Kevin's Watch

I found this very cool blog while I was searching for some information on a local event. I read several pages of it, and found it extremely fascinating. The author and various friends go on short trips to investigate abandoned places--everywhere from old shopping malls to hunting lodges, to sewer tunels to old schoolhouses! The author is a decent writer, and he sweetens the deal by including good photos from the excursions. Enjoy!

www.undergroundozarks.com/

Very cool stuff. There's a ton of sites dedicated to this sort of thing, and I find them fascinating.

Lots 'o good links here....

www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/link ... laces.html

Awesome! Thanks for the links, Cail!

Cool!
It's been a while since I did some exploring. I'll make it my mission to do it this weekend!
Thanks for the links you guys.

I saw a commerical for the history channel about something like this! It looked pretty rad.

www.pahighways.com/toll/abandonedturnpike.html

This is about 2 hours from where I live. When I get back from vacation, I'm going to head up there with the mountain bike and a camera.

www.kiddofspeed.com/chernobyl-revisited/

Remember the Chernobyl reactor in russia that burned down? Well there is this HUGE area that is not fit for human habitation. Radiation will stay in the Chernobyl area for the next 48.000 years, but humans may begin repopulating the area in about 600 years.

Definetly a cool site to check out.

Now that is cool.

And she is nuts.

she is nuts!

Apparently she's not the only one. As I understand it, there are some people still scattered on the outskirts of the area, and I think they post scientists or monitoring folks or something out there on rotation.

Word to the wise, speaking from experience. Be aware of whose property you're on and whether you're supposed to be there or not. A lot of the smaller abandoned places in my area are on private or restricted property and it is not pleasant being questioned or chased off. Use caution and never, ever forget the "we got lost" excuse. Just remember to hide the camera before you say that.

Oh absolutely. I was wandering through the abandoned Enchanted Forest on Rt.40 a few weeks ago and got popped by the owner and his family. Luckily, I remembered enough of the place from my youth to engage him in a lengthy conversation about it, and he didn't freak out too badly. He just told me to be careful on my way out.

Edit-I just need to quit my job and travel. Check this out.

I'd love to spend a few weeks exploring the old Catacombs underneath Rome and a few other cities. Of course, I'd get lost and die down there...

Or some Cavewight would start playing grab-ass with me while clutching his staff.

That Chernobyl "tour" is incredible. Elena is a pretty good tour guide. She may be nuts but she's not stupid, heh. She knows exactly what she's doing and seems completely aware of the risks. I like her wit and morbid sense of humor:

The roads are blocked for cars, but not for motorcycles. Good girls go to heaven. Bad ones go to hell. And girls on fast bikes go anywhere they want.

Here, we entering the area of Chernobyl. I check the fuel reserve and tire repair kit. I don't want to be marooned in the middle of nuclear desert.

She's also very eloquent in describing what it must've been like on the day of the explosion, and of the ensuing panic. Her words are as mesmerizing as her pictures.

Oddly, the most haunting image to me is that photo of the town from a happier time in the early 80s, showing two little girls strolling past cheery flowers. You wonder, did they perish in the disaster too? Or are they alive today but dying from radiation-induced cancer?

I hope Elena's site gets many visitors. She's providing a valuable document of that place frozen in time.

* BUMP * for MsMary

- makes a nice complement to "The Internet's a Weird and Funny Place."

I thought this was one of the most interesting threads from last year. Abandoned places and photography were made for each other.

Wow! Thanks for reviving this.

In Aust, the biggest group who do this are: Cave Clan. Alas, they are far away in Melbourne. Some groups do it in Brisbane, but I never seem to find the time. A friend of mine used to do this kind of thing a lot on his own. He then took it to the level of simply exploring populated places where he shouldn't be, such as walking into conferences, private parties, and corporate functions which he had no permission to do so. Was surprisingly easy for him to pass unnoticed, even in 'secure' areas.

That Chernobyl site is fantastic. It's now suddenly become my #1 holiday destination.

Montressor wrote: A friend of mine used to do this kind of thing a lot on his own. He then took it to the level of simply exploring populated places where he shouldn't be, such as walking into conferences, private parties, and corporate functions which he had no permission to do so. Was surprisingly easy for him to pass unnoticed, even in 'secure' areas.

Now that is brave! Although I'm not sure how interesting his photographs would be - shots of corporate big wigs in their native environments don't exactly excite me.

That Chernobyl site is fantastic. It's now suddenly become my #1 holiday destination.

Just don't forget your Geiger counter! And if you bump into Elena, please say hello to her for me!

Matrixman wrote:

Montressor wrote: A friend of mine used to do this kind of thing a lot on his own. He then took it to the level of simply exploring populated places where he shouldn't be, such as walking into conferences, private parties, and corporate functions which he had no permission to do so. Was surprisingly easy for him to pass unnoticed, even in 'secure' areas.

Now that is brave! Although I'm not sure how interesting his photographs would be - shots of corporate big wigs in their native environments don't exactly excite me.

Yeah, not my idea of an exciting shot, either. Once, he went to the front of a swish hotel in the city where they had some red carpet laid out. He simply rolled it up, put it over his shoulder and walked it all the way home through the CBD. Not one person ever questioned him, or tried to stop him.

Just don't forget your Geiger counter! And if you bump into Elena, please say hello to her for me!

Will do. Shall make sure I bring a few bolts fastened with strips of white cotton too (obscure reference).

Matrixman wrote:* BUMP * for MsMary

- makes a nice complement to "The Internet's a Weird and Funny Place."

I thought this was one of the most interesting threads from last year. Abandoned places and photography were made for each other.

You should have nominated it for a Watchie. . . silly Matrixman!

Some neat sites; I didn't even think types of these sites existed. I did quite a lot of exploring vacated caves and houses in the hills and dales of southern wisconsin all through High School, but once I got older I was more concerned about getting shot by some local goof or getting arrested by cops for trespassing.

Wyldewode wrote:

Matrixman wrote:* BUMP * for MsMary

- makes a nice complement to "The Internet's a Weird and Funny Place."

I thought this was one of the most interesting threads from last year. Abandoned places and photography were made for each other.

You should have nominated it for a Watchie. . . silly Matrixman!

I don't know what to say, m'lady. I offer no excuses. I'd throw myself at your mercy, but I believe Emotional Leper has already done it enough times for both of us.