tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48606566985394212982024-03-12T16:50:33.407-07:00Under A Rock PhotographyUnder A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-30375470424523141782017-07-30T17:23:00.000-07:002017-07-30T17:23:22.011-07:00Blue Spring Cave, Tennessee - Moonscape, the Oasis, and the Cathedral Room<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1553/26112142996_99fd3617f5_b_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1553/26112142996_99fd3617f5_b_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self portrait in the Oasis, Cascade Hall, Blue Spring Cave - March 2016</td></tr>
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Just a few minutes from the Carr Entrance, the fabulous Cascade Hall holds some of Blue Spring's greatest features. A nice canyon passage and short crawl from Johnson Avenue leads to large borehole. Turning south brings one to the Moonscape. The Moonscape is a large dry rimstone pool filled with 2ft high raft cones. The area is flagged off due to its fragility.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wayne Perkins at the Moonscape in March 2016.</td></tr>
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Turning north leads through very large borehole to a slick flowstone upclimb to the base of the Oasis. The Oasis is a series of deep (and sometimes full!) rimstone dams rimmed by a large flowstone ring. Two perma-rigged handlines bring you to the top of this highly decorated area.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wayne Perkins in the Oasis, March 2016</td></tr>
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Past this is several hundred feet of more borehole to a muddy roped downclimb for about 50ft which leads through big, BIG, passage into the Cathedral Room - a 100ft tall decorated room about 200ft by 100ft in size.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wayne Perkins and Alan Cressler in the Cathedral Room. March 2016</td></tr>
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Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-37727363410827872372017-07-30T17:14:00.003-07:002017-07-30T17:14:45.265-07:00Blue Spring Cave, Tennessee - Carr Entrance and Johnson Avenue<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wayne Perkins on the suspension bridge crossing Trey's Traverse in Johnson Avenue, March 2016.</td></tr>
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The Carr Entrance to Blue Spring Cave is one of the greatest entrances in the world. I am convinced of it. The entrance is a locked steel door about 4ft by 5ft which opens and releases the 40+mi of cave air within that wants out (or in). A ladder down leads to meandering phreatic passage for several hundred feet. The Carr Entrance was dug out and the spoils from the dig have been turned into a trail winding through the passage eventually leading to a ladder up into the ceiling and a rock. The ladder leads to the tight crawl leading to the original Blue Spring Cave entrance, now closed. The rock has the cave's register.</div>
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Moving down the borehole and through several formation galleries leads one to a steel suspension bridge crossing a 60ft pit in the floor. Beyond this is a crawl, halfway through which is the turn off to Cascade Hall. Beyond this more borehole and another crawl lead to the BO Crawl and the rest of Blue Spring Cave. </div>
Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-39215491885441051702017-07-30T17:06:00.002-07:002017-07-30T17:06:21.378-07:00Moses Tomb, Alabama<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4318/36074014345_bedfd49a42_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4318/36074014345_bedfd49a42_k_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reilly Blackwell climbing out of Moses Tomb, July 2017.<br /></td></tr>
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Moses Tomb is a fine pit! Located on the southern extreme end of Fox Mountain, just barely in Dekalb County, Alabama, Moses Tomb is on an open cave preserve. The hike up leads through about a half mile of forest that is recovering from both a forest fire and a tornado (geez). As of July 2017 the hike up was pretty hard to follow and we ended up bushwhacking through. We miraculously found the entrance pretty easily.</div>
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The entrance is an unassuming hole about 2ft by 4ft with no sink around it. It is just above a stream bed by about fifty feet. A tree nearby provides a primary rig point and a bolt above the entrance allows a very convenient redirect. The dead log in front of it has "Moses Tomb" burned into it. The entrance opens to a 15ft sheer drop into a room about 40ft in diameter. Offset about 5ft is a large hole into the 230ft of free drop below. A giant flowstone chandelier makes up the floor of this "room" and the free drop itself is a gun-barrel classic TAG shaft about 40ft in diameter. A large flowstone formation dominates the one wall.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tony Canike climbs out of Moses Tomb, July 2017.</td></tr>
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Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-76001029010908438222017-07-06T17:13:00.002-07:002017-07-06T17:13:25.876-07:00Stewarts Falls, Utah<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4044/35765935385_592331b681_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4044/35765935385_592331b681_k_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stewarts Falls and an unnamed spring discharge on the left. July 2017</td></tr>
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Easily one of the easiest 200ft "backcountry" waterfalls to see in the US, Stewarts Falls (listed on topo maps as Stewarts Cascades) is just a mile outside of Sundance Ski Resort on the slopes of Mt. Timpanogos. It is accessible from Aspen Grove to the north and Sundance to the east. Sundance prefers you ride a ski-lift up to a trail to walk to the falls ($$$). However their own maps suggest doing a loop around and back down to Sundance via the Stewarts Falls Trail. The trailhead in Sundance for SFT is well hidden and has a "private trail" sign, again despite being advertised on their maps. Most Sundance employees will pretend that no such trail even exists. Park at Sundance and then walk up past the restaurants and to the trail head at 40°23'27.58"N 111°34'58.03"W. Do NOT part at the trailhead. The hike from Sundance is about a mile and a half and gains 900ft in elevation. Along the way the stream makes frequent appearances. The waterfall is first seen about a half mile away and is impressively large. </div>
Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-40971452063799878722017-07-06T17:02:00.001-07:002017-07-06T17:02:28.539-07:00Bridal Veil Falls, Utah<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4063/34925133644_df65f792e5_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="533" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4063/34925133644_df65f792e5_k_d.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bridal Veil Falls from the pull off. July 2017</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a><br /><span style="text-align: justify;"> Bridal Veil Falls is a two-tiered 600ft waterfall on an unnamed run in Provo Canyon, Utah. The waterfall is visible from the highway and a large pulloff allows easy access to it. A lower road leads to trails which get right to the bottom of the cascades below. </span>Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-58867249184113483952017-07-06T17:00:00.000-07:002017-07-06T17:00:08.415-07:00Cascade Springs, Utah<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4286/34925068474_9c5471a7a5_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4286/34925068474_9c5471a7a5_k_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lower Pools, July 2017</td></tr>
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Cascade Springs are a large discharge spring northeast of Mount Timpanogos. The springs discharge out across a large open meadow full of plants, flowers, and animals before cascading down into a terraced series of pools. The Forest Service has a series of boardwalks, bridges, and trails which wind up and around the features with signs pointing out the local flora and fauna. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The expansive meadows where the springs are. July 2017</td></tr>
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Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-48678779418796894362017-07-04T18:33:00.000-07:002017-07-04T18:33:06.420-07:00Brighton Lakes, Utah<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4107/35338917890_5a735e6999_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4107/35338917890_5a735e6999_k_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lakes Catherine (near), Martha (middle), and Mary (far) from Sunset Peak. Lakes Dog and Silver are barely visible. July 2017.<br /></td></tr>
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The Brighton Lakes hike to Sunset Peak was a last minute decision for me, and it became my first true "summit" for me, Sunset Peak tops out at 10,640ft. From the Brighton Ski Resort its roughly 2.5mi with about 2,000ft of elevation gain to the Peak. Its a very pleseant hike, and while Lake Mary gets super crowded, the lakes above get progressively less and less busy and by the time you reach the peak there is basically no one. I did this hike the morning of the 4th of July 2017 and saw a couple dozen people at Mary, a hand full at Martha, three at Catherine, and five at the top. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Mary, July 2017</td></tr>
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Lake Mary is the first lake to be reached. Its the largest, albeit the only man made lake. This lake is part of the Salt Lake water supply and posted signs ask that you dont bring pets or swim in the lakes. The hike to Lake Mary from Brighton is about a mile and climbs about six hundred feet. Its a very obvious worn trail up to the lake. At the lake the trail levels and climbs gradually up to Lake Martha.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Martha, July 2017</td></tr>
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Past Martha the trail switch backs up the saddle to the east and then continues its steady climb up to Lake Catherine. The trails become less and less defined and more varied. One can follow along Catherine or go high. Either way one eventually climbs another several hundred feet up to Catherine Pass, at 10,200ft.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Catherine with Sunset Peak behind it, July 2017.</td></tr>
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From the top of Catherine Pass, heading east the trail follows the ridge line and then drops suddenly down towards Alta to the south. Here you keep along the ridge line west and the trail climbs a very steep final 400ft to Sunset Peak where one is rewarded with an impressive and expasive view in 360 degrees. To the north are the Lakes and Brighton, south looks into Albion Basin and Alta and eventually Mt. Timpanogos. To the east is Heber City. It is very much worth the hike.</div>
Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-13710889627804669672017-07-02T14:48:00.002-07:002017-07-02T14:48:42.994-07:00Lisa Falls, Utah<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lisa Falls, July 2017</td></tr>
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Lisa Falls is a pretty little waterfall just a short walk from the road winding up Little Cottonwood Canyon. The trailhead has no signs or even an indication of a trail other than a large pull off capable of parking a coupe dozen cars. The parking lot is located at 40°34'21.65"N 111°43'36.08"W. Lisa Falls itself is at 40°34'26.47"N 111°43'39.75"W. The hike is less than a quarter mile and gains about a hundred feet in elevation before encountering the waterfall. Lisa Falls drops roughly 50ft in two drops, both sliding cascades over an impressive granite escarpment. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From above Lisa Falls. July 2017</td></tr>
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Above Lisa Falls are numerous social trails and paths leading literally straight up the side of Little Cottonwood Canyon. A few hundred feet up are two other waterfalls, both about 40ft. They are very pretty, but the risky hike (read: grabbing roots and rock climbing) doesn't make them very worth it. The upper waterfalls are at roughly 40°34'30.25"N 111°43'35.61"W. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the upper waterfalls. July 2017.</td></tr>
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Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-61360685751382649252017-07-02T14:48:00.001-07:002017-07-02T14:48:36.828-07:00Bells Canyon, Utah<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/754/22040965022_7160c2189d_b_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="425" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/754/22040965022_7160c2189d_b_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bells Canyon (background) as seen from Lower Bells Canyon Reservoir. June 2015.</td></tr>
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Bells Canyon is a ~5mi long canyon just south of Little Cottonwood Canyon that begins high in the Wasatch Mountains and ends in the Salt Lake suburb of Sandy. The canyon drops over 2000ft during its run and includes two lakes and two very impressive waterfalls. As of July 2017 I have only been to the lower reservoir and waterfall - I have, however, accessed the canyon from both major trailheads.</div>
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<b>The Granite Spring Trailhead</b></div>
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This trailhead begins immediately off the road leading into Little Cottonwood Canyon at 40°34'18.32"N 111°47'49.18"W. The trail switch backs up over a small ridge, around a valley, and up over another ridge before emerging at Lower Bells Canyon Reservoir at 40°34'0.13"N 111°47'44.55"W. Of the two, I like this trailhead the most.</div>
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<b>The Wasatch Boulevard Trailhead</b></div>
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This trailhead begins at 40°33'54.80"N 111°48'13.10"W. It winds up through some houses and over boulders to Lower Bells Canyon Reservoir at 40°33'54.99"N 111°47'48.30"W. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bells Canyon Creek below the lower falls. June 2015.</td></tr>
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<b><br />Lower Bells Canyon Reservoir</b></div>
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<b> </b>From Lower Bells Canyon Reservoir one gets an impressive view up Bells Canyon. Taking off up the trail leads one through some open meadows, one of which has a view of Lower Bells Canyon Falls, still about a mile away and over 800 vertical feet above. The trail winds its way around and along Bells Canyon Creek, both times during my visit the creek was high, loud, and cold. A cold breeze roars down with the stream. The final few hundred feet climbs just as much over rocks and boulders. A turn off to the left leads a hundred feet or so to Lower Bells Canyon Falls.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lower Bells Canyon Falls, July 2017</td></tr>
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<b>Lower Bells Canyon Falls</b></div>
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This impressive 60ft waterfall is often a surprise when one walks up to it, the hillside does a great job at hiding the blast of wind, noise, and spray from this cataract. Both of my visits have been in times of high water. And from the main viewpoint talking can be difficult. The waterfall is located at 40°33'39.91"N 111°46'13.16"W. Be careful climbing above it, the swift current has pulled many hikers to their deaths. </div>
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<b>Upper Bells Canyon Falls and Reservoir</b></div>
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<b> </b>I have never gone beyond the Lower Falls, but the Upper Falls is located at 40°33'29.72"N 111°45'39.77"W and the Reservoir at 40°32'24.41"N 111°44'56.29"W.</div>
Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-85062320265504034472017-05-15T07:42:00.001-07:002017-06-28T14:59:17.595-07:00Newberry-Banes Cave System, VA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wayne Perkins in Triple Wells, Newberry Section</td></tr>
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Newberry-Banes is one of Virginia's finest caves. It has some large passage and several pits that range from 60ft to 205ft. Most of them look like true TAG classic shafts. The system is essentially two levels, with Newberry on top and Banes a couple hundred feet lower, they connect via vertical shafts or shaft complexes. </div>
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The Newberry Entrance is a small hole that takes a stream when it rains. For us, in mid May following two weeks of heavy rain, there was a nice waterfall that soaked us on the way in. The drop is about 65ft and goes over several ledges. The Newberry section of the cave is mostly walking/stoop walking stream passage or crawling. A junction in the stream passage near the entrance leads to the two main areas of the cave.</div>
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Turning left will take you to Triple Wells. The route is almost all crawling and is about 600ft. As the guidebook says, from the left-turn at the junction you keep making right turns at every junction you reach. The junctions are spread between crawls varying from 50 to 200ft long. And there are elephant tracks and the occasional cairn. Eventually you crawl to a 6ft drop in the floor into a canyon passage. Another twnety feet and you'll see a bolt on the right wall. This is the start of the traverse out to the Triple Wells rig point. Around the bend the passage floor drops 50ft to a stream and then another 150ft down Triple. The rig point is around the bend and is two bolts. The traverse is easy, but we rigged a line anyways because there is over 200ft of exposure. About 50ft down is a bolt for a re-direct. Rigging this with a standard 11mm PMI pit rope means you wont need pads. Triple Well is 205ft free, and it is spectacular. The pit is oval shaped, 10 by40ft at the top and fully 30 by 80 at the bottom, all of it is finely fluted walls. I only did the first 50ft before the waterfall began hitting me and I changed over and called it off. Normally the pit is dry. We returned about a month later and this time everything was dry. Triple Wells is as beautiful from the top as it was from the bottom!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Dillon climbs Triple Wells</td></tr>
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Turning right at the original junction and following the stream takes you to Bills Rappel. After a couple hundre feet of stream and several downclimbs over waterfalls the stream drops 120ft down the Straddle Pit. The Straddle Pit is usually crossed over (but it can be rappeled). We rigged a traverse line to the bolts. Beyond this is an upclimb and then a 30ft nuisance drop to the top of Bills Rappel. Bills Rappel is a spectacular 165ft shaft that looks a lot like South Pittsburg Pit in Tennessee. It maintains its dimensions of roughly 70x20ft for the whole drop. Rigging is off some large boulders on the main platform. Take care, there is a LOT of loose rock on the one side of the pit.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tony Canike at the top of Bills Rappel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deirdre Conroy in Bills Rappel.</td></tr>
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Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-82591612867485564812017-05-08T18:07:00.000-07:002017-05-08T18:07:06.758-07:00Cedar Ridge Crystal Cave, TN<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/318/32637648015_cef790348d_o_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/318/32637648015_cef790348d_o_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cindy Barton, Big Room, November 2016<br /><br /><a name='more'></a></td></tr>
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Cedar Ridge Crystal Cave is a very small but intensely decorated cave in south Tennessee. The entrance is gated with a key only obtainable from the Chattanooga Grotto. From the entrance a short crawl leads into a large room and a smaller room. The large room is decorated to an almost offending level. One back corner is almost beyond description.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amy Skowronski in the back corner, August 2016.</td></tr>
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Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-68072671652581004232017-05-03T13:59:00.001-07:002017-05-03T13:59:31.095-07:00McCoys Mill Cave, WV<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upper Entrances.</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a> McCoys Mill Cave has two entrances above McCoys Mill Shelter Cave. The cave has two main passages, one from each of the two entrances, and a cross passage connecting them. The caves totals a couple hundred feet of mostly crawling passage. The Upper Entrance is about thirty feet above the road and the climb up requires some care.Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-81608323179594084892017-05-03T13:57:00.000-07:002017-05-03T13:57:43.656-07:00Mc Coys Mill Shelter Cave, West Virginia<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reilly Blackwell, McCorys Mill Shelter Cave entrance.</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a> This small cave is located literally ten feet from the road near Thorn Springs Park. The cave has a large entrance which lasts about ten feet before turning into a few dozen feet of crawling. A dig exists an air sometimes blows. Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-75686372761411165782017-05-03T13:55:00.002-07:002017-05-03T13:55:27.864-07:00Blood Cave, West Virginia<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leah Hill, Blood Cave, WV</td></tr>
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Blood Cave is a small cave near Franklin, WV. The cave is about 350ft long and is mostly knobby and cherty breakdown crawl. It is sporadically decorated. </div>
Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-35134794696145743522017-05-03T13:45:00.000-07:002017-05-03T13:45:04.949-07:00Floyd Waggy's Cave, WV<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shelfstone and rimstone pools, 4th Formation Gallery.</td></tr>
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Floyd Waggy's Cave is a small but impressive cave on Peters Mountain in Pendelton County, WV. It has been closed for about a decade due to the landowners wishes to not have an accident in the cave. Before then access was also highly restricted. The cave was first entered in the 1970s by David Hubbs and Bill Jones. Our team gained access by contacting local cavers who looked into access. After a couple months of back and forth we were given permission for late April 2017, coincidentally during VAR. It is highly likely that access wont be granted for a very long time again, and access should not be sought. Access requires permission from no less than three landowners given that one must drive across a couple fields and pass three gates. Please do not ask about entering the cave, this was a one time deal to photo document the cave.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reilly Blackwell with the rope for the entrance drop. Entrance is behind her to the left.</td></tr>
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Floyd Waggy's Cave has a relatively small entrance in a sink on a barren grassy hillside. It is surrounded by a fence and several old growth trees. Note: the entrance is NOT the one in the Pendelton County cave book. We rigged from two of the big trees and began down the first of three pitches in the entrance. The narrow entrance was full of large slabs of loose rock. The entrance drops 6ft to an almost flat ledge which slopes down to a sheer drop of 15ft to a big ledge. We tied the rope off to a big rock here to limit rope rub, the rock was the only thing I padded actually. From here a final lip drops 55ft free into a small room about 60ft in diameter and 60ft tall. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reilly Blackwell in the final 55ft free drop, note the impressive anticline fold.</td></tr>
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The entire cave is formed in the Tonoloway Limestone, on a sharp anticlinal fold. The cave runs N-NE along the strike. The cave intersects the anticline axis at the entrance room, the fold is very visible in the wall. To the south of here a few hundred feet of low and featureless passage extends, gradually moving west of the anticline. To the north a low crawl extends and opens into big trunk passage on the east side of the anticline, the passage here is sharply angled and drops down dip to the east. As the cave extends north for over a thousand feet the passage gets bigger as the cave gets farther down the anticline. It is a beautiful, and classic, Pendelton County Tonoloway limestone cave. Decorated, heavily folded, and just plain fun.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hope Brooks with mud cracks.prismatic jointing in a crawl near the entrance.</td></tr>
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<br /> The main cave is accessed via a short hands and knees crawl north of the entrance drop. The east wall is covered in what some (with more knowledge than I, admittely) are calling mud cracks. To me that look awfully like the prismatic jointing I have seen in Rapps and Buckeye Creek Cave. The rock, in every layer, fractures along the same shape for several hundred feet of the cave. The crawl opens into the first formation gallery. This gallery has two large haystacks and several smaller helectites and totems.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Edmonds, 1st Formation Gallery</td></tr>
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David Hubbs related the discovery of the main cave to us as we moved through. He said that Bill Jones rappelled the final drop, went south and said the cave ended without much passage after a couple hundred feet and began out. David found the small crawl and after a few feet of crawling through a soda straw forest (obviously long gone) he looked up to see the massive flowstone formations, and thus Floyd Waggy's opened itself to human eyes. Trails were soon marked as the floor in the 1st gallery was hollow and quickly collapsed several inches.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reilly Blackwell, translucent formation, 4th Gallery.</td></tr>
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Beyond the 1st Gallery the 2nd Gallery is only a hundred feet away. From here the floor climbs and drops several feet into the 3rd Gallery, mostly helectites and straws. The 4th Gallery is about another hundred feet away and is rather amazing. The centerpiece is a large flowstone column, multiple colors. The room is filled with long and tall totem formations, translucent dripstone, sheilds, and a small but beautiful pool surrounded by shelf stone. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shelfstone, 4th Gallery.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Edmonds in a forest of totems, stahls, and straws. The Flowstone Column centerpiece is to the right.</td></tr>
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The 5th Gallery is again not far away and is another gallery of dripstone columns and totems.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric Pelkey, 5th Gallery</td></tr>
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A short walk and then steep and slick climb down leads to a large room about 150ft long, 50ft tall, and 40ft wide. The one wall is completely covered in a large flowstone formation, one of the largest in the cave. This is the 6th Gallery, the 7th Gallery is another massive flowstone haystack at the north end of the room.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Hubbs, 6th Gallery</td></tr>
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Beyond the 7th Gallery the cave drops as a slick mud slope to a wall covered in aragonite bushes, this 8th Gallery is almost entirely snow white clusters of aragonite.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aragonite and sculpted mud, 8th Gallery.</td></tr>
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Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-81128653602563392822017-04-27T13:10:00.000-07:002017-04-27T13:10:17.465-07:00Mystic Cave, West Virginia<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/733/21239861154_33ef5e4fb4_b_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/733/21239861154_33ef5e4fb4_b_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">David Crawford exiting the downstream crawls in Mystic Cave, December 2013.</td></tr>
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Mystic Cave is a fun, wet, and decorated cave in Pendelton County, WV. After decades of open access by the landowner, a Mrs. Teter, the cave has closed due to her passing. Mrs. Teter was a big friend to the caving community and had a log book back to the 1970s of visitors to her wonderful underground spot.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tara and Seara Mallow at the main entrance to Mystic Cave, September 2015.</td></tr>
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Mystic has three entrances, the most commonly used entrance is the main entrance which takes a small stream. A short duck under brings one to a ladder down a ten foot waterfall and into the main trunk. The main trunk is about a mile long and averages 10-30ft wide and 10-50ft tall. The cave branches into a downstream and upstream section.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The decorated downstream crawls.</td></tr>
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Downstream leads to a photogenic 11ft waterfall and ends abruptly when the water flows into a long series of crawls and tight canyon passage ending at the top of another 6ft waterfall. Beyond here the cave becomes a crawl, the stream sinks, and then it opens into the small downstream entrance.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily Dillon in the upstream section of Mystic.</td></tr>
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Upstream leads through about a half mile of highly decorated stream trunk ending in a large room. One passes several waterfalls and gets pretty wet. Beyond the big room is another several hundred feet of cave ending in the small upstream entrance.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gage Casella, Tara and Seara Mallow in Mystic Cave.</td></tr>
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Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-49929849861782028342017-04-27T12:59:00.002-07:002017-04-27T12:59:54.786-07:00Higgenbothams #4 Cave, WV<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2859/34305796835_d360975757_b_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2859/34305796835_d360975757_b_d.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Karlee Markovich in "Someplace Special" - April 2016</td></tr>
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As the name suggests, Higgenbothams #4 Cave is the fourth of five caves in the Higgenbothams System. All five caves are connected hydrologically and separated via short sumps. Four is actually the last in the system and the end of the cave is the terminal sump. The entrance is low and wide at the base of a small cliff. The passage begins as a belly crawl for a few dozen feet and then a hands and knees crawl for a few hundred more. The stream enters from the right side of the passage and zigzags across the low passage, making water crawling unavoidable. It opens into a decently sized stream passage that goes for about a mile. A thousand feet from the entrance is an area called "Someplace Special", this area is highly decorated. Near the end of the cave is a large fifteen foot waterfall which will get you totally soaked. Beyond here is more stream passage, and formations - including an area called the Broom Closet, named for its broomstick formations. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrew Mengele (left) and myself at the entrance before my first non-grotto photo trip, November 2013.</td></tr>
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Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-38370530024435314492017-04-27T12:47:00.001-07:002017-04-27T12:47:18.834-07:00Helens Cave, New Mexico<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/351/32465579522_98c7450f70_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/351/32465579522_98c7450f70_k_d.jpg" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric Pelkey in Helens Cave, December 2017</td></tr>
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Helens Cave is a small but decorated cave in the Carlsbad Caverns National Park backcountry. The cave's entrance is a 35ft pit rigged by a nearby juniper tree. Use a lot of rope pads. The cave is short, but decorated. The entrance faces southwest and gets a lot of sunlight. Even in January the cave's interior reaches well over 70°F. It is <i><b>very</b></i> hot. </div>
Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-73306752918695172912017-04-27T12:42:00.001-07:002017-04-27T12:42:06.547-07:00Goat Cave, New Mexico<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/270/32465581432_cf3cdf4f81_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="510" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/270/32465581432_cf3cdf4f81_k_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will Boekel (close), Tony Canike (middle), and Wayne Perkins (far) in the entrance of Goat Cave. December 2017.</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a> Goat Cave is a large cave in the middle of Slaughter Canyon in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. As with all backcountry park caves, one needs a permit to enter. The entrance is very large, over 50ft in diameter. It opens into a large and dry trunk passage about a thousand feet long and ranging from 50 to 200ft wide and 60 to 150ft tall. A side passage has some dry formations in it, and the cave has an upper entrance with a roughly 60ft free drop. The back end of the cave has a large area of popcorn covered stalagmites. <br />
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Goat Cave was named because of the large amounts of goat poop that was burned in the entrance. Thus the entrance of the cave has a thick layer of dusty, burned, goat poop. Beyond this, in the twilight zone, is an area heavily coated in cave swallow poop. Finally, the end of the cave is heavily covered in bat guano. Have fun.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/736/32465580672_5d16ae062b_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/736/32465580672_5d16ae062b_k_d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wayne Perkins (near), Tony Canike (middle), and Eric Pelkey (in daylight) in the main trunk of Goat Cave.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/637/32496170551_0d4037e8fe_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/637/32496170551_0d4037e8fe_k_d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hope Brooks by popcorn covered stalagmites and bat guano in Goat Cave.</td></tr>
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<br />Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-72326981684636903112017-04-27T12:31:00.000-07:002017-04-27T12:31:37.403-07:00Deep Cave, New Mexico<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/354/32496220901_0771d8e508_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/354/32496220901_0771d8e508_k_d.jpg" width="508" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will Boekel in the side alcove of Deep Cave. Behind him is the 40ft diameter column. New Years Day 2017.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Deep Cave is, by all accounts, one of the great caves of the Guadalupe Mountains. Located in a remote valley in the far southern end of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, it is also one of the most isolated and inaccessible caves. Access is via a long stretch of dirt road through the nearby Lincoln National Forest. Following several miles, and several stream crossings, most are stopped at the Dark Canyon Lookout Fire Tower. Beyond here the road gets really rough for most vehicles. Parking at the Tower involves a hike of about five miles across the top of a ridge-line in the high Guads. Assuming one has a vehicle capable of the road, they can drive all the way to the trailhead of the Ussery Trail. The Ussery Trail is faint and drops down into the valley where Deep Cave is located via a sequence of switchbacks. The entrance to Deep Cave is very large, well over 40ft in diameter. The sink and alcove around it is very noticeable from the trail. Use caution approaching from above as a fall from above would put one all the way down the entrance pit.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hope Brooks at the entrance to Deep Cave. The leafless tree to the right is the rig point. New Years Day, 2017.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Deep Cave's entrance is a 400ft drop broken into two pits. The first is the entrance itself, a 100ft very steep slope covered in loose rock. At the bottom of this is a major ledge with a large boulder and single stalagmite. To the right is the final 300ft of pit. Rigging the first drop with a 150ft rope on the tree in the entrance allows the rope to reach as a handline across to the rig for the big pit. The handline is needed for the less-comfortable. I frequently walked around on the ledge with no handline. BUT the rope IS needed to access the main drop.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tony Canike at the top of the main drop. The big ledge and rock is on the left. </td></tr>
