Utah Caves

Muddy Bones Fissure

2012-04-22T15:47:00.003-06:00

This cave is simply an open fissure. It drops 125' to the first floor and then reaches 146' deep through a side passage. There was really only one small part of this cave that had any formations and they were minimal at best. Most of the walls are covered with mud that flows in during rain storms and spring thaw. We took the time to survey the cave while we were there, so a map will be coming shortly.

Looking down into the entry.

Looking back up at the entry from about 40' down.

Someone attempted to do some mining in here a long time ago. In a well hidden side passage we found these old spikes. They are very rusted and brittle. There were also several cut boards that were almost completely corroded. They broke very easily when stepped on.

This is looking down the fissure where some mining was done.

Judd ascending past the log pile at 125' down.

The floor was covered in small rodent bones, as were many of the mud coated walls.

The very bottom of the cave is just a few feet below the bottom of the picture. The deepest point was 146', at which point the fissure is filled with mud.

12 Mile Cave

2012-03-13T15:36:00.004-06:00

While exploring the west desert we stumbled upon this cave entrance. From below it looked like it had a good possibility of going, but unfortunately it was not as promising as it looked. Just inside the cave splits into two passages. Both of which dead end only 6 - 8 ft. back and are filled with pack rat nests.

The center passage.

The left passage.

Perfect Arch

2012-03-13T15:21:00.005-06:00

The entrance to Perfect Arch is actually an old mine. The mine itself is fairly extensive and there is a dangerous drop near the back that should be avoided. A few hundred feet back from the entrance is where the natural cave was encountered.

This is the main room. Not very big, but beautifully decorated with gypsum crystals.

This is the largest stalagmite and the only column we found in this cave.

One portion of the cave is covered in these yellowish mamalaries.

Many of the stalagmites have been broken off and are missing in this cave.

After the main room an arched tunnel system begins that is covered with white gypsum crystals. Great care should be taken when crawling through these passages. You can see that a lot of dirt is ending up on the walls from previous visitors.

This is looking down one of the passages. While climbing down it my brother suddenly yells "skunk!" I don't think I have seen everyone freeze that fast in a long time. And I didn't know that skunks lived inside of caves until now. So be careful if you visit this one!

These gypsum hairs are extremely delicate formations. Please do not touch or even breathe on these.

Johnson Canyon Caves

2012-02-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

These sandstone caves drew a lot of attention in the early 1900's as local Kanab residents believed the lost Montezuma's treasure could be found within the canyon. All of the caves ended up with some extensive mining done inside in the effort to recover the treasure. After several months with nothing found, the residents gave up their search. All that the explorers had found in the cliffs was a sandstone chamber housing a few Native-American artifacts and human remains. You can read more about the lost treasure and the exploration done in this canyon here.

Image courtesy of wildernessutah.com

Image courtesy of ajroadtrips.com

You can barely see the outline of Jeff Baird descending into another shaft below the old boards.

Bat Cave

2012-02-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

While this cave has been on our list for some time it is not actually a cave as it's only approximately 20' in length and does not achieve total darkenss. If you ask me it's not a very creative name either. It could have been called packrat cave, fly cave, guano cave or just plain Nasty Cave. This hole is filled with bat guano, flies, bees, mosquitos, rodent droppings and lots of other things that the rat dragged in; obviously storing up supplies for the coming winter. Despite the name, and all the guano in the ceiling, I did not see any bats.

I don't hesitate posting entrance pictures of this hole as it is plainly visable from the road with a steep hike up a loose rock slide and bushwacking thru thick oak brush to the entrance which is on the edge of a cliff face. At the back of the cave there is a very small opening that comes out on the cliff face to the right (referring to the entrance pic). I didn't get any decent pics at the back of the cave because, first of all there was nothing to see but guano, and second I just wanted to get out of that filthy fissure! I was 'in the area' so I figured that I should check this one off the list. Even if you happen to be up at Causey and have absoutely nothing to do I'd still pass on this one.
As you can see, the entrance passage pinches down to about 2' high but then it opens up to a small standing height room at the back.

