Cool Underground Tunnel and Nanaimo's Old Mine Shafts

[poni]

Wow very cool.

[dpill]

Hahahah.

Trust me, if you saw a ghost in a photo, you would know it. Although I did see an orb in one of the photos which indicates a spirit.

you cant be serious.l Ive seen all sorts of blurs passed off as "ghosts" and NEVER is there a defined apparition in the picture. Anyone can turn on OLN and know what to look for. And regarding ORBS...thats gotta be the worst kind of "evidence." Orbs are caused by a mass number of things including water and dust particles. Im not convinced that ghosts step out briefly for a snapshot nor do i think they float around in little balls. However there is a separate thread for the non skeptics, Id hate to turn this into a paranormal debate

[Foxglove]

I don't disagree. Lots of people try to pass things off for ghosts. I don't believe in the blurs, too many things can cause them. I wish I kept all my photos from my ghost hunting days, I took some interesting photos. Yes there are many things that can cause the "orb" look. I never said it was a spirit just that it indicates one. In regards as to ghosts stepping out for a snapsnot...it's not that they're there waiting for someone to take a picture. They are moving around in their own dimension and sometimes we catch a glimmer of that world through our technology. Just like EVP, spirits aren't waiting to be caught on tape, they talk and we happen to catch them, lol. It's kind of hard to stay away from the paranormal in mines like these. Where energy imprints would be so strong that you see apparitions or get photos or other paranormal things, especially given the age of the places. The paranormal is bound to happen.

[AceMcCool]

Can't wait till you guys find a mine with rails and coal cars in them.. that would be the best!

[dpill]

It could be a hot spot! But it seems...expensive to try and scientifically investigate that sort of thing :P

[Foxglove]

I have my tape recorder. That's about all you need. Although, video camera with night vision is wicked for catching orbs! First time I saw orbs on video I was in awe. But I catch EVP pretty easily. I'll have to get back into that for sure. I bet there are spirits in that mine that have something to say.

[seaman]

The cribbing in this mine is really what stands out in my memory, the network of tunnels is the other special feature, that's such a great photo of GR74 walking up the tunnel at the Y with a big smile on his face, that's what it's all about. a couple other interesting things about the portal we found the cribbing in. We start the decent on the inside of a closed off entrance that we found earlier outside, decend 200-250 feet through a normal timbered section before reaching a half collapsed timber that is obviously holding up alot of rock, this thing looks like it could break any time. I had reservations about carefully slipping under this thing, but when I peered into the darkness I could see the symetrical patern of this cribbing on the walls, GR74 as usual was ready to go, so I followed and I'm glad I did, because it was amazing to see how perfect those walls are, they have likely been in place for 60-80 years! this portal is very dry which would account for the great condition of most of this slope we were walking on the original working floor which showed in this cribbed section very little sign of collapse, indeed if the city were ever to open a mine for public tours this would be an ideal site. we definately do know what mine we were in and our travels under ground helped us understand the atlas map better so we have a pretty good idea how this mine was laid out and we have ideas where there may be more entrances.
Another story from the day, GR74 found his coal car on a slack heap, the metal frame still intact, with a old rotten piece of the original wood still there, one of my biggest regrets of the day was missing the photo op, before we were rudely interupted by a pack of rabid dogs. GR74's like "you know what this is" I reply "Ya" in disbelief and just at that second we hear the dogs approaching little guy came right up on us and gave a bark when he was probably 200 feet away, tipped us off, we both ran like the wind, I just remember seeing trees at waist level I hurdled about three of them, I'm thinkin the old legs can still do this, we ran until we couldn't run any further finally broke down in a swamp where the dogs could have had us but they gave up, we were too fast for them haha. We figured there were 4-5 dogs that many for sure, we laughed our asses off they could have been cocker spaniels for all we knew neither of of looked back.

[GR74]

The dogs were funny, we may have been trespassing and not realized it. We usually stick to the bush and follow GPS coordinates. We could hear dogs barking and see a house, so we were very careful. I saw the remains of a coal car by a gravel road, probably someone's driveway at this point. We came out of the bush to inspect it as there are a string of mines in the area, the first being the Bright Mine. I stared in amazement at the coal car frame. The wood was rotten and the wheels were missing but the hitch and frame was all there. It was half burried. It is basically what I am after to complete a coal car of my own. We understood that it belonged to somebody and as those thoughts went through our heads, we heard 4 or 5 dogs bark. They heard us and came running towards us. We didn't see them but could hear them running towards us. We just looked at each other and listened. When we were sure that we were caught, we took off through the bush like criminals. I could hear the one dog behind me, it kept on coming after us into the bush. Seaman was ahead of me and was plowing through the trees trying to escape. I couldn't believe we were doing this, I was kinda scared but was laughing at what was taking place. If it was a police dog behind us, we'd of been caught and chewed up for sure. Good Times!

The first photo in the set that seaman posted shows me up a tree in Granby. We were hiking along the base of a sandstone ridge when 2 large ravens started making all kind of noise. We had a feeling that there was a nest close by. We stopped for a minute and I could see a nest made of sticks up on a ledge above us. I climbed the tree and could see a little one sleeping, the ravens started swooping at me. I wanted to snap a quick photo but was worried I'd lose my grip and fall. I caught a glimpse and away we went.

The mine was the best part of the day. There was too much to look at down there, I made off with a small piece of track as a souvenir. I want to go back one day and explore the other tunnels. I'm thinking we should start capturing these places with a camcorder and post video. I don't really know if the anyone has even really seen the inside of an abandoned coal mine in Nanaimo until we started posting the photos in this thread. Its a lot of fun and I'm glad our adventures have rewarded us in so many different ways.

There are still a pile of mines out there to find, both slopes and shafts. After this we go to Cumberland!

[Foxglove]

Hahahahaah!

Oh the gift of vivid imagery as you tell your tale. For more effect I imagined you both in orange prison jumpsuits running from little beagles. It made my heart laugh.

[GR74]

Plenty to see in (or under) Extension!