Saddle Butte Day 3

My Sunday really began probably around 2 or 3 am.  I was awakened to the sound of yelling, and a bright orange blow.  I unzipped my tent and saw that Sam and Mike Loomis's tent was on fire.  Everyone was running around working to put it out.  I put on my shoes and went over, but by that time it was under control.  So I went back to bed.  The next morning I was again the first one up.  I cooked my breakfast, and then as everyone else woke up we saw the full extent of the tent damage.

This picture shows just one side.  But the story went like this.  Sam and Mike had a propane heater in their giant tent (first mistake).  They had left it running when they went to sleep.  During the night we had a more-than-usual-powerful gust of wind come through and it ruffled things around.  Including their tent.  And it blew a chair and coats over onto the heater, which caused the fire.  Both of the brothers were lucky that they were not harmed.

After breakfast was finished Scott helped me out with my vertical gear.  He let me borrow one of his chest harnesses which was better suited than what I was using.  Then he rigged the rope to descend into Fortymile Cave!  There would be two drops in this cave, both about 15-20 feet in height.  The second drop would have a nasty lip to negotiate.

Brent went down and began to rig the second drop.  Scott dropped down, and then told me to come on down.

Mike and Errin checked me at the top and made sure I was doing everything correctly.  I did have to undo a couple bars on my rack though.  I'm used to being able to use all my bars on the ropes I've dropped on, but this rope wasn't that case.  But I made the first drop without any incident.  I began walking down to the second drop and I heard a rattle.  Looking over behind a rock in the "twilight zone" I saw a small rattlesnake hiding.  That made rattle snake #2 for me on this trip.

Soon all of the group members that were going on this vertical cave trip joined us.  Matt and Kara were doing a survey project, before Matt went home.  So they didn't join us.  Brent soon had the second drop rigged and he and Scott, and a couple others descended, before Errin told me to go.  It went well, until I reached the lip.  At that point I couldn't keep my feet against any rock.  I couldn't just hang free because of the lip or I would flip over backwards.  But I was able to get onto my knees and lean back a bit further and slowly let the rope through my rack.  I ended up scraping the top of the rack on the rock a little bit, but I made it to the bottom pretty good.

From that point on, it was pure amazement.  Fortymile Cave was the most impressive cave of the entire trip. I even found a clump of pure gypsum growing.  Scott looked at it and said it is the highest quality gypsum you can find growing in a cave, just like he saw in Lechuguilla.

There were lots of little areas along the walls with tiny lava formations.  In some places there were some nice "lava soda straws"

I went off by myself and journey to the very back of the cave, signed the register, and then waited for everyone else to arrive.  Brent was the last one, and he took a pretty nice group photo.

After that, we made the trek out.  Jeffery was the first one out, followed by Scott and Mike.  I went up the first drop and got to the lip.  Then I ran into trouble, like I knew I would.  My croll ascenders would not let me get up the lip.  I had to use a webbing ladder that Brent rigged to help me out.  I definitely need to get a handheld ascender to make obstacles like that easier to negotiate.  But the important thing was, I got out.  The second ascent went much smoother.  There was nothing difficult about it.  Ned came up right behind me.

It took a while for Brent and Errin to come out of the cave.  They had stayed and worked on taking photographs.  Errin had found a mummified bobcat under a ledge.  Somebody from the BLM (Bureuo Land Management) put rocks around it to protect it.  But when they did emerge, Ned and Errin packed up their truck, and then helped load up my stuff and drove me back out to my car.

It was definitely a new experience caving in lava caves.  It can't compare to limestone.  The two are so vastly different.  But it was an excellent trip, and nice to make some new caver friends, and see what my caving future holds!

Saddle Butte Day 2

The wind blew all night, and the rain fell.  When I arose and cooked my breakfast I was greeted by a shower of ice pellets, and snow covered all the high peaks around us.  I also noticed that more people had joined us.  Ned and Errin Walker had came in, and they had also given Jeffery a ride.  We had quite a caving crew now.

Once everyone had eaten and was suited up to protect themselves from the cold (and possibility of more rain) Brent gave us a group talk and then we loaded into the vehicles and drove 1/2 mile.  From there it was on foot the rest of the day.  We just walked across the lava flow, following the collapsed tube.  Brent and Matt had GPS devices they used to lead us to the caves.

The first cave we came to was called Collapse Cave.  It is pretty small, on the edge of a collapsed sinkhole.  As we set our stuff down on the edge I proceeded to put my pack on a rock and sit down.  At about that time I saw a rattle sticking out from under the rock.  Jumping up I stepped back and looked under the rock.  There was the first rattle snake I had ever seen in person.  And he wasn't happy.  But, it wasn't exactly warm out so he was pretty sluggish.  I told Brent about my find and he got his camera he has mounted on a long pole, and spent the next few minutes trying to get some neat video shots.  I joined a couple guys and crawled into Collapse Cave.

