A scouting trip found that the old mental hospital seems to have been repurposed for the Job Corps or demolished. Much of its campus has become the Northern State Recreation Area,http://www.skagitc...ion/parks/nsra.htm , a public park.

Yet interesting outbuildings remain--some collapsed, others succumbing but slowly to the dank pacific NW climate.

1. Too late! (by TunnelRunner33)


2. Walled garden (by TunnelRunner33)


The old hospital dairy farm is picturesque and in pretty good shape. It's on the park grounds, https://www.google.../data=!3m2!1e3!4b1 . It may have been built using patient labor. It's open for everyone to wander thru, without so much as a "No Trespassing" sign.

3. Ghost stairs


4. Side door


5. Seeking the light


6. Cloister


7. Air conditioning


8. Moonrise


9. Bonus; dusk

A history of the hospital is posted here, http://www.asylump...ern_State_Hospital . The forgotten graves and ashes are a sad legacy.

We got here late in the afternoon, after having done some other exploring for most of the day. It was a race against time as we moved through the farm looking for photo opportunities. As another guy told us earlier that morning, you could spend a whole day at the farm if you wanted to.

A few more shots:

1.


2. The turf growing on this roof is at least 3 inches thick, maybe more. It makes me wonder if it grew there completely naturally, or was helped along a bit by somebody:


3. Eventually we were chased off by the lack of light and the onset of cold silver fog:

Embrace the fog.

Looks like a great spot! The ghost stairs and cool and I love the mossy green rot.

This place is fun, especially if you're not looking for the anxiety of sneaking around. The place is quite massive with tons of photo opportunities. UE with training wheels .