Suppose I needed a weekend out of the cities, so decided to drive a little ways for a meetup I organized, which just so happened to conjoin with another explorers birthday plans in the same area.
First we checked out a beautiful brick drain that started in someones back yard which was an absolute back breaker until it opened up about 6 or 7 minutes in. The original brick walls and cobble floor made for an interesting subterranean hike.
After making it out to the outfall, and taking another drain back up to the parked cars we decided to head to the spot we were going to be spending the night at. We trekked through the forest, got into the area, up and down flights of rusted metal stairs and finally to the spot we were going to camp at. We set up our hammocks, had a beer or two and started taking our cameras out, when I saw two figures standing at the doorway. "HANDS IN THE AIR" "EMPTY YOUR HANDS AND TURN AROUND"
Busted.
A worker had spotted our last member walking through the area and called the cops. They had us walk back one by one, putting us each in handcuffs until they ran out of them (6 of us) They then asked us to recite our full names, dates of birth and ask why we we're there. Luckily, we we're a big group, and each of us have nice spensive' cameras. They put it together that we weren't scrapping, graffing or hurting anything and they escorted us out of the sketchy structure. before telling us to never come back and letting us go without a ticket. I recall hearing a cop say "I used to go through this door when I was a kid"
After our encounter with the police and luckily being let go we decided to go camp out on a mountainous trail. We hauled ass up the trail carrying a portable propane grill, coolers of beer, camping equipment and I still nabbed my camera.
The bluff had a really great view, and we even got to see some fireworks for whatever reason. And I'm unsure, but something seems like it really fucked up when they were lighting them off. I got a picture while I was stumbling around and actually tipped my camera on its side as I took the picture so it's quite blurry. But still wild nontheless.
The next morning I woke up eaten alive by mosquitos, covered in dirt and hung over. Before everyone else woke up I sat up on some rocks and looked out at the sunrise. We eventually cooked up some breakfast, drank some good coffee and hiked back down.
Since the plan from the day before didn't work out we decided to hit up a classic in the area, which we spent all afternoon at before driving back home and finally showering and getting much needed rest. Here's some photos I got at the last spot we went to!
Anyways, thanks for reading if you cared to. Just thought I'd write a little story. Cheers!