Glorious mud?!

We have permission to fossick on one of the mining claims, so went for a look today.  

Some of the claim has been open-cut and it was quite interesting to see how this was done. 

Open-cut mining was not common when I lived at Yowah as a child.  Back then most of the mining was done underground, with shaft access via long ladders.  (My brother and I were allowed underground but only with adult supervision).

After two days of rain, the road to the mines was quite slippery. The ground was sticky to walk upon too. Our boots were quickly caked in heavy mud!

Nick has since cleaned his boots by hosing them off but I still need to work on mine.

We'll have a better look around the mine when the rain stops and the ground dries a little.  Even then, as far as Vaughan is concerned there'll be rules and no-go areas - for safety reasons.