melting snow

Recently I went on a road trip with a friend of mine. Two girls, one truck and the whole day. The day we went it was warm, so the snow was melting. Perfect weather to get yourself in trouble. A good mixture of mud, slush & snow.
The day started off with a hike through thick trees to reach a stone house in thigh high snow.The house was worth it but the walk definitely was a workout.
Not to mention I walked through this snow with an expensive camera loaned to me by my boyfriend. All else fails protect the camera and that's what I did. During the day I decided to jump out of the truck and walk towards a church, I did not even think about the fact that maybe there was a road, so I walked right across the ditch. All the way up to my hips in snow I had to get pulled out by my friend and not drop the camera. The things I do to keep it safe. Here are some pictures of the best & deepest snow.

TIP: Bring lots of extra pants & socks

After this we drove down a road clearly used only in the summer. We drove over hard snow and then through snow drifts, I pointed out that this road was only used in the summer and we should turn back. Nope, she was confident we could make it through. Well here is what happens when you own a truck and are positive you will not get stuck:

TIP: Be resourceful, use anything you can find - gravel, sticks from nearby trees, cardboard & always always pack a shovel & gravel

The snow was so deep it was right up to the undercarriage, it was melting so the tires only spun; we shoveled, broke off branches, ripped cardboard & moved snow with our hands & pushed the vehicle while running so we did not get stuck in the slush - 2 girls, 1 hour & we got out. No tow truck, no help and no wasting of time.

unknown to known

I have decided to share my experience with a once intact ghost town. This ghost town only has one resident who lives at the edge of town. There were many houses all of which you could get into. They had many things left behind such as books, clothing, dishes, etc. Along the main street there was old businesses and an old bar where the paintings could still be seen on the wall. In my opinion this was a fun town to take people interested in ghost towns as everything was quite intact.
Soon enough though, it became known to many people through the internet and word mouth. The ghost hunters started coming out as well as teens to party. Before you know it, things were getting vandalized and because of the growing number of people constantly coming out the owner took action and started to demolish houses.
Once beautiful houses rich in history & memories now piles of wood. I think it was smart of the owner to demolish these houses as some were not very stable and someone could get hurt. I am glad I was able to get into all the houses & see all the belongings left behind.
Here are some photographs of the houses last year & this year.

A house full of many belongings - now every window & door boarded up

The town bar, its character defined by the truck crashed into it - truck removed & bar crumbling

Cute home full of furniture & belongings - now a pile of wood

Small one person home with basement & old food jars still on the table - now a stack of wood & belongings

test spot

Once i find potential explorers i always take them out to a test location. I usually pick a location that is not to important to me, in case i decide i don't want to take them out again, if they come out with there friends and trash the place i wont feel so bad. Never take someone out to a large location or a place that you really enjoy going. If you take them to a larger location because you feel confident use back roads to confuse the person about where the location is, this way if they try to get there themselves they wont have a clue. Anyways, i have taken a few potential explorer's out with me and have had them fail miserably. So what really annoys me when i take someone out to a test spot?

1. making lots of noise & not knowing when to whisper
2. the suggestion of bringing a sledgehammer, "just in case"
3. the inability to climb or jump any sort of barrier/fence
4. ignoring the groups suggestions when your the "newbie"
5. the lack of knowing what "silence" is
6. being to cocky - confidence is good but there's a difference
7. talking loudly in a location where there are people outside
8. standing in front of a glass window during the day with construction workers outside the building
9. thinking you know everything
10. giving away my locations to others or posting pictures of them on the internet along with information about the exact location