Permian Phosphoria Caves Part 1

Lets discuss some spelunking, one of my favorite outdoor extreme sports hobbies. I've been fascinated by subterranean places since I was a kid. It was not until within the last year that I stumbled upon a cave in the woods near where I live, and explored it. That event began to re-ignite my fascination with venturing into the underground.

On a trip last summer, I found a jackpot of caves honeycombed all over a cliff side just off a high plains highway in Wyoming. I had been travelling all day from the south crossing the edge of the Red Desert in southern Wyoming, I trekked further north on a road that paralleled the Wind River. I'm glad chose this route. In this limestone formation is a cornucopia of tunnels, passages, and caves. These are small caves but were totally worth stopping for. They were an assortment of weathered rocks, the result of many years over time, subject to effects that made them a fascinating stone formation.



Crumbling at the base.

Hiking up into this large void in the rocks.

The ceiling of the void in the rocks.

Standing up here, the place felt very sheltered as but roomy with an excellent view. It was like nature's own version of a hilltop patio home with large windows.

The rock formation is conveniently located at a small rest area beside the road.

There were many tunnel entrances, I did not have time to explore them all. I do plan to go back and inspect the site more thoroughly for sure some day.

I theorize these were formed over the years as water trickled down from the prairie above the cliff ledge, worked it's way past the rocks and downhill to the river.

Crumbling ancient limestone.

To be continued..

Happy Place Part 9

Alright, I say it's time to finish off the Glacier National Park segment. It's sad I know, I hate to see it go but there will be new topics to write on. I've been gone the last few days taking care of business and did some hiking so I may have another interesting twist to add with photos of recent journeys here on the blog.

So where we left off last time was moving from upper Saint Mary Lake to lower Saint Mary Lake. That's where these photos were taken, then the final leaving of the park on it's east side where I crossed a bridge into the little town of St. Mary. This is the Glacier National Park Happy Place grand photo finish finale!



Rolling east and picking up the fledgling start of the prairie ecosystem with large open spaces between tree lines. Otokomi Mountain is on the left and East Flattop Mountain is on the right.

East Flattop Mountain.

Lower Saint Mary Lake.

Hiking the trail down from the road towards the lake, looking back up the trail at East Flattop Mountain.

I won't lie, I wanted to take a break and sit on the shore, rinse my hands and wash my face in the water on that hot summer's day. I found there's a steep ledge at this part of the lake and I could only stand above looking down at the water but not get to it. I'm sure if I had more time I'd find a way down to the water's edge.



The sort of ground foliage found near the US/Canadian border during the summer.

This place is like an outdoor flower shop.



I'm a far cry from being considered a "hippie" but almost anybody walking around on these trails will feel in some sense like they are in a different time, sort of like some free spirited 1960's flower child.

The view of where I just came from, looking back to the west.

Heading back up to the road, one last glance back at the lake. If I could get down to the water, it might be hard to resist drinking it. By this time of day, the bottled water in my cooler was getting warm. I'm guessing this is fresher water than what's found in most US lakes, certainly fresh glacier melt and ice cool. That being said I suppose I'd run the risk of coming down with some 50 million year old prehistoric bug that's been frozen in time as opposed to common modern water contaminates, then bring it back to civilization and cause a primordial pandemic.

I had to at least get a photo of myself standing in front of Glacier National Park scenery as proof I was here so folks back home didn't think I somehow devised a genius robotic rig contraption that automatically controlled the car and the camera; so they could not accuse me of sitting in a comfy building hundreds of miles away while remotely driving the car and snapping scenic shots (Google Street View style) all with the use of large antennas and a joystick controller. No drones! This was a manned Montana mission, even if I was that smart, I'd still have to see this place in person. So yes, here's me setting the timer on the camera and getting into the scenery as proof I was here. Admittedly this is one of the largest drawbacks of these long solo road trips, no other people to help with photography.

The visitor's center at the east entrance of Glacier National Park (Town of St. Mary). A common ground convergence spot for Americans, Blackfeet, & Canadians.

Looking back to the west from the outskirts of St. Mary. St. Mary river flows from the lake. The mountains I just travelled through are in the background. It was an epic amazing journey. My first trip to Glacier and I certainly don't plan to make it my last.

From here, I crossed the bridge into the small town of St. Mary. By small I do mean small, it's main economy is tourism, it consists of a few buildings and several houses.

Alright that wraps up the Glacier trip. Before the week is out I do plan to get some photos up here from my drive along the road to Canada, I managed to capture some spectacular scenery from the outside of Glacier National Park looking in on it's east side, plus non park scenery but other very scenic roadside views going to the US/Canadian border.

