Hello from Utah

[thelivingwest]

My name is Russ Hartill, and no, I am not Corey Shuman...I don't even play him on TV...
We have a controversy brewing here in Utah over two mining claims staked over the entrance to the Crystal Ball cave.
When I noticed this forum was concerned about the claims being listed for sale on eBay, I joined in the discussion expecting a spirited yet intellectual debate.
What I found instead was just like in any community, it is filled with a wide range of personalities, some of which are downright mean-spirited and ugly. Others assume way too much and engage in personal attacks and in second-guessing one's motives. After returning from a day's work and logging back in, I was pleasantly surprised to find that not everyone in this community felt the way my first "greeters" did and that indeed this "newbie" was made to feel more or less welcome.

Having been trained in the legal profession, I have the ability to put on a thick skin when necessary and I am not at all inexpereinced in the art of online dueling.

My interests include mine photography, mine exploration, mining history, and caving. My first cave trip was to Carlsbad caverns in 1965 at the ripe age of 10. Since then, I have explored the mines of the San Gabriel Mtns of Southern California, the mines of Colorado, and the mines of Utah.

I look forward to even more spirited discussions as we explore our joint passion for the underground world we love...

[Phil Winkler]

Russ, welcome aboard. As for your earlier introduction you have seen this group can be quite passionate about caves.

[NZcaver]

Hi Russ,

Welcome to the forum.

I finally had a chance to skim through that other topic, and like Phil said cavers can be passionate about these things. For what it's worth, myself and a fair number of other forum members only became interested in caving after first exploring old mines and other man-made underground structures. We've had several discussions about this over the years.

The recent topic of contention aside, I'd be interested to know more about your delving into mining history and also your mine photography.