Park Drive Drain

It was a beautiful morning to sit in the sun, and watch everyone to arrive. People with flashlights, backpacks, and rubber boots trickled in- all of us eagerly anticipating the adventure ahead. It was late morning, and we were all gathered to go Draining with Kowalski. Via a short, downhill walk through the Toronto jungle to get to our planned entrance, Kowalski led us past a couple other drainage works along the way, which I noted for later reference. It was funny to see a strung-out column of twenty-seven explorers, all heading into a ravine. We got some strange looks from the joggers and dog-walkers who passed by us along the path.
We finally got to the outfall, and everyone geared up. With this many people, everything during the expedition took a lot longer; but eventually we all slipped into boots, dug out flashlights, and went down into the creek. The outfall was a normal triangular, concrete structure that resembled countless others I'd seen before. What made it remarkable was its size- a huge, hinged steel grating covered a pipe that must have been about 3.5m in diameter. Our small army of explorers converged on the outfall. A couple guys lifted and held open the heavy grate, while everyone climbed inside. I remember Wotan held it open forever, and he was the last one in.
I was at the back of the pack as we walked into the pipe, and up ahead I could see a line of bobbing flashlights and bodies heading into the darkness.
The thunder of a large waterfall could be heard almost immediately upon entering, and only 50m inside it grew to a crashing barrage of noise. The pipe split into a large chamber, divided by a wall in the center. On each side of this wall was a waterfall, with a deep plunge pool at its base. On one side, a metal ladder bolted to the dividing wall led up to a catwalk suspended from the ceiling; at the end of that, another ladder led up to another short catwalk that crossed above the waterfall, with one more ladder leading back down at the top of the fall. It was an elaborate, interesting way to continue up over the waterfall. Kowalski informed me that each waterfall up the pipe was equipped with a similar structure; and that he'd climbed six of these structures on a previous expedition.
The catwalks slowed the group down, since only a few people could cross at one time. As we waited for everyone to get up and across, I watched Steve Duncan and Noah Vale take photos. The whole situation seemed too crowded for me, so I left my tripod stowed in my bag and shot a bunch of lousy flash photos. Everyone in the drain had a flashlight out, from small LEDs to huge sun cannons, so I didn't even need to use my own lights as I walked about at the base of the dividing wall.
Eventually it was my turn, and I quickly climbed the ladders and crossed over. Being used to climbing high ladders in drains, the experience didn't scare me; but it was incredible to stand on a catwalk at the top of a roaring, 3.5m high waterfall. The plunging water drowned out all other sounds, and explorers had to shout to each other to be heard above the intense noise.
Upstream of the waterfall, the pipe became RCP again, and the group was already walking towards the next set of falls. Walking quickly, I made my way up the strung-out line of explorers, stopping to chat with people along the way. I got to the head of the column just as they reached the next waterfall, which was identical to the first. I was one of the first few across the set of ladders and catwalks to the top of the fall.
I stood on a concrete berm at the precipice of the falls, and actually sat down to watch as people began crossing over. It was incredible to sit in the echoing roar at the top of a waterfall, and watch as bobbing lights came forward out of the dark. Now and again, someone with a powerful light would turn the drain's night into day for a brief moment or two.
After only a small group of us had climbed atop the falls, word reached us that the main group had decided to turn back. Slightly disappointed that I wouldn't get to climb the other waterfalls (even if they were identical), I waited for a little while then climbed back down after the others. A couple guys went further upstream looking for a manhole exit, but came back down with no success. Near the outfall, I also tried to pop a manhole; but it was well-packed into its collar and I couldn't budge the lid. I slipped out past the massive grate into the warm afternoon sun with everyone else, and we sat around to pack up our gear.
My right boot had a serious leak, although my left foot was nice and dry. I wasn't the only one with a wet foot- I watched several people pour water out of their boots. Some had only worn normal shoes/boots, which were now soaked through- and some crazy others had only worn sandals through the cold water. I remember Avatar-X's Camelback had leaked orange gatorade inside his backpack. The group of wet, drained explorers sat around in the sun for awhile, wringing out and packing away their kit.
Eventually, we all made our way back up out of the jungle, divided into groups and went our separate ways. I'm sure this expedition set a Canadian record for most people in a drain, and it was a blast to have been part of it. Thanks to Kowalski, and all those who attended, for making it such an incredible event!