The entrance and view from inside are pretty cool though.

Green Eyed Monster

2012-01-18T14:51:00.001-07:00

Green Eyed Monster is another cave that never would have been seen if some miners didn't happen to dig right into it. After a tight squeeze at the bottom of this corrugated tube, the mine drift continues for quite a ways until it broke into the cave. The features inside are very interesting and most have a strange green tint to them.

You can find plan and profile maps here:
http://www.jonjasper.com/MapGallery/GreenEyedMonster.jpg ,
http://www.jonjasper.com/MapGallery/GreenEyedMonsterProfile.jpg

The entrance. Permission must be obtained by the land owner before entering the mine.

Jeff and John in "The Big Room"

Cameron & Jeff in "The Big Room"

Cameron climbing into the "Hump Room".

Looking up into the "Attic".

A small rimstone pool in "The Loop".

Cameron in "The Phosphorescent Crack".

Spencer in "The Phosphorescent Crack".

The entire group in "The Column Room" (From left to right: John, Cameron, Sam, Scott, Jeff, Spencer, Shane [behind the camera])

Our guides Scott and Sam ( S & S Adventures) in "The Column Room".

Shane standing between two columns in the "Hump Room".

Spencer squeezing through the tight spot on "The Loop".

This cave easily makes our top 10 list because of the quantity and size of the formations, the large rooms and beautiful colors.

The following pictures were taken in the Medusa Room on the original discovery trip made back in 1973. Images are courtesy of Stephen Kendorski.

White Nose Syndrome

2011-10-04T11:12:00.008-06:00

What is white-nose syndrome?

Hibernating bats in the northeastern United States are dying in record numbers, and we do not know the cause of the deaths. This wildlife health crisis, white-nose syndrome, is named for the white fungus evident on the muzzles and wings of affected bats.

How is WNS transmitted?
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service believes that WNS is transmitted primarily from bat to bat. There is a strong possibility that it may also be transmitted by humans inadvertently carrying the causative agent from cave to cave on their clothing and gear.

What should cavers know and do?
The Service and the states request that cavers observe all cave closures and advisories and avoid caves, mines or passages containing hibernating bats to minimize disturbance to the bats. The Service asks that cavers and cave visitors stay out of all caves in the affected states and adjoining states to help slow the potential spread of WNS.

It is also advise that you decontaminate previously used gear immediately, store them away, and thoroughly wash and decontaminate any surfaces with which these items may have come into contact (e.g., car trunk, duffle bag, etc.). Currently, 10% bleach solution, Lysol® All-purpose Professional Cleaner, and the antibacterial form of Formula 409® have been demonstrated to be effective at killing Geomyces sp., the fungus associated with WNS, on nonporous surfaces.

For a complete list of decontamination procedures for cavers click here.

For more information, see http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html.
Federal Relay Service for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
1 800/877 8339
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
1 800/344 WILD
www.fws.gov
WhiteNoseBats@fws.gov

(The above information is taken from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service White-nose syndrome in bats Frequently Asked Questions publication available here)

Bowl Cave

2011-09-12T00:33:00.005-06:00

This cave is located in a small bowl directly behind an old mill. It is very small as we were only able to measured 11' of length. The only formations found inside were a couple of very small pieces of bacon on the ceiling.

The entry is pretty well hidden behind some trees, but it is not hard to find if you are looking for it.

This tiny piece of bacon is the only formation we found.

This is a picture of the old mill/smelter. The cave is located just behind it in the bowl.

Ireko Cave

2011-09-11T15:39:00.025-06:00

Ireko Cave follows a limestone fissure straight back into the mountain and has a very strong breeze coming out of it. We measured 110' from the entrance to the squeeze that was too tight for me to comfortably try on my own. When I tossed a rock through the pinch point I could hear it roll for a good 6 seconds. With how much air movement there is in this cave I would expect it to continue on much further.

