October 8-11 2009
Second TAG Fall Cave-in. Hosted on top of Lookout Mountain, Georgia by the Dogwood City Grotto. 1100 (appx) cavers in attendance. Wet and muddy this year. Opening day was nice however Friday was overcast all day with a squall about 7:30pm bringing heavy rains and 60mph winds. We had roughly one hour to prepare for the storm, stowed and secured all food and non-waterproof items into safe areas and secured all belongings outdoors. Storm passed in roughly one hour. Saturday was overcast all day with light showers at night about the same time the bonfire was lit. All things seemed to go off without a hitch, vendors were prepared and it seemed most cavers in attendance were as well. We camped with our neighbors from last year, Jennifer and Greg Wilson in roughly the same spot.
Bible Springs Cave
October 9, 2009
Wendy Shirah, Jennifer and Greg Wilson, Ginger Bankston, and myself went into Bible Springs Cave in Kimball, TN. Wet cave, about thigh to waist deep through the majority of it. This was my first true wet cave, water at 56 Degrees Farenheit throughout. Relatively short cave which Ginger Bankston had extensive knowledge of. Three small waterfalls in the first area of the cave, one of which we had to climb, approximately six feet tall. One room that was above water, very very muddy and the ceiling had a small hole that we were able to climb into to reveal another room. Above room was full of stalagtites, some of which were several feet long. Towards the back of the cave was a roughly 45 ft hands and knees crawl through chest deep water. I went second behind Ginger. Thought I was going to freeze to death. All-in-all a very fun cave and a good experience for my first wet cave.
Footnote:
Missed our second cave in Cloudland Canyon on Saturday due to missing an alarm clock, wet gear, and inclimate weather. The hangover didn't help the situation any, either. By all accounts we didn't miss much, apparently the cave was nearly flooded because of all the rainfall in the last few weeks.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Ocala Caverns
August 8 2009
Ocala Caverns:
Met with Steve Nemeth, Wendy Shirah, and Jon Singley at Ocala Caverns. Former commercial cave and once used in a Tarzan movie. Short wet cave, water level was lower than usual (so I was told, this was my first trip). Man-made staircase at the entrance as well as a pyramid shaped structure above it, once a prop in the movie. Water was around ankle deep except towards the back of the cave where it drops into a pit roughly ten feet deep.
Aracnaphobia Cave:
Small cave, more like a large karst feature than a cave, small entrance leading down about ten feet into another room. Lots of insects but not much else. Accompanied by Steve Nemeth and Wendy Shirah.
Fissure Cave:
Another small, roughly 30 ft. cave. One room with a tunnel leading around it, enterance at the north end of the cave and exited at the west end of the cave. Attempted to crawl through it behind Steve Nemeth, however started feeling a little chlostraphobic a few feet in and decided to back out.
Footnote:
Went with Wendy Shirah and Steve Nemeth to try and enter Tucks and Lundy in Belleview, Fl. Landowner was not able to be reached to secure access so we decided not to enter. Nice looking entrances to both, well maintained, but never had a chance to get in the caves themselves.
Ocala Caverns:
Met with Steve Nemeth, Wendy Shirah, and Jon Singley at Ocala Caverns. Former commercial cave and once used in a Tarzan movie. Short wet cave, water level was lower than usual (so I was told, this was my first trip). Man-made staircase at the entrance as well as a pyramid shaped structure above it, once a prop in the movie. Water was around ankle deep except towards the back of the cave where it drops into a pit roughly ten feet deep.
Aracnaphobia Cave:
Small cave, more like a large karst feature than a cave, small entrance leading down about ten feet into another room. Lots of insects but not much else. Accompanied by Steve Nemeth and Wendy Shirah.
Fissure Cave:
Another small, roughly 30 ft. cave. One room with a tunnel leading around it, enterance at the north end of the cave and exited at the west end of the cave. Attempted to crawl through it behind Steve Nemeth, however started feeling a little chlostraphobic a few feet in and decided to back out.
Footnote:
Went with Wendy Shirah and Steve Nemeth to try and enter Tucks and Lundy in Belleview, Fl. Landowner was not able to be reached to secure access so we decided not to enter. Nice looking entrances to both, well maintained, but never had a chance to get in the caves themselves.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Speleo-Ed 2009
March 20-22
Owl Canyon at Rainbow Basin
Barstow, California
Mojave Desert
Rainbow Basin Cave
Lead by Bruce Rogers, Rainbow Basin is a small soil pipe through cave. 170 Ft long x 37 Ft deep. The cave is formed in siltstone with an over 20 Ft high passage. Found bat guano at the entrance, however no bats within the cave. Area could have been a roosting point for a solo male some time ago, not nearly enough guano to suggest that a colony of bats was ever there.
