quick valentines day drive

Usually around valentines day I take a large multi day trip somewhere around the province. This year things got changed around and it just didn't work out. I still managed to convince saskurbex to go out on a small one day trip to see what we could find. It was nice to get out but because of all the snow from this winter its hard to get to anything. We did find a few churches, community center and a ton of deer.

Here are some pics from that trip:

random and worthy of a picture..

this was only a small portion of deer we found on the roads we drove

and a nice pink sky to end the day...

new website & updates

If you live in this province you will know how bad the weather has been this past month. The weather is the main reason I have not been going out exploring. This doesn't mean I haven't been doing exploring related things. All this time inside has given me a chance to create a website.

Since exploresask.com is no longer I wanted to create a website by myself that would connect to my blog. A place for people to browse more pictures from locations. There are only two full locations on the website now but I have more updates on the way.

So go check it out!

http://vanishedcompass.yolasite.com/

Looks for more updates on the blog & website as the weather improves! I have been getting anxious to get out and explore again. Hopefully this happens in the next couple weeks.

I also have an e-mail now, you can contact me @
vanishedcompass@yahoo.com

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