new year 1-1-11

I didn't have high hopes for 2010. In fact, i figured since I have explored most of the province, this past year would be a slow one. I was very wrong, this year turned out to be a huge year for me. So many changes took place and I was able to explore many locations. I travelled through four provinces & two states. I explored with a couple new people and did quite a bit of solo exploring.

This year began slow but soon picked up with a couple trips to other provinces and some familiar locations in our province. Over the summer I relocated for a job and quickly found myself consumed by the areas history and finding out more about my family roots. I over explored the area but am well educated about each location.

I managed to get in a few large trips this summer to the mountains in Canada & the United States. The four day road trip covering all of Montana with SaskUrbex was definitely the longest trip i went on this year. The large trips were amazing and I have nothing but good memories from them.

I also spent the summer working on exploresask.com which launched in august. This was a collaboration with PhoenixEnigma. My relationship with him ended in September which was a huge change in my life but definitely for the best. I have no regrets and couldn't be happier. I needed to get rid of the site so exploresask ended in December. This was for the best as now i have more time for exploring which in turn means more blog posts. Maybe in the future there will be a website, its hard to say.

The fall had some downtown as SaskUrbex was busy with his life and contact was lost, but we eventually got back on track. A new person named Scythe comes out and explores with us when he gets a chance. He loves exploring and is now starting to get into photography. We have made it out a few times this winter on a couple day trips and other smaller nightly trips. All which have paid off in their own way.

I explored in every type of weather this year from thunderstorms, to waist high snow, hail and more. I dropped my camera a couple times which caused a couple dents but no real damage. I also watched my tripod & camera almost fall down Castle Butte (200ft) this summer. Thank goodness they both survived but shortly after my tripod broke which i quickly replaced with a new all metal one. My gear has been put to the test this year but for the most part has proved strong.

I managed to cross off more things on my lists of things to explore this summer. Some of those included a theater, finding a morgue, underground mine, modern school, residential school and more. I still have the passion for exploring and cannot wait to get out to explore again.

I look forward to this new year and new opportunities.

highlights of the my favorite locations this year include:

• military base
• mountain mines in BC & Montana
• a modern school
• Indian Residential School
• giant kilns of an old brick plant
• true ghost towns
• hospital full of equipment

some goals for this new year:

• finish photographing all Ukrainian churches in the province
• explore a small area of the province i have not been to
  
• hopefully head back to the states
• more exploring with saskurbex & scythe
• some old locations photographed in new ways
  
• possible relocation again