When I was in high school the roadway along the top of the dam was our usual haunt. We would hang out up there and drink, smoke, and do god knows what other socially unacceptable things. It's rather remotely located, so cars would rarely go by - and for all the places I got caught hanging out in my home town, this one one place that no one bothered us. It was always a great place to hang out - by night we would walk the road and stare down over the spillway - talking about what we would do if we fell over. By day we would walk our dogs in the park and explore the staircases on either side, and the surrounding woods, which are chock full of abandoned houses, estates, even a castle like structure which belonged to Abercrombie, of A&F fame (coming soon).

So I was headed up to help my mom pack, as she is leaving the old abode, and I got caught in a torrential downpour. Roads were flooded, people were pulled over - panic ensued. It was a perfect day to check out the dam. Since we were on the eastern side we went there first, although I did not know the roads so well. Luckily, there was a detour, since the bridge is closed - the signs said the detour went left, so we went right. we found the end of the road, and we were greeted by a very strange guy behind a locked gate. He just stood there far away and looked at us while he smoked, something. After seeing that there was nothing to see from there, we went in and approached him. I asked if we could look around, and before I finished my sentence he was waving us in (from afar). He kept staring, kept smoking, and kept waving. Ok. So we were in, sort of, or on as it may be, and it was just as I remembered. Well, there was not nearly as much activity up there way back when. There were construction trailers, signs, equipment of a boring nature, etc - they are working on something, but it was not clear what. We stumbled upon a keypad wired to a hatch in the floor, which I imagine is access to the Croton aqueduct itself. It was by far the coolest little oddity of the trip - a Resident Evil-like keypad for top secret entrance into a government hideout deep within the dam - or something. So we walked around, took tons of pictures, and decided that was that - head back. There is an abandoned estate nearby (I'm not saying where, yet - and it's not the Ambercrombie one, another one) I thought I could ask the guard to point me in that direction. We could not find him - damn - but then I realized he was in the car inside the gate, with the windows all fogged up and an electrical cord in the window. Okay, I don't want to know about that - I certainly did not knock - the point is, the fucker guarding the place is weird.

We went back, following the detour, to the other side, in Croton. We went up the semi-abandoned road with ease, and found a fence, but no trailers, no guard, and nothing to stop us from going around the fence. But now it made sense - the bridge over the spillway, which obviously is not atop a dam (or nothing would spill-out, get it) is under construction. You could put a million dollars on the other side and you could not get me to attempt it. It was covered, or so it appeared, but open on the sides, and open from below - think what the floor of an attic looks like. With a 180 foot drop below into crashing water and rocks and ahhhh - it's unthinkable. Anyway, we took pics from afar and headed to the park.

Now that we had been to the dam from above, it was time to see it from below, legally. The park is great, Westchester County parks are great (I have to say that because a close family member of mine has worked for the parks department for 25 years, however, it's really true). We did explore the staircases on either side of the dam. The one to the left (west) is in plain sight and the bottom 10' are sealed up with cinderblocks. The ones on the right (east) are pretty easily accessed, and well hidden - however, once atop the staircase your journey ends. This is the side that would have access to the aqueduct, which would thereby be the "cool side". I imagine beihnd that door is a maze of tunnels and staircases that allow access into the aqueduct. I wonder if you can go from down here to the keypad hatch up there?? I didn't find out, but let me know if you do.

So that is the "story" as it may be. I was totally drenched, and ill prepared. As I remember though, it was a really cool spot. I had never really looked at it as an urban adventure until it stopped being "a road on top of the dam that we took as a short cut to Mt. Kisco" and became a "fenced in construction site closed for fear of terrorists and ugly bridges from the 70's". It definately is though - if people can get away with putting a storm drain as an uran adventure than I can use this!! When I got to my moms place she was amazed that the guard let me behind the fence. According to her, this place is under a high terrorist alert, and is patrolled often by county cops. She could not believe that we walked around and took pics and no one stopped up - thank god for useless rent-a-cops.

So here is the question - do people read these stories?? I'd love to know if you do. I don't read them, to be honest, but like to write them. Just wondering.