So on thanksgiving of 2009 I went to Anchorage AK
My friends Jill and Derek Adolf flew me up to their house.
Me and Jill both share a love of Photography.
So we went on a photography trip to a town called Whittier.
When the town is described, it sounds perfect for a horror movie.
To get to Whittier, you need to drive through a 2.5 mile long, one lane train tunnel.
Besides the freezing ocean, this is the only way to enter the town.
The
ANTON ANDERSON MEMORIAL TUNNEL was built in 1943 and was used for trains.
There was no land passage for cars into Whittier until the train offered a train shuttle service in the mid 60's.
Now you can drive through the one lane tunnel, schedule depending.
But it still remains the only way into the town of Whittier besides the water route.
WHITTIER AKPopulation of 182 people.
In a town that once housed over 1,200 souls.
Talk about Ghost town.
There are two large buildings there.
Both were once the largest buildings in Alaska.
One is the Hodge Building, (now
Begich Towers).
It Currently houses almost everyone in the entire city.
The
BUCKNER BUILDING has silently sat abandoned since the 1964 earthquake.
Once called the "City Under One Roof".
The building was used for only 11 years after completion.
Supposedly there is a Bowling alley, Pool, Theater and a Jail.
From reading online, there might also be a Morgue.
In the middle of the wilderness, the abandoned pieces of 1950's civilization add to the haunted and unsettling feel of the place.
The town is as desolate as you can get.
Since visiting, I have learned some of the dangers.
The building has
Asbestos and Lead paint.
The building was closed because of structural damage almost 50 years ago.
There has been at least one cave in on one of the 2 basement levels.
I say 2, but only one is verified.Just like the Morgue, Basement Pool and Bowling Alley.I have found no pictures of any of these, just talk.There is massive weakening of the cement structure.
The Calcium deposited
stalactites help to verify this.
There is also danger of bear hanging out in the spring time.
And bears have been known to hibernate in the basement during winter.
Which brings me to the last danger.
General safety.
All six top floors are covered in a thin layer of water.
In the winter this is frozen solid and creates a sheet of ice.
So be careful passing the crashed out elevator shaft that just sits open.
Or in my case, the stairs.
On our way to the basement, i slipped on the first stair on the way down.
I had one of
Jill's expensive lenses on my Camera, and the camera on the tripod.
So I naturally just held the tripod and camera in the air and slammed onto my back.
My camera backpack saved my tailbone and back.
But Ice covered stairs with 200lbs of momentum sent me bouncing down painfully.
And as if the cement
wasn't enough, the stairs had metal edges.
And my left elbow hit everyone of these on the way down.
I had enough momentum to send me into the center of the floor before i
stopped.
I told Jill to hold my camera while struggling to get my wind back.
Then I rolled over onto my knees, curled into a fetal position and tried not to puke for a good 5 minutes.
So that, with the creepy ping pong sound the water was making in the basement was enough to let us know that the haunted feeling building
didn't want us downstairs.
With the cave ins,Bears and what i hear is knee high standing water in the basement, I think we made the right choice.
So after about 6 month, my elbow stopped hurting.
I'm ready again,
and next time I will be much better prepared.
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