Infiltration

decrepitude location: Norcal Gender: Male \|	Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. < on 7/26/2011 6:53 AM >

	I went out to Lake Tahoe to attend a wedding I got suckered into. I cant stand weddings, all the pomp and stress, at least they usually serve booze. The wedding was actually fun (choreographed group dancing to stars wars music in full Vader costume anyone?) I managed to get my explore on as well at several sites while totally winging it, so I cant really complain. Here are some of my images from the trip. I found this place sitting forlornly on the side of the road. I felt like Hansel and Gretel being lured into the gingerbread house and what the HELL is in the top left corner? 1. 2. There wasn't much left inside except for a few odds and ends. 3. 4. We then went out to Virginia city to buy lots of tacky t-shirts and pay to watch badly re-enacted gun fights....not really, but we did go to the Mark Twain saloon. Heres a little history about the place. Virginia City is one of the oldest established communities in Nevada. Folklore indicates that the town got its name from a man named James Finney who was nicknamed "Old Virginy". Finney was credited with discovering the Comstock Lode. His real name was James Fennimore, and he had fled his home state of Virginia after killing a man. Like many cities and towns in the state, Virginia City was a mining boomtown; it appeared virtually overnight as a result of the Comstock Lode silver strike of 1859. Location of Virginia City, Nevada During its peak, Virginia City had a population of over 30,000 residents and was called the richest city in America. During the 20 years following the Comstock success "about $400 million was taken out of the ground." When the Comstock Lode ended in 1898, the city's population declined sharply. Most of the miners who came to the city were Cornish or Irish. Mining operations were hindered due to extreme temperatures in the mines caused by natural hot springs. The miners would snowshoe to work and then descend into the high temperatures. This contributed to a low life expectancy. Adolph Sutro built the Sutro Tunnel in support of the mining operations. The tunnel drained the water to the valley below (Carson City). Conceived in 1860, it was not completed until many years later, after much of the silver had been mined. From its creation in 1859 to 1875, there were five widespread fires. The 1875 fire, dubbed the Great Fire of 1875, caused $12 million in damages. Virginia City and Mark Twain Virginia City could be considered the "birthplace" of Mark Twain, as it was here in February 1863 that writer Samuel Clemens, then a reporter on the local Territorial Enterprise newspaper, first used his famous pen name. Virginia City historical documents state that Clemens was mugged on November 10, 1863 as he walked over the hill from the south while returning to Virginia City. The muggers relieved Clemens of his watch and his money. The robbery turns out to have been a practical joke played on Clemens by his friends, to give him material to write about. He did not appreciate the joke, but did retrieve his belongings - especially his gold watch (worth $300) and which had great sentimental value as well. Clemens mentioned the incident in his book Roughing It, (published Feb 1872) – and was still sore about it. - lifted from wiki Fusspots friends William and Curtis had never been exploring before. I managed to convince them few quick explores would be fun so after a few drinks we were off to hit some locations I had eyed on the way up. Walking down the main drag I spotted ruins everywhere. People seemed to have them as back and side yards. 5. 6. 7. We finally headed down the hill to some locations, when I saw this I knew I was in luck. 8. 9. I scoped out the mine building and it was pretty big but there was a guy with some dogs and he looked like he owned the place, so I only explored the upper portion. I scaled down the hill to find this. 10. I then peeked inside the open doorway....score. An intact early 19th century engine/generator room. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. After my explore here, I used going to the local wine bar as a distraction to go check out a tunnel I had seen on the way up. After a cold Guinness I was on my way. The tunnel. This place was a blast to photograph but I still didn't have a tri-pod and loose rock keep falling and tumbling around me. Oh well at least it would only hit me in the head. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. The next day found us back in Nevada again so I used this time to check the status on an old favorite. She was locked up tight but the exterior is always interesting for the sheer absurdity of its bizarre architecture. 22. 23. 24. 25. Cthulhu's chimney will eat your soul! 26. While in town I found a crappy little apartment building that had some nice lighting. 27. 28. 29. We didn't get back to Tahoe until about 1:00 am, the perfect time for some low-lite pics. 30. 31. I hope you enjoyed the post. Cheers!

Abe Froman location: Oakland Ca Gender: Male \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 1 on 7/26/2011 7:45 AM >

	Awesome photos! And I'm loving the low light exposures, I tried the same this past weekend and failed horribly.

Cowboy location: Nashville, TN Gender: Male \| \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 2 on 7/26/2011 12:38 PM >

	Where is darth vader doing dances. Thats what i really want to see.....

Valkyre location: Niflheim Gender: Male Its not the end of the world, but you can see it from here. \| \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 3 on 7/26/2011 12:46 PM >

	31 is like, holy shit. But then, so is the whole set. Heaps gnarly! Once things get political, they want us to stop shooting and start dancing. I don't dance.

Fusspot

location:
Bay Area, CA
Gender: Female

Because... REASONS!

Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps.
<Reply # 4 on 7/26/2011 3:18 PM >

Posted by Cowboy
Where is darth vader doing dances. Thats what i really want to see.....

siper location: SF, CA Gender: Male "His hand upon her breast, he knew today meant death." \| \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 5 on 7/26/2011 3:24 PM >

	Great set, bro! Want to improve your photography? Flickr

SinCalRyder location: Bakersfield CA Gender: Male Less worrying, more exploring! \| \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 6 on 7/26/2011 3:27 PM >

	Okay first....... those looked like some pretty exciting places to see! Great finds. Thats why I can't wait to get some travel on because you seem to run into stuff totally different once you get away from home. Second...... The pics of the Star Wars Dancing, LMAO thats great, especially with the woods as a back drop. Only thing I would of done different............ Midgets dressed as ewoks come running out of the woods in the middle of the dance!!! =) "Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today" http://CurtisNoblePhotography.Com

Alice location: Nor Cal Gender: Female "Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop." \| \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 7 on 7/26/2011 4:39 PM >

	It looks like you had a great weekend!! I love the creature in the window of the first picture. You have a lot of great shots, but the tunnel and low lite are awesome. It was really kewl seeing Virginia City through your photos. I haven't been there since I was about 14 years old when my brother was in a motorcycle race. Now it seems completely different. "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

towerofisengard location: Portland, OR Gender: Male \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 8 on 7/26/2011 5:03 PM >

	Wow, this is some awesome stuff. I love the variety of the places you saw (especially on a non-UE focused trip). I especially like the mine pictures - both the tunnel and the surface structures and machinery. Thanks for the pics!

cr400 location: Los Angeles, CA Gender: Male \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 9 on 7/26/2011 6:38 PM >

	Really badass trip D. I love the mine machine room. The architecture of those buildings sure is hillbilly'ish. Did you hear banjo's a playin'? The ginger bread house should have been filled with creepy dolls and one eyed teddybears........ You can see a million miles tonite, but you can't get very far. Honorary member of UER lifetime acheivement award winning, 2Xplorations and Guide Services, Texas.

Relocate location: nunyabiz Gender: Male \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 10 on 7/26/2011 6:47 PM >

	Great photos, awesome variety of locations! Every time I go on a trip I try to find at least one place to explore, looks like you found plenty! To fail in what you've yet to achieve is more the spirit of exploration than to make no attempt at all. -Neil deGrasse Tyson

ZombieMeat location: San Jose, CA Gender: Male \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 11 on 7/26/2011 7:22 PM >

	Awesome Explore !!! 16, 17, 19, 20 are really good shots. I like how vivid and high contrast 19 & 20 are. I'm actually jealous !! 8 & 12 are also really good too. Great star & Galaxy pictures too. -ZM

benkog location: Los Angeles, CA Gender: Male \| \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 12 on 7/26/2011 9:49 PM >

	sweet! good find

benkog location: Los Angeles, CA Gender: Male \| \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 13 on 7/26/2011 9:52 PM >

	the tunnels are especially awesome

decrepitude location: Norcal Gender: Male \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 14 on 7/26/2011 11:35 PM >

	Thanks for all the feedback everyone, its appreciated. I highly recommend going out here to fart around if you are even remotely interested. I was amazed by the amount of abandoned houses, businesses, structures and mines in some of the areas I went to. Some people had huge old mines with intact headers, conveyors, equipment and shafts in their backyard! That's a hell of a place to play as a kid.

madcap Gender: Male not that kind of doctor \| \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 15 on 7/27/2011 2:17 PM >

	hey this is super sweet. nice find & pics. thanks for sharing. i really dig that blue building. -madcap i am the other yourself. "Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices? I've heard them calling my name. Is this the sweet sound that called the young sailors. The voice might be one and the same. I've heard it too many times to ignore it. It's something that I'm supposed to be." http://www.flickr....orers/collections/

A.K. location: Yuba/Sutter County CA Gender: Female \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 16 on 7/28/2011 10:02 PM >

	Sounds like you had an amazing trip I love the mine pics.. Very cool. Any ideas as to what the first building is? All of the places are great. Glad you had a good time! Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.

decrepitude

location:
Norcal
Gender: Male

Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps.
<Reply # 17 on 7/29/2011 7:03 PM >

Posted by A.K.
Sounds like you had an amazing trip

I love the mine pics.. Very cool. Any ideas as to what the first building is? All of the places are great. Glad you had a good time!

I think the blue building might have been some sort of curio or thrift shop at one time.

[last edit 7/29/2011 9:56 PM by decrepitude - edited 1 times]

hoodrat location: San Diego, CA Gender: Male \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 18 on 7/30/2011 8:36 PM >

	Nice set of interesting pictures. Virginia City is definitely on the list of places to visit someday. Really liked the pics you took of the ore bins and the tunnel! There's a mine-explorer in you after all! haha

/-/ooligan location: Las Vegas area Gender: Male When in danger, when in doubt, RUN IN CIRCLES, SCREAM AND SHOUT! \|	Re: Mines, falling rocks and tourist traps. <Reply # 19 on 7/30/2011 10:25 PM >

	While in the Tahoe region, has anyone checked out the old Ponderosa Ranch lately? https://secure.wik...ki/Ponderosa_Ranch /-/oolie There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.

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