely no idea where you are anymore, and then finally see that double torch marker leading you back home.

Johnny is as passionate and committed like Brent in exploring the Cerro Gordo mines. He is just silent in the background but you can see how skillful and confident he is going underground.

I can't imagine the miners building all of this... It stresses me out so much seeing things falling all around you, seeing you taking breath around all that dust.... What a different time.

I just can’t believe people mined all this rock out, it’s huge

You know it's gonna be a intense video when Jonny shows up !

Hey Brent, I'm a retied California State Ranger. I have a cabin on Lone Pine Creek, and Visit Cerro Gordo a lot. I volunteer as a guide at Bodie State Park and come from a Eastern Sierra mining family. Love to hear one of your history talks. Thank you for taking the long view and sharing why you do.

As a lover of history I get goose bumps when you find something that no one has seen or touched for so long. Really appreciate your exploration to find the history not to extort it but to share it with everyone. Well done.

The "Dude I know where we are!" moment was great and a long time coming.

Hey ! Maybe a nice thing to input for viewers would be to put a "map" of the Mine (schematic) and as you explore it a red dot or something move on the map, so we can better figure out where you are ?! It's more work for sure but more comprehension for us

This grandmother loved the adventure with you boys but I do have to say you scared me a few times. I'm definitely keeping you boys in my prayers.

The most incredible thing about all of this is that you're capturing it impressively on video...thank you for all your efforts and congratulations on all your discoveries!

go deeper but definitely camp. going up is going to take a lot of energy

I would put money on a miner knowing it was his last shift in the powder room section of the mine and it would likely never been seen for many years. So he put the perfect box on display with a newspaper date to be found in the future. Amazing

That's absolutely awesome, I've never seen anything like that. Guys you are very brave!

you guys have some BIG balls, no way I could do, exciting to watch. great job

Brent: brings everything Johnny: chucks and a hoodie

Dude you guys got massive balls doing this, my hands are sweating from just watching.

You guys are nuts, but I do admire your courage, and the level of fitness it takes to do this sort of thing.

I'm glad we got you guys for all that. holy crap

dang its crazy thinking about people that were down there 100 years ago, like the newspaper was from 1913, one year before war war 1, and one year after the titanic sank. its quite interesting and fascinating.

When your not using the platform lift, secure a rope that goes down the shaft, so if you ever take an alternate route like this again and can't get back up it, you can clip into and ascend that way instead. leave some MRE's and water down there, too! Really cool exploration

What can a person say but WOW. You and Johnny are amazing. That was crazy adventure thanks Brent and Johnny enjoyed every minute

Me and my 6 year old lad love a weekend morning when we snuggle up and watch one of your videos. Fabulous content - amazing to watch your adventures and progress but my lad says he doesn’t fancy going too far into the ‘pit of doom’. 🎉

“Dude, I know where we are!” Such a great moment!

I loved when you said: "I know where we are" and you just started running! I would have loved to see your face at that moment. Even though it is not the easiest way in, I'm happy you finally found your way in the Union Mine. Can't wait to see more of your exploration, but stay safe!!

Hey Brent so happy you finally found anothet way into Union Mine!!!🎉 absolutely go deeper see if you could get to 900 thru that way lol. U are by far my favorite youtuber!!! Stay safe you & Johnny!!

Going into old mines that are abandoned is absolutely crazy

So glad you finally found your way into the Union Mine, Brent. I know you're of course going to go deeper... but I wonder if you would consider doing something to protect your lungs from all that dust we see flying around. It can't be healthy to be breathing in all of that.

i love how the bottom of the chimney on the map just has question marks also, that was stressful af you guys are madlads

Absolutely 100 % GO DEEPER!!!!!!

I have spent several weeks in Cerro Gordo and it has a lot of history and places to explore.

The craziest thing about all of this is that there were people working in these mines with MUCH less effective safety equipment and lighting.

I prefer to call it The Onion mine, it's got lots of layers :)

Scary to see those boulders wedged in like that... Great video !! SCARY !!😄😄😄

I destroyed my knee several years ago so thanks for helping me explore again!

