Mather Bunkers redux
It’s father’s day so I could think of nothing better to do than to go stomping through dry weeds, broken glass and owl poop while carrying thousands of dollars in camera gear. Yep, that’s right, I headed back out to Mather Field to have a look at the those old nuke bunkers once again.
Yep, they’re still there. Yep, still abandoned.
The biggest difference this time around, besides the graffiti and paintball marks on everything, was the owls. Bloody hell, there were lots of owls. Every building out there had at least one owl in it. Like a freaking Harry Potter convention. And the damn things kept waiting for me to walk right up close before they flew off, screeching, and scaring the bejesus out of me every freakin’ time.
This time I did screw up enough courage to actually go into some of the bunkers, far enough to lay some strobes for lighting effects. It’s hard to explain, but the dark, cavernous nature of the things just makes them creepy to me. And the weird echos… and the damn owls. Brrrr.
And no, I never got into that room in the far back of some of big bunkers. It’s some kind of ventalation room or something. One had an owl nest in it and that seemed like a good way to piss off mama-owl. Owls have talons.
So after an hour and a half of tromping around out there I was suitably hot and sweaty and ready to leave. I strongly recommend a good set of boots if you head out there as aside from the usual suite of valley stickers there’s all manner of nasties that can seriously mess up your day — and it’s a long way from help. Make sure your tetanus is up-to-date (mine isn’t).
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