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The Backbone Drain type: New Main Drainage Canal, RCP with network connections. Year: 2001 at the downstream end. Region: Northern Barrie, commercial area. Drain accessibility: Mid-to-high. The downstream entrance is barred but the gap between the upper and bottom segment is rather easy to squeeze through -- much easier than at Queen's (which is our benchmark for squeezish entryways), that's for sure. The morbidly unflexible or obese may have a tough go of it, though. For them, there's a ridiculously easy-to-open grill at the roadside upstream a ways. Drain exitability: The same as the accessibility. The Backbone is pleasant in that its access is equally feasible from either end (although the downstream entrance is far better-concealed than the roadside grill), so you can always walk its length and leave at the other end rather than going back the way you came. Fun! Traversability: Mostly easy and relaxing -- mostly. The Backbone runs a good distance as a six-to-seven-foot RCP with, in our experience, a low water table. It shrinks slightly before reaching the aforesaid roadside grill box, which can be more or less considered to be its end (the pipe shrinks to something more municipal at that point). By the time you reach the upstream end, tho, you'll have encountered so many network connections and weird, catacomby side-pipes you could just shriek. The main obstacle to traversing the pipe is the waterfall in the downstream manhole chamber -- we're exploring options for this (including leaving a rope ladder for future explorers) but it's not impassable as it is, just intimidating. Interesting features: The first manhole chamber is gigantic -- at least thirty feet high. Three or four people could comfortably hang out there (as some of the non-drainer youth in Barrie have apparently been doing). Most of the Backbone is an ordinary RCP (although rather large), too new to have any mineral formations, but the odd little weirdness pops up here and there and, of course, it has network connections all over the place. Very cool. Hazards: Scaling the waterfall chamber can be risky, so watch yourself. Overall the Backbone is pretty mellow and you'd have to try pretty hard to hurt yourself [drainingisdangerousadviceisforprofessionalsonly]. Recommendation: Hell yeah. You could do far worse than run the Backbone. Treat yourself. Remember, you can e-mail us for directions to anything you read about here. The Mighty Backbone Drain Check out the Backbone photo gallery The Backbone drain is an exception to the rule when it comes to Barrie drains. It represents the longest run of pipe over 6 feet high that we've ever found in this city, punctuated with chambers unlike any we'd seen before. The drain has a low water-table, lots of interesting features, and frequent signs of visitation by other parties. Its architecture tends towards the mundane, mostly RCP all the way through with a few exceptions, but all in all it's pretty wonderful. When we first discovered the Backbone, we were reluctant to get our hopes up at the sight of its seven-foot entrance pipe. A lot of downstream outpours in Barrie are fairly large, but lead to a rapidly-shrinking drain. Nonetheless, just after the construction crews had put a gate over the pipe (it had gone in only months before), we crept in one night to check it out. We were immediately impressed with the length that the pipe ran without shrinking, and we followed it for a few minutes before reaching the first manhole chamber. It was maybe twelve feet in diameter, several storeys high, and dead ahead of us was a concrete wall shielding a vertical waterfall pipe -- the drain continued several feet above us. This is normally where the pipe gets small, but as we turned our eyes upwards, we were shocked to see another seven-foot pipe yawning into the chamber from above our heads! This was unprecedented and exciting but we couldn't for the life of us figure out a way to get into the pipe without chimneying the waterfall pipe, which would soak us. So we left the drain, ran to a Wal-Mart and bought a cheap nylon rope. We came back, tied it up awkwardly, and used it to pull ourselves into the second pipe. You know that you've discovered an exceptional drain when the Naming Debate starts up. Nobody cares what you call a dime-a-dozen three-foot concrete pipe underneath a suburb with no interesting features, but it suddenly seems important when you've found something really cool. We discussed what to name the drain as we marched through the second pipe for what seemed like forever -- in fact the pipe went for so long that I recommended The Marathon as a possible name. When we came to the second chamber, however, and saw the sheer number of traversable pipes connecting to it, we realized that this drain was designed to take the downstream outpour of an unusually high number of other, smaller ones, leading Grebin to suggest the name of "The Backbone". Obviously, it stuck. We explored the pipe upstream a ways, through the smaller third chamber and eventually exiting next to a busy street through a grille, and we've revisited it dozens of times since. I even drew a small map on the wall of the second chamber once, charting out the areas we've explored. Suffice to say that the Backbone is probably one of the largest and longest drains we'll ever find in Barrie and you should go see its photo gallery right now. :D -Flame0ut Contact: [email protected] .