Have I ever mentioned how much more I enjoy taking photos than I do editing them? I think the only one waiting on this set from me is me, but I hope you all enjoy my year in exploring that was 2019. I got around quite a bit and even did some international exploring. I saw some classics, along with some unique and unseen treasures.

In no specific order:

1. This is the remains of a house with an entrance to a mine behind it. People used any sorts of materials they could to keep the elements out, so it is very common to see cardboard boxes, fabrics, and anything else people could attach to the walls to try to create SOME sort of insulation.



2. You used to really have to work for it to open a can of beer.



3. A flipped over ore cart on a stope heading into the lower levels of an old mine



4. X-ray machine and gear from a 1930s era hospital



5. Oxygen Tent in an old mining hospital



6. The oldest operating room I've seen



7. Asylum Cupolas at the one who almost got away



8. 5 feet of ice and who knows what frozen inside of it beneath my feet in a school gymnasium



9. I was lucky enough to see this beautiful theater before it was demolished. They were already in the process of tearing it down on this day.



10. L E W D



11. I'm a sucker for a beautiful staircase



12. Autopsy table and body cooler in a former Tuberculosis Hospital



13. A theater inside a well known air force base that I finally got to check off the list



14. The Milky Way and two large beehive kilns used to make charcoal for the ghost town and mining operation that were formerly on site.



15. Frosty views of a timeless beauty (aka Snowsylum)



16. A Road-side salon inside an airstream, complete with cigarette butts in ash trays and all



17. A bowling alley in the basement level of an asylum.



18. Former lab in a tuberculosis sanatorium



19. We were quite surprised to find this mining facility with so much equipment still inside. You never know what you'll see.



20. The plush, mack daddy of asylum dental chairs



21. Not quite sure what to say about this one.......



22. He was a real school house ladies' boy



23. A late 1800s saloon dance hall. The stage would have been lit by candle at one time. The fact that there are still places out there like this blows my mind.



24. Anyone else here a sucker for vintage wall paper?



25. Trainwreck!



26. Home, Sweet Trailer Home



27. Pretty in Pink Church



28. State Hospital Lab Rat



29. RIP this spot. I would have loved to see this couples' resort back in its swinging hey day.



30. Forensic Unit



31. Confessional



32. Mansion of Eternal Sadness (and barking)



33. Lush and plush hotel room above the casino



34. 1970s traveling musicians' tour bus



35. Sorry to disappoint, but but I did not suffer "HIGH VOLTAGE/LASER SHOCK" here. I still have NO idea what the story is with this place.



36. Legs up, Buttercup! (Birthing Center)



37. Beautiful pipe organ



38. I don't want to know what went on in this Operating Room. I found some of the surgeons' notebooks about procedures they did during the early 1960s, and it was horrifying. Patients are still human beings. Some of us forget.



39. Ah, nothing says relaxation like a carpeted room with a sunken jacuzzi tub, amirite?



40. Shag Pad



41. Sterile



42. Would I personally put this in my mansion? No. It's still beautiful in all of its over the top opulence though.



43. High Voltage



44. House of 1000 bees



45. Remote homestead



46. Organist's View



47. Someone to watch over me



48. Fresh Mountain Air



49. Encephalograph



50. Those bright, colorful, state hospitals ;)

1 word, 3 letters.
Wow

Posted by selectedgrub 1 word, 3 letters. Wow

Thank you so much 💜

Well, this is just a really good fucking year. Awesome stuff !

Phenomenal, Katharsys! I didn't know I was waiting for this, but now that I do, it was absolutely worth it 😉
Thanks for sharing; this is a killer set and an obviously awesome year of 'splorin! 🙂

Amazing year of exploration ... strangely beautiful eclectic and diverse locations ... every one is a winner. Thanks for sharing.

I still can't get over how amazing the theatre room lights are in #6, they are probably my favourite hospital lights anywhere and I really need to try and see them for myself.

Posted by mookster I still can't get over how amazing the theatre room lights are in #6, they are probably my favourite hospital lights anywhere and I really need to try and see them for myself.