At the bottom of the cave there was a small room.  It looked like it had been used as a bobcat den.  And then we saw a dead, baby bobcat lying on the floor.

I crawled back out and our group got together and continued on down the lava tube.  When we could, we would walk down in the collapsed portion to escape the worst of the nasty wind that continued to blow.  But at least the possibility of rain dwindled as each hour passed.  After a while of hiking we reached a series of arches.  They were pretty neat.

Our next two stops put us into two tiny caves.  One had one entrance, the second had two entrances so you could do a thru trip.  They were fairly short; but miserable to get into.  The entrances were clogged with tumble weeds.

We took our lunch break outside the entrance to Owyhee River Cave.  This would be our first "grand cave" of the day.

I was in awe at the size of Owyhee River Cave.  It's like a giant subway tunnel that just stretches into blackness.  And it doesn't end.  It makes your light feel so under powered too.  The black lava rock absorbs your light.  As we journeyed farther into the cave we came to a massive graveyard.  Up above there is a tiny "hidden" skylight entrance.  Lots of small animals fall through and die in the bottom of the cave.  There is a huge mound of skeletons and decomposing animals.

Our next stop was Burns Cave.  It took a while to get into this one as it was completely filled in with tumble weeds.  Jeffery, Matt, and Scott dug around for a while until finding a way in.

Burns Cave was just as impressive.  It was even neater though, to see that nobody had been inside the cave for years.  There were no human foot prints anywhere on the silt floor.  It was like we were walking into a giant time capsule.  It is hard to believe that molten rock used to flow through these giant tubes.  The back of Burns Cave ends very abruptly.  A giant, smooth plug just filled the back of the lava tube.  As Matt described it, imagine you are sucking through a straw and are slurping up the remaining liquid in the bottom.  The liquid comes in spurts, broken up by pockets of air.  That is what we were seeing with this plug.

The last cave for the day was Rattlesnake Cave #2.  This one was a thru trip.  In the big entrance, and out through an upward squeeze and popping out farther along the flow.

In this cave the magma had formed some pretty neat "blades" that ran down off the walls.  And like the previous two caves, it was very impressive.  After exiting we walked back to the rest of the group and when we were all together we began the long trek back to the trucks.  It was almost 3 miles.

When we finally reached camp it was a welcome relief to sit down and cook some dinner.  We were treated with a gorgeous sunset that night.

When everyone was done eating we all piled in to Mike and Sam's giant tent and Brent showed us his videos from the day.  And then we watched a presentation he had made with pictures and videos from previous trips.  It was pretty good.  When that was finished, everyone sauntered off to bed.  Tomorrow was vertical day!

Saddle Butte Day 1

Friday afternoon I drove out to an area in the Oregon desert called Saddle Butte.  It is a massive landmark that can be seen from 50 miles away or more.  The area is surrounded by an old volcanic system.  A giant lava tube flows through the region.  Most of it is collapsed, but there are portions that are intact and give cavers perfect opportunities to explore. :)

I made it to the spot I was parking my car at.  Matt Skeels was already there, and 10 minutes later Brent and Kara arrived to pick us up.  We got all our gear loaded up and Matt announced that he had brought a giant iron pry bar to use on a digging project.  So about halfway to camp Brent stopped and we got out.  Matt began digging out rocks.  We all sort of took turns until we had englarged the hole.  There was a strong breeze blowing through, but it was too tight and too many rock restrictions to get through.  After digging in two more spaces we called it quits for the day.  As Matt said, it was a BLFFG cave (Better Left For Future Generations).

We finished the drive back to camp, and saw that Mike and Sam Loomis were there and had their camp set up.  Let's just say now, that those two brothers brought a lot of laughter and interesting times to our caving group.  Our camp was set up between Fire-pit Cave and Fortymile Cave.

The rest of the evening I set up camp, cooked dinner, and visited.  Brent went into Fire-pit Cave to check it out, but Matt told him it only went about 20 feet before ending in collapse.  It connected with Fortymile Cave at one point, though.

Later that evening Scott Linn Came in and joined our group.  He's done a lot of caving in Peru, Guatemala, and in the United States; including Lechuguilla.  I soon went to bed, and got ready for our big day tomorrow!

First Idaho Cave

Today I went into my first Idaho cave.  While it is certainly very small, it still counts :)  Jump Creek Cave is in the side of the canyon above the waterfall.  It is a crawl for about 20-30 feet, then turns right into a small room.  There are some small mineral deposits hanging from the ceiling, and then the cave ends.

Weekend of Caving

Saturday afternoon I drove down after work, then I met Jason and Critter, and a new guy named Jordan, at alumni circle.  We took off and drove down to Sinks of the Roundstone.  The area had gotten a bit of rain, so I decided to go in the back entrance by the railroad.  Not too far in was the first area that would be prone to flooding, and the water was very low.  So I deemed it safe to go on.