You can see an old PVC canister with aluminum lids on it laying on the floor in the photo above. The only reason I think that it could be there was that it was used to haul dirt out of the cave.

This cave has a lot of small stalagmites and soda staws.

This is the tightest squeeze in the cave. As you can see, it was not much bigger than my helmet. I was able to fit through it with some wiggling, but I don't think Shane would have made it. He waited for me on the other side of this squeeze.

Just past the tight squeeze there is an open fissure headed up into the ceiling. We did not get a chance to explore it on this trip however.

I was a little weary about squeezing through this one. It did not look much bigger than my boot, but once I got down in it I slipped through pretty easily.

A little past the third squeeze we found a off shoot. It was tight and made two 90 degree bends fairly close to each other, so I did not attempt it this trip either.

I stuck my camera around the corner of the turn off and you can clearly see it opens up to another passageway. We will have to go back up for another mapping trip.

These two small stalagmites remind me of the "salt and pepper shaker" in Timpanogos Cave.

At the end of this tunnel is where the tightest squeeze was encountered, and with no one there that could pull me out if I were to get stuck.... I decided not to push it. When I tossed a rock through it I was surprised to hear it bounce and fall for a good 6 seconds before coming to a rest. The airflow through this squeeze was very strong and cold, just as it had been through the entire cave. This is a great indicator that there is a lot more passage to explore.

Right before the last squeeze we found this old anchor bolted into the wall. I was very surprised to think that anyone else could fit through that hole if I couldn't.

Hiking up to the cave I discovered this small solution tube that day lighted at the top through a crack in the cliff. This was a very encouraging sign that Ireko may be close since we did not know of it's exact location.

We also found this interesting caterpillar. I believe it is a spotted tussock moth caterpillar.

And a Tarantula crossing the road.

GMZ Cave

2011-09-09T13:35:00.009-06:00

GMZ is a 198' deep pit. It may have some possibilities of continuing at the bottom, but some digging in the snow pile at the bottom would be required to push this cave further.

Matt Broadhead dropping into the entrance.

Looking up at the snowpile at the bottom.

A little bit of flowstone decoration.

Looking up toward the entry from the bottom.

Pole Creek Cave

2011-08-25T17:05:00.001-06:00

Pole Creek Cave is a large horizontal cave that is great for beginners to explore. It is only accessible in the fall since the Pole Creek river comes out of the entrance at high flow levels. The dry portion of the cave is roughly 900' long and ends at a pool of water that remains year round. The pool is diveable and is roughly 200' long and then continues 500' in another dry portion of the cave until another pool is encountered. Currently Underwater Dynamics is exploring the second pool in hopes of pushing it further. The end goal is to connect the entrance with the upper sink that is 1.5 miles away.

When I visited the cave in the spring (see image below) a heavy flow of water was coming from the entry. Warning! No attempt should be made to enter this cave when water is flowing out of the entry!

The Pole Creek Sink (see image below) located about 1.5 miles upstream from the cave entrance is where the river disappears into the cave system. With the high runoff this spring (2011) the sink filled up to where you could barely see the top of the right mine entrance.

The two large black holes in the photo are an attempt by Gale Rhoades to open an old Spanish mine he located in the sink. You can read more about the venture here.

Cameron Coles standing in front of the sink.

Garners Cave

2011-08-25T15:24:00.004-06:00

Garners Cave is a good hour hike and a short climb up a cliff face to access. There is a rope in place there since this cave sees a good amount of traffic. Inside there is one main passage and two small side passages. Most of the cave is wet and has several tight crawls that would not be suitable for the large in stature, so please be careful in these areas. The cave has been trashed over the years and you will find a lot of graffiti, trash and broken formations inside. If you visit the cave, please pack out any trash you come across.