Me either! I had known about the building for a few years, and I knew that it used to be the hospital, but it’s kind of small and unassuming looking, so I didn’t pursue it too much. Then one day I was in the parking lot next to it and I looked up and was able to see those theater lights, as well as some shiny metal tanks in the room next to it.......that’s when I knew if it was what I thought it was, I was going to lose my mind. Turns out it was even better. Also, I’m REALLY glad modern medicine has come as far as it has. I would not want to be on that operating table.

Posted by Cfourexplore Phenomenal, Katharsys! I didn't know I was waiting for this, but now that I do, it was absolutely worth it 😉 Thanks for sharing; this is a killer set and an obviously awesome year of 'splorin! 🙂

Thank you so much. I’d been looking forward to sharing....I just had a lot to get through. The year had a lot of great surprises for me as far as exploring goes. Hopefully 2020 will be a good one too ☺️

A absolutely amazing collection of shots!
I am very grateful that I was right there with you for most of them!

Posted by TheSwanStation A absolutely amazing collection of shots! I am very grateful that I was right there with you for most of them!

Thank you for your willingness to indulge my wild ideas 😆

Looked through these several times and found them all Stunning. Thank You for finally sharing them with us. Aside from the Asylum pics and old medical tables and equipment that i dearly love...i found the AirStream Beauty Salon most interesting. Wonder what the story was behind that?

Posted by MisUnderstood! Looked through these several times and found them all Stunning. Thank You for finally sharing them with us. Aside from the Asylum pics and old medical tables and equipment that i dearly love...i found the AirStream Beauty Salon most interesting. Wonder what the story was behind that?

Thank you so much. I was really fascinated with the back story of this pop up salon as well. From what I can tell, there was an elderly couple that lived on site. The husband was a disabled veteran whose condition seemed to really deteriorate, and I’m guessing that’s when his wife got the cosmetology license and converted the airstream into the salon. They lived in a small house behind it, though there were several other trailers on the property. On my first visit, all of the old perm solutions and hair dyes and her rinse sink, shears, barbacide etc were still in there. Someone appears to have commandeered/rehomed her sink since then. One of the things that was most intriguing to me is the question of who her clientele were. There was a brothel up the road that was probably in business while she was open, but aside from that, the nearest “town” is 30 miles away, and it’s a living ghost town at best. Closest gas station is 60 miles in the opposite direction. There is a large and secretive Air Force Base in the somewhat near vicinity........So yeah, unless people were randomly stopping off the side of the road for a perm in an area where there is virtually nothing, who went there? Who smoked those cigarettes and read all the old Home Living and Cosmo mags while they waited for their color to set? The property sat unmolested for quite some time. It was definitely one of those places that looked questionable as to whether someone was living there. I believe there is an on site caretaker now. But yeah, it just goes to show that you never know what you’ll find, even if it looks unassuming or potentially occupied 😆

Great work... Love it all!

Definitely some awesome pictures, I really liked the mine. Just curious what camera you are shooting with?

Posted by Katharsys There was a brothel up the road that was probably in business while she was open,

Thats just what i envisioned hahaha! Makes excellent sense to me!! Really nice of you to take the time to answer and explain the situation even more than what i imagined. I could see her making some good money form the ladies, as well as the men who frequented Swinging Sally's down the road lol.. You are too cool! Much appreciated.

Posted by Sebk Definitely some awesome pictures, I really liked the mine. Just curious what camera you are shooting with?

Thank you so much. I shoot with Canon 5D mark IV/III

Posted by MisUnderstood! Thats just what i envisioned hahaha! Makes excellent sense to me!! Really nice of you to take the time to answer and explain the situation even more than what i imagined. I could see her making some good money form the ladies, as well as the men who frequented Swinging Sally's down the road lol.. You are too cool! Much appreciated.

Thank YOU for asking about it. I am forever fascinated with “the story.” Here are some of the ladies of Swinging Sally’s with the house madam and her doberman 😆

Posted by Katharsys Thank YOU for asking about it. I am forever fascinated with “the story.” Here are some of the ladies of Swinging Sally’s with the house madam and her doberman 😆 444316.jpg (40 kb, 247x320)

Awesome! Thank You! and you can tell they had just had their hair done for this photo! Shame the hot desert wind was blowing it all to pieces lol. haha! Im sure the men didnt care!

Better late than never! I'm absolutely loving your work; the variety of places, the variety of states traveled to. You got into it last year. Thank you for sharing!