An adit is the term for a horizontal entrance or exit to an underground mine. It can be used by air, water, ore or miners. Abandoned ones also offer an inexpensive way to get a look below the surface without the need to hire a test sample drilling contractor.
Yes, that's me in June of 1982. We were mapping old mine tunnels in anticipation of further exploration for gold and silver in a range and township section north of Winnemucca, Nevada. The light colored flagging on the tunnel floor at the bottom center is a distance marker we placed. As I recall, we were about 500-600 feet inside at the time, as measured by a Topofil device.
There were two of us that day. We took a few minutes out to record ourselves for posterity. We carried the wooden beam along to give us an eye-level hanging support for the gas lanterns. A second lantern is sitting on a rock behind a backpack further back. You can also see the lighter colored mineral veining in the rock just above my right knee.
Any underground geologists out there will probably also note that this is not a real safe passage. It is unreinforced and there is considerable rock debris on the floor. That debris collapsed from the ceiling. Often we would first discharge a weapon (snakeshot round) into the adit before entering. The concussion would bring down any loose rock before we got under it.
It also scared the crap out of the bats...
