Above and Below

[Eric]

What is the highest you have been above the surface of the world and the lowest you have been below it’s surface, that surface being either ground or water?

I’ve flown commercially, so the up is around 35,000 feet. The below is a familiarization tour I got to take at the hard rock mine my oldest brother worked at, in northern Idaho. We were 2,200 feet or so below the surface. It was a whole other world down there. 
 

How about you?

[railfancwb]

High about the same 35,000 feet for the same reason. Low is 1,000 feet on a commercial gold mine tour in Cripple Creek. 

[Eric]

The pics below are from Wallace, ID. That is where I was living in 1990, when I toured the Star-Phoenix mine. I actually found a pic of the house I lived in, on the town’s FB page. It’s the brown & tan one on the corner.

 

[Eric]

The big road that winds through the town used to be I-90, before they built the stretch of freeway that bypassed it, back in the mid/late-nineties. That was the last stretch of road on the whole Interstate Highway system to have a stoplight on it. The town was also once home to a well-known cathouse.

[railfancwb]

29 minutes ago, Eric said:

The pics below are from Wallace, ID. That is where I was living in 1990, when I toured the Star-Phoenix mine. I actually found a pic of the house I lived in, on the town’s FB page. It’s the brown & tan one on the corner.

 

Corner building in bottom photo has a great place for parade watching. 

[Eric]

That had a couple of festivals a year there that were a lot of fun to attend. I really enjoyed living there. 

[Mrs.Cicero]

Highest would be commercial jet 35,000ish.  Highest still standing on the ground would be some 14,000'+ mountains.  Lowest I'm guessing would be touring the Wieleczka Salt Mine in Poland (the tourist access goes to 443' below ground.  I've done some caving, too, but I have no idea what the depths were... certainly not that deep.  The Salt Mine was terrific for all the stunning carvings, and the lake.

[railfancwb]

[Cougar_ml]

37,000 ish commercial flight

-650ish below the DMZ in Korea, seeing some of the tunnels that North Korea had been digging into the south under the border.

[Huaco Kid]

Carlsbad Caverns ~-750'.   Death Valley ~-300' below sea level.

International commercial flights can bump it up a notch,  if they feel the need.

(I once turned on my gps in a jet,  because I had a hunch it just looked-up at a map and gave the ground altitude.  Nope.  It knew we were 35K.)

(and now my max recorded speed is well over 500mph.  I tell everyone it's the jet-kit I put in my motorcycle's carb.)

[kerbie18]

On foot, I've been up to 14000 foot mountains. I drove there, I didn't climb.

In the air, I think I've had at least one commercial flight get up to 39K feet.

I've been on cave tours that reached maybe 300 feet underground.

I've been on a commercial submarine that dove to 110 feet under the ocean.

I've taken the train under the ocean between England and France. I have no idea how deep that goes.

[aomagrat]

Commercial and Military flights for me, and however deep the tour of Linville Caverns went. And the BART under San Francisco bay.

[MO Fugga]

Few of us will have flown much higher than commercial, but I've only been probably 20' underwater at sea level. Ya'int getting me in a submarine. Not sure If I've ever been in a natural depression. No Death Valley or New Orleans.

[Huaco Kid]

At Carlsbad, we stayed many extra hours, just for sunset, (we were on a schedule for a wedding in S Frisco) so we could see the bats come out.

There were, like, six of them.

The Rangers said, "Sorry folks!  That's how it goes!"

[Huaco Kid]

Then we looked at the map and decided that driving through Death Valley would be a great idea.  With my overly-pregnant wife.  In Dad's old GMC pickup.

We looked at the map.  It was, like, an inch and a half.  We could hit it at daybreak,  and be out by early morning!

We didn't realize that the road followed the mountains,  and curved, and twisted, and winded, and curved, and twisted, and winded.  Much much more than an inch and a half.  We were in there from sunup to sundown.  Overheated many times.

Bottled water wasn't invented back then.  Put beer in the radiator.  Maybe some pee.  Got poison-water from the ditch, to wash over the radiator.

Threw some rocks at the golf course.  Threw some rocks at the coyotes.  Threw tiny rocks at the spiders.

We saw some coyotes walk by,  tip over,  struggle up,  and keep going.  But we didn't give them any beer.

[holyjohnson]

Highest was 35,000 Feet Cruising Altitude.

Lowest was the Democratic National Convention..

[pipedreams]

Besides commercial jets been up Pico de Orizaba, at 18,491 ft.

Nothing underground worth mentioned but walked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back 6,000 ft deep.

Death Valley is below sea level but never know it if you didn't look at the signs.

[Huaco Kid]

I was, I don't know, Colorado somewhere.  Working.

And they decided I needed to wear a respirator (and shave).  So I had to get fit-tested and medical clearance.

So now,  I'm at 6,000',  sixty years old,  doing jumping jacks,  wearing a respirator,  while shouting the alphabet.

I passed.  But almost needed a wheelchair on the way out.

[jfost11]

Whatever the altitude a transatlantic flight reaches would be my high with a low of about -164' while in Luray Caverns. 

[Huaco Kid]

The prescribed jump-run was 12.5K.

We'd usually get 13, or 13.5, as a bonus.

A couple times, waay over 15.

"Oh.  There's clouds.  We'll go 'round."

"Oh.  There's another load out.  We'll go 'round."

Supplemental oxygen is required over 10K'.  It was always there.  No one ever used it.

Mandatory oxygen is required over 15K'.  No one ever used it.

The rule was, "If you can't remember your name, don't jump"

And, "If your friend's lips are blue, and he doesn't know his name,  don't let him jump."

So then,  there were ten people, nowhere even close to a ten-way,  because no one even knew their own name,   just meat-bombing out into the atmosphere.  And trying to get away from everyone else  before pulling.