Ancient Mule Bank Mine Waterfall – 2-15-2017
Two things you never hear in the same sentence are ‘mines’ and ‘waterfalls’ but, after hearing about my friend John Forbe`s recent discovery of an old mule bank mine that believe it or not, was completely hidden behind a waterfall, I knew I had to see this for myself asap ! Located in the Little Stony area of Southwest Virginia, I was excited as we made our way into the gorge on a chilly morning. Along on this excursion would be our leader John Forbes, Dan Till, Amanda Moore, my son Tyler Tarpley, and yours truly.
(left to right) John Forbes, RAT, Tyler Tarpley) Deep inside the mule bank mine. (Photo by Dan Till)
Our first stop would be the rock cliffs where the ‘barred’ mine shafts are located. They now have paper signs on them courtesy of and paid for by our own John Forbes ! The rock formations here are always a treat and worth the time to climb up and check them out as the wind and water eroded sandstone makes for some unique formations.
John shows the size of the cliffs. Note the barred mine shaft below with the ‘new’ signs !
Wind erosion
Eroded sandstone.
More sandstone patterns
Sandstone cliffs
John checking out some of the cool rock formations along the base of the cliffs. Some resemble formed concrete but, it is all natural.
Green patina
John admiring part of the cliff system
Continuing onward we would eventually reach the point where John would lead us off trail and up a steep ascent that would get us closer to our destination. It was colder in the higher elevation and we would soon see some light snow. This only added to the beauty of this hike. A decent sized talus field or boulder garden as some call it had to be crossed and I could soon see some sizeable cliffs looming high above us which were no doubt the original source of these rocks. Somehow I knew we would be checking those out but, the sounds of water came to my attention as our direction turned away from the cliffs and into a deep, hidden ravine. At the head of this would indeed be a very nice waterfall yet, as I approached it I still could not see any trace of a mine entrance. Even when standing only a few feet from the free fall of the waterfall it was still not visible. It was only when John pointed it out to us and made the transition from being in front of the waterfall to being behind it that it appeared ! Just like that, there it was, a mine shaft completely hidden behind a waterfall !! Mind blown.
reaching a much higher elevation we find small patches of snow. Here Tyler is at the top of a talus field and above him and just out of the picture is a rather large set of cliffs.
Small unnamed creek that was basically one big waterfall due to the steep terrain
Once in the gut of the ravine we had to navigate the creek. This large fallen tree was just one of many obstacles we encountered as we climbed higher and higher to reach the destination.
First view of the waterfall / mine entrance
Even when you are this close to the base of the falls you have no clue there is a mine shaft behind it.
John looks in to see if it is still there, to make sure his discovery was not just a wet dream !!
John takes the plunge and make his way through the falls to get inside the entrance to the mine shaft
To access this old mule bank type coal mine, one has to experience a form of what we call a ‘Hillbilly Baptism’ which means you have to pass directly through the falling water only, in this case we would not be standing still under it ! It was too cold for being wet so we each took our turn getting through the falls as quickly as we could and soon we were all behind the falls and looking into the anciently old mine shaft. I must tip my hat to the Gnome for this discovery as it is as well hidden as anything I have ever encountered. A very old mine that as short as I am, I could not stand all the way up in once inside it. We donned our headlamps and made our way into the mine. After seeing the first of several completely rotted and petrified timbers, I knew this was not the safest place to be but, very awesome nonetheless.
Dan O prepares for his ‘Hillbilly Baptism’ so he can join John on the inside !
John moves out of the way as Dan prepares to enter the mine
With Dan now inside the mine, it is now Tyler`s turn !
Tyler opts for a drier yet muddier approach !
Tyler crawls through a smaller part of the entrance in hopes of avoiding the water
Three inside, two to go !
Inside the mine was very dark as soon as we turned away from the entrance. This is with my headlamp off I can barely see Tyler ahead of me.
My pics failed miserably. using a flash only illuminated the steam / fog inside the mine.
