Things you never want to run into underground!

There are many things you never want to find when you go into an abandoned mine complex.
Wild animals, mole people, collapsed tunnels, corpses, etc etc.
But number one on my list HAS to be old, unexploded ordnance.
The most common one being dynamite.

Like this pile.


This pile and the dozens of single sticks of heavily degraded dynamite that surrounded me when I realized that it wasn't just dead leaves on the floor.
I backed away slowly and carefully, paying excruciating attention to where I was putting my feet and managed to evac the adit without incident.
An exciting day, although an excitement I could have done without. It's amazing what a good adrenaline rush will do for your appreciation of being alive!
Always, always, ALWAYS look where you put your feet. Pay damn good attention to your surroundings and hopefully you'll never get this close to old dynamite as I did.
This caught me by surprise because the adit was so short. Only 40-50 feet deep. And they were the only "artifacts" left behind in there. With all the dead leaves that had been blown in through the opening, the dynamite was remarkably well-concealed and that's what almost got me into the last bit of trouble I would have ever found.
Seems like this was a test dig, they stopped using it and when they cleared out the mines in the area, they just dumped all their old dynamite in this one hole.
The explosive in question appears to be Atlas Powder Company Gelodyn No. 3. This is a partially-gelatinous dynamite compound, common in mining operations in the past. Like all dynamite, when it gets old, it becomes extremely unpredictable and can be incredibly sensitive. Or it could be completely inert. It's impossible to know and it is certainly not something you want to take a guess at!

The likelihood of me not being here to type this today if I'd not realized what I was practically standing on is sky-high. They would have needed an eye-dropper and a ziplock bag to pick up my remains.
Abandoned mine exploration is an inherently dangerous undertaking and should not be taken lightly. If I had been even a little less observant, I would likely have stepped directly on this pile and that would have been the last of me.
Watch your step!