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East Kittsondale Helix Drain

[Oct.03] - Finally tackled the second one

Members: Frozen, Undergoth, Monkey

After noting how impressive the [West Kittsondale] was, I had added its sister drain, the East Kittsondale, to my list of places to explore.  While many of the MN area explorers have no doubt been in the East Kittsondale, I made a point of not asking them for the location of its outfall.  I find it more challenging (and ultimately more fun) to do a lot of research than to have someone specifically tell me how to get to a target.  The thrill of entering a new area for the first time is much stronger when I've spent hours or days looking for a way in.  That being said, I won't mention where the outfall is :-)  Happy hunting!

Having discovered the location of the entrance, I called up Undergoth (who invited Monkey as well) and we set out to see the drain that night, Undergoth driving.  Arriving at the general location, we parked, hopped a small fence, and found ourselves at the top of a steeply sloped cliff, terminating at the edge of the cold Mississippi.   Navigating this cliff proved to be quite treacherous.  There may have been an easy way down that we didn't spot because we could only see where our flashlights pointed, but we certainly didn't find one.  The most difficult part of our descent involved dropping off a ~12 foot cliff down onto a section of ground only 3 feet wide.  If we slipped or in any way lost our footing and fell off this 3-foot section, we would fall 20 feet into the Mississippi, probably getting pretty roughed up on the way.  Luckily this turned out to be the most difficult portion of the entire night.

Climbing down the outfall structure using the provided rope occurred without incident even though there was much anticipation and putting of cell phones in plastic baggies.

(Monkey descends the phone-frying death rope)

(Undergoth looks into the massive drain)

(Time exposure of the rushing water at the outfall)

(We begin our adventure)

(An overhead drainage shaft. There were many like this)

(I wonder what is behind this bricked-off arch? The
underground pirate ship? Or maybe just a wall of water.)

(This oversized stair case leads up to a shaft, if I remember correctly)

(Nothing much down this way, but we checked)

(An old vertical shaft)

One has to be careful not to step too close to shafts like this, not because of what's above but because of what's below. The ground below these shafts has been worn down with decades of falling water, and some of the holes we found we measured to be at least 3 feet deep, probably much deeper.  Also notice the cylindrical deposit formation around the shaft.  Hard evidence (pun intended) that this is a very old shaft that water constantly drains through.

(Staircase similar to the West helix)

(Water flowing over a stair)

(Were the stairs meant to be angled like this or have
they been worn down over the years? I am leaning
towards the former.)

(Now in the shallow drains, we discovered an open manhole in a field)

(Monkey climbs out)

(View from outside)

(The light at the end of the tunnel)

(Check out this mushroom)

(And closer...)

(Two roads diverged in a musky drain)

(Me)

(Undergoth dares to touch a wet formation)

(This shaft took us out in front of a church!)

(Famished to the point of near-starvation, Undergoth
proceeds to lick naturally occurring slime for sustenance)

(The tunnel became very round)

(The amount of slime increased)

(And the tunnel began to look and smell suspiciously like a sewer)

While we enjoy exploring a good drain or three, sewers are not our forte.  Besides, Undergoth was now thoroughly nourished by the abundant slime and was ready to go.  Backtracking to the church manhole, we exited and started back for the car.  We, of course, got lost just like the last time.  Fortunately we had cell phones and someone at home awake and with access to Mapquest.

(Undergoth poses next to a nice Halloween display)

Arriving back at the car tired and wet, Monkey went home, but Undergoth and I decided to head to the Bridge to Dimension ZED (® Max Action) and attempt to rescue Agent Wop.  Story to come later.