Tips for Exploring Unmapped Caves
Posted: Jul 26 2016 3:04 pm
So I was talking to @chumley while floating down the Salt River the other day and we had a conversation about caving.
I told him how I have always had dreams at night of going out doors and climbing MTs swimming in rivers and very often I explore caves. Usually the caves have water in them.
I only know of 3 caves in AZ that are well documented that have water in them Bell, thunder river, and Tapeats. All these caves are well documented on the web (especially outside of HAZ on the gov sites) but are a bit too far for me to day trip to explore.
So last year I was scrolling around a topo map, ya know as one dooz, and I stumbled upon a cave name. I did quite a bit of research on the cave but I could only find one article on it on the web. This was a popular cave in the early 1900's but was blown shut but a nearby mine. They used to give boat rides in this cave lake. Only recently the cave has washed open. I see on sat view that there is a trail leading to the cave entrance. So I know people know about it. I figured it was mainly locals. but talking to Chumly he was saying the caving community is very protective (which I understand as a lot of the caves have been closed due to damage) so I figured I would reach out here and see if any of you might know about this, and maybe would like to share or even plan a trip there as I am a noobie caver. I wanted to visit the cave in the summer monsoon season or in the middle of winter when/if whether isn't nice.
I have read up on caving online, conservation is one of my priorities in all wilderness areas that I go. Here are two links to pages that I read. I read the pages linked on the advanced pages too. Tips and advice welcomed!
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Thanks everyone! I hope you are having a blessed week!
I told him how I have always had dreams at night of going out doors and climbing MTs swimming in rivers and very often I explore caves. Usually the caves have water in them.
I only know of 3 caves in AZ that are well documented that have water in them Bell, thunder river, and Tapeats. All these caves are well documented on the web (especially outside of HAZ on the gov sites) but are a bit too far for me to day trip to explore.
So last year I was scrolling around a topo map, ya know as one dooz, and I stumbled upon a cave name. I did quite a bit of research on the cave but I could only find one article on it on the web. This was a popular cave in the early 1900's but was blown shut but a nearby mine. They used to give boat rides in this cave lake. Only recently the cave has washed open. I see on sat view that there is a trail leading to the cave entrance. So I know people know about it. I figured it was mainly locals. but talking to Chumly he was saying the caving community is very protective (which I understand as a lot of the caves have been closed due to damage) so I figured I would reach out here and see if any of you might know about this, and maybe would like to share or even plan a trip there as I am a noobie caver. I wanted to visit the cave in the summer monsoon season or in the middle of winter when/if whether isn't nice.
I have read up on caving online, conservation is one of my priorities in all wilderness areas that I go. Here are two links to pages that I read. I read the pages linked on the advanced pages too. Tips and advice welcomed!
( dead link removed )
( dead link removed )
Thanks everyone! I hope you are having a blessed week!