Hey. I love to follow your channel and explorations, but I’m also scared sometimes when I look at how you handle your ropes when going down. I have done a lot of rappelling in mines and we have always use anchors to pull the rope away from ledges and sharp stone overhangs. If the rope is forces to hang over an sharp edge we always use some protective patch or sleeve. Try string up a rope and try to cut it when under tension you will se how little force is needed from sharp objects to cut off the rope. I also have a few ascending tips if you like. Best regards from Norway

And like we always say, "If He Uploaded..." Everyone: "He Survived!"

I'm normally not claustrophobic, but watching you guys repelling down into Jefferson Chimney definitely gave me the chills. Exciting though. Would love to see you reach the 1100' level at one time. Great video!

what is amazing is the fact that they were able to build all of this with only the technology at hand

These updates are what make my weekends extra sweet

This is the most realistic modpack i've seen for Minecraft yet.

Obviously, You Have to take us to the bottom. Keep it up! Most Awesome.

When you enter your first adit you are hooked. Mine exploring. Cerro Gordo, Gold Hill, the Virginia Comstock, Grass Valley....unbelievable adventure in youth. So dangerous it is amazing. The wood is so old, the mine ready to collapse at any time.......and on we would go trying to find artifacts and levels no one else was crazy enough to go into. It is SO addictive, and wondering if the next mother lode(or left over unstable dynamite) is two inches behind any of the surfaces you climb by and over. The wonder of the absolutely intense labor and time it took to burrow deep into the earth and effort it takes to mine. Huff in tons of timber, rail, vent pipes, tools....That rock could collapse at any time and no one would ever find you..

I think you all would really benefit from reading a book called: Alpine Caving Techniques. If you switched to a frog ascending system and used rebelayes it would greatly improve your efficiency and safety on rope. I really enjoy your videos btw 😀

Johnny is hilarious, he seems like a great companion for something like this.

Johnny has good instincts. When asked R or L he quickly says Right! Well done. Great adventure. Be careful and look forward to seeing more of the mine.

Go for more, you need to get more of the history of those miners brought to light. Thank you and your friends for your efforts so far.

Cant wait to see the 900 level attempt! Stay safe!

Archimedes: "Eureka!" Brent: "Dude, I know where we are!"

This is one of the best channels on RU-vid.

Best mine exploration video ever!

That feeling when you know exactly where you are, that's incredible!

Once again, I'm left scared and breathless, and have to remind myself he got out...he got out, he's uploaded the video!!! You scare me my friend, but I love that you take us with you. These are not places that I would ever go...you rock man!

Oh yes. Go deeper. Very exciting Brent and Jonny. WoooHoooo

It must have been absolutely brutal hard work blasting and lifting all that rock out of those tunnels. Just incredible. I think you two must be the only people to be down there since 1913 judging by the newspaper. Just getting out of there after a hard days work would be considered hard work by itself today.

I am so happy for him. He is able to live his dream life.

Of course you’ll go deeper… When you’re down there, you clearly have a good awareness of direction etc but do you use a mechanism to keep track of which tunnel you turned down etc? Flags on one wall or anything? Would love you to do an episode on your logic to how you explore, and how you research everything.

Can't fault you for backsliding on the confidence with your equipment. I'm almost done binge watching to get up to the latest videos. Man it's been a ride.

as a seasoned caver, this was was a pleasure to watch. amazing how much you've learned.

Brent, I don’t know how you’re able to traverse these mines while hauling around a gigantic set of balls. This channel is by far the most adventurous on RU-vid since you’re taking REAL risks. Please stay safe. 🙏🏻

I dont even want to be 6 feet below let alone a thousand feet you guys went deeper than 99.9 percent of what most people will ever go so thanks for sharing your adventure with us you tubers .

