Urban Exploration

[FAMY2]

I want to go with Travis.   

[Travis]

I want to go with Travis.  

lol come to new jersey and i'll take you  cjlubdoods;

[applesauce]

welcome to the worm hive mother fucker prepeare to die .

Yeah that was kinda gross. It was in an area where there were two tunnels the water could take downstream, but one was higher at the upstream junction and poorly graded, causing it to have stagnant water. Not sure how the THOUSANDS or worms got there though.

And I fail at multiquoting (read: lazy), but come to Chicago or Minneapolis when I am home and we will do it. WE'LL FUCKING DO THAT SHIT

[KonohaShinobi]

Ay me and my friends wanna try this for the summer, I have some questions:
1: what do we bring
2: where do we find an abandoned place like this
3: when should we do this (Night or Day)

[applesauce]

Bring:
Flashlight
Gloves
Appropriate footwear. Depending on the place that might be tennis shoes, hiking boots, waterproof boots, waders, ect)
Wear clothes that you don't mind getting wet, muddy, and/or torn.
Camera.

How to find:
maps.google.com
maps.bing.com
biking
driving
walking
Local UE websites in your area.
In the long term, UER.ca has a lot of stuff, but becoming a "full member" takes a very long time (6 months+) and without that, it really won't help you.

For buildings in a city, cruise old industrial areas, either by car, bike, or by air with Bing's flyover option. Look for buildings with collapsed roofs, large numbers of missing windows, and graffiti on the upper levels.

Anything underground is a different story and may require research and/or extensive knowledge of the local topography and/or history.

Night vs. Day:
Really depends on the situation.

[applesauce]

So I went drain boating today. Meaning we took a canoe up a drain for a six-mile trip 90 feet beneath the streets of Minneapolis. We wanted to do another drain in Saint Paul too today, but that was foiled by rain.

As always, more photos and full story at http://www.urbex12.com/





^this photo is looking vertical, not horizontal.

[YPrrrr]

What's the closest you've come to death while doing this

[applesauce]

I'll quote this blog post of mine: http://www.urbex12.com/2011/01/sandmans-drain-abandoned-drain-38th.html

Further along the river we arrived at the massive outfall of the **th street drain. The outfall was over ten feet wide and 20 feet high, carved out of a huge sandstone cliff face. Although the ice went all the way up to the outfall, we knew that it would be very thin in front of the entrance due to the water exiting the drain.

We inched along the cliff face, doing our best to stand on the piles of debris that had fallen from the cliff and to not walk on the ice. Chuck went first, followed by myself, then Sandman, and Snorkel last. Testing the ice with a large walking stick, Chuck realized that the water was only a couple inches deep; if we stood on the ice, a sheet would break off, sink under our weight, and rest on the bottom (think of a partially frozen deep puddle and you'll know what I mean). We crept along like this, spaced about ten feet apart, staying as close to the cliff face as possible. We were making slow but steady progress towards the outfall when, suddenly, Chuck fell straight through the ice, plunging over his head into the Mississippi river! As he fell through, the sheet he was standing on (which I was also on) shattered and, under my weight, slid away from the wall, taking me with it and into the river! The water was deep, so deep that I didn't touch the bottom. Chuck and I quickly swam forward and clambered up the outfall and into the drain. The air temp was 2 degrees. We were now stuck in the drain, open water at exactly 32 degrees stood between us and the exit.

We quickly decided that Sandman and Snorkel would go back and get the raft and rope (~1.5 miles upriver) while Chuck and I would retreat deep int othe drain where there would be warm air. We set off, only to come to the base of a ~25 foot dropshaft that we had no chance of getting up only a hundred yards or so inside the drain, nowhere near deep enough for it to be warm.

Luckily, when we made it back to the entrance, Snorkel and Sandman were close enough that they could still hear us, and came back. Plan B was for Sandman to call someone to bring a car to the bluff above us, and Chuck and I would swim out once they got there. While we were waiting, I, covered head to toe in ice, shivering, and the water on the inside of my boots beginning to freeze, realized that we couldn't wait for the car. The longer we waited, the less likely we would be able to make the swim  and climb up the bluff. Besides, if I was going to wait soaking wet in near-zero degree weather, I would rather it be on the side of a road than in an inacessible drain!

We decided it was time to leave. I went first, sliding down the concrete, now covered in ice from the water we had splashed climbing out, and into the icy river. Floundering forward, I tried to climb up onto the ice in front of me, which was crumbling beneath me. Eventually I got to where it was thick enough for me to slither up onto and drag myself across to eventually stand up. Chuck followed suit, and we made our way up the bluff to the road, where the car arrived about 6 minutes later.

We're both very lucky to have made it out okay. That'll be the last draining for me this winter, thank you very much!

[YPrrrr]

So will you be draining again this winter

[applesauce]

So will you be draining again this winter

I think I will, just more cautiously.

[ME##]

whenever i see this thread, a voice inside my head says 'urban ~sprawl~'

So I went drain boating today. Meaning we took a canoe up a drain for a six-mile trip 90 feet beneath the streets of Minneapolis. We wanted to do another drain in Saint Paul too today, but that was foiled by rain.

As always, more photos and full story at http://www.urbex12.com/

pictures

dem legs

[applesauce]

dem legs

I'll let him know.

[ME##]

I'll let him know.

ty

[applesauce]

I'm headed out the door to go climb a half-built skyscraper.

Wish me luck! 

[applesauce]

Didn't work out. Got chased away by security guards at two locations, infiltrated but ran into locked doors at two others. Oh well.


One photo from the 27th floor of the Hilton: