Some Random Hole in Provo

[rockgremlin]

A friend of mine took me up to a cave he knew about growing up in Provo today. He calls it "The Blowhole" because it blows warm air out of the hole. The entrance is fairly small (around 2-foot diameter), and its about 1/3 of the way up the mountain in Provo, on the north side of Slate Canyon, overlooking the valley. Once inside the cave, there's an immediate 15 foot drop, and then it runs back into the mountain another 30 feet or so. Someone had installed pitons at the entrance, but we just downclimbed.

Has anyone ever heard of this cave? We crawled back into where it pinched down to a crawl and then backed out. Does it go any farther?

[jumar]

It's not one I've done, but sounds kind of familiar. Maybe we should go check it out? If it's 'breathing' that should be a good indicator it keeps going.

[bigrockman]

How close to slate canyon is it? There are a lot of caves in that area, but most are closer to Y mountain. If it is fairly close to Slate Canyon it is probably KK Cave. Most of those caves were explored and mapped by Kevin Allred of the Timp. Grotto in 1975, but there are a few unexplored vents along that fault still. If there is a peton in it then my bet is that it has a name and has been fully explored. Did you happen to get a coordinate on it?

[rockgremlin]

here's the GoogleMap location.

[bigrockman]

Ah, thats not KK Cave. Are you sure it is a cave? There are three old mines that I have been to right around there as well, but I do not think I have been in that one. Did you take any pics of the entrance or inside?

[rockgremlin]

POSITIVE it wasn't a mine. I've spent a considerable amount of time in old abandoned mines, and I know the tell-tale signs (heck, I'm a mining engineer ).

It's probably not well known because it wasn't very extensive. Once you reach the bottom of the vertical entrance, it runs due west maybe 40 feet, and due east another 30 feet. At that point, it pinches down to where you have to bellycrawl to get through, and we didn't feel comfortable doing that.

[rockgremlin]

Detailed location.

[jasonbx]

Had a half day to kill, decide to check on this.

If it is the hole I found today, I am willing to bet KK cave. Drops about 25-30' from entrance to floor, and half a dozen bolts have been put in various places on the way down. (None of them appeared to be in a useful place--already downclimbing before you can use the ones I noticed. I would just toprope everybody from the surface, and have the last person downclimb.)

I didn't explore it because my "backup" on the surface was only 13 years old, and I couldn't figure out how to get him safely down without a rope. The last 10' of the downclimb was wet and slick. Have to go back later with the right gear. But the description fits pretty well with what I have been told previously for KK. Should be about 100' long total and choked with boulders at the end--sounds like you probably saw about everything that is accessible.


Picture of the entrance to compare with your trip.



Let me know if this looks like the right thing.

[jumar]

If you go up there again, let me know I"ll tag along. I've been trying to narrow down where the V-cliff caves are.

[rockgremlin]

That's the hole we downclimbed into. It looks a little dicey at first, but it's not too bad once you get a foot inside on a competent foothold. You're right - it was choked off by boulders about 100 feet in.

[jasonbx]

Went back on a last minute trip. Decided Saturday morning that I could kill a half day when a friend called and wanted to go out hiking somewhere. (Sorry Jumar, remembered I was going to get ahold of you as we were walking up the hill already.) It is KK Cave, I have now managed to match up information from a couple sources.

The big walking passage areas are the most interesting. Roughly 100' of walking passage with 20-30' ceilings, only a few feet wide most of the way. Like a little slot canyon with a roof of boulders. Looks to me like it is formed along a faultline, and the air is probably venting from somewhere further down the hill. I'm not motivated to try and dig in it at all--have to see it from under the rocks to fully understand why. :-)

The crawl just gets smaller, tighter, and more twisted as you go. Wriggling through breakdown boulders the whole way. I had belayed my brother down the entrance drop and had to lose my harness to fit through one spot. To give those that don't know me an idea how tight that is, I'm 6'4" and maybe 160 in wet clothes. My 13 year old brother is still in the growth stage that if he turns sideways he dissappears, and was muttering about how tight it was as well. Finally end up in a 8' high room where you would have to dig down through the rocks to continue, and I'm not about to volunteer for that job. I mentioned that possibility to my brother and he started asking if I had seen the rest of the cave, and how dangerous moving rocks around in there could be... :-)

Fun little trip, especially this time of year when you can't get to a lot of places still.

Not much to see in the way of formations. Most interesting thing to sit and ponder is trying to figure out who was placing bolts and why. My friend was saying if it were on a regular cliff wall he would guess a climbing route, but in the cave he wasn't sure why they would do it that way since you start at the top anyway.

I'll try and post some pictures later. Still about two trips behind on that front.