I certainly want to get back Glacier National Park. What was planned as just a simple passing through event that day turned into a life changing event for me. I'm glad I chose that route. I had destinations to be at but in seeing Glacier on the way through, it certainly enticed me enough to go back. If I do I'd plan on spending a good two weeks just hiking around into all the corners of the park and taking photos. The pass to drive through alone was $25/person but it was good for a week, so even if you don't camp in the park you could still be lodging in St. Mary, Kalispell or Whitefish and make trips into the park a week long event and it's well worth it. I'm not even sure if two weeks is enough time to explore it well, it probably takes a lifetime obsession and constant trips. It's certainly enriched my life and given me my own piece of sacred ground I favor heavily. It's in my top ten favorite places I've been to if not top five or three favorite places on Earth.

In conclusion: I was really very deeply drawn to this place, It was on many levels a spiritual journey.

Happy Place Part 8

It's Saturday and high time for another glimpse of Glacier. The run of the Glacier series is reaching it's end as I leave the park after traveling through the eastern half. However I'll probably have a few installments on here with the scenery east of the park. Much of it is still very significant to Glacier National Park. Some shots are Glacier from a distance on the outside of the park along the highway leading to Canada. I'll likely be writing about those in the next week. Then likely taking the blog into some new grounds, similar outdoor related things no doubt but different local. I can assure you I won't be leaving summer topics alone, I've got plenty more sunny day topics to write about this coming winter.

So where were we? Ah yes, Saint Mary Lake. Only one of the best mountain lakes in North America. Saint Mary Lake is significantly cooler than the earlier visited Lake McDonald. Saint Mary Lake is divided into two portions, upper and lower, today's photos are the upper part.

Looking east at upper Saint Mary Lake.

These photos don't adequately capture the exact hue of the water. Just know that for a mountain lake it's a nice light blue mixed with cobalt blue.

Looking south at upper Saint Mary Lake.

Don't get me wrong, I wanted to run out and jump off a cliff ledge and shout "CANNONBALL!" but what you can't see in these frames are the number of tourists snapping photos here beside me. I briefly spent some time talking with some Japanese tourists, even though our different dialects made for some pigeon style awkward conversation (my poor Japanese/their partial English), one thing is universally understood..(I'd be crazy) if I had jumped into the water I'm sure they'd have some interesting stories to tell when they got home. Out of respect for park service (they might frown on that behavior), not having brought my swim trunks, and then learning that water temperatures barely reach 50 degrees Fahrenheit at tops, even for late August I suppose as good as the water looks, it might not feel so stellar. Now see, I guess no foreign tourists get to go home with great stories to tell about crazy Americans.. aw shucks.



Looking west at upper Saint Mary Lake.

I still can't say I wouldn't totally discount wanting to go swimming in there. The water tone reminds me of one of my all time favorite fantasies of what I'd do if I won the lottery. It's simple: fill a swimming pool with Minute Maid fruit punch, or any other divine nectar of the gods sort of juice. Any flavor, blue berry, water melon, pomegranate, grape, cherry (whatever floats your boat). Then jump in, I know how to swim but in Minute Maid juice I'd likely drown, but hey if I was gonna drown and be happy about it, that would be my preference.

The rocky facade of Goat Mountain on the north side of upper Saint Mary lake.

This is considered the bridging area between the prairie and mountain region ecosystems. Not too far east of Saint Mary Lake is an area of land regarded as the meeting point between the Rocky Mountains & The Great Plains. It's a fusion of incredible scenery. The beauty of this northern chunk of Montana is that it lacks much settlement by people. I have lived in a region my whole life where the Rocky Mountains & Great Plains meet yet it's much further south and highly inhabited. In this part of Montana you'll find that it probably looks much the same as it would have when explorers first laid eyes on it, in the days when American tribes still roamed freely, in this region primarily Blackfoot. It's sufficient to proclaim this as one of the last truly pristine regions in the United States largely unaffected by human civilization, just a few countryside places here and there and some friendly faces are to be found.

The neck of water connecting upper Saint Mary Lake & lower are what's known as the narrows of Saint Mary Lake. In this photo, it's that area just up ahead. It surprised me at first because I thought "That's all?" Then I saw it ran on for some distance past the narrows, it's a big lake. I've seen some bigger but I'll give it it's due, it's an extensive mountain lake.

Looking west from near the shore of the narrows. The mountains in the background are the ones I just drove past in previous installments about Glacier National park.

I had to pull the car back around on this lonely stretch of road, slow down and capture the water. Once again, what is picked up on the camera is not exactly adequate to portray the true hue of the water here.