Looking up at the entry from below.

Interstate Caves

2011-08-18T18:32:00.013-06:00

The Interstate Caves are comprised of Interstate Cave, Highway Cave, Roadside Cave and Left Cave with Interstate cave being the largest by far at approximately 1062 ft. in length and 200' deep. Roadside cave is the second longest at approximately 224 ft. long.

As you can see by the photos these caves are mostly tight passages. To enter Interstate Cave requires a permit as well as about 300' of rope as it requires a rappel to enter the cave and to descend to the lower passages. Entrance to this cave is highly discouraged as there are delicate gypsum formations in it's tight passages.

Glory Hole

2011-08-10T07:54:00.002-06:00

Glory Hole has about a 40 foot entrance rappel and was supposedly a large cave system. There is no official map and there may never be now that the cave is being mined and there is no longer any access into the cave.

Cascade Cave

2011-08-06T13:46:00.002-06:00

Cascade Cave is an interesting geological feature. The nearby Navajo Lake drains into sink holes and the water flows through Cascade Cave and empties out a waterfall at Cascade Falls. The water level in the cave changes based on conditions in the lake.

Bower's Lava Tube

2011-08-06T13:29:00.001-06:00

Not as well visited as Mammoth, but with signs directing you to this cave Bower's sees a lot of traffic as well. This is closed during winter for hibernating bats. Please respect the rules to keep this and other caves open.

Mammoth Lava Tube

2011-08-06T13:26:00.001-06:00

Not the same as the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. This is a very visited lava tube system. The tubes are more sustained than the Tabernacle Hill lava tubes. This and Bower's Lava Tube are closed in the winter because of hibernating bats.

Duck Creek Ice Cave

2011-08-06T13:20:00.002-06:00

Duck Creek Ice Cave is a single room, limestone cave. It's one of the most commonly visited caves in the area, if not the state. Ice and snow can be found year round. There isn't much to see, but if one is in the area, it's worth seeing.

Limestone Cave

2011-08-01T22:51:00.008-06:00

The only name we have for this cave is 'Limestone Cave'. It is obviously a well traveled and well known cave. It is in the Wendover area and it's up a very cool little canyon.

The cave goes back about 15' or so to a tight crawl at the back. The cave smells like smoke and juding by the charcoal black ceiling it has been a common place to light an evening campfire.

As I was dressed in my business clothes and did not bring along my coveralls I did not attempt to crawl thru the 'moon dust' to see where the tight crawl went.

The only formations that I noticed in this cave are what appeared to me to be mamilaries. These bulbus formations are said to form only underwater.

Because this apparently is a well known and visited cave I am posting these wider angle shots showing the topography, and the trusty 4Runner as well.

Thistle Train Tunnel

2011-07-25T08:57:00.006-06:00

I first went into this cave entrance when I was a teenager and just returned this past week. As I have been told this is an old train tunnel that was blasted and never used but I have not been able to find any resources online to verify that information. Although this is not officially a cave but rather a tunnel I thought that it was interesting enough to post.

Once you drop in the small opening and climb down the filled in shaft it becomes apparent that this was intended for a train tunnel because of it's size. I estimate that this tunnel stretches at least 300' to the base of the fill at the back of the tunnel.

Looking back toward the entry.

The back of the passage is filled in. Perhaps the tunnel continued even further beyond this fill.

Peekaboo River Cave

2011-07-24T23:07:00.006-06:00

This cave has a good amount of water through it. The river flows in and out of the cave through several different openings which is how the cave gets its name. Just inside the entrance the river was about 3' deep, but you can make your way around it to the left is you want to explore this 50' long passage.

The main entry into the cave system is located just behind this rock.

Looking back into the main passage.

Another entry along the river.

Some of the water goes back underground at this point.

This is another opening where you can see the river flowing through the cave system.

Honeycomb Cave

2011-07-24T22:54:00.004-06:00

We did not have the time to drop this one, but we definitely will next time we are in the area.

