Well guys, it finally happened. I was walking across a tailrace "bridge," and fell neck-deep into nasty stagnant water. The bridge was of course, a few wooden planks floating in the water that I barely made across on my first try, and didn't stand up to me coming back over them. My friend said he saw them sinking and knew exactly what was about to happen. To make things worse, I found a tick on me the morning after. What was everyone else's first awful time?

I think I know the tailrace you're talking about. That's quite a fall, glad it sounds like you didn't get hurt. It was probably a fifteen to twenty foot drop when I visited over winter.

Posted by Aran I think I know the tailrace you're talking about. That's quite a fall, glad it sounds like you didn't get hurt. It was probably a fifteen to twenty foot drop when I visited over winter.

If it was the same one, I was off the main bridge, and right at water level. Only a quick submersion for me, and the main walkway is thankfully much sturdier!

I’ve slipped and got completely submerged into storm drains a couple times haha.

I've gotten all my gear covered in that weird water and abandoned dust mixture that you find in leaky places. My bag still smells like asbestos.

How deep was the water? everyone says you cant touch but they dont look that deep

Posted by ChaseMcDude How deep was the water? everyone says you cant touch but they dont look that deep

Couldn't touch. I didn't hit the bottom.

I haven't had anything too bad happen while exploring so far, but I've definitely slipped and gotten soaked in a storm drain. Worst one so far was probably a tiny, humid as hell steam tunnel that I had to crawl through. Near the exit, it was straight up mud, so that was a fun laundry day.

It wasn't my first explore, but when I was still pretty green to the hobby, I'd gone to check out a small house in the woods, and went through a floor.
I'd made it across the questionable back porch, and most of the inside was stable, but in the master bedroom I could tell the floor was pretty bad...I decided to get a hallway shot from inside the bedroom, and felt the mushy floor give. I quickly grabbed the window frame (hoping I wasn't over the basement, quite the Wile E Coyote moment), and went right through; hitting bottom at about 3 feet. In many ways I was fortunate; not a long fall, no severe injuries (bruised pride and a scraped elbow), and didn't give myself a cheap vasectomy by straddling the joists. 😲
Getting out was a bit of a chore, each time I'd step up, I'd fall back in...til I was finally able to get on the joists and escape (slapstick at its finest, folks...like the ol' pie in the face bit; it quits being funny when it starts being you!)
Needless to say, I learned my lesson and though it pained me to have wrought a bit of destruction, maybe it will serve as a warning to the next explorer and save them from a fall.
And najanaja, that sounds terrifying!! I'm glad you're okay...y'all be safe!