Well, I survived my trip up north and it was surprisingly enjoyable. The mine up there, the one right on the highway, is actually kind of scenic. There's an artist, I can't remember his name, that does these amazing photos of mine pits and acid mine drainage (among other things) that are absolutely beautiful and it sort of reminded me of those.

I've seen several mines close up and I'm always amazed at how nice all that destruction can look. You get all those exposed rocks, and un-naturally blue waters and its easy to forget that the toxic leachate from the thing is probably seeping into your drinking water. We even swam in an old mine in Nigeria and if just ignored that fact (and kept your mouth closed while swimming)the whole thing was pretty nice.