We have now reached the Camp Rising Sun.. In my head is the guitar rhythm of the "House of the Rising Sun" playing. I don't know why but the whole theme here fits. Driving the "Going To The Sun Road" to the camp of The Rising Sun in a little blue Datsun.. passed an abandoned Sunbeam along the way (true story, before Glacier National Park there was an old Sunbeam Alpine beside the road. I'll save that for a gear head post someday).

Alright, that was the upper part of the lake. Next installment on Glacier will be the lower half of Saint Mary Lake. Then into the little town of St. Mary's and the roadside scenery of Glacier National Park/Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada from a distance between St. Mary's and the US/Canadian border.

December is National Adopt A Mouse Month

I bet you did not know there's such a thing as "Adopt A Mouse Month" - That's because this is the first year of it's observance. Starting now, maybe I can get this thing to catch on, who knows but in a decade it could be a global sensation with international "Adopt A Mouse" festivals.. I'm a wishful thinker. It's that time of the year when we open our homes and our hearts for the holidays and in this case our furry little friends who survived the initial fall season onslaught. I'm talking of the common house mouse, it's those among them whom manage to avoid house cats all while moving into houses seeking shelter as the fall months progress and temperatures drop. So you ask what provoked me to coin this "Adopt A Mouse Month?"

A year ago today I took in a mouse, gave him shelter, food and water and to my surprise he's still alive and going strong. He came into my workplace and succeeded very well where most other mice failed. The mice were stomped, trampled, thrown in trash compactors, whacked with wrenches, tossed against walls, shot with pellet guns, flattened under car tires, and feel prey to the ominous "snap" of Victor mouse traps. Those who were not casualties of the before mentioned methods often and inadvertently took their own lives chewing electrical wires or drinking anti-freeze, I believe the proper term would be "rodentcide" or "vermanicide." Either way you slice it, the mice were dropping like flies.. except one. One very smart and exceptional little mouse. This one mouse managed to trip all of the traps the boss man had set or not even trip them in the first place but instead delicately and gingerly pick around the triggering tongue part of the trap. This mouse knew how to get the food and get away with it time after time, he was gaming the system. It frustrated the boss man. I was called upon to tidy things up, remove any food that could lure them into the building and when they were trapped in garbage cans, it was my job to empty the trash.

One day we had a bite, a rattle from within a garbage can. Said rodent was going berserk as he found the mother lode of happy meal leftovers somebody had chucked into the can without second thought. I did my due diligence, took the can outside and emptied it into the dumpster hoping he'd make a break for the great outdoors and save himself from the compactor. After emptying all the contents of the can, I sat it down and looked inside. Somehow he managed to cling onto the side of the can. I shook it several times hoping to get him out, no dice. I laid the can on it's side, first I tried to reach in and grab him to no avail as he squirmed around then I backed away and whistled saying "Common, come here boy!" patting the pavement. Several wide eyed coworkers strolled past, I exclaimed "Today I'm the mouse whisperer. It's no easy job herding these things." I was growing impatient knowing that all the while my fellow employees may soon be consulting the yellow pages for the nearest mental health professional, but I was determined as the can had to be mouse free before returning to the inside of the building. Finally the mouse scampered out of the can and across the pavement into the distance of the parking lot never to be seen again.. or was he?

A few days passed and virtually no rodent activity to be seen as the majority of the mice had already been killed off. Sure enough a few days later, one very smart mouse was succeeding where the others had failed, evading attempts by people to kill him and robbing the mouse traps of bait like Bonnie & Clyde robbed banks. The boss man's mouse free bliss was now shattered like the half eaten peanut brittle bits sprawled out amongst the sea of overturned Victor mouse traps speckled with rodent droppings across the early morning floor. My admiration for this smart little mighty mouse was quickly growing.

Then on December 7th 2011, exactly a year ago today, the mouse got himself caught inside the trash can again. Deciding I was not going to take him outside and go through the whole dumpster routine again as he proved he was far too smart for that the previous time and being a growing fan of his since he seemed to have a magical gift for agitating the boss man. I decided there was something unique about this talented mouse that set him apart from the others, I decided to let him live. Thus came my decision to adopt him as the work place was very hostile towards his presence, I took pity on him and saw the need to spare such an intelligent mouse from the wrath of the certain knuckle dragging wrench wielding cretins and prevent him from becoming the cannon faughter of mid-level managers. Feeling discriminated against by everybody else there, the mouse trusting of me was picked up, put in a small container and brought home. I dusted off an old mouse cage I had sitting in the basement. It used to be home to a pet store mouse whose owners left him to me when they went to Russia, the previous tenant was a black and white mouse named Waterfall (2001-2006) who was trained to do tricks. I laid out some paper shredding, cloth, food, water, and mouse dwellings. The new mouse took well to this lifestyle and has grown bigger and very healthy with the easy life and a good diet.

