Today, off west of Kaslo looking for rhodenite. I know there's a claim, have read a few mining reports that refer to other instances of it, I know it's up here. I just want a view of it in the field, to improve my finding ability (that's another post).
So:
Colorful mossy waterfall.
Pink, and sort of bulbous, in a tufa-sort of way. It proved to be a deep organic map of moss & vegetation. Cool, but not what I'm looking for...(you can see where I dug through it to the rock beneath, middle left)
Mine number #1, never would have seen this from the highway, but walking it becomes apparent. Note the Stalactites forming on the ceiling. And, note the trash in the back (it ends just out of site of the flash). Who does this? "Honey, I'm just running my trash 10 km out of town to a hole I found in a cliff...it'll save us a dollar on the collection!!"
Another mine, a few yards deeper - further up the road. Again, invisible from the highway at driving speed. This one has in the back formed some beautiful calcite terraces and "cave pearls". All this in probably a hundred short years..
In the cave it reflects a brilliant white by the flashlight. The flash doesn't do it justice.
Fine stalactites forming...look to the top left of the photo...
Yep. A shit-ton of cave spiders. Clusters, the edge of the crevasse is hairy with them. hundreds, huddled together for (?warmth? IDK WTF!?)
These are actually pretty common, at least in the first chambers of any mine/cave, but - well, I still brush my clothes a little anxiously and shake out my hair. You always spot them only after you've been brushing up against ceilings/walls, and then you discover (too late) that they're everywhere.
And, the end of this mine, an upturned ore cart, broken shovel, skull mask, and an ominous looking noose hanging from the ceiling. A little memorial to remind me that this isn't mine own private discovery (but the calcite - beautiful!)