[go] Salt Mines in Hutchinson
I knew about the Kansas Underground Salt Museum in Hutchinson, but never really had much interest in checking it out… until I found out we could wear hard hats and ride in a trolley. I was sold! So, last week I went with my friend Mel to see what this museum was all about. I left pleasantly surprised.
Upon arriving at the Salt Museum, we were told the next tour was leaving in two minutes. That meant we had 120 seconds to purchase our tickets and get in and out of the restroom if we wanted to get on the this tour. Since the next two-hour tour wouldn’t start for another 40 minutes and the only restrooms underground are Port-A-Potties, Mel and I knew what we needed to do. It was like a little adventure before the adventure, but we made it with time to spare and saved ourselves a Port-A-Potty experience.
Next, we went into a little room where we were given our hard hats. Sadly, there were no lights on the hats. We were also handed a box attached to a strap which contained a breathing apparatus that could be used in case of fire underground. It gave us two hours worth of breathing time in order to get safely out of the museum. I started getting slightly worried about what I had gotten myself into. Then, the guide informed us the apparatus would help us breath but it would most likely burn our lips off in the process. This was the point when I wanted to get a refund and take that money to go buy my own hard hat that I could wear around whenever I wanted above ground, thankyouverymuch.
But we were there to see the salt museum, so I sucked it up and continued on. The two guides (one was in training), Mel and I plus four more visitors got into the elevator and the tour officially began. The door to the elevator shut and we plunged 6,500 feet below the ground. This may sound like an overly dramatic statement, but IT WAS PITCH BLACK. (My heart is racing just thinking about it again.) Mel and I started giggling uncontrollably, mostly to avoid crying. Thankfully, the guide in training turned his hard hat light on at this point. I’m sure he could sense that our anxiety was getting a bit out of control. This little gesture helped make the ride better, and if there had been some Barry Manilow playing in the background, I would have felt completely comfortable.
Once we arrived safely underground and my heart rate returned to normal, the rest of the tour was a little less intense. Our guide gave us a bit of history about how salt was discovered in Hutch and about the how the mine was first built. The mine is one of 16 in the U.S. There are only two other museums, located in Austria and Poland. The majority of salt mined in Hutchinson is sold to Chicago and used for road salt.
After getting some background information, we were given time to individually explore in-depth exhibits on salt mining and to look at artifacts left behind by miners. It was interesting to see these items and to watch videos about the mining process.
At the end, we toured a small exhibit loaned from Kansas Underground Vaults and Storage. This exhibit contained items such as George Clooney’s Batman outfit, sunglasses from Men in Black and Dean Cain’s Superman outfit. Also stored at the vault but not on display are the original negatives of classic movies such as Gone With The Wind, The Wizard Of Oz and Ben Hur as well as not-so-classic flicks like Jack Frost. After that we took a tram ride through mined out areas where we could see naturally occurring geologic formations and at the end we were able to dig through a pile of mined salt and take some as a souvenir.
This keepsake is now proudly displayed on my desk as a paperweight. It serves as a reminder of the slight panic attack I had regarding the breathing apparatus and the elevator plunge, but it also reminds me that I got over it and completed the tour anyway. As for the pictures Mel and I have of ourselves while underground? Well those serve as a reminder of how ridiculous we look in hard hats! $13.50 well spent, I’d say.
Photo courtesy of Eric Wittman
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