Although this is an older video, this exact video at 33:35- I felt like I would love to just take a whole day and re-binge watch everything from the start until present time.. I think just the pure innocent excitement that is totally wanting to be shared all around as possible with all the folks you knew and even now the everday new folks that are just now tuning in, into that exact enjoyment of the present time in those videos is in my mind PURE GOLD SIR!!! The silver and mostly lead galena projects are just a bonus really.. I really really really love this once in this current lifetime now in the present endeavor you've been on and how it's gained attention and even had major contributions for the Hotel that burned down and even using equipment to open up past hillside mines that have collapsed probably due to land slides or stopes just adjusting some until the supports were put in over 90 - 120+ years from even other fellow major RU-vidrs like the Diesel Brothers ‐ Dave Sparks and his big family of a RU-vid team and the other events you have with the metal detection and rebuilding of past dreams that by now has either whither'd away a good bit but still visible but others are totally collapsed by now and then we also gotta think about the then kittens that are now grown cats and I absolutely love all of the alpacas and I think a few chickens and headbutting baby goats I'm not sure yet as far as this has gone in this video in this point in time now but I'm slowly but sure re-watching some of these videos simply for my own enjoyment of seeing you , yes, all you man, with you're newly formed online friends volunteering for this and that . To me it's s like a new mission every weekend after the week-long working to get everything done as much as possible to get it slowly but surely back to fully functioning so that those volunteers can maybe mine a tiny bit of galena for fun and take some home for keepsake to say they went soo many feet underground at some ghost town to personally mine some memorabilia chunks to take home.. that would be awesome to see too.. hell, I might even try to move out closer to that way to also help volunteer some personal time for some of the enjoyments of everyone attending all the time to have some exploring of the old stuff buried only to be rediscovered and displayed in the museum which is awesome too..

Yes definitely go all the way to 900’ and beyond. I love watching YOU guys doing it! No way in he’ll I would! I caved a lot when I was younger but those days are long gone.

guys, please take a course on caving. I really want to see more videos, but I would wait if you stopped to take one. You are exposing yourselves a lot there.

Man, this would be so fascinating and such an adventure to explore, but I’d also be terrified 😅

Epic adventure love watching this channel 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

It's all fun tell you stuck down there

I'm convinced Johnie needs his own spin off series ASAP!

I'm so impressed he remembers the way back. I would panic lol.

All what I want to say is Thank you for videos and please be SAFE!

'... past the 900... down to the below...' great line!

"You wanna go with me?" "Yeah. Where we going?" Johnny's a real one. 😂

This is honestly some of the coolest shit on youtube

Heck yes. Go deeper go all the way and check everything out. Please keep us informed of your progress.

Of course you got to go to the bottom you got to see what you can find awesome show

Love Johnny's attitude lmfao... "You wanted an EASIER way in, not a HARDER way"

when abseiling PLEASE use something to backup your hand on the dead rope, one rock fall could knock you unconscious then your hand goes loose on dead rope and you're dead. Literally just a prussic under the ATC is enough, its a pain to manage but watching @19:53 is just giving me shivers.

Thanks for sharing your property with us and exploring the mine. This is so cool. This exploration was breathtaking to watch.

Best video!! Can’t wait to see more !! 🤘🏼

This is how I know I’m fully invested in your journey: when you showed the shaft me and my dog cheered

Looks like you need an exploration party, with supplies to stay in the mine for a few days, with an emergency rescue team on standby

Thank you for sharing this experience with us! Much love from North Texas!

Enjoy hearing the history and glad you are trying to preserve it.

Me - "Oh a blasting cap, good thing he's not touching it." Him - *touches it*

now that is some good old rappelling .......we know the feeling of getting something pulled into your descender .....that will wake you up in the morning ....surprised you did not bring two way radios ...... it's always a nice feeling knowing that you made the connection to another section of mine that you were looking for and an easier way out the ascending straight up ....but you guys did it .....congrats my friend ....I know that tired look too ....of course you have to go deeper .....you own it.

That was one of the most amazing videos I've ever seen. Thank you. Woooooooooow.

I'd been watching all your video up until around a year and a half ago and this is how far I got. I'm so glad to see you're still going and am looking forwards to catching up

This gives me "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" vibes. Waiting for the 1100 ft level!!

The fact this was made back in the 1800s with no modern technology or equipment is crazy mainly all done by hand and dynamite it’s crazy

Such a great find, for such a shallow mine Brent ~ lmmfao 🙃

Your spacial awareness and sense of direction in all those underground tunnels is very impressive

That was fascinating to watch! Thanks for posting for those of us who will never have the opportunity to do it ourselves! 👍

This is the happiest I've been for you since I starting watching over a year ago!

You need a couple etrier for that ascending. Get yourself a yellow left handed ascender too, makes it smoother to handle. Great vid btw!