forum8fox
07-31-2009, 11:35 AM
Nathan somehow talked me into going back to the cave we visited last time we were in the area. I was slightly reluctant but willing, mainly because I was told we would go to fixin next weekend. Come to find I'm leaving for Ohio next weekend after all was said and done. Oh well, I'm glad I got talked into it anyway.
This cave is pretty hardcore in our opinions. That is one thing we both agree on, we aren't going back again with out atleast 3-4 days and proper gear/apperal. We want wet suits, and thick neoprene booties and gloves super slim packs and possibly coveralls made for caving that are waterproof! It could be a while considering all of our economic sittuations, we're saying a year but who knows.
Anyway, we decided to take off Friday evening after work. We drove out, and started hiking at about midnight. Our friend was supposed to come meet us on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, and he had never been to the cave before. This meant that Nate and I would need to mark the way for him as it's not a regular trail that we take. I could not even put it into words how to find it at this point in time. So off we go in the dark flagging the path as we wandered. We got I'm guessing 1/3 to 1/2 way there by 3:45 in the morning and decided we needed to sleep. We tossed our pads and sleeping bags on the ground and passed out once inside them.
We woke up after catching maybe 4 hours of sleep, knowing very well that there was a very long day ahead of us. We ate quickly and took off. We were moving a little faster because we could see, but flagging the trail and wearing extra heavy packs still made us move like slugs.
We easily found our way up to the cave. I walked right to it this time, but it was still 12:00 when we arrived. Which is pretty close to the same time we arrived last time starting the hike around 8 am and wasting time wandering lost in the woods trying to find the hole. There is not much of an advantage to starting at midnight I guess. The only thing that was different this time was that we had a camp right at the entrance and we could pop out as late as we wanted and not have to drive home and go to work the next/ same day(depending on what time you popped out, as last time we camped near the road on Saturday night and went caving Sunday).
We set up the tent and ate lunch and passed out for about an hour or 2, dropping in at around 2:30 or so.
Looking down the first drop:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition042.jpg
Looking back up it from below:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition044.jpg
Looking towards the seccond drop:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition043.jpg
Hanging out on the second drop looking down:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition045.jpg
The 1 or 2 other drops were less significant then this last one so I didn't bother shooting them. I think it's probably around 100' of vertical relief from the start of the pit to the floor. We decided to shoot some pictures of this feature just up hill of the bottom of the pit, despite already having 3 shots of it that I really like. Well now I have 3 more:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition046.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition047.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition048.jpg
We decided it would be best to check out the passage that continued in this direction as we didn't check it out much before and it was something new to see closer then we would have to go in the other direction. I had a feeling it wouldn't be much and sure enough it just squeezed out before going more then 1-200'.
So down we went, and we came across this long steel bar diagonally crossing a passage to the left. I decided I wanted to check the bar out more this time and tried to move it to find it's cemented in place! I find it ironical that eleitest cavers preach leave no trace so much but yet they break shit on accident, leave flagging tape everywhere(litter IMO since they are the only ones who know what significance a specific marker might have), and modify the cave environment by bringing metal and concrete in to be left permanently! The strange part is that both Nate and I thought we could still squeeze through but we didn' bother.
I left my backpack after a little while when it seemed it was becoming too much effort to carry.
We continued down just carrying the rope and wearing our descent and ascent gear untill we arrived at the waterfall rap. Up to this point we could hand line a fixed line or down climb the first 2 drops beyond the entrance pit. That was not an option for this stretch as the rope was hanging out in space so to speak.
So we descended the rope with our gear this time:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition049.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition050.jpg
There are some cool preserved animal bones down below the rap:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition051.jpg
We continued down to the point where the creek flows under the large damn flowstone formation and you have to go over it and squeeze through a hole on the back side. I got a picture of the cool drapery formations under the damn:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition057.jpg
Also the hole you squeeze through on the back side of the damn:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2470.jpg
We continued down stream for a while seeing alot of what we had already seen on our last trip.
I know we saw this last time but I couldn't help myself:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2474.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2477.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2480.jpg
We continued down a little further and came to the point where we turned around the previous trip.
It required you to crawl in the trickeling stream of water for who knew how long at that point. So on we went crawling in the water, most times it was really un-avoidable. You get pretty soaked army crawling in water.