It was wet and muddy in most places and there was a split where multiple shafts went off in at least three or four different directions. Traces of the old wooden rails where the wagons would ride upon, pulled by the mules are still visible. We took our time and thoroughly explored each shaft one at a time going to the end of each. One of which went upwards into the mountain where it was much more open and you could actually stand up. Water was trickling down into this one I noticed as John climbed to the top of it. This erosion obviously makes it unstable as if it needed any other reasons to be dangerous meaning a cave in could occur at any given time. There were signs of a couple of small ones already. Lots of old artifacts from old cans most likely used for powder or food, to really old, and rusted miniature railroad spikes were found. I am sure if these things could talk we would still be there listening to the tales they would be telling.
After going back into the main shaft for a ways, it split off into 3 or 4 different shafts. This was the first one to the right that we explored. It went uphill as you can see John and Dan above me.
One of many fallen and rotten timbers that were once used for roof support.
John at a crossroads where a shaft splits into two routes
Some flow formations on the roof of the mine
Looking back towards the entrance as we come out of the first shaft to the right as we get ready to explore another one of the many shafts in the mine.
Using a flash to try and show the next shaft we would follow to its end.
Manda going into the next shaft
Trying unsuccessfully to use a flash at one of the splits.
One of the old supports still standing in place on a corner where a shaft divides into two shafts
Looking to the left shaft you see another support that is much more rotted out and gone
Going to near the end of the right side shaft you can see evidence of a small cave in !
Wider angle of the same shaft showing the cave in, another old timber support and many rocks stacked on the sides.
Fairly fresh poop on an old petrified cross tie. Proves that we are not the only thing that visits this mine.
Tyler trying his luck on taking pics with his phone in one of the many shafts
Looking back towards the entrance as we go back to the split to go into more shafts in a different direction.
Amanda checking something out in one of the shafts. You can see how low the roof is. (Photo by Dan Till)
Pardon my blurry pics but, here you can see a disintegrated timber in the next shaft we explored.
A much better picture taken by Dan Till.
Following Tyler and Dan into the next shaft
Scratches ? on the ceiling
Deep into another shaft. Roof flows, fallen and leaning timbers, etc.
Tyler in one of the mine shafts
Another shot of Tyler deep in the mine
There were several old cans of assorted sizes within the confines of the mine
Another completely rusted out can. (Photo by Dan Till)
John and Manda checking out another mine shaft
Dan`s view of us from a high perch in the dead end of one of the shafts (Photo by Dan Till)
John taking pics that I am sure are way better than any of mine !
I am attempting to show John at the end of the old wooden tracks that still remain that were used to roll the small buggies out of the mine that were pulled by mules. (hence why it is called a mule bank mine)
Same shot only a much better one by Dan Till ! The old wooden rail system was fascinating !
Close up of one of the rails. These are made from wood. I would love to see a picture of what the buggy looked like that rolled upon these.
It is hard to grasp the thought of men chiseling this shaft into the mountain by hand.
I wish I had been able to capture the scene with better pics.
Another great shot by Dan Till. I wish mine had turned out like this.
Old timber support. I am sure these used to have cross beams attached.
Shims. It is obvious these are anciently old !
The main shaft still has the imprints of the old wooden rails even though they are long gone
On the larger shaft to the left (as you go into the mine) it is larger and at the end of it here, it goes up onto much higher ledges and is much taller. You can actually stand up easily in this area. This is also where the water is trickling in from the roof at the dead end.
John climbs up to the upper level to show some scale to its size (and to see what`s up there of course !)
John on the upper level
here you can see the water flowing out the shaft with the upper level as you look past Tyler, John, Dan O with illumination provided by Amanda`s light !
Large coal vein as there is still a lot of coal remaining in this mine
Can you imagine working in here all day ?
Close up of some small flows on the roof of the mine
Some Grandaddy Long Legs about to feast upon some cave crickets.
More old wooden track rails
This was on the floor of the mine and I have no idea what it is but it looked like some black hair of some animal after everything else had decomposed ?