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Rigging the main drop requires a minimum 350ft rope. We rigged to the stalagmite. The rock hasn't moved, ever, but it also is not attached to anything. The drop begins as about 90ft of almost sheer slope to a sizeable ledge almost flat enough and big enough to get off rope on. The ledge then slopes into the final drop. Roughly 40ft of slope leads to a final free drop of over 150ft into the single large room that makes up Deep Cave. The final free drop is really rather spectacular, the room is well over 200ft across and several hundred feet long. In the distance is a grove of columns the size of sequoia trees. Paralleling the rope down the pit is a cable ladder installed by Jim White well over a hundred years ago. Because of this the rope <i><b>can not be thrown down the pit, it will tangle with the ladder</b></i>. The first one down must take the rope down either coiled or in a rope bag. With a 350ft rope, the drop can be rigged with a minimalist rig at the top. About ten feet of rope was on the ground for us. Also, loose rock is plenty at the entrance and it can and will roll all the way down the drop. Do not have more than one person on the two ropes at a time. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hope Brooks next to the cable ladder at the lip of the final 150ft free drop. Eric Pelkey can be seen below. </td></tr>
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The drop ends at the top of a large talus cone. This is loose rock kicked in from above. A flagged trail leads down and around the cone and begins to snake around the large formations. A small alcove near the drop has an area heavily decorated in very tall broomstick stalagmites. A formation near the alcove is fully 40ft in diameter and 60ft tall.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wayne Perkins by broomsticks in the side alcove of Deep Cave.</td></tr>
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The main room of Deep Cave is filled with gigantic formations, broomsticks, and shields. Stay on the trails, take care, and have fun. Deep Cave is one of the gems of the underground United States.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self portrait around the massive formations in Deep Cave.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tony Canike by broomsticks in the lower areas of Deep Cave.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/569/32465587382_c82688712e_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/569/32465587382_c82688712e_k_d.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric Pelkey wanders among gigantic dripstone formations at a trail junction in Deep Cave.</td></tr>
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Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-46194534915549715592017-04-27T12:10:00.000-07:002017-04-27T12:10:15.179-07:00Sixty Seven Dollar Pit, AL<br />
<a name='more'></a> Sixty-Seven Dollar Pit is located south of Mandy's Pit and is found below the contact of the Pennington and Bangor Limestones. The entrance is a small 2ft x 6ft opening with no sink around it. The pit drops about 70ft to a small room with some flowstone. The drop requires a minimum 130ft rope. We rigged to the closest large tree, high with a self-tightening rig, and used no rope pads. The drop is not free.<br />
<br />Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-55860673036608067042017-04-20T19:38:00.000-07:002017-04-20T19:38:40.118-07:00Flowingstone Cave, Georgia<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/711/33308963882_c879111677_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/711/33308963882_c879111677_k_d.jpg" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deirdre Conroy (bottom) and Eric Lee Hahn (top) in the pit during heavy flow<br />conditions in March 2017.</td></tr>
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Located north of the famous Ellison's Cave, and on the same mountain, is Flowingstone Cave. Flowingstone was found during a systematic ridge walk in an attempt to find something of interest to keep the mountain from being mined away by a nearby quarry. A small hole in a sink was dug open to find the 235ft pit below. </div>
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Two nearby trees allow easy rigging, the entrance is small - about 2x2ft. It drops about 6ft to a ledge which offsets to the final 229ft. The lips is very rocky, and kind of loose. Take care with padding and kicking rocks down. The final ledge opens to a 10ft diameter shaft for about 20ft and then 220ft of beautiful, large, flowstone lined free-fall. In the spring, when water is high, the huge flowstone chanedlier on the ceiling pours water. The 220ft of in the middle is a whole lot of black, flowstone, and water silently falling about twenty feet away. It really is one of the best pits I have ever seen. The drop is all on the wall, and in wet conditions the rope will eventually get wet and really bouncy. Communication is very difficult if water is up. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/33309011272_b347aa02a1_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3855/33309011272_b347aa02a1_k_d.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deirdre Conroy and large salamanders in high flow. March 2017.</td></tr>
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The bottom of the pit is gorgeous. The waterfalls land on a big rimstone mound filled with pearls and is on the edge of a 30ft diameter lake. The lake is filled with large salamanders. Downstream is about fifty feet of cream colored flowstone hummocks. In high water ripples and waves cascade down the flowstone. The whole pit, especially when wet, is really a sensory overload. Be sure to wear poly pro or wet suits in wet weather. </div>
Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-87982145519111582042017-04-20T19:25:00.000-07:002017-04-20T19:25:01.731-07:00Natural Well, Alabama<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/33309009992_88b5c19cec_k_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3840/33309009992_88b5c19cec_k_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deirdre Conroy in Natural Well, March 2017.</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a> Natural Well was one of the first cataloged caves in Alabama. It has a lengthy and rich history. today it is accessed via the Natural Well Trail in Monte Sano State Park and can be entered with a permit from the main office. The pit is surrounded by a fence and a rock wall with a pipe in it. Don't lean on the fence and don't rig anything but rope pads on the wall or pipe. Rig to the big tree opposite the trail. Two ropes can be easily rigged.<br />
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Other than getting over the wall, the lip is very easy and immediately bells into a beautiful, fluted, free drop for 198ft. The first 150ft is very free and the final 50ft or so is on a wall past several ledges. The pit is not very scenic from the bottom. By far the best views are on rope. <br />