I'm not 100% sure if these shots were before or during the creek crawl but they fall in line in the order of things right in that area:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2483.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2484.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2485.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2487.jpg
I know for sure these were in some stretch of the creek crawl as I can see the water:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2488.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2490.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2491.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2492.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2496.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2497.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2499.jpg
The crawling seemed to last a while I would guess maybe around 500' with different ceiling heights through out. I would estimate that the ceiling pinches down so low you have to army crawl for about atleast 1-200' of the passage.
Eventually you see these and a way to pinch through beneath them:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2501.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2502.jpg
After that you encounter a drop that's about 6' into an open chamber which is probably best to jump down into as your right above the soda shop and a false swing of a limb during trying to down climb could be devistating!
The soda shop with magnificent straws reaching around 4' and connecting to the floor in a few places:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2504.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2505.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2510.jpg
We continued down the stream some more and saw more cool stuff:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2511.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2513.jpg
These were just a part of a much bigger feature, which was like a clearish white flowstone waterfall!
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2515.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2516.jpg
I caught a view of some awesome crystals growing in a shallow pool of water. The first image is cool as I caught 2 different very clear sets of ripples in the water:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2517.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2519.jpg
We continue on down stream and the stream meanders for a little bit so we get to take the path that is dry for once. We see some more cool stuff along the way to a junction:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2522.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2525.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2526.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2527.jpg
We had passed survey markers into the A 90's up to this junction.
There was a passage up to the left and a passage continueing down to the right where the water continued to flow. At this junction the passages seemed to become a little bit more spacious more frequently which was nice.
The A survey continued down I beleive to A 104 and after that I think another stream came in from the right. The left up stream trending passage broke off into a new "B" survey.
If I remember correctly Nate and I went down the right passage to just beyond where the other stream ran into the cave. At that point Nate was exhausted but I wanted to see more so I kept going. Another stream ran in from the right side down below I'm pretty sure (I think that's where the C survey started), and the water was starting to get very much deeper in places. I had crossed 4 largish ponds around knee to waist deep and say 5-7' in diameter. I kept going and so did the cave and the stream. It didn't seem like it was going to end and I knew I had to get back to Nate so I stopped around survey marker C 19.
Infact it just seems like it's going to get bigger with the extra water volume being added the deeper I got. It reminds me of main drain in Utah in the sense that it seems like it drains many high alpine meadows into lime creek canyon most likely. It seems like it could be one of the biggest caves in the state.
We came back up and checked out the B survey.
The B survey area was remarkable, like nothing I've ever seen for sure I'll let the photo's do the talking I'm pretty sure these all came from the B survey area even though we only went upto around B8 or B9. Also notice how many are shot with the flash as they were so colorful we didn't really need to play with the lighting to make the shot's less dull. Red, orange, yellow, blue, black, brown, tan, white and clear were all out and even some of them co-mingeling. I'm pretty sure most all of these came from the B Survey or junction vicinity however there is a chance some could be from the Lower A survey or even less likely the C survey.
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2528.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2529.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2531.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2532.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2533.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2535.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2538.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2539.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2542.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2544.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2547.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2548.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2550.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2551.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2555.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2557.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2558.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2559.jpg
I know for sure this shot is just beyond where we stopped in the B survey, the B survey seems to keep going also, maybe upto the passage with the cemented steel bar as they are both on the same side of the main flow passage.
More awesome photos from near the junction most likely:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2562.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2563.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2565.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2567.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2569.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2570.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2571.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2572.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2573.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2574.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2575.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2576.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2578.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2582.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2584.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2585.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2586.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2587.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2592.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2595.jpg
I'm pretty sure from here on is formations I passed and didn't shoot on my way down from the soda shop. So they are from on our way out comming back up to the soda shop from the ABC junction area:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2596.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2597.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2600.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2603.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2605.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2607.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2608.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2614.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2616.jpg
Back to crawling up through the creek again:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2619.jpg
It was messed up I kept crawling in the water even after it was capable to stand up and squirm sideways. I don't know why it just seemed easier then contorting sidways throught the narrow slot above me.
