Post by cbuehler on Sept 23, 2015 1:33:49 GMT 8
Well, I must say that I am not surprised at the closing of access to Ft. Frank. The way things are going with the South China Sea issues, I think Ft. Drum may be as well if is not already.
I feel more fortunate than ever that I had the experience of exploring both islands with Fireball a few years back.
As mentioned in our report of this trip, Carabao (Ft. Frank) was EXTREMELY hard going due to the thorny undergrowth that had overtaken the island. Most everything was covered with it unlike Corregidor, which is generally much more passable even in remote spots. No one was on the island of course and it looked like no one had been there for some time. Just a few old dilapidated bamboo beds and some minor trash left from fishermen or scrappers. If anything, the undergrowth must be even worse now, however would I expect that some the island must have been cleared to some degree if the Phil. Marines are using it for anything at all. Perhaps they are not and they just want to keep it off limits due to the proximity of the base.
While scrapping for rebar was present in many parts of the tunnels in 2012, most of the underground tunnels I found to be in fairly good condition and not particularly unsafe.
The rebar scrapping in the tunnels that I noted did not seem to be recent at the time. I can only surmise the reason more had not been done was due to the almost impassible conditions, so I dont know if things have changed over the past couple of years.
With regard to El Fraile (Ft.Drum), perhaps it is well that it is closed. Exploring the ruinous interior is truthfully very dangerous and it could only be worse now.
CB
I feel more fortunate than ever that I had the experience of exploring both islands with Fireball a few years back.
As mentioned in our report of this trip, Carabao (Ft. Frank) was EXTREMELY hard going due to the thorny undergrowth that had overtaken the island. Most everything was covered with it unlike Corregidor, which is generally much more passable even in remote spots. No one was on the island of course and it looked like no one had been there for some time. Just a few old dilapidated bamboo beds and some minor trash left from fishermen or scrappers. If anything, the undergrowth must be even worse now, however would I expect that some the island must have been cleared to some degree if the Phil. Marines are using it for anything at all. Perhaps they are not and they just want to keep it off limits due to the proximity of the base.
While scrapping for rebar was present in many parts of the tunnels in 2012, most of the underground tunnels I found to be in fairly good condition and not particularly unsafe.
The rebar scrapping in the tunnels that I noted did not seem to be recent at the time. I can only surmise the reason more had not been done was due to the almost impassible conditions, so I dont know if things have changed over the past couple of years.
With regard to El Fraile (Ft.Drum), perhaps it is well that it is closed. Exploring the ruinous interior is truthfully very dangerous and it could only be worse now.
CB