I never thought I’d be able to say it about this spot, but it came painfully clear from the first night: the glory days were over. Far from living up to its name, the 3rd½ Annual UR UrbEx Semi-Cold Sesqui-Awesome ExploroCamping Extravaganza felt like hollowly going through the motions of something that once was special. Gone are the hipsters and artists, here are the new order, the engineers. Even when it comes time for the traditions from old Concrete, the sausage roast, the pomegranates, tetherboating — the rules are what they are, and rule us in our time of freedom and release. So once the new leaders were safe asleep, the fires started again beneath these boreal stars, and we sang the songs that remind us of the good times, and the songs that remind us of the better times.
In the morning we headed out to Benson mines again, the spirit of exploration quashed by the randomly selected groups of six we would be to stay together in, and the crackle of walkie-talkies taking frequent attendances. I took a bunch of terrible photos (no surprise given the overall mood here), and a few decent ones like this
and this
At lunch we regrouped and I managed to talk some much needed adventure into the group; we would spend the afternoon in the more photogenic and contained Upper Benson Mine, then climb a mountain after dark to watch the meteors. I’ve been to Upper Benson enough times that I stopped shooting anything but HDR. Cover your eyes if you’re not a fan!
The rest of my weekend photos (50% less HDR) are here!