Back up the waterfall I ascend the rope:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2623.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2627.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2631.jpg
Nearing the end of the climb back up the waterfall:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2635.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2636.jpg
Looking back down:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2638.jpg
We raced for back for the entrance which still took a while. We hand lined all the ropes up and out of the cave from that point and popped out at the tent around 10:30PM. We took off our wet clothes and brought everything that needed to stay dry in the tent and put on some nice warm clothes to sleep in. We passed out but were rudely awaken by a menacing storm above our heads I'm guessing around midnight or 2 am.
I was thinking we were going to get struck by lightening considering how close it seemed to be striking (above our heads). Not to mention we are most likely the only living creature around and being just off the side of a meadow in some scattered trees around tree line made the odds stack up against us. I decided there wasn't a damn thing I could do to improve my chances of surviving the possible strike so I might as well just go back to sleep and get some rest. No use stressing over something you can't change.
We woke up to a gloomy morning but tried to get moving. No sign of our friend that was supposed to be meeting us. We were actually thankful however as we had our asses kicked and you couldn't pay us to go back in a hole in the ground at this point in time. We had patchy sunshine for a few hours so we ate and lounged and let things try to dry out a little before we packed up and headed back down the way we came up so we could clear all the flagging we had left for our friend. We got back to the car around noon in perfect timing before a storm let loose on us. We were happy that we were going to be home early for once, only to be dissappointed. We sat in traffic for 6 hours on the way home when it should only take 3.
All in all it was an awesome trip considering it was kinda a mixed bag. We saw some amazing features, and I can now see why some people consider it to be world class. I was also quite humbled, and came to realize that this cave is not for everyone (alot of cavers included I'm sure). There is an extremely high risk associated with this cave considering the skills and equipment required to travel through vertical terrain aswell as wet crawls. The risk for hypothermia is a serious one as your 3 miles from your car and no one could help you in time even if they could find you or by chance you had the cell service to make the call in the first place. Not to mention it's high alpine and cold already, you also have a good chance of getting clobbered by a high intensity storm. You will be soaked apon exiting the cave most likely so bring pleanty of extra dry clothes and rain gear / tarpage to keep everything extra and crucial dry.
You've been warned, if you somehow find this cave and decide to enter with out the proper skills or equipment then you just might die. Please be responsible and let's fight to keep this cave open for future generations of non grotto members or even just cavers in general!
I hope you enjoy the read and pictures, post us some comments!
:2thumbs:
This cave is pretty hardcore in our opinions. That is one thing we both agree on, we aren't going back again with out atleast 3-4 days and proper gear/apperal. We want wet suits, and thick neoprene booties and gloves super slim packs and possibly coveralls made for caving that are waterproof! It could be a while considering all of our economic sittuations, we're saying a year but who knows.
Anyway, we decided to take off Friday evening after work. We drove out, and started hiking at about midnight. Our friend was supposed to come meet us on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, and he had never been to the cave before. This meant that Nate and I would need to mark the way for him as it's not a regular trail that we take. I could not even put it into words how to find it at this point in time. So off we go in the dark flagging the path as we wandered. We got I'm guessing 1/3 to 1/2 way there by 3:45 in the morning and decided we needed to sleep. We tossed our pads and sleeping bags on the ground and passed out once inside them.
We woke up after catching maybe 4 hours of sleep, knowing very well that there was a very long day ahead of us. We ate quickly and took off. We were moving a little faster because we could see, but flagging the trail and wearing extra heavy packs still made us move like slugs.
We easily found our way up to the cave. I walked right to it this time, but it was still 12:00 when we arrived. Which is pretty close to the same time we arrived last time starting the hike around 8 am and wasting time wandering lost in the woods trying to find the hole. There is not much of an advantage to starting at midnight I guess. The only thing that was different this time was that we had a camp right at the entrance and we could pop out as late as we wanted and not have to drive home and go to work the next/ same day(depending on what time you popped out, as last time we camped near the road on Saturday night and went caving Sunday).
We set up the tent and ate lunch and passed out for about an hour or 2, dropping in at around 2:30 or so.