Wish Pit

2011-07-24T22:46:00.004-06:00

This pit has well formed walls and looks as if it could continue much further, but about 25 feet down it is filled with breakdown and usually some snow.

I guess we will just have to keep wishing.

Foreman Cave/Mine

2011-07-24T22:34:00.006-06:00

Foreman Cave is known to many treasure hunters since it was shown in George Thompson's book "Faded Footprints" about Utah's lost gold and treasures. While this is not originally a mine, this natural cave has been mined and more recently someone has put in a lot of effort to clean out the debris from the bottom of the pit.

This is the upper entry.

This is taken from just inside the lower entrance. The upper one is directly above the square hole in the framed platform.

Shane climbed down the old,wet and rotting timber with the aid of a hand line to investigate further. Where Shane is standing is about a 10' pit approximately 15' across. At the bottom of that pit is a short passage that is filled with water. Perhaps on a dryer year we could get to see the extent of this one.

White Collar Cave

2011-07-24T21:33:00.013-06:00

For years we have been intrigued by the possible caves high in the cliffs above this rugged High Uintah canyon. We finally decided to make the effort and do a little exploring. Since these caves were located near the top of the canyon we decided it would be more effective to drop in from above and reduce the hours of hiking required from below.

Judd and Shane searching the top of the cliffs for the best route down.

Spee and Zimmie heading out along the ridge at about 10,800'.

We were able to locate a relatively safe chute to descend. Pictures never quite do the angle justice. This was a very steep and loose scree slope that became dangerous at times to descend. Our heavier than usual packs made the descent even more difficult. We found it best to spread out to avoid any accidental rock fall (Shane Coles right middle).

We reached our destination. One of the most majestic cave entrances I have ever seen.

When we came around the corner my first word was "Wow"!

Zimmie (Judd) making progress but still a lot further to go.

As we attempted the climb we quickly found that both the red and grey colored limestone were extremely crumbly and unsafe and that we could not place any anchors in the cliff for climbing protection. The white formation around the cave is a brittle calcite spar which also limited our ability to gain entrance to the cave. After some discussion it was determined that it was not worth the risk of a fall and that we would return with an array of pitons to bash into the vertical "crack" up the center of the cave entrance at a later date.

A nice little 'artifact' right where we found it. A .44 Magnum cartridge.

This descent from the cave was the most difficult part. Never stable footing which made for a very tiring exit.

Just down the canyon there are several other smaller but similar cave formations that still require investigation.

Continued....

We finally made it back up to explore this cave. Shane lead the climb into the cave by hammering pitons in the crack and made his way up and into the large hole. This took some time as the piton placement into the brittle rock was less than favorable. The belay was situated well away from the opening as we knew there would be considerable rockfall. However, many of the falling rocks seemed to head straight toward Spencer anyway as he belayed.

As Shane successfully reached the entry he made his way towards the back to find that it pinched down to a passage filled with dirt. Although the dirt is very light and easy to dig, it would require a good effort to clean it out.

At the back of this cave, to my dismay, I found a wire cable with a rusty quick link attached. Unfortunately someone had beaten us here. By the rusty condition of the quick link it looked like they had beaten us by more than a few years. It did, however, make for a quick and easy rappel point. I added my own new quick link, tested the anchor and began my descent, pulling the pitons as I went. I was unable to retrieve one lost arrow piton which, along with the new link I left behind, leaves our mark for the next indivuduals who too decide that they have to know where this cave goes. (Shane)
Although this cave did not go a far as we were hoping this had to be done. We had to see it for ourselves. It made for a most excellent adventure and that's what it's about anyway.

As a side note, the .44 mag round that I found in the cliff on our last trip I found it again. Only this time it was in the rock slide at the base of the cliff. It seems that the only way that it could have come out of it's place was for it to be removed by someone. I picked up the round and placed it back in it's home. (Shane)