Foreword. I had driven past The Passing hundreds of times on highway 34. That is actually the drain that 128K and I headed out to explore. It turned out to be a very short drain that was a disappointment, and then to my surprise, 128K discovered Hannibal just east of where The Passing ended. I was ecstatic. That meant our trip out wouldn't be a short one after all, and instead be a very memorable one. 

This drain was almost like the drains that I explore them for. It seemed to go on forever, fueling my excitement for the hobby even more, and adding to the imagination of an endless world and network of labyrinths of drains connected together to form infinite passageways. I wasn't so sure if Burlington had drains like this or not, and when I discovered the big section, I was overjoyed to discover that the area I'm from actually does have drains that make the hobby and the trip out to explore them worth the time. 

This was the first real good drain I had ever explored.

The Passing. Rating: Added December 18, 2004
Last Updated October 19, 2005
Discovered by West Bob

Drain Report.

Map of drain system with points of interest marked
Note: The map is terribly inaccurate and is drawn from estimates of where features are in relation to above ground.

1 Grated off drain.

Our first noticeable site was a grated off drain. It had a trap door-type lid padlocked shut with a rusted chain. This must flow into The Passing. 

After walking about 70 more feet, we got past the exit ramp onto Curran and crossed the westbound lane of the highway, into the grass ravine median. We walked for what seemed to be at least 100 yards, and came to the entrance to The Passing. 

2 The Passing entrance.

Here is a picture of me posing outside The Passing. Notice the ice just to the right of the water in front of me. It was cold, but it the trip was worth it. 

 128K peering into The Passing. The water was a couple inches deep, dropping to about 5 to 6 inches deep in the middle. This takes you underneath the westbound lane of 34, to north of it.

After passing through this drain, we thought we had ended our hyped up trip short. But thanks to 128K, our trip was kept alive when he discovered...

Hannibal. Rating: Added December 18, 2004
Last Updated October 19, 2005
Discovered by 128K

3 Hannibal entrance.

128K posing with Hannibal, a nice drain that he discovered on his first expedition draining.

128K slipping through the bars of the pollution trap.

My turn.

Looking down into Hannibal, just inside the bars.

 Looks like we weren't the first ones here.

Looking out the way we came in.

 Not sure what this is, but 128K thinks it might be to support the top of the drain.

 Looking up through a manhole.

 A tributary shaft .

4 Main intersection.

This is where the entrance tunnel flows into a big drain. From a distance, this looked like a turn. It had a good sized pipe in the middle of the tunnel, which made a decent barricade. It took me a few tries, but I finally climbed over it with my waterproof hunting boots.

One noticeable thing about this pipe, is that the top of it is flat, and the opposite side is, too. In fact, the opposite side of the pipe appeared to be wood, since I could see the grains in the wood.

128K and I rested here, sitting on it and looking forth into the big drain that it flowed into. It made a real nice bench. It would be ideal for a homeless person to sleep on, completely covered in shelter. We had some granola bars.

After a little break, we went north, since we could see some light, and since I want to discover and map as much of the drain as possible, I figured we might as well get this section conquered first.

  Looking down the south end of the intersection.

 A nice view of the station-type section of the drain.

This main section was at least 8 feet tall. Possibly even higher.

 Here, you can see the drain gets narrower by about 30%.

5 Eastern tributary.

 This is the first main shaft that branches off from the main drain. I will explore this in the future.

6 Another eastern tributary.

This is another tributary shaft that leads east. This one is about half the size as the last one though. But still, I plan on exploring up this in the future.

7 End of the north section.

In the main drain, there were 2 large pipes extending down from above. They ran for what seemed like the whole length of the main drain.

 128K standing by the end of the north section of the drain.

Looking out, you can see another drain. I plan on exploring that one soon.

© 2004 West Bob
Email me @: net_raider_001@yahoo.com