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From the bottom of the pit several hundred feet of cave exists, the first two hundred feet or so is a large canyon passage called Cathedral Hall.Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-60160236815436732152017-04-20T19:15:00.000-07:002017-04-20T19:15:54.245-07:00Boar Hole, WV<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8726/16848485448_94eccdfc6b_z_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8726/16848485448_94eccdfc6b_z_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nick Jarvis in the large junction room by the culvert entrance, April 2015.</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a><i><b>Note: A major flood in July 2016 seriously changed the nature of this cave, especially Boaring Boulveard which had a couple feet of mud in it as of August 2016.</b></i><br />
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Boar Hole was every cavers' dream: big virgin cave, and lots of it. Using radio location a culvert was sunk into one of the largest areas of the cave providing easy access. A dig-enlarged passage later connected with the nearby Portal, thus making the Boar Hole-Portal (Boartal) System.<br />
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<i><b> </b></i>From the culvert entrance an awkward and muddy downclimb leads to pleseant walking passage which ends abruptly with a large junction room. Several domes are in the ceiling and one often has water in it. In the spring this waterfall, over 100ft, can be heard from the culvert. Another dome has a six rebelay rope series up it - please dont try it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1488/23915011730_5577af5573_b_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1488/23915011730_5577af5573_b_d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will Boekel in the large junction room as seen from the culvert entrance passage - January 2016.</td></tr>
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From the culvert passage, turning right in the junction leads to more cave, left leads to Baring Boulevard. The Boulevard is several hundred feet long and floored in cobbles. The ceiling is flat and the meandering borehole maintains a profile of 30ft wide and 10ft tall.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7595/16416127143_3fd03c44cd_b_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7595/16416127143_3fd03c44cd_b_d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrew Mengele in Boaring Boulevard, April 2015.</td></tr>
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At the end of Boaring Boulevard are some gypsum flowers, and some amazing anastomoses. Further, a final large junction at the stream leads into upper large borehole trunk. There are several miles of cave I have not been through.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1445/24128007251_39fda9e3f7_b_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1445/24128007251_39fda9e3f7_b_d.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mara Reed with gypsum flowers and anastomoses in Boaring Boulevard, January 2016.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7632/17010287186_89c325b9db_o_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7632/17010287186_89c325b9db_o_d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Myself (close) and Emily Dillon (far) at the junction at the end of Boaring Boulevard, <br />
more large cave continues behind her. April 2015.</td></tr>
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<br />Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4860656698539421298.post-13895208803834656262017-04-20T14:36:00.000-07:002017-04-20T14:36:19.313-07:00Snedegars Section, Friars Hole Cave System, West Virginia<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/730/23397933556_04c2f21674_z_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/730/23397933556_04c2f21674_z_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Williams and Ester Suchevits in the Snedegars Saltpeter Trunk, November 2015</td></tr>
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Known since at least the time of the Civil War, Snedegars is the only section accessible directly by horizontal caving. The section has four entrances: Saltpeter, Staircase, Stream, and North. </div>
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The Snedegars Saltpeter entrance is a very large 20ft wide and 40ft tall entrance that immediately leads into several hundred feet of large walking borehole over 45ft in dimensions. The borehole ends rather spectacularly in the Ampitheater Room, a 150ft diameter and 45ft tall breakdown room with a large stress fault in the north wall.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5695/23424117395_1d43d06859_b_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5695/23424117395_1d43d06859_b_d.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cindy Barton walks into the Snedegars Saltpeter Entrance, November 2015.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5792/23424117285_386b4ca54d_b_d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5792/23424117285_386b4ca54d_b_d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cindy Barton (near) and Tyler Anderson (far) in the Ampitheater Room, note the big stress fault on the far wall. November 2015.</td></tr>
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Passing the Ampitheater Room one follows the stream into a cobble crawl that ends at the Snedegars Sump. Turn offs to the south here lead to some domes and formation areas. Also near the sump is the connection to the Staircase Entrance Series. A very tight and long rock crawl leads to this area, which is more easily accessed by the Staircase Entrance, a series of 30-40ft pits.</div>
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Back in the Ampitheater, on the north wall, is a large turn off heading to the Saltpeter Maze. The mazey section leads to the North and Stream Entrances which are only a few feet away from each other. </div>
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Of particular note, as one walks through the Snedegars Entrance they are about 80ft over the southern start of the Log Roll Crawl in Canadian Hole.</div>
Under A Rock Photographyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08373951815233000526noreply@blogger.com0