I knew the dangers of adopting a wild mouse, certain viruses and such but have kept him clean and being that he used to live at the workplace, nobody there had come down with any Hantavirus related symptoms. This is a don't try this at home thing but I tend to be a rebel about those things.

Yamamoto the mouse. He usually avoids the public spotlight and dislikes the paparazzi. Ever try photographing a mouse? They are very camera shy.

The mouse spends his pass times, eating, nesting, sleeping, chewing and teasing the cats and in his year of living at home. He's been out of the cage on a few adventures. Twice when the cats finally figured out how to release the spring loaded door latching mechanism. One weekend he was missing in action following the cats attempts on the cage. For a few nights I'd wake up at 3AM to hear the sound of something gnawing on wood in the next room and in the walls. After a weekend of pink insulation being knocked loose and presuming my mouse was at large in the house and likely dead, he showed back up and readily took back to his cage dwellings. Twice he's been picked up and carried in the cats mouth's when he's been out. At the last minute I've intervened and saved him from almost certain death while wringing him dry of cat slobber. I've secured his cage now to make it nearly impossible for the cats to open it, until they brainstorm some new ideas. I've expanded the cage into two many feet of interconnecting tubes to give him plenty of exercise room to roam.

At first I considered a worthy name sake for him to be that of the boss man and then I thought, there's better names than the boss man whom he outsmarted. Considering that I found him on Pearl Harbor Day, the 70th anniversary, it opened up name choices to historic figures. I was left with a tough decision between Yamamoto and Nimitz, both were clever admirals of the second world war. I decided Yamamoto was a better more natural name fit for this mouse.

In time Yamamoto has gone from wild to a tame and survived many adventures. He's considerably tougher than many normal mice, he's braved many things in his short mouse lifetime. I've found our musical tastes are almost identical except we differ on one thing, I'm a fan of the Canadian electro-house DJ Deadmou5, Yamamoto does not feel as strongly about it, in fact he's sort of a harsh critic when it comes to the music of Deadmau5. (Dead Mouse)

In the end me and Yamamoto ultimately prevailed. He's been a source of entertainment and a mouse to confide in. He was at my side, when I had to make a tough call to let the boss man go (who failed so many times trying to catch or kill Yamamoto) relieving him from his duties as we felt it was time to let the company go from our lives. Me and Yamamoto move on as business partners on happy trails in greener pastures. What can I say? The mouse outsmarted the boss man and is living the big easy life with plenty of cheese, making big executive power player calls from the comfort of his running wheel. And here you thought these mouse stories were only works of fiction such as Mouse Hunt, Of Mice & Men, The Mouse That Roared, and The Green Mile.

Being that today is the 71st Anniversary of Pearl Harbor I'd like to thank our veterans. I'm also grateful for the many decades of peace and prosperity since the war that American & Japanese unity has brought. None of us anywhere in this world can go back in time and undo darker chapters in human history nor fully vanquish the pain from tragedies that happened for all parties involved, however in the present we can learn from history and say a prayer for world peace. For it's in the future where we have the absolute power to write brighter chapters. This would be one of the best ways we could honor the sacrifices of the WWII generation.

Happy Place Part 7

Alright, it's time to get back to the beauty and serenity of Glacier for another day. As write, I'm looking out the window seeing leafless trees, grey skies, brown/tan fading grass and the days have been super short. Winter can be okay for the holidays and such but I'm a spring & summer person so I need to remedy these wintertime blues with some summertime forest greens and Montana sky blues.

Where I left off last: The journey was proceeding from the west side of the park to the east, traversing the "Going To The Sun" road.

Looking southwest just pass Logan's Pass, a stream caresses the terrain through the layers downward.

That stream becomes the other really spectacular waterfall I saw. I had to zoom in with my camera from high up to capture this shot. (My little Kodak dual lens camera was at maximum zoom!) It was amazing looking down on the valley this stream was cutting through from such an elevation. I imagine it's an envious view from down there as well. I want go back and hike much of this park, if I do, I gotta get down there and see this waterfall from ground eye level up close.

