I've never made one of these before, but I was encouraged to so that I could prove to the wider community that I do more than explore meme shitholes.
Anyway, here goes. The places I did in 2021. What did I get up to? Well, I spent my first full year as an explorer, 2020, mostly hitting up what remains of the big asylum campuses throughout the northeast along with a ton of random industrial spots. There was a little less of that this year; instead I spent more time at isolation hospitals, TB hospitals, theaters, and especially churches. There was also a Chernobyl trip in there somewhere, though ultimately I elected not to include any Chernobyl photos in this thread to cut back on the already bloated thread size.
Personal highlights: I did several island explores, including several hospitals, that were unbelievably fun. As I look back on the year I think they stick with me the most. Something about exploring on an island has a completely different atmosphere - you feel so much more secluded (because you are).
Things I wish I did more of: Power Plants. I hit up a few really neat power plants in 2020 and vowed to see more in 2021. In the end I only did a tiny handful of plants this year. Maybe 2022 is the year for that.
Well, let's get into it!
1. Started the year off with a very intact asylum campus I had a personal connection to - one of my ancestors spent her final years committed here.
80's Conference Room by
Charles, on Flickr
I am the hoop by
Charles, on Flickr
1700s victorian child by
Charles, on Flickr
2. Then checked out this Italionate ruin of a church
ItalionateChurch0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
3. Then headed east to explore a few more low key spots in the snow
PolarExpress9.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
4. And dropped by a few schools
HardKnocksCollege6.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
5.
JapaneseHighSchool3.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
6. Hit up one of the less photographed unfinished nuclear plants
GovernmentTractors7.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
7. When I was back home I kicked things off with my first great church of the year.
NorthernChurch3.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
8. I also hit up this flavor of the month mall. I think I'm one of not too many to get into and photograph the theater here, I thought it was the most interesting part by far.
TinCity22.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
TinCity19.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
TinCity15.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
9. By then though it was time to sratch the old itch with some more laid back psych hospital exploring
SlipperyPsych2.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
SlipperyPsych21.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
SlipperyPsych19.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
10. Hit up a mansion + greenhouse on the way out
MansionGreenHouse7.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
11. Then it was time for sunday school
BibleCollege6.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
12. Alright I'm running out of steam for descriptions so I'll just say exploring this in the snow was epic
SnowyMansion30.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
SnowyMansion14.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
13. You have been visited by a very rare locomotive
RareTrains2.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
14. Fun and legal
BearCages4.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
15. Gotta get friends to make the water taxi affordable for this one
MaineCivilWar15.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
MaineCivilWar17.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
16. This Plant was laid back, colorful, and cool
Tobasco0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
Tobasco5.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
17. Another colorful spot
AirTowers14.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
18. Met up with another explorer this summer and started the day at this cool stone structure
Mausoleum0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
19. Then eventually found our way to this incredible convent
VolleyBallConvent33.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
VolleyBallConvent9.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
VolleyBallConvent5.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
20. Look! I got the shot of that one library at the place! Go me!
HilltopTBHospital25.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
HilltopTBHospital35.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
HilltopTBHospital18.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
21. Also made the pilgrimage to certain Gothic Church. Glad a got there before a few dumb kids did a bit later in the year...
GothandClocks24.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
GothandClocks15.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
22. Also hit up this much smaller but still beautiful and very, very old church
ReallyOldChurch3.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
23. But then I was feeling it. Feeling the itch again. Time for more psych hospitals.
Globetrotters43.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
Globetrotters42.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
Globetrotters25.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
24. And the like
StuffedAsylum16.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
StuffedAsylum14.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
25. This place might have the biggest difference in interior and exterior quality I have ever seen
SeaBreezeSan5.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
26. Kind of the opposite of this theater, which was jaw dropping start to finish
ArtDecoTheater39.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
ArtDecoTheater27.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
27. The 27 club. I ultimately flew too close to the sun. I got busted here, kind of hard. If you recognize this place, don't go! It's not safe.
I also dislocated my shoulder the same week, so after this place I was out of commission for a while.
Taconic19.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
28. But I made a comeback! I few weeks later I reunited with an old friend and explored a lot of semi big apple adjacent spots, though I sadly did have to pass on several spots because of my shoulder dislocation.
BeachHospital5.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
BeachHospital8.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
BeachHospital12.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
29. We hit up a few small hospitals
BSHospital4.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
30. And a few small forts
swivelfort1.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
swivelfort2.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
31. And most importantly this place before it inevitably gets wrecked
ChildrensTBHospital11.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
ChildrensTBHospital13.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
32. It was then time to relax and peruse a few curiosities
NostalgiaShop11.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
33. And hang out in the lone remaining building of a certain state hospital (mercifully, the auditorium)
WeaselDenAuditorium4.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
34. Not too long after, I met up with the legendary Bill Finan to explore some laid back stuff around NY State, including my first mine (apologies for the atrocious photo quality)
CementMine3.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
35. Hotel with a bowling alley we missed :'(
OvergrownHotel9.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
36. And we went skiing
GrandSki23.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
37. This photo makes me crave shitty food
MontyManor2.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
38. Roadside Find: a stripped theater with a pretty neat ray of light
strippedtheater by
Charles, on Flickr
39. And an unexpectedly fun shithole
pines4.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
40. Sometime not long after some friends and I went on a week long trip to Chernobyl. Like I said, I ultimately decided to post those in a completely separate thread some other time. But while in the Ukraine we also did a few other spots, including my first drain!