Looking down the first drop:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition042.jpg
Looking back up it from below:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition044.jpg
Looking towards the seccond drop:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition043.jpg
Hanging out on the second drop looking down:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition045.jpg
The 1 or 2 other drops were less significant then this last one so I didn't bother shooting them. I think it's probably around 100' of vertical relief from the start of the pit to the floor. We decided to shoot some pictures of this feature just up hill of the bottom of the pit, despite already having 3 shots of it that I really like. Well now I have 3 more:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition046.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition047.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition048.jpg
We decided it would be best to check out the passage that continued in this direction as we didn't check it out much before and it was something new to see closer then we would have to go in the other direction. I had a feeling it wouldn't be much and sure enough it just squeezed out before going more then 1-200'.
So down we went, and we came across this long steel bar diagonally crossing a passage to the left. I decided I wanted to check the bar out more this time and tried to move it to find it's cemented in place! I find it ironical that eleitest cavers preach leave no trace so much but yet they break shit on accident, leave flagging tape everywhere(litter IMO since they are the only ones who know what significance a specific marker might have), and modify the cave environment by bringing metal and concrete in to be left permanently! The strange part is that both Nate and I thought we could still squeeze through but we didn' bother.
I left my backpack after a little while when it seemed it was becoming too much effort to carry.
We continued down just carrying the rope and wearing our descent and ascent gear untill we arrived at the waterfall rap. Up to this point we could hand line a fixed line or down climb the first 2 drops beyond the entrance pit. That was not an option for this stretch as the rope was hanging out in space so to speak.
So we descended the rope with our gear this time:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition049.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition050.jpg
There are some cool preserved animal bones down below the rap:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition051.jpg
We continued down to the point where the creek flows under the large damn flowstone formation and you have to go over it and squeeze through a hole on the back side. I got a picture of the cool drapery formations under the damn:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/buffaloandpremonition057.jpg
Also the hole you squeeze through on the back side of the damn:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2470.jpg
We continued down stream for a while seeing alot of what we had already seen on our last trip.
I know we saw this last time but I couldn't help myself:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2474.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2477.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2480.jpg
We continued down a little further and came to the point where we turned around the previous trip.
It required you to crawl in the trickeling stream of water for who knew how long at that point. So on we went crawling in the water, most times it was really un-avoidable. You get pretty soaked army crawling in water.
I'm not 100% sure if these shots were before or during the creek crawl but they fall in line in the order of things right in that area:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2483.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2484.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2485.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2487.jpg
I know for sure these were in some stretch of the creek crawl as I can see the water:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2488.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2490.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2491.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2492.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2496.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2497.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2499.jpg
The crawling seemed to last a while I would guess maybe around 500' with different ceiling heights through out. I would estimate that the ceiling pinches down so low you have to army crawl for about atleast 1-200' of the passage.
Eventually you see these and a way to pinch through beneath them:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2501.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2502.jpg
After that you encounter a drop that's about 6' into an open chamber which is probably best to jump down into as your right above the soda shop and a false swing of a limb during trying to down climb could be devistating!
The soda shop with magnificent straws reaching around 4' and connecting to the floor in a few places:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2504.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2505.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2510.jpg
We continued down the stream some more and saw more cool stuff:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2511.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2513.jpg
These were just a part of a much bigger feature, which was like a clearish white flowstone waterfall!
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2515.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2516.jpg
I caught a view of some awesome crystals growing in a shallow pool of water. The first image is cool as I caught 2 different very clear sets of ripples in the water:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2517.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2519.jpg
We continue on down stream and the stream meanders for a little bit so we get to take the path that is dry for once. We see some more cool stuff along the way to a junction:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2522.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2525.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2526.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2527.jpg
We had passed survey markers into the A 90's up to this junction.
There was a passage up to the left and a passage continueing down to the right where the water continued to flow. At this junction the passages seemed to become a little bit more spacious more frequently which was nice.
The A survey continued down I beleive to A 104 and after that I think another stream came in from the right. The left up stream trending passage broke off into a new "B" survey.
If I remember correctly Nate and I went down the right passage to just beyond where the other stream ran into the cave. At that point Nate was exhausted but I wanted to see more so I kept going. Another stream ran in from the right side down below I'm pretty sure (I think that's where the C survey started), and the water was starting to get very much deeper in places. I had crossed 4 largish ponds around knee to waist deep and say 5-7' in diameter. I kept going and so did the cave and the stream. It didn't seem like it was going to end and I knew I had to get back to Nate so I stopped around survey marker C 19.
