LOST Tour: Behind the Barracks

Something magical happened during our visit to Camp Erdman. As much as I enjoyed every stop on the tour, it was always abundantly clear that we were simply visiting locations in Oahu which had been used to film the television series LOST. At the crash beach Oahu residents lay on the beach suntanning. At the Temple our tour group stood in line for photo ops. But at Camp Erdman, for a few short but scintillating minutes, I was no longer on Oahu. It was not 2011. I had moved to The Island. I stood in Dharmaville. It was August 15th, 1976.

The cabins at Camp Erdman back onto a short run of grass and trees which then give way to a range of rugged hills. As I made my way back behind the cabins the sounds of Camp Erdman's young residents (and several intrepid LOST fans) was replaced by the rustling of grass and leaves and the soft moan of the wind. I could see no cars, no antennas, nothing that would suggest I was anywhere other than The Island; with no one else in sight, nothing to contradict my status as a newly arrived member of the DHARMA Initiative out for a stroll on a pleasant afternoon. For several minutes I walked along a thin patch of ground between the cabins and the grass, basking in the illusion, imagining that Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Miles, and little Ben were just around the bend. Remarkable.

But back the real world. The areas behind and to the side of the cabins have shown up in several episodes, perhaps most notably in the tense scenes in which Keamy holds Alex at gunpoint in The Shape of Things to Come.

In Follow the Leader we get a Hurley-bird's-eye view of the cabins from slightly higher grassy ground.

From Some Like it Hoth we're treated to a sweet crane shot of the area.

Miles is up to his ass in grass as he pays a final visit to The Barracks in The End.

Sweet, innocent mini-Ben swung with his gal-pal Annie in The Man Behind the Curtain.

And finally, the Some Like it Hoth crane shot treats us to a clear view of the hillside that abuts The Barracks.

LOST Tour: Sawyer & Juliet's DHARMA love nest

The home shared by Sawyer and Juliet during their days in the DHARMA Initiative was portrayed by cabin #22 in Camp Erdman.

It was also on this cabin's porch that Ben nervously awaited the Smoke Monster in the series finale.

The cool Smokey-cam shots from The Substitute provided another glimpse of the building.

Kate's approach to drunk Sawyer in What Kate Does shows us a different angle.

Back to DHARMA days where the arrival of Jack and Kate complicates Sawyer's life. In the background Kate stands on the porch of cabin #20.

And finally a couple of other views on cabin 20, from The Other Woman and The Substitute.

LOST Tour: Ben's Barracks Abode

Cabin 21 at Camp Erdman served as Ben Linus's home within The Barracks.

This profile view gives a better idea of how small the cabins are and how closely together they are packed. Once again the LOST crew did a wonderful job making the area seem grander on screen.

Sayid at the wrong end of a rifle barrel as he approaches Ben's (commandeered) home in The Economist.

Locke and Ben are playing those mind games together again in season 4' s Eggtown.

A night view of the cabin from Meet Kevin Johnson.

In the flashback to DHARMA days in the season 5 opener we learn that Pierre Chang occupied Ben's future home back in 1977.

In Some Like it Hoth we even see Dr. Chang reading to baby Miles in the home. I believe this is a composite shot with the exterior filmed at Camp Erdman and the interior filmed in-studio.

The season 5 bonus features include this shot of Chang standing on his porch.

LOST Tour: Juliet's New Otherton Home

Most of the Dharmaville filming occurred in and around a group of five Camp Erdman cabins numbered 18 through 22 inclusive. Cabin 19 appeared on film as Juliet Burke's Island home. It is in fact the first Barracks abode to appear onscreen, debuting along with Juliet in the season 3 opener A Tale of Two Cities. On the day we visited Camp Erdman a red shirt lay on the picnic table in front of cabin 19 -- I couldn't help but be reminded of the red blouse worn by Juliet during her final days.

Season 4's The Other Woman showed us the moment when Ben offered the house to Juliet.

Jack and Sayid passed by the home shortly after acquiring Jughead's thermonuclear core in The Incident.

This is a shot of the right side of cabin 19, which is visible onscreen a couple of times. The side door, as well as the trim on this and other cabins, has been repainted dark brown.

And for completeness this is the left side of the cabin. The small structure in which Ethan was poking around seems to have been temporarily positioned there for filming.

In the cap below from A Tale of Two Cities Juliet's home is directly behind her.

The shot below from Namaste features a different angle, with Juliet's home on the far right. The house directly behind Juliet is in reality cabin 18, which did not appear often onscreen and didn't seem to house any major character.

I did manage to snap a pic of cabin 18 as it appears today.

LOST Tour: Approaching The Barracks

The final stop on our Hawaiian Escapades tour of LOST locations: Camp Erdman on the North Shore of Oahu. This operating YMCA facility was used to shoot exterior scenes at The Barracks and provided several other interior and exterior locations for the show.

Why did the LOST fans cross the road? To get to the Other side.

This is the view looking from the road towards the main collection of cabins used by the LOST crew. It brings back memories of the amazing first reveal, the DHARMA orientation, and the many stealthy approaches seen on the show.

Here @kiwilostie, @Scoutpost and a fellow LOSTie close in on their target. This is the same hallowed ground where Ben and Juliet witnessed the airborne break-up of Oceanic 815.

The gazebo which appeared in many episodes is still present although it has been repainted. (Either that or it is coated with Smoke Monster residue.)

Wow! What a thrill to be smack dab in the middle of New Otherton!