Monthly Archives: October 2009

Introducing IOLA

Third meet of the UER season, and a chance to meet some new explorers. NeonTempest wanted to introduce us to this place, the Iola Sanatorium, to show us what "real exploring" was like. Which, to him, meant something like park a mile away with 12 people, and march right onto the grounds in the plainest sight possible. Just to take us straight downstairs into this. The whole point of going was these tunnels, blocked off with fresh new cinder blocks. So we get to try another entrance, going through this just to find more cinder blocks. By the time he's…

Continue ReadingIntroducing IOLA

Sykes Datatronics

You have dialed 716 458 8000, Sykes Datatronics' demonstration number for Comm-Net 3000. Press 1 for English. Нажмите 2 для русского. 日本人はを押してください 3. I'm sorry, 6 is not a valid option. Please hold. Comm-Net 3000 is a national leader in automated voice response systems. Press 4 to learn more. Press 5 to learn even more. Press 6 to learn more than you ever wanted to know. For all of the above, please stay on the line. I'm sorry, *HANG UP* is not a valid option. Please refer to the User Guide, or press 6 for an overview of all options…

Continue ReadingSykes Datatronics

Buffalo Malt

A Monday afternoon skip class and explore trip with MidnightGenius from UER. Our first target was the giant grain elevators. Then this happened. While about to give up, we just happened to run into the Buffalo Malt tower. The place was pretty well trashed and gutted, but at least it was big Probably the most interesting thing about it was this thing on the roof, with thousands and thousands of glass tubes This was in the basement for some reason More crap photos here. I really need to get a proper camera and/or a bit of creativity.

Continue ReadingBuffalo Malt

What’s That Blue Thing?

On the last few urbex camping trips, we kept noticing something on the side of route 3 that looked huge, abandoned, and very, very blue. After a bit of research, I figured out that it was Benson's Mines, and no one had really bothered to explore it yet, since it's in the absolute middle of North Country nowhere, and no one from the 'establishment' thought it was worth the trip at all. And they were so, so wrong. I left this place with a very profound feeling of 'coming out' as an explorer: this was my first find worth anything…

Continue ReadingWhat’s That Blue Thing?

Beatlemania

Just some non-exploring shots from the Adirondack campout. How not to light paint Cascade Peak Brian, the tetherboat and a bit of fire! You may be wondering by now about the title. Strange things happen when you get enough explorers in a small enough space, and keep them awake all night. At some point we began communicating only in Beatles lyrics, and then only in oblique rewordings of them. I forget if this was before or after taking out a boat on a 100 foot rope, propelled only by a frying pan and a jet of expletives. I'd suggest all…

Continue ReadingBeatlemania

The Lonesome Crowded West

Frontier Town was one of the first theme parks ever to open in the United States, in 1952, capitalizing on the old west folklore that was then so popular with American children. (There were amusement parks since the turn of the last century, but not themed to one particular canon.) It finally closed long after Westerns fell out of fashion, in 1998, and most of its contents were auctioned off in 2004. This was a particularly strange exploration for me, having been there and vaguely remembering it from a day there in 1996 (I didn't like it much at the…

Continue ReadingThe Lonesome Crowded West