Warehouse Op
Woodlands Hospital 1
Shaughnessy Hospital
Woodlands Hospital 2
Riverview Hospital
Chudcoon Drain
Other Distractions
Mission: Chudcoon Drain
(Photos open in new window when clicked)
Into the lair of the Chud-coon
I couldn't go on a road trip without visiting at least one drain. Since
the Wraiths aren't drainers, I decided to go by myself to a local drain
they'd pointed out earlier on. Jester had gone a short way inside before,
and had named it the "Chudcoon Drain" because of some racoon
footprints visible in the muck on the floor.
I entered by squeezing through a large metal gate at the inflow, then
scurrying inside the pipe itself. Should the water level in the adjacent
lake ever get too high, the pipe would drain the water to a river nearby.
When I went, the pipe was mostly dry, and probably hadn't seen much flow
in several months.
[PHOTO] - Entrance
to the drain (yes, it's a tight squeeze!)
[PHOTO] - Inside
the drain, boy it's bright outside.
[PHOTO] - Reduxzer
inside the drain. Bit of a crouch, it was.
[PHOTO] - The
infamous tracks which inspired the name.
The drain starts off being constructed of rectangular concrete duct sections,
about 2.5m wide by 1.5m high. This meant I had to walk bent-over, but
I didn't mind, because I love square drains! I walked in a straight line
for about 200m before the pipe turned to the left at a slight angle, which
I followed for about another 200m. In this second section of duct, the
floor got a little wetter, with small ponds of shallow water forming in
places. I think I saw the "chudcoon" footprints around here,
where the floor was muddy.
At the end of the rectangular duct, I reached a small slide where the
pipe went downhill for a few meters, before becoming a round concrete
pipe (RCP). The RCP, which was about 1650mm diameter, carried on at a
fairly steep downhill angle in a straight line. Then it curved to the
right in a long, very gradual turn.
In this long section where the pipe turned, some small mineral formations
hung from the ceiling. The formations hung between pipe joints, were colored
orange/brown, and dripped water. I dodge most of these on the way down,
but just as I assumed there were no more I smacked into one with the top
of my head. A chunk of the stalactite flew forward, and impacted the concrete
floor in a disgusting, orange-colored lump. Unfortunately, the disgusting
mineral had smeared all over my head and backpack- luckily, this was the
exact reason I always wear a toque and a backpack in drains. None of my
important gear gets wet/soiled, and my head stays mineral-free.
Continuing on, a spot of daylight soon came into view at the end of the
pipe. Here, the RCP changed back into rectangular duct, which went on
for about 50m before hitting an outfall grating. The water at the shape
change was too deep for my hiking boots, so I decided to turn back. Judging
from the bars on the outfall grate, I couldn't have gotten out at that
end anyway.
[PHOTO] - I
never quite made it into the light at the end of the tunnel.
[PHOTO] - The
end of the tunnel from the other side. I couldn't squeeze through those.
On my hike back up, I reflected that there were no manholes anywhere in the drain, which seemed very strange. And with only two small sidepipes emptying into it, the drain seemed to serve solely as an overflow for the lake.