The names of the mountains in this frame, on the other side of the valley from right to left are: Heavy Runner Mountain, Citadel Mountain, Little Chief Mountain, Mahotopa Mountain, and Red Eagle Mountain in the far distance. I should note that Almost-A-Dog Mountain sits between Citadel Mountain & Little Chief Mountain but it's tucked back a little further out of view of this shot. The mountain straight ahead on this side of the valley on the left edge of the frame is Going To The Sun Mountain, the namesake of the road I'm on that crosses the park east to west.

If anybody reading this has ever played Sim City 4, this is what the "God Mode" looks like. I literally feel like I'm looking down on one of the most spectacular pieces of landscape ever put on this earth. This photo can't do justice to the sensation of actually standing here, gazing at this wonder. The waterfall on right side of the frame is in constant motion cascading into a glistening network of streams combining into a creek that parallels the continental divide trail, downstream it reaches St. Mary falls before flowing into Saint Mary Lake. From this level you can see animals afoot occasionally in the valley as ever moving present dots and a bird or two rides past in the warm breeze up here.



I don't why I like this photo so much but I think it's the big tree next to the road smack dab in the middle of the frame. Descending into the east side of the park and the closer I get to the prairie, I'm greeted with a mix of pines and leaf filled trees still accompanied by rugged raw mountains for a backdrop. I suppose this tree reminds me a little of cottonwoods on the prairie. I don't know if it's a cottonwood for sure. It's just a great summer day picture.

"Rollin' rollin' rollin', movin', movin', movin' keep
'em puppies a movin' through valleys, past trees, over mountains, through tunnels and to lakes-
Glacier!

Here's a sneak peak of Saint Mary Lake. At first all I could see of it from a lower level is just a few glimpses through the trees. Shortly after this shot and travelling due east, I came to a clearing where I witnessed unprecedented beautiful scenery for a lake in my lifetime. I'm talking about mind blowing blue water.

Jackson Glacier (flattering name to me) is the seventh largest glacier in Glacier National Park. There was a park marker here explaining the glacier. First surveyed in 1850, there were 150 glaciers in the park. Sadly only 25 glaciers remain as of today. It's estimated the remainder may disappear by the 2030's. If those predictions hold true, I feel lucky and blessed to live in a time when I can at least still see them for now. It's motivation for me to get back up here and see more of this and make sure I photograph/document the expeditions well for my sake and for posterity.

Alright, next on the itinerary is Saint Mary's Lake, for the next installment on Glacier. Stay tuned.

My Top Ten Places To Survive The Zombie Apocalypse

I mentioned there was gonna be a mystery element on the blog this weekend. Normally on Sunday I'd be doing another segment of engine cooking but that can wait. Instead we are going to have a little fun here with zombies! That's right, the undead, walkers, brain eaters.. whatever you wanna call 'em. I'm writing this as here in the US the mid season finale of "The Walking Dead" is set to air tonight. It's one of my several favorite shows currently running. It comes at just the right time as zombies seem to be the big thing in the last few years. I suspect zombie craze is partially driven by these 2012 doomsday predictions and the survivalist movement. People seem to be learning to become self sustaining and reliant again to cope with mounting economic collapse and hardships around the world. A small band of survivors attempting to evade and survive hordes of zombies makes a good fictional story that people can relate to as there seems to be some similarities and parallels not too different from some things happening today. I suppose one could compare the zombies to the multitude of hardships folks currently face, that's my analogy. Zombies are the ultimate fantasy characters who've come to symbolize civilization on the brink of chaos; A mirrored image of mankind and "civililized society" at it's roughest.

Here's a little fun project piece I've been wanting to do for a blog. My top ten places to hunker down and ride out the zombie apocalypse. The ultimate ten crash pads where the undead are not invited, or if they come these places should be much harder for them to over run. In a full out zombie apocalypse scenario these places would likely be abandoned and fair game as your average zombie infestation has probably killed off over 90% of humans, when all this has gone down I doubt the previous owners of these locations would object to you and your team crashing in these places, unless of course they are already there.. perhaps as zombies!



