When it comes to abandoned mines, you're never quite sure what you're going to find once you descend below the surface of the Earth. More than once I've entered an opening, only to find that the drift sputtered out into a dead end after a hundred feet, with nothing interesting to show for the efforts. The Flooded Graffiti Mine is not one of those mines.

Following Ontario Abandoned Mines and Explore Underground into the depths, I knew that there was a collection of miner's carbide graffiti to find in this mine. I purposely had gone out of my way not to look up their documentations of it, however, as I wanted it to be a genuine surprise for me. I have never come across graffiti etched in by miner's using the carbide from their headlamps, so this was a brand new experience.

Just as we transitioned from surface to underground, we hit our first snag... the drifts were flooded to at least shin height along the edges. OAM and EU were surprised, as they had been there a month earlier and it had been much drier. We joked about how all the missing water from the other sites we had visited had ended up here, and then debated our course of action. Naturally, I hadn't brought my water boots with me.

But it never really was in question, knowing what the payoff was. So into the murky water we went, my hiking boots well flooded. Thankfully I'm equipped with proper wool socks, so once the damp clothing warmed up it was tolerable. And the payoff was well worth it, finding several spots of graffiti and a large stope with a well-rusted chain ladder leading deeper into it. This is one that might be worth bringing a rope and gear down into the explore further... I'm certainly not trusting my life on that ladder!

There was another drift that we didn't explore, leading to another large stope. The water in that one went to thigh height. Just means I'll have to come back some other time when it's dried out again to see what secrets await down that waterlogged path.