To Hell 'n Back Aagain

Enter into the depths of Hell. Will you emerge from the abyss unscathed?

To Hell and Back Again.

Abandoned Alabama Iron Ore Mine.
Location : Undisclosed.
Entry into this location requires rappelling down a vertical shaft, and use of supplied air respirators. The doors have been shut.
Do not attempt. You have been warned.


The surface works.








The Portal.


Dare you enter?

Ruffner Mine No.1

Ruffner No.1 started off as a drift mining site, and later was upgraded to slope mining. These mines produced huge amounts of iron ore for the Sloss blast furnaces.
Today, the mines are abandoned, and partially flooded. It is quite large inside, and there are bats sleeping on the ceiling of the lower levels.


The entrance to the mine is a simple hole in the ground.






Fun with light painting.










The Ice Lake.


There were dozens of sleeping bats in the mine, clinging to the ceilings. They didn't seem to mind our lights. If you find yourself visiting a mine or cave and find bats, please do not disturb them. The bat in this picture is a Gray Bat, a species native to the south which is nearly endangered.

This Ole Mine - Ruffner No. 2

Mining was done at Ruffner No. 2 as early as 1886, and work on this slope mine began in 1908. This mine fed the Sloss blast furnaces, and helped to shape Birmingham into the city it is today. Activity onsite ceased in 1952, and the mine portal was blocked with dirt and stone. A large explosion at an above ground storage building, presumably from abandoned explosives, occurred onsite in 1971.

Today it sits much the same as it was then. The only break in the dark, eerie silence of this black hole are a few sporadic water drops, and a tiny underground stream.

For the first time known : Ruffner - Illuminated.

DANGER : Do not enter unless you are prepared to risk bad air and cave ins.







This passageway ended suddenly into a wall. Ruffner No.2 was once connected with another mine that sat just to the east, and this wall is the sealed portal that once allowed mine carts to travel across the valley to the next mine. A closer picture can be seen in my March 2014 Ruffner No.2 on Film post.















Above ground structure



Three story tall ore crusher