10. Skyscraper/Tall Building Rooftop

This one may not be much to write home about (Assuming you can write home if your local postal carrier is not yet a zombie.. already happened here in the US, too late) This one has it obvious drawbacks. It would be sort of like climbing a telephone pole with a pack of rabid feral hounds chasing you. There's one way up and one way down. This would not be bad however if you sealed off floor by floor all of the entrances. The nice thing about holding out in tall buildings is you can set a "barricade zone" and a "living zone" - The first 40 floors could be nothing but insane to navigate through obstacles and barricades littered with lots of zombie traps. A few bear traps here and there, maybe some false doors that drop them out the building side resulting in a 1000+ foot zombie free fall. If your tower is tall enough you could even break out windows on several stories creating a wind tunnel the walkers must pass through, subjecting them to the elements and high wind pressure/velocity resulting in their getting blown out into the atmosphere by your vacuum zone. To live however, you and your group must find a building preferably with roof top gardens and swimming pools. You could grow food and catch rain water to irrigate and drink. While your that high up, you might as well be bird hunting for protein needs. If you have a sniper rifle, the zombie plinking from above could be maximized in this holdout. The biggest drawback to this place would be most of these tall buildings are located in heavily populated areas adding to the number of zombies but for big city dwellers.. you might want to consider these place for your zombie bug out locales. Another big problem is if the zombies get past all the barricades and clear all the floors, there's one way up and down. Your group would be trapped, my recommendation is find a helicopter pilot to add to your survivor group. Keep a helicopter atop your building. If zombies over run the joint, evacuate in the chopper. As you pull off the deck and ascend to safe altitude, you blow the demolition charges and watch the whole shebang come tumbling down on the zombies.

Tall building with roof top pool, makes a great zombie survival pad.

9. Treasury, Mints & Bank Building Vaults

This one is one is also a good place for it's availability as there are many vaults out there almost anywhere there's civilization. Your local bank may prove a safe haven for just a night or two of living dead fun. I would not recommend staying in these for too long. I'm no expert but I'm not so sure the vault rooms have much ventilation, it's sort of like a Kansas tornado safe room. Locked up tight but only a hold out once the zombies break into the bank building itself. Now how about a mint building? Those would be the places, in the United States there's one in Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco. These places were built like fortresses to protect the legal tender they were pressing. The mint building in Denver has an intimidating guard booth that one must pass, it's equipped with machine gun ports. A horde of zombies would need to pass through large heavy duty doors, down the hallway with the machine gun nest, which would become a zombie kill box. If the zombies even made it that far, they'd have to navigate large machinery and more locked down corridors. For those of you who live in Kentucky I recommend Fort Knox, the United States gold vault, it is a fortress complete with numerous fences, motion sensor devices and all kinds of other security measures. In a zombie apocalypse, it could be a high value piece of real estate for survivors. Then I suppose if you want to go all out I'd recommend the "Doomsday Vault" or Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, a facility that acts like a modern day Noah's Ark of seeds and plant species (food for survivors) in vault made to survive a nuclear war.

Fort Knox gold bullion depositry in Kentucky. Once used as gold vaults prior to Zombieland days, could have ample defence potential to ride out the zombie apocalypse times.

8. Oil Rigs & Sea Vessels

This option offers much more freedom than the previous listed places. If your claustrophobic or have cabin fever but not afraid to swim or get your feet wet then I recommend taking to the high seas like pirates at the first outbreak of the zombie virus. As far as it's known, zombies can't swim. This option calls for living life on empty cruise ships, ocean liners, air craft carriers, submarines, barges and oil rigs. Most of these are still stationary unless you have enough people who know how to operate one, providing you have enough fuel to sail one. Otherwise they may just be tied to docks but removing the gang planks still leaves a suitable barrier between you and the walkers. The alternative here is finding smaller wind propelled sailing vessels (being the fuel likely is scarce) or a boat with a gas motor and sails, you can use fuel when you find it and the sails when you conserve fuel. You could plant gardens on abandoned oil rigs (if you bring potting soil) sail from rig to rig fishing to stay fed. It could be a fun way to live out the zombie apocalypse while wearing eye patches and sporting parrots on shoulders like their going out style.

Ocean based oil rig. Just sail your pirate boat up, and make this your home away from shore.

7. Prison

This one is an alternative to sea sickness. It's obviously the Georgia state penal institution redoubt they utilize as a zombie survival fortress in the Walking Dead. The idea is brilliant and it's largely inspired much of this list to get me to thinking about what other places could be ideal to survive. There's prisons dotted all across the map. If your in Texas, take note. These prisons ideal for keeping people locked in during the pre-zombie days are good for post zombie apocalypse days to keep the dead men walking out. A sanctuary surrounded by razor wire, ample guard towers. The joint speaks for itself. In the western United States one has their option between modern day massive super max prisons or old 19th Century territorial prisons (some still standing in the west) made to hold outlaws and frontier ruffians. The downside to prisons speaks for itself in the Walking Dead. It's also a favorite place for zombie convicts. As if they were not criminally insane enough in life, their even more bat shit crazy dangerous in death as a bunch of zombies. Zombies give a whole new meaning to death row and dead men walking.

Pentonville Prison, London. Circa 1800's. Built to keep 'em in, should also keep 'em out.

