Hidden Homes of Hoyt

Hoyt.  A small, unincorporated community on Colorado's eastern plains.  Not much remains.  A handful of occupied houses, the community cemetery and some abandoned houses just waiting to be peaked inside of.
The only claim to fame that Hoyt has is that the nearby Hoyt Radio Tower is the tallest tower in Colorado and one of the tallest towers in the world.  It stands tall at 1,996ft.   Otherwise, not much other than tornadoes will ever bring the layperson out this way.

But...for the explorers and adventurous folks, there are some hidden gems of abandoned houses standing silently amongst the prairie grass.  Myself, along with Hanging Negatives Photography and Perspective Images Photography headed out this way to peak inside these homes.  We hit up the old Teague House as well as two other houses just down the street.   Surprisingly they are all in good condition.  Floors and walls are deteriorating, but due to their off-the-beaten-path nature, they are untagged and have well preserved artifacts.   Due to fast fading sunlight, we had less than an hour to enjoy and document these places.  

Epic Urbex Day Pt 1: Main Drain

March 10th...this will be a day that will live long in my memory.  Met up with a few other friends to hit up two big locations of the Colorado urbex scene.  Our first target was Main Drain in the Boulder area.  Unfortunately, the two others I was with were unable to squeeze through the grate, so I was the only one able to get in.  Because of this, I didn't stay long but I was able to see some of the drain and snap off a few photos.  This drain is awesome. Large, long and many side passages. I took one side passage that I saw to have light at the end, and was very much startled when a car tire whizzed by just inches from my face.  I definitely plan to get back to this drain, so keep watching here for a follow up exploration.

 First look inside Main Drain

I'm in!

But he's not. 

 The wonder that lies behind the grate. 

The main tunnel. 

The drain on the left is leads back to the grate and entrance. The one on the right leads to a four way split. 

Peering down the larger drain. Where the two halves meet. 

The four way split. The second from the right, with the light, leads right next to the street. 

On Top of the Aquatic World

Been trying to get this post up for a couple days now, but between work and getting sick have caused this post to be a little delayed.  But...*drum roll*...here is my first exploration to post for this blog!

I have always heard about "rooftopping," the urban exploration term for getting to the roof of a building.  This has always been something I've wanted to do, but never had a chance to try or the ability to do so.   This all changed last week. On back to back days, I topped the Downtown Aquarium in Denver.  Though I work there and have contacts which made this possible, this is no small feet. While most urban explorers worry about falling to a splattering, bone crunching death, I had to navigate a steep, narrow staircase over our shark tank.  Though I want to dive with the sharks, falling in from 20ft up with a bunch of camera gear was not what I wanted to do.  Navigating the stairs led to the door to the roof, and an amazing view of Denver and the surrounding area.   A lone security camera is situated on the roof, but points away from the direction of where I was exploring.   My first run was a short, solo run, as I was looking to see how to get up to the roof for future reference.  The next day, a coworker accompanied me, but the bitter cold shortened our time on the roof.   While this isn't a major building to top, it was still a great experience and an awesome introduction for me into the world of rooftopping.

Night 1:

A view from the roof. Downtown Denver with the Elitch Gardens Observation Tower in front. 

Stairs up to the attic. 

Just me, chilling on my first roof. 

Night 2:

Looking out over Elitch Gardens with Mile High Stadium in the back.

Stepped zoom long exposure. Cool effect looking into Downtown Denver. 

On Top of the Aquatic World! 

Light painting fun on the roof. 

My coworkers first attempt, ever, at light painting.