Another shot of the strange fuzzy thing
Looking over a cave in at the end of a shaft
A very rusted miniature railroad spike
Getting back into one of the smaller shafts (Photo by Dan Till)
After spending quite a bit of time within the confines of the mine having explored every square inch of it, we made our retreat back to the waterfall entrance and once again baptized ourselves upon our exit of this historical place. We decided to explore the cliffs on the creek right side and save the ones on the left side for another day as, it appeared as if the right side ones would lead to a prominent ridge that might provide a way back down to the valley floor below for a nice loop. We proceeded to migrate in that direction.
Looking out of the entrance from behind the waterfall at Tyler who is already outside the mine
Finding our way up the cliff
Lots of collapsed rocks at the base of the cliffs
Tyler making his way to the base of the cliff with the others.
This thing was massive.
Dan and John explore the cliff. Noting the large pile of fallen rocks, I hoped that none would fall on this day !
Side view with John and Dan in an attempt to show the size of the cliff and the huge overhanging roof !!!
Me gnome posing under the mighty cliff overhang ! (Photo by Dan Till)
Group shot (Photo by John Forbes)
The right side cliffs were much larger when up close to them and once we climbed up the steep ridge we followed a very rocky spine which was a lot of fun however, there were many spots where it would ‘cliff out’ and we were forced to its backside to get around the multiple drops as we made our way slowly down to the valley way down below us. This took awhile but, eventually we would have the creek in sight where a couple of high speed ‘slides for life’ would have the descent over with.
After a very steep climb we made it to the top of the very narrow spine ridge that we would attempt to follow down.
Tyler negotiates the rocky spine ridge
Tyler on the completely exposed rocky spine ridge. The other side was mostly vertical so we had to stay on this side for the most of the way down.
The spine ridge was a long series of rocky drops. This view shows the constant vertical side to our left. A LONG way down !!!
Fresh bear poo along the rocky spine ridge
One of dozens of large rocky drops along the ridge descent. always vertical on the left side which forced us off the right side when the drops were too steep to climb down.
This was one super steep and narrow descent !
Killer angle of one of the larger drops along the way down this mighty spine ridge
Going around that last vertical cliff required this short but very steep detour off to the right side once again ! As you can see we are still a long way from the valley floor !
Back on the narrow ridge and still a long way to go to get to the bottom.
John surveys the next leg of the journey down this spine ridge
Dan O going around the right side of yet another obstacle on our way down this amazing ridge
A quick look back
After cliffing out up there we were forced to come down to here on the right side yet again
Back on the ridge below the last cliff, looking back up
Another view looking back at another vertical cliff you can see how our left side was always completely vertical.
Me doing a fast ‘slide for life’ down the last part of the descent. (Photo by Dan Till)
I had to interrupt the slide to get over the log obstacle ! John shot video of it all ! (Photo by Dan Till)
Once down at creek level we did find a couple more smaller mine shafts that were not barred as one had actually caved in and both were a bit too small to risk exploring. They were interesting to see however. Then there was the task of getting back across the wide stream without getting wet. After following it downstream for a ways we did find a ninja log walk that was suitable for crossing. Manda opted for the old fashioned way of wading right through the creek !
Another old mine shaft near the bottom of the mountain. This one was too small due to safely go inside of.
You can see the mountain has pretty much caved this one in. I suppose this is why it is not barred, that and it is not anywhere near a trace of any trail.
Backing off some you can see how the rock cracked and fell in on the mine entrance. With a small amount of digging one could squeeze past this but, I am not sure I would want to.
Another shaft not far from the first one, is along the same crack line and is also caved in.
Zooming into this one shows just how badly it is collapsed
Backing away some you can see the second mine shaft
John doing the ninja log walk over the creek (Photo by Dan Till)
Tyler and I crossing the creek (Photo by Dan Till)
What an awesome day it had been ! I am sure I will return back to the old mule bank mine one day and will check out the cliffs on the creek left side then as well but, until then there are more places to go and amazing things to see. So, until next time,,,
My name is 'RAT' and I love the mountains and waterfalls of the East TN. area where I live and I hope you enjoy this blog about my outdoor adventures.
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