6. Military Base

This one is an ultimate for the inner red neck in all of us. What's better in a zombie apocalypse than stumbling across a place that may have abandoned military hardware? Blasting thousands of walkers into an oblivion from an M1A1 Abrams tank of course! Raid the armory and your whole zombie survival team can rock 'n roll like Rambo. In theory if you could find enough fuel and had people with the know how and skill, you could make the helicopters, planes, heavy armor, and artillery operational. From this you could lead your own small scale war against the undead masses. It's an excellent place to stay if your the sort that believes the best defence is a good offense. You could take the fight to the zombies. The biggest downside to this is with many military bases there's lots of land surrounded by lots of fence work, this would be a herculean task to manage all of this with a small team of survivors. It may be too much fence to watch for a small group but it could be worth at least visiting for ammo and machine guns alone in the zombie apocalypse. So before you start lobbing napalm at the undead and calling in air strikes you must ask yourself- "Is my zombie survival team skilled enough use these weapons and ready to take on playing with the big guns?"



Honestly, in a zombie apocalypse, who doesn't want one of these rides? Astounding for a daily commuter vehicle to and from zombie infested zones.

5. Fortress Mansion

All across the country, tucked away in privy corners of the maps on countryside acres and nestled inside cities in amongst buildings are impressive mansions. These once homes to the wealthy may make excellent last stands against zombies. Not so much your modern gated community but rather old Victorian houses from the 1800's, or colonial estates from the 1700's. Places that have stood the test of time such as these are often built with lots of quality materials, many skirted by brick archways and wrought iron fences. These old houses always tend to make the perfect archetypal haunted houses, many with Gothic appeal. Why not make it a hold up for zombies? The White House in Washington DC is one of the most famous fortress mansions. In the event of a zombie apocalypse notable places would be The Biltmore Estate in Ashville North Carolina with it's plethora of rooms and the Winchester House in California with it's winding maze of confusing passage ways/trap doors. These are only a couple of the better known places, there are many old houses and plantations across the United States that have defensible potential for a smaller group of survivors.

Biltmore Estate in Ashville North Carolina. If look hard enough into your local historical places, chances are you'll probably find at least one creepy old mansion. Perfect for a zombie apocalypse fixer upper project.

4. Mountain Peak Chateau

This idea comes from old James Bond movies. Who does not want to spend the zombie apocalypse in a place where you could ski when your not fighting zombies? The mountain top hideout is an eagle's nest style villa. Your survivor team can stay high and dry nestled in a remote mountain range away from population centers and much out of the reach of zombies. Better yet, a mountain top with a mine shaft leading down to a series of mine tunnels for escape purposes would be awesome. From the the mountain top you have an excellent view for miles in which you can use telescopes and high power optics to keep watch and spot walkers well before they reach your mountain. If they do reach your mountain, they will need to make it past trees, rocks, snow, ice, and climb rugged alpine karst. Even if zombies make it to the mountain peak, your team could escape on cable cars and ski lifts.. or just ski out and shootout 007 style. Although the biggest downside to this place is lack of suitable growing conditions for crops, your main food source would be hunting meat.

Mountain top retreat featured in James Bond "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969). The evil Bond villian, Blofeld's last strong hold in the series. In zombie apocalypse times, you can be chillin' like a wicked super villian at this mountain peak pad.

3. Castle

Who does not want a castle? I mean really this would be the ultimate bad ass place to chill when the undead hordes flock to the streets. The castle idea sort of runs hand in hand with fortress mansions as some eccentric barons who build elaborate mansions did build some based on old world castles, those are about as close as one will come to castles in the United States. The real castles are in Europe, for all you guys (& gals) in Europe out there, here's your zombie bug out place. The towering stone walls make a castle impregnable to the walkers. Better yet when it's surrounded by a moat. Unless the zombies can swim and climb then odds are the survivors will never need to fight them from the inside of castle walls. Inside a castle, if it's got a big enough courtyard or open grounds the survivors could establish a garden with space to roam and draw water from the moat. One could remain totally safe and isolated from the whole zombie outbreak.

Leeds Castle, England. As an American, I don't see many real castles. I guess I better rent a backhoe and start digging a moat if I want one here. If I  ever get the privilige to go vacationing in Europe and zombies attack, I know where I'm going.

