urban/rural exploration

[George Hayduke]

anyone else into doing this?? i started exploring areas i wasn't supposed to a few years ago when i was homeless and started lookin for what we called squats to live in. then it became a hobby and ive started exploring all the lost stuff humans have built but forgotten about. just wondering if anyone else out there does this?? i know there is an underground following of people who go out and do this.
earlier this month i got into an old mental institution and it was like everyone just got up and left. i found all sorts of shit. old files, papers, pictures, and alot of real creepy stuff, also lots of creepy noises coming from inside. i took a first timer with me and he got scared and bailed out leaving me. i stayed alittle bit longer by myself but it sure is creepy as hell.
i used to squat in an abandoned mill hospital when i was homeless and we heard and saw all sorts of crazy things happen. usually i slept in there with 2-3 others so it was never to bad, until one night i had to stay there alone. i ended up waking up at 2:30 am and promptly left and ran to someones house i knew about a mile away and slept on their porch.

anyone else got any stories to share?

 

[confedrate69]

i can say i have never been homeless but in the hills of kentucky and west virgina there are so meany old abandon cabins, barns, weird buildings out in the woods. there are some really good finds in some of them although most of them can only be reached by horse or walikng. it is a lot of fun to rummage through the old abandon ones way in the back woods u never know what treasure is there waiting to be found

 

[Guest]

Ah hell yeah i like this thread! Im really down with urban exploration but havent gone out and done it. There are some abandoned mental institutions around here and abandoned hospitals but i heard there isnt to much to see. You have to go find those ones like you did to get me interested in them. There was this movie i watched on free movies on comcast on demand and it was about the underground of newyork or the subway or something and a shit load of homeless people squatted and made homes. It looked like a mini shanty town of some sort. It was real neat and really weird and you should deffiently watch it! Ill try to find the name and post it back up.

 

[Guest]

I love exploring old deserted buildings. The area I am moving to in a week or so is chock a block full of old farm houses and other old buildings. You come across some interesting stuff. So far, I've spooked all sorts of animals...each time I spooked myself more. I know one of these days I'm going to come across a nest of rattlers or copperheads and you'll be able to track me by the trail of pee I'll leave behind.

 

[George Hayduke]

I think you're talking about the mole people or another movie called dark days which i actually think is better, since the film maker actually befriends people living underground in an abandoned amtrak tunnel and lives with them for like 3 years and he shows how they have a thriving underground community. its a very, very ****ing sad documentary though. then theres in search of the mole people but ive never seen it.

does anyone know why in the hell its so hard to be apart of any good UE (urban exploration) forum? They all seem the be exclusive and you have to know someone to join, however i just do this hobby on my free time now and don't really know anyone else. i guess i can understand why its so exclusive since often times you're breaking the law to enter some of these places, i can also understand why you wouldn't want spots becoming popular but still... it just seems way to exclusive. anyway, ive become pretty good at finding places on my own. my old squat you had to go through a sequence of things until you go to a false wall and i stayed in there. the chances of anyone even getting that far in the building wasn't likely, but i worried about asbestos the whole time and there was definetly lead paint on the walls.

 

[Blue_adept]

ive been doing it for quite some time now, in my area there are abandoned military bases, and a cold war underground missile silo. all of them are interesting in their own way. i would recommend anyone new to UE to get a friend that enjoys the same, having a buddy can save your life.

 

[Big Bud Bear]

i used to goto an abandon mental hospital in the area.. they are knocking it down last i heard

 

[motaco]

lol. yeah not in years though.

pretty funny though about a year ago they have this abandoned mental institution that is supposed to be haunted.

one of my buddies went in there and they had 4 or so goth highschool kids try to jump him but he had a taser so he just kept tasin them over and over again while they were on the floor. he's pretty nuts though he was laughing and I think he was probably pretty happy they even tried.

its pretty funny though they got some dorky ass goth kids doing chants and stuff and my stupid redneck buddy stumbles in.


remember on Saturday Night Live they used to have the goth kids that worked at CinnaBuns at the mall but did the goth public acess show? and is big foot ball brother chris farley would come in like "what are you queers doin?" and start giving them titty twisters and stuff.

that's all I could think about when he told me that story.

 

[Big Bud Bear]

haha goths

 

[soomz]

o man brings back a lot of memories. we had this place called midgetville...that was always fun until they tore it down.

 

[TwoOhSix!]

0Just curious why there are so many abandoned mental institutions?

 

[varriform]

dont we all

 

[Budsmith]

0Just curious why there are so many abandoned mental institutions?

The mental health community is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY different back then than what it is today. I mean that in a good way. See back in the day mental institutions were places you could put "loonies" and people with mental disorders. These institutions were absolutely horrid. There are so many horror stories of what went on back in the day at these places. Well, since the advancement of the mental health community there is no longer a need for these mental institutions.

