>>767941Concluding the 900 Level:
So upon my first visit to the mine last year I knew very little about the place. I hadn't seen the cross sectional map or read anything about it other than how to get to the mill site. It took us about 2 hours to work our way through the 800 Level and out, up the mountain to the next portal, and through towards the end of the 900 Level. We were exhausted, very cold, thirsty, and quite frankly shaking like little girls at this point because this place really is absolutely terrifying the first time you visit. You don't know if there are bears inside, if a rat is going to suddenly shoot down a riser tunnel and into your mouth, or if you're going to cut your leg on a length of sheet metal covered in 30 years of rust. So in this mental state we eventually find ourselves at a partly collapsed section of tunnel, about 30 feet of giant boulders lay in front of us.
We decide to keep pressing on and begin scaling the damp boulders forward, eventually revealing a small wooden passageway along the right side of the tunnel that wasn't buried in the collapse.
Pic related is the last photo I have from the 900 Level, taken by my friend as I made my way through this passageway.
On the other side was a room with a large wooden wall at one end, at the top of the wall just before the ceiling was a small opening, a wood ladder leaned up against the wall towards this opening. I climbed up and over the wall, there wasn't a drop on the other side like we expected, instead the ground was level with the top of the wall, leaving only a tight passage between the ground and ceiling. With my head down I crawled through this passage until the ceiling began rising, I stand up and look forward, pure darkness as far as I can see up, down, and around me.
This is the largest cavern on the cross sectional map above. You enter the cavern halfway up the wall, so it's like you're looking off of a 75 ft cliff into endless darkness. We were speechless.
