Saturday morning we were up when the sun was still down. We had appointments to keep.
We drove south of St. Louis for about an hour and a half until we reached Bonne Terre. Home of the world's largest man-made underground cavern. An abandoned lead mine that was worked early in the century, before the miners gave up the fight with the ground water and let their big ol' hole in the ground fill up with agua.
Now folks scuba dive in it.
Brant descending through the old mule entrance.
National Geographic Adventurer rated it Number 10 in the top 100 adventures in the U.S. We couldn't pass it up.
Aryn gearing up.
Brant at the ready.
We pulled out the dive gear and multiple wetsuits, and after a briefing headed down the old mule entrance to get to the dock, some 80 feet below the surface of the earth. The mine is laid out in five levels, and it's flooded up through the second level. Diving is allowed on the second and third level, where the water temperature remains a constant 58 degrees year round. Air temperature stays at 62, even in the dead of winter when snow covers the ground outside. Visibility is always right around 120 feet. There is no current whatsoever. Bonne Terre mine might very well be the ONLY dive site where they can guarantee the conditions.
BP in neoprene.
Silouhette in a mine.
They've got the place lit up with 500,000 watts of electricity, and the ambient light cast down into the water is enough for divers to see by. Only the dive masters carry flashlights, mostly to signal to one another. And the dive masters are something else. Spirited, let's say. Determined to make sure you have a great time. Especially Brenda, a Bonne Terre veteran of eight years, who's not afraid to go beyond...normal.
Brenda...going beyond normal.
The dive dock.
We did a total of three dives with West End Divers, the folks who make the underwater mine dive-able. The entire experience is surreal, as much of the old mining paraphanelia is left right where the miners abandoned it. And unlike many diving environments, this one is completely hand's on. If there's a drill left in the side of the cave, you can cruise over and handle it. If there's tools left in an old ore cart, have at them and pound away. Though we missed it on our dive, there's even a locomotive gloomily resting in a watery grave.
Aryn the videographer.
The old way down into the mine.
Though it was a little cold coming off the warm water we had been used to, neoprene works wonders. One diver compared the experience to tripping on acid. We'll have to trust him on that one, but regardless, it's an experience every diver should try. Some will go wow. Some will shiver. Some will be hooked, without a doubt.
It was night before we left Bonne Terre. And after spending nearly two hours underwater, one does not have much energy for driving. So we made it about 13.6 miles out of town before we found a cozy gas station parking lot to crash in.
