Urban Spelunking
 

In addition to pornography, steampunk, taxidermy and science, I also have a semi-obsessive interest in urban spelunking and "secrets of the built environment." And though my interest is great, my knowledge is usually very general or generally lacking (at least in expertise).

I'm not a pornographer (yet), I haven't built anything steampunk (yet), I haven't stuffed a beloved dead pet (yet), and only once have I broken into an abandoned home turned Crack Den to investigate the mysteries within. I haven't ventured into an abandoned hotel in Detroit (yet); I haven't even watched that Underworld show in the History Channel...(yet).

In other words, I haven't done a very good job at turning my interests into actual hobbies. Instead, I live a very exciting imaginary life and read BoingBoing.net as often as I'm able.

Niagra Falls has a dirty little secret.



Ooh-lah-lah, how I love urban unmentionables: secret tunnels, rediscovered underground cities, the Mole people, etc.

Vanishing Point is a nice place to visit these treasures for those who, like me, are in process of bolstering their adventurous spirit.

HEY! That's a scene from my brain while I was reading Neverwhere!

I dunno - all I see are boobs - maybe that's just me...

Huh, did you say something after this? I kinda spaced out for a minute.

haha!

there were a slew of abandoned sewer lines near the house I grew up in. a good portion of them were left cut off and dry after a freeway cut through and they were re-routed. one of my childhood friends dads worked for the city and showed them to us one day.

of course, once we knew they were there, we went exploring them many times on our own. a thing that could surely have met with disaster on more than one occasion, even if only being busted.

Ive done a few different caves, most recently the last Camp Swank. the caves we explored were incredible, beautiful and eerie but the man made ones were just downright frightening and had a spooky feel I dont find in natural caves

you should make it a point to visit something of that nature...well guided and supervised of course, but worth every second of the trapped in a H.R.Giger painting feel

One of the pleasures I've had in my job is occasionally visiting abandoned or repurposed buildings - some as much as a century old, and quite industrial for the time - they may sport their own stables, black smith shops, etc. And some housed some huge machinary, that when removed left underground passages, trap doors to unusual places, stairs and doorways leading nowhere, or rooms sealed from any normal entrance. Often these places had stories of hauntings, doors opening and closing on their own and the like.

I love the idea of such places, but I get the feeling some sort of latent claustrophobia would set in.

And don't forget the abandoned Sunkist factory of our youth.

Well that was more like urban breaking and entry (you forgot the quotation marks around "abandoned" - heh

:snap: EH1812!

I love this and am much like you, have not ventured too far into urban exploring. This does remind me of one of my favorite sites for urban exploration Forgotten NY and I do keep meaning to see if there is a similar group in SF, there must be!

And then there's the enevitable blending of said hobbies of pornography and taxidermy... :eek:

or pornography and Spelunking........:D

..is called Gynecology

Visible MOJO and a tip of the pirate cap to you Captain!

just don't mix the pornography with the taxidermy

Hahaha! Visible mojo, indeed.

Norman Bates may have something to say about this.

That was very cool, indeed.

My thoughts exactly. Or Ed Gein.

btw, you probably would have a lot more urban spelunking comments on this thread had you not mentioned pr0n in the OP.

There are a couple of great photo books on underground Tokyo. If you're planning to join the journey in '09, they might be worth seeking out.

I'll see if I can dig up some of those books. As for the mention in the OP, whaddeva. :)

Here are some very cool photos of some underground sites in Japan, etc.

And it looks like these might be some of the books you mentioned. Niiiiiiice.

You found them! The "Japan Underground" series is really too cool for words.

Don't forget about the famous Paris sewer system, the underground lake at the Paris Opera House (Opera Garnier), and the underground city in Seattle

wowzer! incredible pics.

there are tons of places with vast undergrounds just begging to be explored by those with the interest (and more than a little guts). I remember tales from my dad of huge underground storage areas in Hawaii used for fuel storage, bunkers...etc

makes me wonder what else is going on 'down there'

Oh, I haven't. And hopefully someday I'll see them with my own eyes.

I don't know if this qualifies, but I grew up in New York apartment buildings where the basements all displayed prominent yellow "fallout shelter" signs. I could never quite figure out where the shelters actually were. Maybe it was the entire basement. If that was so, then the black men who worked in the building and lived in basement apartments were very lucky.

Underground Chinatown.

I read about this sort of thing in a young adult book (Kiki Strike) actually. Nifty, nifty!

Yes, we do have an underground city in Seattle. People LOVE this tour!!! Personally, I'm way too claustrophobic to attempt it but my hubby and son have done it.

I'm so amazed that so long ago they could actually build a whole city on top of another. Sure, it was done a little at a time, but I picture what it took to build the city under WDW and they had heavy machinery (and a lot less time of course). This is an interesting subject!

Catacombs in Paris!

One of the Hearst Castle tours takes you on what was to have been the main entrance. Any time WRH decided that somthing wasn't done properly he built over it rather than tearing it down.

Eliza H: our very own LoT Morlock.
:D

Awesomeness.

GD - you've done the two mentioned here and I don't think you reacted too badly. ;)

Love this stuff. :snap:

Um, some of that Japanese Underground stuff is amazing, and if we could see it in person on our trip, I would die happy.

The Paris catacombs were awesome and totally creepy.



I used to sneak below decks on the Queen Mary with people, often in tuxedoes and gowns on NYE, and we'd play Poseidon Adventure. Sweet.



When I was in Jr. High, we frequented a frelling haunted abandoned beachfront hotel. OMG, I loved that Place and will cherish those youthful explorations into creepiness forever.




Anything local L.A.? When do we start?

So is Urban Spelunking the same as Going Down in the City?

Many of Daniel Pinkwater's young adult fiction take place in undergroud Chicago and feature Borgalnuskies

Daniel Pinkwater rocks!

Yeah, I was realizing that. But thinking about being 10 stories below ground...

Spelunking just sounds like a dirty word.

That's because you have dirty ears.

Some peroxide does wonders for that.

My new favorite photographer.

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I love urban archaeology and some of these photos are just jaw dropping.

I am so buying this one or two of these

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:snap:

Very cool!

Ilikeit.

Beautiful!

Reading through, I thought "Quelle coincidence" that you should post about this !! I have fond memories of our "Hidden Terrace". :D

This thread is rad. I knew I should check LoT more often. I'm making this my new passive obsession.

Awesome collection of photos! I like the other sets as well. My kind of photography.