David & I took a drive to some old haunts in southeast Missouri ...
Special shovel made just for the Bonne Terre Mine.
Notice how ore car slides directly into lift. Also notice expression on scale-object reflecting scale-object's realization that his destiny is to be a scale-object.
The headframe for the Bonne Terre is long gone. This alternate decline was inadvertently created when somebody was following some ore along a fault and daylighted (the surface is only 35' from the top of the uppermost level).
Concrete lined decline.
That's Donna, our wonderful tour guide. This ended up being a private tour for David and I (a benefit of off-season travel).
This is the sight that greeted us. The room-and-pillar mine extends laterally such that entire town sits atop tthe workings. There are three levels. The upper level is dry. The second level is partially filled. The lower level is completely submerged.
The tour features an electric boat ride. The mine is owned by Westside Diving.
This place is truly a destination for diving. Both Dave and I want to return for a weekend of diving.
Our next stop was Johnson Shut-Ins, where the Black River cuts through a series of rhyolitic welded-ash fall/flow tuffs.
The old cliff-diving site has been rendered "off-limits".
This 180-degree panorama depicts the scour zone that was produced by the failure of a large dam about four years ago. The carnage was incredible.