Once again the black flaps were peeled back, and once again two hooligans scurried into the dark, feeling ahead with their hands and forgoing a light until farther in. Deeper we walked, over dam, straddling the water as best we could with legs aching. Over another dam, past another icicle…we walked. Eventually we came to the same chamber that split off to Downtown. Something was different this time. Not the air or the water flow or the acoustics.
This time we carried skateboards.
We crouched and made our way up the Downtown entrance which was a smaller diameter than the original pipe we walked up. After a slight incline, curve to the right, and a brief walk down a straight portion, we were greeted with a much larger diameter pipe. It was easily 2 meters in diameter and it’s appearance was like pale blocks of stone.
At this time, we dropped our boards and made our first attempts at skateboarding. Evidently Goose had practiced or something, he took off down the pipe at incredible speed. I tried and tried and kept littering the air with profanity as I lost balance time and time again. Eventually I gave up and just walked and jogged to keep pace with Goose. The pipe made several twists and turns, and we passed by manhole after manhole. Peering up one we discovered that we were very deep indeed.
On we trekked, and eventually we came to a sort of dirt/ice/mud plug. Directly past this plug, the pipe turned from a tube into RCB (Reinforced Concrete Box) and veered sharply to the left. This was our end, as the water from here on was deeper than our boots.
Of course, we took some additional pictures.
On the way out, I managed to slip and fall into a pool of water. Unfortunately the air was particularly cold that night and after we left the drain my pants froze stiff. With every step I clicked and clacked all the way back to the vehicle. Clickey Clakey Clickey Clackey.
The official post drain documentation reads as such: “Nonobervance and i went downtown(right fork at drain near *redacted*) and it was blocked deep in by a substantial amount of debris. Not sure if debris was ice or something else.
Nonobservance managed to fall on his ass as we were leaving into a huge puddle and got soaked. Clicky clacky frozen jeans all the way to the car.”
Fuckin’ icy pants.
Cheers,
Nonobservance
