My first Cave Cavort, hosted by the Tampa Bay Area Grotto (TBAG). Campsite was a small privately owned farm in Bushnell, Florida. No personal campfires, however two large bonfires did keep things warmer at night.
Blowing Hole Cave, March 6
Tillis Hill, Florida
Trip Led by Max Viera. Appx. 35 Ft. vertical drop into the cave, descended/ascended by cable ladder. Opening Was Appx. 3Ft X 3Ft at the top and expanded greatly after a few feet descent. One small room at the entrance, leading down into a much longer horizontal shaft. Very smooth around the walls, almost resembling flow stone. Nice formations towards the end of the shaft, several other small rooms including one long belly crawl. Minor incident during the egress. Shirah tried to ascend using a Frog system, discovered that the system was faulty and expelled all her energy attempting to exit via Frog. Ended up having to remove the cable ladder and cut a portion of her rope off that was entangled in the Frog system, then rigged a pully system from the surface and hoisted her.
Briars Cave, March 7
Ocala, Florida
Trip led by Dan Straley, Cave was located on a thouroughbred horse farm. Access is restricted to only one Sunday per month. Extremely wet and muddy cave, small drops and crawls towards the beginning of the cave, pack and boots became almost a hinderance in such small spaces. After all crawls in the top section of the cave it led down into a small drop onto a ledge which overlooked a pool roughly 30ft. deep and very wide. Dove into the pool and swam into the next room. Relatively difficult cave for someone such as myself. Very much enjoyed the group I was caving with, mostly experienced cavers that had extensive knowledge of this cave.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
TAG Caving 09
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Bat Cave
Alachua County, Florida
October 19, 2008
Traveled with a small group to Bat Cave today. The trip was organized by FSS member Cara Gentry. She was leading a group of geology students from Santa Fe Community College through the cave. The property the cave is on is owned by Santa Fe Community College. The property itself was gated as was each entrance and pit, 5 total. We didn't have any access to the wild entrance, however we did have access to a stair well that was built into the cave. The cave is well named, as the first thing I saw out of the stairs were three bats sleeping. After the stairs there was a few feet of crawling that lead to a circular room with three passages, one straight forward and one both to the left and right. Straight forward passage led on for quite some time through some narrow squeezes and finally opened up into a fairly large room. A few gargoyles have been planted in the cave, presumably by Santa Fe Community College. The right passage lead to the "lake" in the cave. The water level was fairly low, so low in fact that I was able to step right over it. around the lake there was another small room with some interesting fossils in the roof, including one fossilised crab and a fossilised bone on the floor from an unknown animal. It continued on into a small squeeze that I didn't attempt. The left passage lead to many other rooms and one very long, very muddy, crawl space. The cave apparently floods when it rains, as marked by the mud on the walls of the crawl space.
Alachua County, Florida
October 19, 2008
Traveled with a small group to Bat Cave today. The trip was organized by FSS member Cara Gentry. She was leading a group of geology students from Santa Fe Community College through the cave. The property the cave is on is owned by Santa Fe Community College. The property itself was gated as was each entrance and pit, 5 total. We didn't have any access to the wild entrance, however we did have access to a stair well that was built into the cave. The cave is well named, as the first thing I saw out of the stairs were three bats sleeping. After the stairs there was a few feet of crawling that lead to a circular room with three passages, one straight forward and one both to the left and right. Straight forward passage led on for quite some time through some narrow squeezes and finally opened up into a fairly large room. A few gargoyles have been planted in the cave, presumably by Santa Fe Community College. The right passage lead to the "lake" in the cave. The water level was fairly low, so low in fact that I was able to step right over it. around the lake there was another small room with some interesting fossils in the roof, including one fossilised crab and a fossilised bone on the floor from an unknown animal. It continued on into a small squeeze that I didn't attempt. The left passage lead to many other rooms and one very long, very muddy, crawl space. The cave apparently floods when it rains, as marked by the mud on the walls of the crawl space.