I did do some exploring of a new section.  I found a place where the ceiling had collapsed during the cave's formation.  I found holes to climb up into and follow the rock layers.  After a while I came back down and our group rejoined up.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures on this trip.  But we went down on the "foot slide", before getting to the opera room.  It was there that we saw a lake before us.  The opera room floods easily.  When water does get into it, it fills up.  It is like a giant bowl.  But, I scouted around on the left side and found that we could jump, walk, and climb from rock to rock to get to the other side.  So it all worked out.  Critter thought he would be funny and just wade through.  He regretted doing that later.

When we reached the big main entrance I saw that we couldn't get out without getting our feet wet.  So I jumped in and waded across.

I saw what looked like a dead end passage to my left.  I decided to run up ahead and check it out.  However, when I got to the filled in back wall I noticed a small bit of sunlight coming down.  I climbed up and saw there was a small entrance above!  So I climbed out and saw it put me out above the main entrance.  So we had to climb down and cross the stream again.

* * * * *

Time passed, and I was going to head back up north Sunday evening.  My friend David Intal called me!  By some freak of nature he was in Berea, and so was I.  We loaded up in my car and set off to go on a short caving trip to Mullins Spring Cave!  I hadn't been in there for over a year.

I put back on my dirty damp clothes and David and I went in the dry entrance.  I didn't really want to get wet.  I basically led him on a "loop trip".  Took him through a couple crawls (one of which I learned about when I surveyed in the cave last summer)  We were only in the cave for an hour or so before we headed back out and changed.

My First Virginia Cave

Saturday morning I arose in the beautiful hills of Bell County, KY, and made reservations to go get a tour of Gap Cave, in Cumberland Gap.  I saw a map, and learned that the cave is across the Virginia state line.  So, it was my first Virginia Cave!  There are multiple entrances to this 5 level cave system.  The lowest level is where the Cumberland Gap Bottled water is pumped from.

I picked up my ticket, and it turned out one of our guides was a member of the Pine Mountain Grotto.  He recognized the bat sticker on my car, and immediately we began talking caves.  He was so excited to finally meet an avid caver coming through.  The second guide shook his head in disbelief as we began our obsessive talk about caves :D

Our guides led us up a path, and part of the time we walked on the old HWY 25E, before the built the tunnel.  We each got our own high powered flashlight, as there is no lighting in the cave.  The entrance to the 4th level, that they use for the tours, was underneath the "pinnacle" overlook.

Right away when we stepped inside there were some old, weathering formations.  Little did I expect to see what we did, farther into the cave.  I think I'll just post a couple of the best pictures, and best formations.

                       

After about we were 1/3 of the way through the tour, one of our guides left.  He told me to bring up the rear since I was a caver and I knew what was going on.  He had broken his left a while ago and was back on his feet.  But he couldn't climb the stairs to the 2nd level of the cave.

Up on the 2nd level were lots of other formations.  It was really mind blowing how much beauty was underground there.  The guide that we still did have, was the one with the grotto.  So he talked a lot about the geology, and what was in other parts of the cave.

The most impressive formation we saw, height-wise, was the pillar of Hercules.  It stands over 60 feet fall.

We also saw some old graffiti from the Civil War.  There was also some graffiti that ignorant people put up.  They painted the names of confederate and union soldiers, in the same place, and had the wrong dates for the civil war.  It was pretty funny.

One of our last stops was in an area known as "Lover's Leap".  Supposedly, if a couple is strongly in love they should be able to jump off a ledge and be blown back.  There were some nice pillars there.

After that the guide led us out.  It was a very beautiful cave system.  I am going to do my best to get into that cave system with the Cave Research group, or the grotto, when I move down to that part of Kentucky.  Until then, I'll just have to dream.  So that was a small re-cap of my first Virginia Cave... Even if it was only barely in the state of Virginia :P

Darkness and Light

I was really dying to get back into a cave, and I was so happy to have the opportunity this past weekend!  We switched caves a couple times, but by the time we were meeting, I just wanted to get into a cave.  So, I went to Pine Hill.  Our group consisted of Rachael and I, and Jon Carman, and Brittany Mathis (whom I had been trying to get into a cave for quite some time, but she could never come on a trip).

It was a pretty straight forward trip.  We were going to the Tower Domes.  Jon had never been there.  He measured them with his laser range finder.  One of the domes topped out at about 106 feet.

Then we went up into the canyon and the formation room that was at the back of it.  We took a break there, and Jon and I climbed up onto a ledge and got some pretty cool views of formations.

The climb down was pretty tricky, but I was able to do it without any trouble, with Jon "spotting" me as I came down, feeling for foot and handholds.  After that, we decided to go up through the waterfalls, and to the large formations at the back of the cave.

After going through the waterfalls, and Brittany falling in, we went back out.  On the way, I saw a crayfish eating a dead bat or something, in the water.

When we all got out, and changed we went to Denny's and ate dinner in Mt. Vernon.  We were all starving (especially me, since I hadn't eaten a meal all day, just a few snacks).   I had a wonderful Bacon burger :D