Ontario Abandoned Places will be rebranded as Ominous Abandoned Places

Abandoned places in District Municipality of Muskoka, ON, Canada

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Imperia  •  2 months ago

Wow time flies. I am now applying for lvl 3. But first let me give a quick intro to how even started exploring. i found my first Bando on may 20 2022 and was speechless. I have never seen anything like it before. Why was the foundation made out of rocks? How old is this place? Is it a house or a church? How is it still standing? So many questions flooded my mind. I went everyday with my friends after school for a month or two after that and we finally found a way in. I was shocked it was in such good condition. I thought the floors would be all ripped apart and garbage all over the place. Nope, it was just an empty, dark ass 1860s farmhouse. We way too close to the front door and the alarm went off and we RAN. Once we left and got to the road we waited for someone to show up but no one did. Or so we thought. We went back and then someone pulled up. He did not see us so we just biked home as fast as we could. than almost a year later I did some digging on the house during class. Found out the house is 160 years old and was shocked. I then went on to flex to everyone I went to an abandoned house older than Canada itself. Some time around then I found the site (oap) and had no idea that people explore abandoned buildings as a hobby and I was instantley intrigued. I posted my first album (it was so ass I deleted it a long time ago) and was dissapointed to realize it wasn't my location. Anyway so I found other places locally and uploaded them and applied for lvl 2. Once I got it after a month of waiting I was like damn there's lots of other places still around me I had no idea existed. My photography id say has improved greatly since I started though my photo my quality hasn't long story short I crushed my 0.5x camera on my phone and now it has dent, hence why like half my photos and grainy and blurry af. My 1x shots are very good though id say. My low light window shots are my favourite to take. Now I am currently debating getting a proper low light photography camera ($800!?) or just fixing my phone camera ($150-$200). Now for my contributions. I usually visit and upload 1800s/eraly 1900s farmhouses. I have a stack of location (64) as of typing this and 129 albums. As of 1 month ago I have started uploading more quality albums. No more exteriors only. My albums have lots of photos and re-ordered in it's correct order. Though I will still ask you to please excuse my grainy 0.5x shots. My best album is probably the one with the Orangeville Brampton Railway. As I walked Almost the whole thing which was 50km and I took photos of my whole adventure. I will only be uploading quality albums for as long as this site is active. I haven't explored with anyone except my with my dad and one person on this site UnkownUbex? If you would want to explore with me than dm me on discord. Now I get around with bike/walk/public transit. Though usually with my bike. I love biking to spots as its a hella workout which reminds me you should be able to bike at least 40km. my current pr is 105km and **will** be broken soon. So that's all I have to say. I hope you consider my application and all feeback is appreciated. Now I will go back to sitting on my ass waiting for the rain to stop. Or I may go on a quick 40km Bike ride we'll see.

Approved

8-Ball  •  3 months ago

After lots of explorations, including some close calls and exciting escapes, I’m here to apply for level 3. I’m grateful to have a community that not only is about urban exploration but is also primarily in Ontario as well. In the last 6 months, I was able to meet new people, explore more places, and most importantly damage my lungs further! Looking back, I can definitively say my photography skills have improved, from lighting, editing, creativity and framing all being technical aspects I’ve gotten better at since joining this website. I will reiterate from my last promotion that many of my explorations come at night, making picture-taking a little more challenging- however I’ve adapted by buying a nice flashlight that has served me well. Moving towards my actual contributions, I have tried my best to ensure my uploads are quality albums that integrate what I feel are the most important aspects of a location, along with focusing the majority of my albums on being interiors, to give the fullest experience as I can. Earlier on, I had uploaded more exterior albums just for the sake of content, but I’ve tried to keep that to a minimum over the last few months. Of my last 50 albums, **only three** of them have been exteriors. [some people should follow that initiative ;)]. I’ve also put a focus on trying to find many of my *own* locations, as I do find that more enjoyable than going to other people’s spots. In Toronto it’s a bit of a dogfight, but there’s definitely lots of spots out there. It unfortunately results in a lot of trial-and-error, but also makes the successful finds feel much more rewarding as well. I’ve spent a lot of time learning and observing different methods to find locations, and I’m looking forward to finding more spots and contributing in the future. Finally, I like to put effort in my write-ups by providing as much detailed information as I can about a location-when there is history to share. Aside from a couple blank write-ups I need to catch up on, I like to provide clear, informational history of a spot. A couple of examples include the write-ups I posted for [20721](https://ominous.app/browse/site/20721) and [20734](https://ominous.app/browse/site/20734), (which are level 1, so everyone can see). Okay, that was quite long-winded, so I’ll wrap it up here. I appreciate the consideration for level 3, and I hope the community feels my contributions are significant enough to warrant the promotion. If you have constructive criticism or feedback, feel free to let me know what I can do better as well! Thanks for your time everyone!

Location Comments

gc1517@gmail.com  •  2 months ago

I wonder if someone here could help me out. Starting around 1971, my family started vacationing in the Muskoka area at a resort on a lake. The resort had an ornate 'mess hall' right on the lake. The mess hall had floor to ceiling windows facing the water, and the dining area was probably about 75 feet long, but less than 100 feet. There were cabins up the hill, further away from the water. Probably a 40 foot elevation from the mess hall. These cabins had about 4 rooms on each side of the hallway, which opened at each end. The only landmark I can think of to help me locate this resort is the look-out tower we would hike to. At 5 or 6 years old, I was part of a 'day school' group, led by young people, and we would trek up to the look-out tower, up a small mountain, which was about a 30 minute hike. The day school leaders would make us all a lunch, and we would eat it at the top of the tower. I remember the tower being on barren rock. The tower looked exactly like 'Ranger Gord's Fire Tower.' I've been looking at Muskoka look-out towers on Google, and 'Ranger Gord's' tower is the only one that looks like what I remember. I have been trying to figure out how to find this resort for several years now. Because of these family vacations, this has a lot of nostalgia for me. These were precious memories for me. In the '70s, our family was part of Oakwood Bible Chapel in Windsor, Ontario, and this vacation was something many families in the church did every year. I probably vacationed there with my family about five times. I just wish I could see it again. It wouldn't surprise me if the mess hall was demolished, but I hope not. I'd like to see pictures again. Also, regarding the lake, there were many small islands close to the resort. While boating away from the resort, it would be easy to get lost, not being able to tell the difference between an island and the mainland. When I was 6, my dad and I set off from the resort, because I could see people on the other side of the lake, and I wanted to go there. So my dad taught me how to sail on the way there. When we got to the other shore, we beached, and found out it was a youth camp. We walked around and talked to people, and my dad bought me a chocolate bar at the tuck shop. Then we launched the boat back into the lake, and my dad laid down in the bottom of the 9' sailboat, and said, "Wake me up when we get home." I sailed us back to the resort on my own, and told my dad he had to dock the boat. Tacking across the lake was fun. The distance to the other side was probably between 2,000' and 2,500' If anyone can help me locate this resort, I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

Locations of Muskoka