Members: ToXiC, Steve-O, Anne
Pictures by: ToXiC

Stevo-O pulled up in his Ford Truck a few blocks away from the river where I was waiting for him. It was just after 3am. I looked at him and saw someone on the other side of the truck, it was Anne. I was surprised because Steve-O hadnt told me he was bringing anyone with him. Oh well, things happen.

They got out of the truck and got ready for an underground hike. We were set. We left the truck and headed to the park where NSP is located. We were walking down and I was explaining to them that the entrance had been recently padlocked and that I knew another way of getting in. As we jumped down and walked to the entrance I noticed the door was open and the padlock gone. It made me think for a moment that someone may be inside already. Tossing aside any gloom that may have been lingering in my mind I entered first.

I looked around, I didnt see anyone in the immediate area, I looked around on the ground for foot prints and discovered a couple tracks going in and out. I decided it was probably empty and safe to proceed. As I turned to tell my coharts to enter I stood up and hit my head and I thought to myself "Good job!!".

We started walking down the tailrace to see what it would offer. The rotted cross planks, old rusted pipes, water slewn limestone, all kinds of mineral deposits, and an old boot that someone had left for an unknown reason.

We passed under some catwalks that I made a mental note to return to and check out. We kept going finding an enclosed section of tunnel that had been blocked off at some point in time and finding that somebody had dug around it. Me and Steve-O decided to crawl through it and see what was behind it. It was flooded with about a foot of water, alot of collapsed wood posts and other rotting elements that I couldnt identify because of there odd state. I went down the tunnel alone to see if it went anywhere. It dead ended about 70 feet later.

We turned around and came back to meet Anne waiting for us in the main tunnel. We kept going farther down the tunnel. We eventually made it to the end, a little wetter, and dirtier. We retraced our steps. I decided it was time to go check out the catwalks above us. We climbed up the slippery wet surface of the wooden planks. There was some mysterious newer cable and plastic piping running along the catwalks. We couldnt find the reason why but it was an odd feeling. We walked down the tunnel finding more abandoned tailraces as we went. We finally arrived at a tailrace that had at one point had a catwalk but however no longer existed there.

We traced our steps to one of the tailraces still flooded that we hadnt gone down through. There were concrete columns we could move around to go down it. I opted for the first try. We went around and around each column hopefully bringing us closer to something at the end. After risking life and limb above the murky unknown water of the tailrace we rounded a corner and found to our delight a hallway with machinery in it.

We got the end without to much delay. We hopped onto the catwalk across from us. There was 2 ways to go left or right. We chose to go right first since it looked closer. We walked over and found a huge piece of machinery, maybe used to pump water out and into the tailrace. Even more to my delight I saw a staircase that looked to be in safe condition. Up and up we went. It was a few stories later than we enter into what I had been hoping to find.

The multi-level subbasement section of the operational Xcel Hydro Plant that had been abandoned for years. I was standing in the middle of it. Taking it all in. I decided to start walking around and see what had been the East Bank Power Station for the former mills in the area over a half century earlier.

It was quite a site. Machinery of every type everywhere. I lack the verbal skills to even remotely describe the site in which I found myself walking around in. I sadly dont have the pictures to really describe it either.

It was nearly 5:30am now, I decided it was worth coming back another night but calling it a night for now. We headed out the way we came, emerging into the daylight of the early morning light in the park. I nice chill breeze to welcome us back to the world of modern society.

(Left: Very cool natural mineral formations along the wall)

(Right: Steve-O crawling around an open bend to the right of a wall that was supposed to block off that section of the tunnel, it leads to a dead end in 150')

(Left: ToXiC & Steve-O having a smoke)

(Right: An old drain pipe of sorts so rusted you could touch it and it would shatter, also more modern/updated wire tubes of some sort)

(Above: ToXiC rounding one of the columns)

(Left: Steve-O checking out something i cant name at this very moment)

(Right: Goonies was spray painted.
"Up there it's their time, Down here it's out Time!"
I think i know who wrote that lol)

(Left: A part of the old Circuit Breaker Section for Downtown Minneapolis and various main traffic streets, the one seen is #29 Hiawatha)

(Right: Steve-O and Anne heading down the stairs to retrace our steps to outside)