I wish this was my root cellar

I stooped today and took some pictures of an old root cellar that I have been watching over the years along the road, every time I drive by I think I should stop and get some pictures, well today was that day.

I really am amazed that this is in such good condition, I do not know when it was built but over the past 20 years of driving by it has been pretty much the same, I remember seeing a door on it quite some time back though.

a picture of the roof and the vent outside, with some deer tracks on the game trail comming across the back of the cellar

What a shame it stands empty !

Oh my! It is lovely. I am surprised at how clean the inside looks? No mold or algae? Thanks for taking the photos. What a great root cellar.

Wow, that's fantastic!

I wish I had taken a picture of the floor, it was really clean except for a pair of old rubber boots and the pack rat nest, in the third picture you can kind of see the pile of sticks and twigs in the corner, that is a pack rat nest.
Most people do not really care for a pack rat, they come into your shed or empty house and eat up the insulation on your wiring and drag in all kinda of sticks, with some scraps of shiny things.
But I really like the pack rat!
The wonderful thing to always remember about the pack rat is they are a creature of comfort just like me, and perhaps yourself, they like to be warm and dry and they want to live and to be left alone...
So what does that mean for you?
It means when things are not going well for you and you are needing shelter (this is in the area I am in - high plains) find some place that no other person wants to be (abandoned) and your best pall the pack rat has set you up with dry kindling to start a fire. If you are really lucky that little bugger is around and you can give him a chance to serve you a meal.

I guess what I am saying is what ever a person needs is somewhere to be found.
Here is a picture of an old rail road car that was only about 20 feet from this cellar, I did not drive all this way to look at an old rail car lying on the ground, but I did notice it had been visited by my friend the pack rat. I only took one picture of this old railroad car and did not walk any closer to it than this, but I do know my friend was there.
I guess what I am saying is if you find a dry place that people have not been in for a little while, a pack rat will build a nest out of dry sticks, some times on the floor, other times up in the rafters,where ever they are dry and comfortable.
when the rain is heavy and nothing wants to light up for a fire, or the snow is so deep the only wood you find is wet and frozen, a pack rat will have set you up to make a hot fire to start your wet and frozen wood going.

I have to say thank you to a pack rat family.

Good point about the pack rat. I had not thought of it like that. We have pack rats around here and they cause a lot of damage. But, good points you have. I still like the root cellar the best! Thanks for the photos.

Awesome pictures! Stone buildings are great.

What is the orientation? Facing North?

How thick is the soil on top of the cellar? It looks like it might be a foot deep at the top.

Adrien Lapointe wrote:Awesome pictures! Stone buildings are great.

What is the orientation? Facing North?

How thick is the soil on top of the cellar? It looks like it might be a foot deep at the top.

I really like stone buildings, this one is built from limestone, it faces east and about one foot of dirt on the top is all.