Members: ToXiC and Nèur@l
Written by: Nèur@l
Pictures by: ToXiC

(An image I captured before we left)

ToXiC and I were hanging out talking about heading out to search for an entrance into the American National Can Factory, after a while we both agreed this seemed like a great night to check it out before I started school in the Fall. We hopped on our bikes and off we went. We decided to stop and grab some grub before our expedition so we headed to a Burger King for some cheap greasy hamburgers and fries. After eating, bellies full, we were off for our adventure. It took us about fifteen minutes to bike there. We locked our bikes up a block or so away from the facility and began to non-chalantly walk towards it. Scouting the outside we made sure no one was in the building and that the area was decently secluded. We were being extra cautious after our game of "Hide-and-go-Seek" from a K9 unit at Pillsbury "A" Mill. Perhaps a little too paranoid, but we were still pretty shaken up. After we scouted the parameter we decided to crawl under a fence to check out the smoke stack, nothing, not an entrance in site. So we dipped back under the fence and continued to search around. Soon we hopped another fence and upon further searching we found our entrance.
           

(Interior of Loading Docks)

Carefully peeking inside, looking around for motion sensors and what have you, we decided to take our first steps into the facility. Our adrenaline was pumping, our eyes and ears peeled for any signs of alarm. Everything seemed to be a go. So we stepped up onto the platform, which the floor was covered in fairly noisy wooden floor boards. The place was empty, but the lights were on for the most part, so headlamps and flashlights was used at a minimum as to not draw attention to ourselves from the outside world. We carefully walked, still keeping a lookout for sensors. The place had an eerie feeling about it, perhaps it was due to our still constant paranoia from our last mission. We peeked around every corner, and examined the area before we took a step. After taking in all the first floor had to offer, which wasn't too much, we headed for the stairs. Slowly opening the door, we peeked inside looking around, again, for any sign of distress. Coast is clear, we began our ascent to the second floor. Slowly opening the door again, we noticed the second floor was much darker, and more mysterious. Again, that eery feeling crept in. The second floor look just like the first, yet, with less lighting.
           

(Roof View)

We turned our attention to above the door on the second floor. There were a bunch of blinking boxes with small red LEDs on them. We made sure these were not motion sensors, we assumed they were probably power boxes of some sort. We began to cautiously walk around the second floor, which lead us into another portion of the facility. Same boring layout as all the other rooms, except there were a few service elevators, probably used for transferring equipment between floors and to reach the loading dock. We examined the second floor thoroughly and came to a room that seemed to be something along the lines of a possible employee "staff room". We peered out the windows and looked at street level to make sure the coast was still clear. "Ok, this floor is pretty much the same, let's find the roof," ToXiC said to me. We headed towards the staircase and made our way to the roof.
           

(Elevator)

The roof was just that, with a decent view of the train tracks below, street level, and the industrial area of St. Paul. We chilled, smoked a cigarette, and worked our way around the entire area of the roof. I stopped to take a piss while ToXiC took some photos. Soon we started to hear this whooshing/whistling sound. Looking up we noticed a bird was swooping down just a foot or so above our hides in a gliding way. The force of this dive was so powerful it made a great whooshing noise. ToXiC took some video tape of this as we laughed at how playful this bird was being with us. We headed back towards the door leading to the stairwell and rested again while smoking a cigarette discussing what we wanted to do next. I took a look at the water tower and noticed that someone had tagged it. We decided to do a little bit more searching and then vacate the premises.
           

(Nèur@l & ToXiC pose)

We made it to another area of the building, I believe it was the third floor, where we noticed some of the floor was covered with square sheets of metal. Still very cautious, paranoid, and filled with that eerie feeling, we walked around this dark room and noticed a square opening in the wall that peered into the parking ramp. We took a picture of the parking ramp and looked around, thinking about a way we could get in and out without much hassle. We decided against this, "perhaps next time," we thought. Next, ToXiC realized he needed to take a shit, and wanted to get a few good snapshots of the factory and a few pictures to pose for. We began to look for a bathroom that didn't have demolished toilets.
          

(Hallway shot of Fire Doors)

  Finally, on the third floor we found some "stalls" were ToXiC headed into for his bowel movement needs. I, being very disinterested in standing around while he pooped did a bit of looking around on the third floor. Nothing special at all, pretty boring, this place was cleaned out well and very deserted. So I decided to dance while I walked to make a bit of entertainment for myself. About this time, ToXiC was finished with his shit and set up his tripod for some photo taking action. He did some quick shots, then set me up in a roller chair and took some pictures. After our super fun photo session we finally decided to take our fill and vacate the area. We headed down the stairs with less caution now, talking about the cool things we saw, which wasn't too much. The main thing we thought was the most entertaining is how eery this place felt and how much adrenaline/paranoia we had. Maybe there really is something creepy about the place, or maybe it's just the after shock of Pillsbury, who knows, if you're feeling ballsy check the place out for yourself and let us know.
           

(Interior)

We hit the first floor again and were heading towards the exit when ToXiC told me to stop moving. Something we had missed, there was a motion sensor. We assumed it didn't clock us because it might've been a close proximity sensor. We noted its location in case of future exploration as something to look out for. After this we headed towards the exit. It was daylight out by this time and the roads were a bit more busy. We still had a fence to jump. We hit the exit and noticed that a truck was parked right in front of the fence we had to jump, the driver still inside. So we decided to wait for a bit to see if he was going to leave. Nope that guy was going to sit there till the end of time, so we decided to just go for it and act all casual. We walked to the fence, hopped it, and made our way to our bikes.
          

(Now that I look at this, i actually know a way to climb that..)

  Overall, this trip was worth it for the excitement, but because of how empty it was and that every floor is pretty much the same as the others this place is kind of boring, but probably a great place for up and coming explorers. Remember fellow explorers and eager readers, when you go exploring be respectful, don't trash the place, don't tag, and be safe and smart about it. Have fun, and happy hunting.

-Neur@l