forum8fox
06-01-2009, 05:12 PM
Well this weekend was kinda morphed in the end, I had planned to ski Mt. Evans on Saturday and ended up caving (the tower fault cave) in CCC near the stumbling block. I had hoped to get out climbing this weekend and Sunday was to be the day as I've been climbing hard lately and I needed an extra day of rest. Well I run into a friend on Saturday and we discuss climbing on Sunday. He sounds interested but when he asks where I want to go I draw a blank. I ask where he would like to go and again blank... After hearing about all the caving I have been doing lately and all of the trips he couldn't go on, he starts trying to talk me into going caving. Well since last weekend fell short of the intended plans I felt this would be a good option to try to make up for the lack of success last time(plus I'm getting my fair share of climbing in now also). Not to mention the monsoon season we've been having, it was not hard to talk me into it.
Because of how last weekend went I decided to pick and area with alot of options close to each other. The lime creek area near fulford seems to be a good option as I already have a good idea how to get there and what to expect for road conditions.
I plot all the caves in the area on a google map and take pictures of it since I have no GPS or maps or printer. We meet up at 4 am on Sunday and take off.
We're both pretty excited as this will be pretty much the first time finding a cave all on our own based on gps coordinates alone.
The drive out was really scenic.
We were treated to a nice subtle sunrise over the gores:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves015.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves018.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves020.jpg
We passed a lake, went over a pass, and were treated to this(views of holy cross wilderness I think):
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves029.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves030.jpg
And better yet this(sweet views of the NY Mtns.):
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves031.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves032.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves036.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves037.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves038.jpg
We pass a Resevoir and then we turn onto the road that takes us to the caves. Little did we know the road was closed not too much further but we are close enough to walk it. So we stop at the gate and gear up and head out. Our first destination is called herbies deli. We find the pit entrance and scramble down into what we're assuming is herbies based on what we know. It's still filled with snow and ice in the bottom and we think the entrance is covered still so we leave, bummed as it seems like it might be pretty cool as ropes are required to descend it and I think it's suposed to be somewhat large. We come back out and walk less then 300 yards to the next cave called Skylight, we get in and look at the skylight and find it seems there is no more passage, possibly due to ice or collapse?
The skylight:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves039.jpg
At this point I'm slightly frustrated as 2 of the few good sounding caves truned out to be a flop.
Determined we press on there are 3 more down off the plateau on the hill side below the cliffs not too far from here. I'm a little unsure as it seems finding a cave on the tree covered slope below could be tricky. One is at the base of the cliff face (cliff face cave) but lime creek and grovers den are scattered randomly. We find a cairn near where we should be dropping off the top, and skirt the cliff for a safe place to descend near by. It starts raining before were down on the hill below which makes getting down that much more interesting. I remember thinking if this keeps up how are we going to get back up? We are on a path and I see a hole at the base of the cliff so I continue the direction of the path but slightly up hill towards the cliff. Nice! Turns out I found the cliff face cave (atleast that's what were assuming).
At first we thought it might be lime creek as lime creek was supposed to start with 200' of tight crawlways to get into.
The first crawlway was less then 40' long before you could get a pocket to sit up. Then immediately you went into another crawlway that gradually got pretty tight:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves040.jpg
This crawlway was about 100' or so, then you get another pocket and then another short 40' or less crawl. At that point you were into the walkable passages. We really thought there was a good chance this was lime creek. The formations inside of this cave were alot different then that which I had seen before. It reminded me alot of coral (brain coral specifically). It also seemed like solid cottage cheese. Like popcorn cielings too. wierd.
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves042.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves043.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves045.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves048.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves049.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves054.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves055.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves056.jpg
There were some formations that seemed a little more what like I usually see:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves052.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves051.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves050.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves046.jpg
The short description for lime creek stated 1200' of passages, the first 200 being tight crawlway and the upper section being a tough climb to reach. We had seen maybe 4-600' of passage at this point.
this spot kinda looked like it could be the tricky climb to the upper passage:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves057.jpg
I sent Nathan up first to check it out. and he deemed it was way to tight to be passable. And so we went back out. Slightly stumped I hang out at the mouth as it's raining and I have no rain gear. Nathan has rain gear though so I send him out to look for the other 2 caves (must be lime creek and grover's). He bushwacks around and spots a couple of things but he thinks they are un-likely as there is a critter living in one of them and the other is up on the cliff face which is soaked and would be hard to spot. Frusterated at this point I figure this could be a complete waste of time in these conditions trying to find caves on a forested hill in the mist and rain. However there are probly 4 or 5 more caves to be seen on top of the plateau. One of them says 1400' of passage and ropes required so naturally we sprint off for that one. At this point it has stopped raining so when we get back to the road which we walk on, we snag some lunch and realize we are pretty close to where we're going....... I need a short intermission. Part 2 (the best part) comming shortly with a ton of pictures.