2. Missile Base/Silo

This one is truly one of my personal favorites as I've spent a little time in these places under ground. Many missile silos dot the Great Plains of the United States as haunting reminders of Cold War era brinkmanship, some are still very active. Amongst the decommissioned silos there's a number of up kept silos in private ownership and some abandoned silos that are unkept but still very earth hardened. From these, survivors have their pick of Minutemen, Peacekeeper (modified Minuteman silo), Atlas, and Titan missile silos. Each type of these silos has a different layout. Some vary within missile types, and different missile generations. All of this is important info when choosing silo real estate in a zombie world. Many missile silos are "cancer farms" due to toxic chemicals and asbestos. If you can find one that's already cleaned out or can clean one out, you could make inhabitable. The most challenging part of silo living in a zombie apocalypse would be keeping the silo lit as they are 99% dark with almost no light able to creep in anywhere, torches would not work very well underground with limited silo ventilation, and firewood is scarce on the plains. The solution would be to install a network of solar panels on the surface running wires to under ground lights. Survivors could draw water from the actual silos themselves which fill up with ground water when left unpumped while they live in the launch control capsule and other underground rooms. Usually missile silos have fences surrounding them on the surface. The surface prairie soil is plenty fertile for crop production within the safety of the fence. The crops could be irrigated by water drawn from the silos. I can tell you that once your approximately seven stories down below the surface, it's cold and silent- totally cut off from the surface world. Since the zombies seem to follow movement, smell and sounds, being below ground effectively hides all of those. Shut off in a missile silo puts survivors outta sight and outta mind (mind: something the zombies crave but don't have), in the middle of the plains it would be the least conspicuous place, virtually invisible to walkers. They'd never look there. Even if they found it, they'd have to get past a fence down a tightly locked hatch or doors and once in the tunnels they have to get past massive blast doors, a tough feat for zombies. Let 'em try to get in. If it was made to survive atomic Armageddon it can survive a zombie apocalypse easy. It's a bit of work to fix up, but once it is, it's a sure place. The biggest drawback is that it's one of the more depressing places, underground in the middle of a boring prairie. My recommendation is plant some trees on the surface, decorate the subterranean tunnels and make sure you have a good interior designer in your zombie survival team who can jazz up your missile base.

First generation Titan missile base. These are far more than just silos. Several squadrons of these bohemeths were constructed across the western United States in the 1950's. Because the missiles were new at that time and not as a technologically packed and advanced as they are now, each missile required lots of on site support from a labyrinth of subterrainian buildings supported by thousands of feet of tunnels. Each Titan base could hold 150 people and is the ultimate missile silo dwelling, for every base there are three missile silos. There's plenty of room to live in one in a zombie infested world. Who knows, you may just find a live missile you can launch (if you had enough electricity, guidance and authorization codes) and play "Nuke A Zombie"

1. Island Fortresses & Tropical Islands

Need I say anything, this is perfect. Island fortresses like Alcatraz in California or Fort Sumter in South Carolina come to mind. Alcatraz (which could be in the earlier mentioned prison category) and Sumter are very small and close to mainland, more preferable would be sailing your survivor group out to a tropical island paradise somewhere in the Bahamas, Florida Keys, Caribbean, or if you wanted to avoid hurricane season, consider the Canary Islands, or some Polynesian islands. Better yet, if zombies are everywhere then clear out Hawaii and turn the place into a giant zombie apocalypse survivor paradise. The climate is favorable year around, tropical fruit and plentiful fish. Time can be spent hanging out on the beach or hiking volcanoes. Martinis and great music makes it number one in the zombie apocalypse. There's not many logistical difficulties with a place such as this, as long as there was enough food on the island to support the survivors and they could find fresh water springs. If the island was clear of zombies, there's virtually no need for major defense as the nearest zombies could be thousands of miles away over ocean waters. The only real threats to an island is if other survivors who are hostile, find the island or if some freak incident happens like a ship full of people who were infected and turned into zombies just happens to aimlessly drift ashore on your island. For this weapons are needed for defense of the survivors but the beauty of a tropical island during a zombie apocalypse is that no major barricades, fences, watchtowers, tunnels, mazes, barbed wire or elaborate defenses are required. Those living on a tropical island during a zombie apocalypse can soak up the sun and enjoy paradise care free without a thought of zombies for days, weeks, months, or even years. "It would be as if a mass zombie out break never happened." ~Exclaimed the jovial survivors of the zombie apocaylpse, grinning as they relax with their feet in the sand, sipping on margaritas while listening to the music of Jimmy Buffet as waves collide with the shore in the background.





Palm tree in an island paradise. This would be the place to be. Sitting on a beach carefree of the hordes of zombies ravaging the mainland continents. If you can manage to make it to one of these places in the zombie apocalypse, then your home free.

These are my top ten picks of places to be during a zombie apocalypse.



Disclaimer: Images used in this post were obtained from Wikipedia, BBC & US government sources for educational and public discussion purposes. I don't claim ownership of the images.