a slight detour from our route

My first official large explore of 2012!

I decided to head up to my cabin spur of the moment via the long route.  I had originally wanted to visit friends and explore nearby but quickly changed my mind deciding to take the extra long route to the cabin I wanted to try out my new camera and photograph places I had not yet seen. I found a few schools, lots of farmyards and of course churches. I got to revisit places I had not seen in years and photograph them with a new perspective. The snow was deep but the grids weren't bad. I had to hike out to a couple locations but I cant complain because I got to take some amazing photographs.

Overall the trip was a success considering it was spur of the moment, no planning and hardly any maps. I did get to photograph lots I have not seen and plan to return to some places I did not have time to visit. As a bonus i get to check off more Ukrainian Churches off my list!

pass on the tour

Sitting around my apartment with nothing to do i decided to take a quick trip with scythe to an area i had been times but he had never seen. We packed up and hit the road. On the way there we found a historic site and went to photograph it. We soon realized they offered tours. (costing money we decided to pass on that and move along) We visited three churches and one school, one of the churches i had never seen. It was a beautiful day and the grids were dry.

Occurrences throughout the trip:
- Scythe playing the organ and echoing throughout the large church
- photo's in old school desks yet again
- finding a church i had not yet seen (this is rare these days!)
- finding 2 over sized bibles in one day
- finding my name in guest books from years back as well as on chalkboards - oh the memories!
- sad to find vandalism throughout some of the buildings
- almost getting attacked by bees

photo credit: Scythe
good thing scythe kept up with the piano lessons
it sounds amazing in an abandoned church

muddy mayhem

So saskurbex and i decided that we were going to go check out a larger location and then hit the grids for some photography as we have longer daylight now. Set with our camera gear we took my car for a change and hit the road. The trip was a success we found a few interesting places but spent alot of time scouting as getting to some of the locations was impossible (especially since saskurbex was injured).

Some experiences & lessons from the trip:
- getting stuck in the mud and stopping in the middle of it (lucky saskurbex was there to help direct me out of it-thanx!)
- learning how to reverse in the dark
- small chairs are not uncomfortable if you are short
- wearing shoes covered in vents is not suitable for weather with melting snow
- you can find the power on in the strangest places
- old railway stations still do exist
- double check the gps with the map
- always give the injured person a head start instead of waiting for them :p

found some old school couches in a church

sask urbex and i

the bible to end all bibles - this thing was massive and the font huge!

piano time! - very out of tune
church covered in cyan! cyan rug! cyan chairs! very retro.

old UGG elevator

railway station - seen better days
farmhouse

and then there was this.. its missing the roof?
saskurbex and i could only be confused by the site of this

nearing end of day

freezing ghost towns

On our one day trip we hit a couple ghost towns in which we found a unique old elevator, some churches, old schools and of course houses. Here are just a few photos from that part of our day:

I was told that these are very rare to see in elevators

found in a school - what were they teaching these kids?

loungin out in a church

this is a fire waiting to happen

end of the day

echoes of music

Seems everywhere we go there are churches and in most churches there is either an organ or a piano or both! I have been to so many abandoned churches around this province i cant even count. I love finding abandoned pianos - something about the peeling keys or faded woods makes me very excited. I use to play the piano so i can usually sit down and play a tune or two.
Here are some of my favorite pictures.