Plus there is total different view on how to treat those with mental disorders. Majority of the families nowadays tend to keep there mentally disturbed family member but seek outside services to help take care of that person, or they'll put them in places like group homes. Group homes are 1,000,000 x better than those mental institutions.

I'm not saying that ****ed up shit doesn't happen to mentally ill people nowadays but what I am saying is that it's a lot better than what it use to be.

 

[b8man]

Take a camera on your trips - b&W deserted mental institutions can look great.

I think you might be having a hard time finding a group because legally it's trespassing. I know, abandoned building, but someone owns the land and if the police see you I think they can arrest you. If you were in a group it's probably conspiracy to trespass.

I used to be fairly inquisitive - but there are too many crack heads and meth heads in dark corners these days. And I've seen too many zombie films not to be freaked by that.

 

[NOKUY]

i can walk ya to a bunch of backwoods cabins in alaska. (most aren't usually inhabited)

the thing is in AK most peeps leave thier place open and stocked w/ gear, food, supplies.

you def. woulden't steal from or trash these places.

 

[George Hayduke]

i can walk ya to a bunch of backwoods cabins in alaska. (most aren't usually inhabited)

the thing is in AK most peeps leave thier place open and stocked w/ gear, food, supplies.

you def. woulden't steal from or trash these places.

how often are those cabins abandoned and left like that??

 

[NOKUY]

how often are those cabins abandoned and left like that??

verry often GH....

...i'd say 9 of 10 that u come across are worthy of looking into past lives.

...prolly like 50% are equipped to keep you alive if u are lost.

there are sum old tyme reliks that are becoming earth, but...pretty cool things.

if you wanna squat you usually wont have trouble, but if you ask the owner....most will welcome a resident/tennant...especially if you build a cabin.

 

[George Hayduke]

if you wanna squat you usually wont have trouble, but if you ask the owner....most will welcome a resident/tennant...especially if you build a cabin.

yeah thats what i wanted to know, i imagine you could squat in some of them for years and never see a soul. i know when i used to squat in buildings in the city i would always clean them up and keep them in better condition than i found the building in... and i'd say about 70% of the time the owner was fine with me being there as long as i wasn't doing drugs or wrecking the place, and having a caretaker like that actually keeps drug addicts and vandals away. i imagine if i did the very same thing in Alaska the owner wouldn't mind but your right, if there is an owner and you can talk to them first thats always the best way to go. in fact, in one squat i had in a real bad neighborhood was ****ing trashed. a friend and i fixed it up and made it real nice. we even painted the walls. after about 6 months the building got a new owner and they were gunna renovate it. they were so surprised with what we had done with the place they wanted us as tenants. being who we were at the time told them "hell no, we've stayed here for 6 months with no problem why do you think we wanna pay rent now?".

anyway, i was gunna build a cabin up in alaska but now im wondering if i should just find one as a squatter or a caretaker of a cabin. you say they'll usually be open to be building my own cabin?? if say i find the right land owner ahead of time??

 

[Big Bud Bear]

yeah thats what i wanted to know, i imagine you could squat in some of them for years and never see a soul. i know when i used to squat in buildings in the city i would always clean them up and keep them in better condition than i found the building in... and i'd say about 70% of the time the owner was fine with me being there as long as i wasn't doing drugs or wrecking the place, and having a caretaker like that actually keeps drug addicts and vandals away. i imagine if i did the very same thing in Alaska the owner wouldn't mind but your right, if there is an owner and you can talk to them first thats always the best way to go. in fact, in one squat i had in a real bad neighborhood was ****ing trashed. a friend and i fixed it up and made it real nice. we even painted the walls. after about 6 months the building got a new owner and they were gunna renovate it. they were so surprised with what we had done with the place they wanted us as tenants. being who we were at the time told them "hell no, we've stayed here for 6 months with no problem why do you think we wanna pay rent now?".

anyway, i was gunna build a cabin up in alaska but now im wondering if i should just find one as a squatter or a caretaker of a cabin. you say they'll usually be open to be building my own cabin?? if say i find the right land owner ahead of time??

 

[NOKUY]

anyway, i was gunna build a cabin up in alaska but now im wondering if i should just find one as a squatter or a caretaker of a cabin. you say they'll usually be open to be building my own cabin?? if say i find the right land owner ahead of time??

look into being a caretaker of a hunting/fishing lodge in the off season.

the job will work its way into full time no problem if your worth a shit (no dis intended)

easy peasy stuff, and no worries.

...and yeah even if you didnt wanna deal w/ the peeps you could find a place where you could build a cabin and owe nothing.

last I looked you can still homestead in AK....not federally, but the state still has a program.

also....you can build a "floathouse"....(house on floating drums)....and "rent" moorage (sp?)from the state

...last i looked it was like a hundred bucks a year...and live in the tongass nationl forest.