kievdrain0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
41. We also went on a trip to a shuttered missile silo and were given a very...permissive tour of the facilities
MissileSilo25.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
MissileSilo0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
42. When I got back is when my island exploring phase really started. Such as: this beautiful, very famous typhoid hospital
TyphoidMaryHospital22.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
TyphoidMaryHospital19.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
TyphoidMaryHospital13.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
43. This might have been my favorite explore of the year, albeit not the most fun
PanIsland10.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
PanIsland6.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
44. A very complete isolation hospital, also in the running for best explore of the year
IsolationHospital63.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
IsolationHospital24.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
IsolationHospital42.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
45. Those places were stressful. Time for a relaxing paddle around Bannerman
Bannerman15.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
Bannerman2.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
Bannerman8.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
46. I took this photo through a window. But who's counting?
PXL_20210619_205930267 by
Charles, on Flickr
47. I'm told this observatory finally got locked down a bit more thoroughly - and thank goodness for that, this instrument was sublime
BigBoyTelescope4.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
BigBoyTelescope1.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
48. My friend was kind enough to give me a quick tour of KP, which I actually really enjoyed. I regret putting off paying the place a visit for so long
KingsPark9.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
KingsPark7.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
KingsPark0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
49. It was around this time I met up with Philodis for the first time. We ended up doing a number of super laid back industrial spots that I really enjoyed. Here's a four cylinder air compressor
GlassFactory1.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
50. Burnt out mill
BurntMill4.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
51. Hydro turbine we had to climb through and out the top of
InHydroTurb0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
52. Probably my favorite "caved in industrial" site of the year, this remarkably intact loom shed
LoomShed12.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
LoomShed9.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
LoomShed0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
53. Where firetrucks go to die
FireTruckHell4.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
Believe it or not this is unedited
FireTruckHell2.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
54. I managed to catch this small spot right before the end. Glad I did, even if I had really bad luck and needed several attempts
TubState4.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
TubState5.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
TubState2.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
55. Then it was off to the west. This Gary school is on its way out so I went to say goodbye, even though I don't like schools much
Lew5.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
Lew6.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
56. Also checked out one of the soggiest churches I've ever explored, and that's really saying something
HardToShootChurch5.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
HardToShootChurch2.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
57. This church wasn't quite as untouched, but it was still a great explore (getting to that bell was harrowing)
KarenChurch4.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
KarenChurch3.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
KarenChurch0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
58. Probably the best industrial site of the year for me. Had to wake up at 4:00 in the morning, my third night or 3.5 hours or less of sleep, to have a chance of seeing this coking facility. But against all odds and all sense it was worth it. Too bad my photos utterly fail to capture any real sense of what this place is like
IndustrialHellscape6.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
IndustrialHellscape12.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
59. Went back home to find that a spot that hadn't been doable in a while had become flavor of the month all of a sudden
CandyCorn11.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
60. Also hit up likely the most intact prison I've yet seen
DogTrainingPrison6.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
DogTrainingPrison0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
61. Something a little out of the ordinary for me: a pumping station
PumpStation1.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
62. Another jail. This one slightly more dilapidated
CountyJail1.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
63. Met back up with a friend to explore this old love resort hotel. Ended up having a blast here even though I don't care for hotels or resorts.
LoveHotel5.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
64. Hit up one last psych hospital to get me through the holidays
Haggies9.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
Haggies6.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
Haggies1.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
65. I ended up closing the year out with a series of extremely solid churches. This first one had a great clock and bell tower.
ClockTowerChurch3.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
ClockTowerChurch0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
ClockTowerChurch7.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
66. I'm told photos of this church are good for generating clout
HypeBeastChurch8.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
HypeBeastChurch1.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
67. Too bad this unique A frame church was getting wrecked by teens literally when I arrived...
PXL_20211205_210546191 by
Charles, on Flickr
68. I'm glad I got to this church when I did
SquatterChurch2.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
69. Minty Fresh (also nice)
PXL_20210724_170242640.NIGHT by
Charles, on Flickr
PXL_20210724_165857928 by
Charles, on Flickr
70. Little *too* clean for my tastes but still great
BWordChurch3.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
BWordChurch0.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
71. I feel absolutely in love with the woodwork here
GabledChurch2.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
GabledChurch5.jpg by
Charles, on Flickr
Thanks for bearing with me to the bitter end. That's pretty much everything I did this year, except for
* a handful of spots too sensitive to post
* two handfuls of spots too shitty to post
* ten handfuls of spots from The Exclusion Zone that are going in their own thread, eventually.
I hope you enjoyed. Also, I've attempted to not include any photos that would overtly give away any of these spots other than the very well known ones, but if you think I've made an error in that regard shoot me a DM and I'll remove the offending image.
Overall, I'm happy with my "haul" this year. Here's hoping 2022 is similarly kind.