Hidden Canyon Cave
Also lead by Bruce Rogers, Hidden Canyon was more like the caves I'm used to. Also a soil pipe cave, the entrances were at ground level and the second was at 46.1 Ft vertical. The descent was relatively smooth and the cave was rather wide on the inside until the last 10 Ft. Plenty of break down from siltstone and a very narrow squeeze to get out, roughly 3 Ft high and 10 In wide.
Pisgah Crater Lave Tube Caves
3/21/2009
Russell Stewart Cave
Lead by Russ Harter of the SoCal Grotto, this was my first trip into lave tubes. The lava flow field looks more like a moonscape, and at 2,172 Ft elevation the winds were exceeding 70 MPH. The blowing sand and small pebbles made it quite difficult to see and the winds made it nearly impossible to stand. Russell Stewart cave is located in a pit in the lave flow field, the entrance is a somewhat narrow squeeze and a short drop down, however the cave widens out quickly once inside. A brief crouch walk followed by a hands-and-knees crawl (appx 15 Ft) opens into another large chamber with a small breakdown formation in the middle. Signed the register.
Glove Cave
Also lead by Russ Harter, this cave was roughly 20 Ft from Russell Stewart Cave and had three entrances. Myself and two others used the middle entrance while the rest of the group used the lower entrance. The cave lead down plenty of break down for roughly 150 Ft do a wrap-around crawl space called Button Crawl. The entrance to the crawl was about 6 Ft up and wrapped around to another entrance on the opposite wall about 10 Ft. behind it. Whole crawl was fairly easy until the last few feet that had a very small squeeze, appx. 8.5 In. Had to remove my helmet and pack to make it through. Managed to lose my pack out of arms reach inside the squeeze, was recovered about ten minutes later by another caver coming out of the same squeeze. Signed the register.
March 20-22
Owl Canyon at Rainbow Basin
Barstow, California
Mojave Desert
Rainbow Basin Cave
Lead by Bruce Rogers, Rainbow Basin is a small soil pipe through cave. 170 Ft long x 37 Ft deep. The cave is formed in siltstone with an over 20 Ft high passage. Found bat guano at the entrance, however no bats within the cave. Area could have been a roosting point for a solo male some time ago, not nearly enough guano to suggest that a colony of bats was ever there.
Hidden Canyon Cave
Also lead by Bruce Rogers, Hidden Canyon was more like the caves I'm used to. Also a soil pipe cave, the entrances were at ground level and the second was at 46.1 Ft vertical. The descent was relatively smooth and the cave was rather wide on the inside until the last 10 Ft. Plenty of break down from siltstone and a very narrow squeeze to get out, roughly 3 Ft high and 10 In wide.
Pisgah Crater Lave Tube Caves
3/21/2009
Russell Stewart Cave
Lead by Russ Harter of the SoCal Grotto, this was my first trip into lave tubes. The lava flow field looks more like a moonscape, and at 2,172 Ft elevation the winds were exceeding 70 MPH. The blowing sand and small pebbles made it quite difficult to see and the winds made it nearly impossible to stand. Russell Stewart cave is located in a pit in the lave flow field, the entrance is a somewhat narrow squeeze and a short drop down, however the cave widens out quickly once inside. A brief crouch walk followed by a hands-and-knees crawl (appx 15 Ft) opens into another large chamber with a small breakdown formation in the middle. Signed the register.
Glove Cave
Also lead by Russ Harter, this cave was roughly 20 Ft from Russell Stewart Cave and had three entrances. Myself and two others used the middle entrance while the rest of the group used the lower entrance. The cave lead down plenty of break down for roughly 150 Ft do a wrap-around crawl space called Button Crawl. The entrance to the crawl was about 6 Ft up and wrapped around to another entrance on the opposite wall about 10 Ft. behind it. Whole crawl was fairly easy until the last few feet that had a very small squeeze, appx. 8.5 In. Had to remove my helmet and pack to make it through. Managed to lose my pack out of arms reach inside the squeeze, was recovered about ten minutes later by another caver coming out of the same squeeze. Signed the register.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
