Serious-scary aid climbing fall! Caving photo trip report

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troutboy

Trad climber

Newark, DE

Nov 16, 2009 - 11:21am PT

Good to see Dick is still as active as ever. I can personally attest to what a bear it is to keep up with Dick in a cave.

Thanks for the pics, Pete. Brings back some fond Roppel Memories.

Tim S

Elcapinyoazz

Social climber

Redlands

Nov 16, 2009 - 12:40pm PT

Best cave entrance hunting in TAG is during an especially cold day mid winter, in daylight. All the deciduous have dropped leaves, so sightlines and bushwhacking are easier. Get on the contour level where the sandstone and limestone layers merge, walk that contour looking for the obvious "blow holes" shooting steam (actually humid 60deg air condensing as soon as it exits).

I cut every lock on every gated cave entrance I see . Elitist caving clowns don't own the bowels of the earth, no matter how much you want to think of yourselves as altruistic protectors of the resource.

Mungeclimber

Trad climber

sorry, just posting out loud.

Nov 16, 2009 - 01:17pm PT

exceptional little write up, thx!

your partner is one tough mudder

why the big batteries? if for the drill, why not hand drill since they are shorty bolts anyways in soft rock? lighter and more compact is right in caving, no?

why no alcohol in caves?

Tom W., I've been in a couple of those caves in Scruz. The birthing canal if I have the name right, is definitely a tight one. It was there that I think I realized I wasn't going to be a caver in the long run.

Subsequently, I did a guided crawl in Crystal Cave, So Dakota. (where climbers are cavers, and cavers are climbers) and that one was tighter, I think, but was quicker to get out of once you cleared the 18" of constriction. That birthing canal was a snug crawl for feet, not inches.

micronut

Trad climber

fresno, ca

Nov 16, 2009 - 02:24pm PT

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all."
Hellen Keller

Great trip! Thanks for sharing. Be safe and keep yer light on down there.

Nate D

climber

San Francisco

Nov 16, 2009 - 05:09pm PT

Glad you guys are OK. I'm always fascinated by the caving articles in Nat. Geo. Truly a new frontier.
Thanks for sharing!

TKingsbury

Trad climber

Nov 16, 2009 - 05:12pm PT

Very cool and interesting!

I like the topo drawing/mapping stuff, very cool stuff!

Hopefully one of these days I'll try out some of these MT caves...so much to do...

Mighty Hiker

climber

Vancouver, B.C. Small wall climber.

Nov 16, 2009 - 07:08pm PT

Well, if you didn't see Tom, Becky or Huck, you must surely have seen Injun Joe in there somewhere?

tom woods

Gym climber

Bishop, CA

Nov 16, 2009 - 07:14pm PT

The birthing canal- that was it. I did that thing a bunch, it gives me the willies to think about it now.

Excellent TR once again.

eddie7

Trad climber

London, Ontario, Canada, eh?

Nov 17, 2009 - 09:56pm PT

Hey Pete!
He's lucky he didn't surf that block to his death!
Scaaaarrryyy.

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Ontario, Canada, eh?

Topic Author's Reply - Nov 18, 2009 - 07:38pm PT

Sorry to take so long to get back to answer yous guys' questions, eh?

I am quite struck by two things about your responses - first of all, how much you enjoyed my post [aw, shucks...] which motivates me to write up some more stuff, but mostly how many of you really don't like the idea of the dark, or the small passages! I think you "get" it, though, enough to know it's not for you.

Jan - I still use a carbide lamp, along with my Princeton Tech Apex, which is probably the best caving headlamp currently made. I love the warm, cheery light, especially in cold, wet and miserable passages. It's also a handy way to mark survey stations in the cave. What made me laugh out loud was when you described the smell as "hideous"! What kinda caver are you, anyway? I love the smell of carbide in the morning! I love the smell on my hands when I'm getting ready to go caving.

Tim - do those Petzl self-drives actually work? They look horrible!

Studly - great photos with the kids! I've done a fair bit of lava tube caving on the Big Island, and it really gets "samey" after a while. Ever been to Lava Beds National Monument in northern California? Nice tubes open to the public, they even loan you helmets and flashlights at the visitors' centre.

Munge - regarding the alcohol, I said that we are against its use underground, EXCEPT in the case of emergency. Fortunately Dick provided the emergency, and fortunately we were equipped.

Eddie=Blaine - damn straight. Scary stuff, Count Floyd. So, climbing on Tuesday at the Snake, then?

As for secrecy, the reason some people gate caves is because other people will go inside them, smash the stals and gypsum crystals to take home as souvenirs, and write their names on the wall. A more effective way is to keep the location of the entrance a secret amongst cavers. It's not hard to obtain cave locations from other cavers, if they know you.

Also, so far there is no sign of the white nose bat disease in Kentucky, although there is currently a more-or-less complete moratorium on caving in the north-east US, including West Virginia. I am fortunate that there is enough stuff going on in Roppel Cave to keep me busy, and I am more or less a "one cave caver".

So shall I post up that story about getting trapped underground by the flood then?

gazela

Boulder climber

Albuquerque, NM

Nov 19, 2009 - 03:02pm PT

I've never had much desire to explore new [sub]terrain in caves, but my buds and I have enjoyed going into the few caves for which the USFS, BLM, and NPS issue permits for recreational caving in New Mexico.

Studly

Trad climber

Nov 19, 2009 - 06:21pm PT

Post up the story of being trapped underground Pete, epic!

gazela

Boulder climber

Albuquerque, NM

Nov 22, 2009 - 07:20pm PT

dogtown

Trad climber

JackAssVille, Wyoming

Nov 22, 2009 - 07:28pm PT

Peter ;

I’m changing your nickname too;

Pass the nut box “ Pete ”

Dogtown.

Fletcher

Trad climber

Pasadena, CA

Dec 7, 2009 - 12:29am PT

Very cool stuff Pete... enjoyable stories and tales! Thanks for sharing.

I know I'm not the caver type, but I can still appreciate those who are and what they do.

I did explore a few lava tubes et al. one afternoon at Lava Beds National Monument a few years back with my sister-in-law and nephew. Mostly roomy, at least where we went, and definitely very cool! When you turn off the lights, you really know what dark is!

Eric

gazela

Boulder climber

Albuquerque, NM

Dec 10, 2009 - 04:04pm PT

Ropeboy

Trad climber

Fresno CA

Dec 10, 2009 - 05:20pm PT

Pete, I enjoyed this TR more than any other in months because I started out caving before I took to climbing. The hand drawings look like loose pages from a small binder book. If they were drawn during the survey why are they so clean? Mine always had dirt smudges from my hands. And yes I cherish the smell of carbide flames, didn't know the lamps were still being used.

'Pass the Pitons' Pete

Big Wall climber

like Ontario, Canada, eh?

Topic Author's Reply - Dec 10, 2009 - 08:50pm PT

Thanks, Ropeboy! I, too, got my start caving. I knew from the beginning that caving was for me, and was instantly hooked. I was always a "natural". But climbing has been a real struggle, I had to fight for everything.

We use waterproof "Rite in the Rain" paper for the survey notes. This part of the cave is quite dry and gypsum-y, so you don't see the usual mud smudges. But you can actually wipe the mud off the paper, even if it gets wet.

If'n yer a caver, ya gotta love carbide, or yer in the wrong perfession.