expedition1

History

In 1959 the US government began building Titan missile bases on the abandoned test-bombing range of Lowry Air Force Base outside Denver, Colorado.

From what I've found 6 bases were built in Colorado. 3 were in close proximity to each other. Each base had 3 launch facilities attached to it (3 missile silos). They were 45,000 square feet, 40 to 80 feet underground and had a half mile of 15 foot personnel tunnel. Four diesel generators were included to run the base in case of nuclear war. The facility was designed to house 150 people for 30 days in the event of war.

The government spent a LOT of money to build these facilities. They went "on-line" in 1962. Only 3 years later in 1965 the Titan 1 (as they were then known) bases were scrapped, sealed and abandoned.

When the Lowry base was closed in the mid-eighties the land and the bases were sold to private parties. This land is currently slated for development as the Denver Metropolis assimilates more and more prairie in every direction. The land is currently being leased to local ranchers as grazing land.

Investigations found that some of the bases had been "cracked" by people looking for a place to hang out and party, and were fairly easy to access.

Reports also indicated that the facilities were heavily laden with a lovely soup of asbestos, PCB's, stagnant pools of contaminated water and sharp nasty chunks of metal, exactly the kind of thing we enjoy.

Expedition 1-A (A waste of gas)

Expedition 1-A consisted of me and my trusty digital camera - this was a recon mission intended to check access and location of 3 closely located abandoned titan missile bases.

The bases I discovered the location of were located about 60 miles from my home. I drove out and got a late start so it was near dark when I arrived.

The three missile bases I surveyed were all fairly well sealed. At least there was lots of barbed wire and "No Trespassing" signs posted on the main entrances.

The access gates were locked up tight and I wasn't able to see any of the actual base structures from the road.

A complete scrub? Not really, with 50 acres of missile base surrounded by high chain-link fence I figured we could find some kind of access - a down section of fence, partially obstructed "No Entry" signs, something, I figured more recon was necessary to see if easy, even semi-legal access could be found.

Two of the sites included signage with contact numbers for entry info, I figured if no other local targets panned out we may call for access. This, luckily, was never necessary.

Expedition 1B - Paydirt!

Sub-Commander Big E made good use of a day off, after hearing of "The Cause" he started doing some of his own research. He was able to locate a 4th Titan 1 base within 60 miles of the 3 I had located.

Intel showed that this base was located a lot further out from any significant population centers way out on the plains of Eastern Colorado.

Expecting to find the same fence and signage I had discovered at the other Lowry Titan bases he only brought his digital camera and a small flashlight.

He was amazed to find road access open all the way to the missile base. All the perimeter fences and gates were down or entirely gone. He was able to drive right up to the antenna silo assemblies.

Some wandering around in the brush helped him find several concreted entrances, including the main entry portal. Everything seemed well sealed with a cursory glance.

With no sign of any warnings or entry barriers he ventured a short way into the tube.

On his own with inadequate light led to a spooky few minutes in a very dank, very dark hole. Lots of brush littered the floor just inside and he wasn't able to determine how deep the tunnels he saw in either direction went.

After checking site maps he determined that one of the <CENSORED> had been excavated leaving an opening to the outside. Two days later Expedition 2 was geared up and ready to head in.