Southern Wanderer

Southern Wanderer I enjoy wandering around and finding interesting things to explore. Who knows where I'll end up next?

I grew up right up the road from this spot and drove past it for years without ever knowing it was here.Hidden just a fe...
08/20/2026

I grew up right up the road from this spot and drove past it for years without ever knowing it was here.

Hidden just a few yards inside the tree line off Hwy 31 in Fultondale sit the massive concrete foundation chutes of the old Lewisburg coal washer. Decades ago, this hillside was a roaring industrial hub, processing high-grade coking coal from the Mary Lee seam to feed the blast furnaces down at Sloss.

When the Lewisburg #2 underground operations permanently shut down in 1951, the heavy wooden tipple structures were dismantled, leaving behind only the concrete skeleton. Today, the forest has completely reclaimed the site, turning an industrial powerhouse into quiet ruins hiding in plain sight.

Does anyone (or anyone’s parents/grandparents) have memories of Lewisburg back when the tipple and washer were still standing?

At Red Mountain Park, most folks see a pretty walking trail with some tree cover.I see 100-year-old room-and-pillar work...
08/16/2026

At Red Mountain Park, most folks see a pretty walking trail with some tree cover.

I see 100-year-old room-and-pillar workings plunging directly under their feet on a 25-degree dip.

Heading out for some surface scouting around Songo this afternoon... catching the 56° portal breeze is practically required in this heat.

Perched right in the shadow of modern backyards, but tucked a century into the past.Red Mountain is riddled with stories...
08/14/2026

Perched right in the shadow of modern backyards, but tucked a century into the past.

Red Mountain is riddled with stories most people drive right over every day without ever knowing it. This is a collapsing entry to an old iron mine. A piece of the Birmingham Mineral District that nature and time are slowly reclaiming.

Ground like this is fragile, unstable, and unforgiving.

Would you go?

08/12/2026

A bad line choice, a deep Alabama clay trap, and a camera that magically decided to stop recording right before the best splash of the day.

Huge thanks to everyone in the local groups who chimed in with advice, offered recovery assistance, and checked in to make sure we made it off the ridge! The off-road community always comes through when things get sticky.

Alice officially gives the mud hole a 10/10 rating for nap quality, but my floorboards are definitely going to need a minute to recover.

Catch the full recovery, Alice living her best life, and a whole lot of red clay soup in the clip! 🚜💨

The hike to this SCCI cave was a brutal mile hike that just kept getting steeper, but well worth it in the end. We rappe...
08/05/2026

The hike to this SCCI cave was a brutal mile hike that just kept getting steeper, but well worth it in the end. We rappelled down 135 feet, explored a good bit of passage, then made it back out just before a monsoon hit. What a great day with great friends.

Want to explore caves safely and responsibly?
Please remember that vertical pits and wild caves require specialized training, proper safety gear, and official access permits. If you're interested in getting involved, find a local NSS Grotto (National Speleological Society chapter) near you to learn proper single rope technique and conservation ethics. For permit details and access info on protected preserve sites, visit the Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc. (SCCI) at scci.org. Preserve, protect, and stay safe out there!

I went to see some men about a city last weekend. Rain kept me from making the full round. I made the round, the photos ...
08/05/2026

I went to see some men about a city last weekend. Rain kept me from making the full round. I made the round, the photos just weren't pretty...

06/22/2026

Exploring a 1900's iron ore haulage way that connected several slopes together. We found a beautiful stacked stone wall, as well as pipes and rail left behind.

06/20/2026

Just hanging out with some buddies and getting some vertical practice.

Did you know that Birmingham’s tech future is being built directly on top of its industrial past?As seen here, the massi...
06/19/2026

Did you know that Birmingham’s tech future is being built directly on top of its industrial past?

As seen here, the massive new multibillion-dollar Nebius AI datacenter in the Oxmoor area sits right over old underground iron mine workings. While modern engineering means these subterranean workings are likely deep enough to remain structurally stable, it’s a fascinating—and massive—gamble.

Think about the staggering weight of a 300MW hyperscale datacenter: heavy-duty concrete foundations, endless racks of cutting-edge GPUs, dense cooling infrastructure, and massive electrical substations. Millions of dollars in fragile, high-performance tech resting above the hollowed-out corridors where miners once dug out the Red Mountain ore that built this city.

Is it deep enough? Almost certainly. But considering the cost of equipment and the immense weight of it all, building an "AI factory" over a literal 19th/20th-century iron mine is a wild collision of two entirely different eras.

What do you think—brilliant reuse of industrial-adjacent land, or an underground roll of the dice?

I came across this in a National Speleological Society Convention book. Now, I really want to find out how I can get Ali...
06/18/2026

I came across this in a National Speleological Society Convention book. Now, I really want to find out how I can get Alice her own NSS #. TAG Caver, any ideas?

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