The oak tree stands tall against the
rolling hillside as a lone sound comes from just beyond the layered bark. Three, two, one…ready or not here I come!! Muffled laughter as a child trembles with
excitement in his hidden lair. Footsteps
echo in the air as the hunt commences. What
childhood would be complete without the exhilarating memory of a magical game
of hide and go seek? It was, within the child in all of us, the first taste of an adventurous quest for
that which has gone lost. Is that not
what we as explorers crave? Peeping and peering through every shadow to
find that which is hidden. Seeking skeletal
remains of neglected infrastructure lying intertwined with wilderness gone
rampant. Such elusive treasure is like
sweet nectar to the lips of the adventurous soul , evoking a hunger for
discovery and a passion to ignite such feelings in others.
It was in our latest expedition to the
Rutland Prison Camp in Rutland Massachusetts that we once again felt such
triumph and a ravenous desire to share our experiences with those who would
plop down on their couches for 20 or so minutes to watch our somewhat goofy,
however (insert shameless plug here) highly entertaining video antics on
YouTube. Our commentary began as it
always does with our unpolished, unrehearsed, off the cuff, what you see is
what you get, style of recording the adventure of the day. We had seen our fellow YouTubers exploring
this location and had ourselves been
inspired by their videos to visit the remnants of this prison camp which once
housed the not so naughty drunkards and low caliber criminals of the early 1900’s. The sights were fairly familiar echoes of
what we had previously viewed, but captivating nonetheless. To be amongst such familiarity could quite possibly
seem redundant, however, the vivid colors of street art, the bright sunlight peeking through the
decayed rooftops, the smell of burnt
remnants of soot from the last kegger bonfire, only fueled our drive to inspire. We pressed on through the desolated
isolation cells, where once the prisoners who had disobeyed common laws of
incarceration would peer longingly to the fields beyond their freedom. Whispers of abandoned decay spoke clearly
through the soft afternoon breeze, leading us further toward a dark cavernous,
graffiti blanketed opening in the hillside just beyond the rotting cells
below. Apparent remnants of a root
cellar (NOT A HOSPITAL…See our YouTube video to sympathize with Marcel on his
daily tolerance of me constantly yapping my yapper.) with a dark and mildly
creepy vibe. It was perfect in its
cognizance…a grand place to bring all of our seven subscribers on YouTube too! But….there just had to be more!!
Enter geocaching…. (Seriously, you
have to get involved with this activity!) We had filmed just about all we were going to film. The sun had provided us with just enough
warmth to make it feel somewhat like spring and had just begun to descend into the
lower three quarters of blue hued sky above.
It was then that we collectively (as has become a new habit with us)
pulled out our cell phones to bring up the geocaching app we have come to enjoy
so much. Surely there would be a
geocache somewhere in sight, as we were
in a State park with complete public access allowed. A few swipes to the left and to the right,
and there it was…a geocache to be found!!
We quickly gathered our GC backpack filled with BYOP’s , swag and
trackables; and made our way through the knee high grasslands toward our GPS
coordinates. I’m sure in some perfect
world, there MUST have been an easier pathway to this destination, but we are
rebels and prefer a challenge (Attention Wildlife advocates…no wildlife or
foliage was harmed in our quest to find a 5x5 waterproof container filled with
goodies). A few dodges of thorn
covered bushes and tick infested shrubbery led us to an opening within the
canopy. There before us was the most
beautiful site we had seen all day….Crumbling remnants of architectural
magnificence. Engulfed by nature’s web
of foliage, intertwined with never ending vines and surrounded by crumbling rock. It was
gorgeous, and the euphoric feeling of
discovery blasted the two of us as we gazed upon it’s, untouched by vandalism and other dark clues of
human intrusion, grandeur. Camera
rolling, we delighted in the fact that others may too come along on this grown
up version of hide and seek. Elated by
our find, and ever watchful of the setting sun, we decided to forgo the whole reason why we
had found this treasure in the first place and drag our weary, but completed
satisfied rear ends back to the explore-mobile (aka Marcel’s cool car). The cache would lay untouched by the two of
us, but would be held in high regard and respect, for it had taken us both by
the hands and led us to yet another precious moment in time. And as we are inspired by these places
that we find, so often times by chance, we long to be the catalyst for
discovery in others….to lead our subscribers and all that may stumble upon our
newly born YouTube channel to…
”live deep and suck out
all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout
all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into
a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms...” –Henry David Thoreau
And to….for the sake of
all that is untouched, undiscovered and just waiting to be explored…”Do
whatever makes you feel ALIVE!!”
-Jennifer and Marcel
For the amazing video footage of this
adventure, please visit…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-DTyEyBayY 
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