Because of how last weekend went I decided to pick and area with alot of options close to each other. The lime creek area near fulford seems to be a good option as I already have a good idea how to get there and what to expect for road conditions.
I plot all the caves in the area on a google map and take pictures of it since I have no GPS or maps or printer. We meet up at 4 am on Sunday and take off.
We're both pretty excited as this will be pretty much the first time finding a cave all on our own based on gps coordinates alone.
The drive out was really scenic.
We were treated to a nice subtle sunrise over the gores:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves015.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves018.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves020.jpg
We passed a lake, went over a pass, and were treated to this(views of holy cross wilderness I think):
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves029.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves030.jpg
And better yet this(sweet views of the NY Mtns.):
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves031.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves032.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves036.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves037.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves038.jpg
We pass a Resevoir and then we turn onto the road that takes us to the caves. Little did we know the road was closed not too much further but we are close enough to walk it. So we stop at the gate and gear up and head out. Our first destination is called herbies deli. We find the pit entrance and scramble down into what we're assuming is herbies based on what we know. It's still filled with snow and ice in the bottom and we think the entrance is covered still so we leave, bummed as it seems like it might be pretty cool as ropes are required to descend it and I think it's suposed to be somewhat large. We come back out and walk less then 300 yards to the next cave called Skylight, we get in and look at the skylight and find it seems there is no more passage, possibly due to ice or collapse?
The skylight:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves039.jpg
At this point I'm slightly frustrated as 2 of the few good sounding caves truned out to be a flop.
Determined we press on there are 3 more down off the plateau on the hill side below the cliffs not too far from here. I'm a little unsure as it seems finding a cave on the tree covered slope below could be tricky. One is at the base of the cliff face (cliff face cave) but lime creek and grovers den are scattered randomly. We find a cairn near where we should be dropping off the top, and skirt the cliff for a safe place to descend near by. It starts raining before were down on the hill below which makes getting down that much more interesting. I remember thinking if this keeps up how are we going to get back up? We are on a path and I see a hole at the base of the cliff so I continue the direction of the path but slightly up hill towards the cliff. Nice! Turns out I found the cliff face cave (atleast that's what were assuming).
At first we thought it might be lime creek as lime creek was supposed to start with 200' of tight crawlways to get into.
The first crawlway was less then 40' long before you could get a pocket to sit up. Then immediately you went into another crawlway that gradually got pretty tight:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves040.jpg
This crawlway was about 100' or so, then you get another pocket and then another short 40' or less crawl. At that point you were into the walkable passages. We really thought there was a good chance this was lime creek. The formations inside of this cave were alot different then that which I had seen before. It reminded me alot of coral (brain coral specifically). It also seemed like solid cottage cheese. Like popcorn cielings too. wierd.
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves042.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves043.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves045.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves048.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves049.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves054.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves055.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves056.jpg
There were some formations that seemed a little more what like I usually see:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves052.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves051.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves050.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves046.jpg
The short description for lime creek stated 1200' of passages, the first 200 being tight crawlway and the upper section being a tough climb to reach. We had seen maybe 4-600' of passage at this point.
this spot kinda looked like it could be the tricky climb to the upper passage:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/limecreekcaves057.jpg
I sent Nathan up first to check it out. and he deemed it was way to tight to be passable. And so we went back out. Slightly stumped I hang out at the mouth as it's raining and I have no rain gear. Nathan has rain gear though so I send him out to look for the other 2 caves (must be lime creek and grover's). He bushwacks around and spots a couple of things but he thinks they are un-likely as there is a critter living in one of them and the other is up on the cliff face which is soaked and would be hard to spot. Frusterated at this point I figure this could be a complete waste of time in these conditions trying to find caves on a forested hill in the mist and rain. However there are probly 4 or 5 more caves to be seen on top of the plateau. One of them says 1400' of passage and ropes required so naturally we sprint off for that one. At this point it has stopped raining so when we get back to the road which we walk on, we snag some lunch and realize we are pretty close to where we're going....... I need a short intermission. Part 2 (the best part) comming shortly with a ton of pictures.