So, I’m pretty much a total newbie to UE, but I found this site, have been doing a ton of reading, and recently, went on my first draining trip! For a week or so I had been running around near me, seeking out possible locations, and I ended up finding a really good one. It’s probably familiar to some Atlanta folks, I’ve seen some photos of a similar location on here before and I’m sure they’re probably connected.
I didn’t know how wet it was going to be and so opted not to take my camera-- so, apologies for the low-quality phone photos.
The tunnel I entered through was huge-- It was rectangular and I was able to ride my bike inside easily. When I switched on my headlamp, I was surprised at how little it illuminated the tunnel-- the darkness was incredible, just stretching out in front of me. I ended up using my second flashlight in combination with my headlamp to get better illumination.
I biked for a few minutes down this huge tunnel, which was surprisingly dry, and eventually stopped because I saw light up ahead. I wondered if it was another explorer, sunlight from a grate, or somebody camped out. Got off my bike and stood for a minute watching the light-- it never flickered or moved, so I figured it wasn’t a person, and advanced. Turns out, the rectangular tunnel opened up into another, bigger room, illuminated by huge yellowish lights mounted to the ceiling. I was totally in awe-- this was not what I was expecting at all, I didn’t know that people ever artificially illuminated tunnels, I guess I just assumed that workers would come in with their own illumination. There was a big ladder on the floor, another sign of human activity that I wasn’t really expecting.
I ended up staying in this big room and not venturing any further, this time-- my nerves were high, this being my first expedition, and I didn’t want to run into anybody else. There were also a *lot* of spiders, some of which looked like black widows, and a ton of mosquitos-- I wanted to avoid bites and so I left fairly quickly. Will definitely be bring bug spray next time. I’m looking forward to going back and venturing deeper.
Anyways, I know it’s a pretty dull little adventure to all you seasoned explorers, but I was pretty excited to have found such a big system near me and will definitely be posting as I explore further.
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