TAG Caves
October 7-8, 2008
Made my first TAG (Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia) this year with Wendy. Camped and caved quite a bit, had to say I really had a great time. Camped with Nic Domico, one of Wendy's co-workers, and Greg Wilson and Jennifer Burns, both NSS members. Traveled to Howard's Waterfall cave and spent about three and a half hours inside. The profile picture on here is actually the entrance of Howard's Waterfall. Very open cave, lots of places to crawl around in, and many places to climb as well. Went quite a ways back, even managed to find one of the registries, all five of us signed. Ran into two other groups of cavers while in the cave, one entered about the same time we did, never actually ran into them again after the entrance. The other was coming in on our way out, very large group, about eight or nine I believe, including one child that was around 4 years old. Two of the latter group had carbide head lamps.
Cedar Ridge Crystal Cave
The second cave during TAG, Crystal Rock Caverns, fairly small, only around 400' and only one way to go. FULL of formations. Lots of breakdown in the cave, one room completely covered with it, and all the formations made for some complicated squeezes since I was trying to maneuver without touching the formations. The roof was all soda straws in every room and there were rock columns that were around 25' tall. The cave was mainly comprised of five large circular rooms, a few climbing spots on the sides of the third room allowed for some interesting vantage points to take pictures from, however something was wrong with the camera housing and it left a black reflection on the bottom right of all my pictures, so nothing came out so well. There was a group of photographers in the cave as well, spotlighting the rock columns and other various formations.
October 7-8, 2008
Made my first TAG (Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia) this year with Wendy. Camped and caved quite a bit, had to say I really had a great time. Camped with Nic Domico, one of Wendy's co-workers, and Greg Wilson and Jennifer Burns, both NSS members. Traveled to Howard's Waterfall cave and spent about three and a half hours inside. The profile picture on here is actually the entrance of Howard's Waterfall. Very open cave, lots of places to crawl around in, and many places to climb as well. Went quite a ways back, even managed to find one of the registries, all five of us signed. Ran into two other groups of cavers while in the cave, one entered about the same time we did, never actually ran into them again after the entrance. The other was coming in on our way out, very large group, about eight or nine I believe, including one child that was around 4 years old. Two of the latter group had carbide head lamps.
Cedar Ridge Crystal Cave
The second cave during TAG, Crystal Rock Caverns, fairly small, only around 400' and only one way to go. FULL of formations. Lots of breakdown in the cave, one room completely covered with it, and all the formations made for some complicated squeezes since I was trying to maneuver without touching the formations. The roof was all soda straws in every room and there were rock columns that were around 25' tall. The cave was mainly comprised of five large circular rooms, a few climbing spots on the sides of the third room allowed for some interesting vantage points to take pictures from, however something was wrong with the camera housing and it left a black reflection on the bottom right of all my pictures, so nothing came out so well. There was a group of photographers in the cave as well, spotlighting the rock columns and other various formations.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Marion County Caving
Jennings Cave
Marion County, Fl
September 19, 2008
Wendy and I met with another Florida caver, Mike Gordon, at Jennings cave for my first vertical experience. Entered the cave using a hand line while being belayed. A little scary going down the first few steps, but once I got the hang of it it wasn't so bad. Jennings was the largest Florida cave I have been to so far, it was nice to actually be able to stand up in a cave for a change. Got coaxed into attempting a very very tight squeeze. Didn't quite make it, believe that may be the first time in my life I ever felt truly chlostraphobic. I'm proud of myself for not getting to flustered and having the good sense to turn around and get out. Also met there with Danny and Annette Brinton, two other Florida cavers. Enjoyed the trip quite a bit, all in all.
Marion County, Fl
September 19, 2008
Wendy and I met with another Florida caver, Mike Gordon, at Jennings cave for my first vertical experience. Entered the cave using a hand line while being belayed. A little scary going down the first few steps, but once I got the hang of it it wasn't so bad. Jennings was the largest Florida cave I have been to so far, it was nice to actually be able to stand up in a cave for a change. Got coaxed into attempting a very very tight squeeze. Didn't quite make it, believe that may be the first time in my life I ever felt truly chlostraphobic. I'm proud of myself for not getting to flustered and having the good sense to turn around and get out. Also met there with Danny and Annette Brinton, two other Florida cavers. Enjoyed the trip quite a bit, all in all.
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