Salt of the Earth

One of the many things Aunt Delma loved was Hutchinson and all the small city has to offer.  Our phone calls would include stories about the most recent musician, nationally acclaimed surgeon or author who had just visited Hutch; or maybe something about the Kansas State Fair or Hutch JuCo.  However, taking a journey down to Hutch would always include taking in one of the many attractions in the city.  The last time we visited before she moved to Nebraska we planned to tour one of the salt mines underneath Hutch.  As bad luck would have it, I got food poisoning from Village Inn and had to head home.  (SIDE NOTE: not a pleasant trip home!)

We couldn't think of a better way to honor Aunt Delma than to take a tour in Hutch.  The day after the funeral the family took the trip 650 feet below ground to investigate what we had missed.  I have no doubt that Aunt Delma would have been so pleased!  The salt deposit under Hutch is 400 feet thick and stretches 150 miles by 200 miles.  It impressively holds 30 trillion tons of salt.

Aunt Ruth, Marianne, Emma, Chris, Reagan, Rodger, Olivia, Eric Regina



A huge slab of pure clear salt which weighs 6,000 pounds.  It's not often that miners find salt blocks like this without sediment or other impurities.

The crew ready for a tram ride into the rough areas of the mine.

Picking out souvenir salt

This shows one of the "hallways" blocked off with empty dynamite boxes.

There are LARGE areas of the salt mine rented out by the government and other organizations to preserve documents, historical artifacts as well as much of Hollywood's treasures.  Here you see an outfits from the movies "Talladega Nights" (Chris loved this movie), "The Terminator" and "Bat Man".  It is impossible to get to the high security areas.

What a very informative and interesting afternoon.