Infact it just seems like it's going to get bigger with the extra water volume being added the deeper I got. It reminds me of main drain in Utah in the sense that it seems like it drains many high alpine meadows into lime creek canyon most likely. It seems like it could be one of the biggest caves in the state.
We came back up and checked out the B survey.
The B survey area was remarkable, like nothing I've ever seen for sure I'll let the photo's do the talking I'm pretty sure these all came from the B survey area even though we only went upto around B8 or B9. Also notice how many are shot with the flash as they were so colorful we didn't really need to play with the lighting to make the shot's less dull. Red, orange, yellow, blue, black, brown, tan, white and clear were all out and even some of them co-mingeling. I'm pretty sure most all of these came from the B Survey or junction vicinity however there is a chance some could be from the Lower A survey or even less likely the C survey.
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2528.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2529.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2531.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2532.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2533.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2535.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2538.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2539.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2542.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2544.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2547.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2548.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2550.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2551.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2555.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2557.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2558.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2559.jpg
I know for sure this shot is just beyond where we stopped in the B survey, the B survey seems to keep going also, maybe upto the passage with the cemented steel bar as they are both on the same side of the main flow passage.
More awesome photos from near the junction most likely:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2562.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2563.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2565.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2567.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2569.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2570.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2571.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2572.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2573.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2574.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2575.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2576.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2578.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2582.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2584.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2585.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2586.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2587.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2592.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2595.jpg
I'm pretty sure from here on is formations I passed and didn't shoot on my way down from the soda shop. So they are from on our way out comming back up to the soda shop from the ABC junction area:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2596.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2597.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2600.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2603.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2605.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2607.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2608.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2614.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2616.jpg
Back to crawling up through the creek again:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2619.jpg
It was messed up I kept crawling in the water even after it was capable to stand up and squirm sideways. I don't know why it just seemed easier then contorting sidways throught the narrow slot above me.
Back up the waterfall I ascend the rope:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2623.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2627.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2631.jpg
Nearing the end of the climb back up the waterfall:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2635.jpg
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2636.jpg
Looking back down:
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w232/forum8fox/caving/IMG_2638.jpg
We raced for back for the entrance which still took a while. We hand lined all the ropes up and out of the cave from that point and popped out at the tent around 10:30PM. We took off our wet clothes and brought everything that needed to stay dry in the tent and put on some nice warm clothes to sleep in. We passed out but were rudely awaken by a menacing storm above our heads I'm guessing around midnight or 2 am.
I was thinking we were going to get struck by lightening considering how close it seemed to be striking (above our heads). Not to mention we are most likely the only living creature around and being just off the side of a meadow in some scattered trees around tree line made the odds stack up against us. I decided there wasn't a damn thing I could do to improve my chances of surviving the possible strike so I might as well just go back to sleep and get some rest. No use stressing over something you can't change.
We woke up to a gloomy morning but tried to get moving. No sign of our friend that was supposed to be meeting us. We were actually thankful however as we had our asses kicked and you couldn't pay us to go back in a hole in the ground at this point in time. We had patchy sunshine for a few hours so we ate and lounged and let things try to dry out a little before we packed up and headed back down the way we came up so we could clear all the flagging we had left for our friend. We got back to the car around noon in perfect timing before a storm let loose on us. We were happy that we were going to be home early for once, only to be dissappointed. We sat in traffic for 6 hours on the way home when it should only take 3.
All in all it was an awesome trip considering it was kinda a mixed bag. We saw some amazing features, and I can now see why some people consider it to be world class. I was also quite humbled, and came to realize that this cave is not for everyone (alot of cavers included I'm sure). There is an extremely high risk associated with this cave considering the skills and equipment required to travel through vertical terrain aswell as wet crawls. The risk for hypothermia is a serious one as your 3 miles from your car and no one could help you in time even if they could find you or by chance you had the cell service to make the call in the first place. Not to mention it's high alpine and cold already, you also have a good chance of getting clobbered by a high intensity storm. You will be soaked apon exiting the cave most likely so bring pleanty of extra dry clothes and rain gear / tarpage to keep everything extra and crucial dry.
You've been warned, if you somehow find this cave and decide to enter with out the proper skills or equipment then you just might die. Please be responsible and let's fight to keep this cave open for future generations of non grotto members or even just cavers in general!
I hope you enjoy the read and pictures, post us some comments!
:2thumbs: