Sunday, August 20, 2006
Classics Never Get Old!
Well, I don't know that calling Loyolahanna a classic is correct...I mean, I've only bee there twice now, but is is quickly becoming one of my favorites. We went up (down, over, to?) to Loyolahanna to see if we could explore more of the 2500' on the map (which oddly, isn't mapped-but somehow, they know it is there), that we couldn't get to last time. Well, let's get on with it, shall we.
And here is Eric squeezing into the cave. I know he is entering due to the lack of soilment on his white shirt, face, and hair. It is a tight squeez, which all five of us guys that went, determined would be much easier, had we take about a month's worth of yoga lessons. I think this picture also adequtely show's exactly how tight the entrance is. You have to fit one leg up in that crack to get through. If you can get into this cave, you have gotten past the hardest part (well, up until the part we can't get through....that doesn't make sense...)
This is right after you get into the cave. I think these show adequately, how "easy" it is to move, once you are inside :-P Actually, the bad part about this place is when you get out, you are soaking wet, so all soft soil sticks/gets into your clothes, and within about 10 minutes of getting out, you have something close to the consistency of concrete drying on your pants and shirt.
This is a pretty cool rock formation. Yes, the photo is oriented correctly. You either go over it, or under it (under being easier). Unfortuantly, none of us are small enough to get through it-especially Doug here, with his fat head. Doug, your head seems to be a limiting factor in so many of these caves ;-P Another thing we noticed, which was a tad unsettling was that at one point, in the low ceiling areas, there was debris (dirt, leaves, sticks, small children, etc.) stuck to the roof of the cave. The only way this can happen is if the cave fills up with water. It think that pretty much answers the question about flash floods!
Well, that's all for now...I'll give more updates on this trip later.
And here is Eric squeezing into the cave. I know he is entering due to the lack of soilment on his white shirt, face, and hair. It is a tight squeez, which all five of us guys that went, determined would be much easier, had we take about a month's worth of yoga lessons. I think this picture also adequtely show's exactly how tight the entrance is. You have to fit one leg up in that crack to get through. If you can get into this cave, you have gotten past the hardest part (well, up until the part we can't get through....that doesn't make sense...)
This is right after you get into the cave. I think these show adequately, how "easy" it is to move, once you are inside :-P Actually, the bad part about this place is when you get out, you are soaking wet, so all soft soil sticks/gets into your clothes, and within about 10 minutes of getting out, you have something close to the consistency of concrete drying on your pants and shirt.
This is a pretty cool rock formation. Yes, the photo is oriented correctly. You either go over it, or under it (under being easier). Unfortuantly, none of us are small enough to get through it-especially Doug here, with his fat head. Doug, your head seems to be a limiting factor in so many of these caves ;-P Another thing we noticed, which was a tad unsettling was that at one point, in the low ceiling areas, there was debris (dirt, leaves, sticks, small children, etc.) stuck to the roof of the cave. The only way this can happen is if the cave fills up with water. It think that pretty much answers the question about flash floods!Well, that's all for now...I'll give more updates on this trip later.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
For my faithful Fans
Well, to my faithful fans...I think there is one. Here is an update, not because I have much to say about caving, but mainly to keep the man off my back ;-P. Looks like another trip to Loyolahanna this weekend (August 19th). Should be good. We're gonna hope Doug can get his fat head between the ceiling and floor this time so we can go a little further. Sure, a big head might mean more brain capacity, but what good is it if you can't fit it into a cool cave? I am hoping the water in the cave stream is a tad warmer too...something I doubt.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Copperhead Cave-My second favorite
Well, I have to agree with Doug, Lemon Hole is my favorite cave, but Copperhead is a close second. Here, Doug has the honors of holding our new "Official Mascot." The idea here is that this will appear now at every future cave we go in. Sometimes it will be obvious, sometimes not...so keep your eyes peeled...
Doug, Ryan, and myself were the only three to go this time. We took Doug's car, and Ryan's truck. We couldn't all comfortably fit in Ryan's truck for the whole ride there, but we needed a truck to get up the dirt roads once we got to Derry. Having his truck saved us about an hour and a half of walking, but we still ended up hiking for an hour. The irony was that it rained the whole trek up to the cave, so, for the first time ever, we were wetter when we went into the cave than when we came out. This cave is in the middle of no-where, and not only that, you would never even see a hint of it existing. It is literally a hole in the ground. It drops in vertically about 38 feet or so.
That's me decending into the bowels of the earth (note the Hodag Proof Helmet!) It was pretty easy going down. Ryan had gone down just before me, so he was able to let us know that infact, the rope ladder fell short of reaching the bottom by about four feet. 
Once we all got into the cave, we were amazed at how many white spotted salamders we saw. We saw them about as far back as 1000 feet into the cave. We even found a frog and a toad. How they got in there, I'll never know! The main thing we saw were bats. There were lot's of bats...if you don't like bats, don't go in this cave.There was a small stream in this cave too. At times is it was right under our feet, but the water was barely an inch deep (even with all the run-off of the last day-and-a-halfs rain).
But there were portions, where, the River Styx was dry (water was underground-even more so than us). It was cool, because you had this channel that snaked around for fifty or sixty feet at a time, that was 6 inches wide, but two feet deep. That's my foot, so you can get an idea for how wide the River Styx actually is.Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Another New Cave
Well, It looks like Saturday is Copperhead cave. BTW...for updates on caving in our area, and especially if you are a memeber of myspace.com, check out the caving group.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Caving Near Latrobe (Loyolahanna Creek Cave)
Well, it was certainly a very fun trip! Four of us guys went down. We started out by all meeting at Base Camp (known to some as Monroeville). Doug, his cousin Eric/k, his friend Ryan, and Myself set off for the cave at about 10:00 AM. We arrived there shortly before 11:00.
To say, "Well, the one thing about this cave..." or "It's completely unique, because..." would be misleading. There are lot's of different things about this cave, but there are aslo a lot of similarites to other caves. I can tell you it is wet and 52° all over.
The wierd/neat thing about this cave is it's actual location. It is literally, right off the side of a main state highway...we were seperated by no more than 10 feet of dirt, with cars zipping by. You'll note Doug there, with a small rake, removing leaves and debris from the entrance. Let's put it this way...the entrance is so tight, that enough cars go by (and in close enough proximity), that leaves and sticks just about close the entrance. You'll also note, how, we've learned much from PennDOT. Note how Eric/k and Ryan and myself watch, as Doug works at a leisurely pace.
Once the entrance was cleared, we had to figure out how to get into the beast. I think it took longer for us to figure out how to fit thru the entrance than to clean it out. The entrance is a 90° bend and the opening in the bottom is about 8" high. I had to take my helmet off and turn my head sideways just to fit. That's Eric/k on his second attempt. His first attempt was fruitless, and we sent Doug in first, and then we sent the newbie, Ryan in after him. Eric/k was able to squirm in the second time...consequently, since he or I were in the back, that's why he appears in so many pictures.
Alright, picture this: You are coming down a major state route, into Latrobe at 60 mph (or 85 like that neato orange Nissan Sentra with the "fart-in-a-can" muffler) when you come around the bend and see a head pop up out of the ground 8' from the highway. I know when I poked my head out of the cave, it was a little unnerving to see cars coming at me...so I can only imagine what they were seeing when 4 guys crawled out of the ground, looking more like a hodag than a person.
After navigating through a wide but very low room, the cave sorta "opened up". By that I mean the passage went from 2' high, and 12' wide to 2.5' high and 3' wide, with assorted large rocks to climb over, and very large pea-gravel to climb through. This is Eric/k getting into the first "major" room in the cave. The picture makes it look easy, but it was a very snug fit. Make no mistake however, this was a physically challenging cave for it's entire length. Unfortunately, in a cave, there is very limited light (I believe that to be a gross understatement!) So, when you look at pictures, it seems to distort things. Large openings and ceilings don't look as impressive, and tight fits, just don't look so cozy.
The only easy thing in this cave was the water and snack breaks. That's me and Eric/k maxin' and relaxin, and on the other side of the room, up on the kushy "rock seats" is Ryan (on the left) and Doug (on the righ-duh!) We didn't rest too long in any one spot since we assumed we had about 2500' of cave to explore. Figure, a good clip in a cave is an average speed of 100' for every seven minutes or so.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the creek in the cave. It seems, most of the water went under the "pea-gravel" (which was pretty deep in spots). There was only one part, about 15' long, that required we crawl through it, but with reference to Casparis, this was by far, much less pleasant. If Casparis Cave was like sitting on a bench and having the bus come by and drench you, I would say this was like being on a crab boat in the North Sea, and falling in without warning. Even though the water was only 4" deep, it took the breath away...We didn't say to play around in that. I think it was only worse knowing we had to come back through it.
At about 500' back in the cave, we found this little sign. It is point down and out. I find it amusing, because, if you are in the cave, it's pretty much a one way street. And fortunately, gravity still works in a cave, so you know which way down is, and out is usually, directly behind you.
And shortly after that, I saw this neat little formation on the wall. It's hard to see the whole thing, but it was literally a little "cubby" in the rock, that had stalagmites grown down in front of it. I assume that the highly developed culture of bats living in the cave was using this as a prison. I mean, you know, when you live in a cave, there are just certain protocol you have to abide by, and there must be penalties for breaking said protocol.
We were only able to go another 100' beyond that point. It got wet again, and the ceiling got real low, so that we had to ditch our backpacks all together. The room was probably 20' wide at a point, but Doug go to a point where his head would no longer fit (side ways even), so we had to call it quits. That was at about the 700' point, but they say it goes for another 1800', so I guess, we all need to resort to myself, who with the smallest head of the group, can hopefully get through next time.
Oh yes, and P.S. The new Hodag Proof helmet worked great. For all the bumps on my head, there were very few paint chips. The helmet will live to see another day. And one more thing...if you are reading this, and you happened to be going down the road that day, and saw us pop up out of the ground...give us a shout!
To say, "Well, the one thing about this cave..." or "It's completely unique, because..." would be misleading. There are lot's of different things about this cave, but there are aslo a lot of similarites to other caves. I can tell you it is wet and 52° all over.
The wierd/neat thing about this cave is it's actual location. It is literally, right off the side of a main state highway...we were seperated by no more than 10 feet of dirt, with cars zipping by. You'll note Doug there, with a small rake, removing leaves and debris from the entrance. Let's put it this way...the entrance is so tight, that enough cars go by (and in close enough proximity), that leaves and sticks just about close the entrance. You'll also note, how, we've learned much from PennDOT. Note how Eric/k and Ryan and myself watch, as Doug works at a leisurely pace.Once the entrance was cleared, we had to figure out how to get into the beast. I think it took longer for us to figure out how to fit thru the entrance than to clean it out. The entrance is a 90° bend and the opening in the bottom is about 8" high. I had to take my helmet off and turn my head sideways just to fit. That's Eric/k on his second attempt. His first attempt was fruitless, and we sent Doug in first, and then we sent the newbie, Ryan in after him. Eric/k was able to squirm in the second time...consequently, since he or I were in the back, that's why he appears in so many pictures.
Alright, picture this: You are coming down a major state route, into Latrobe at 60 mph (or 85 like that neato orange Nissan Sentra with the "fart-in-a-can" muffler) when you come around the bend and see a head pop up out of the ground 8' from the highway. I know when I poked my head out of the cave, it was a little unnerving to see cars coming at me...so I can only imagine what they were seeing when 4 guys crawled out of the ground, looking more like a hodag than a person.
After navigating through a wide but very low room, the cave sorta "opened up". By that I mean the passage went from 2' high, and 12' wide to 2.5' high and 3' wide, with assorted large rocks to climb over, and very large pea-gravel to climb through. This is Eric/k getting into the first "major" room in the cave. The picture makes it look easy, but it was a very snug fit. Make no mistake however, this was a physically challenging cave for it's entire length. Unfortunately, in a cave, there is very limited light (I believe that to be a gross understatement!) So, when you look at pictures, it seems to distort things. Large openings and ceilings don't look as impressive, and tight fits, just don't look so cozy.The only easy thing in this cave was the water and snack breaks. That's me and Eric/k maxin' and relaxin, and on the other side of the room, up on the kushy "rock seats" is Ryan (on the left) and Doug (on the righ-duh!) We didn't rest too long in any one spot since we assumed we had about 2500' of cave to explore. Figure, a good clip in a cave is an average speed of 100' for every seven minutes or so.Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the creek in the cave. It seems, most of the water went under the "pea-gravel" (which was pretty deep in spots). There was only one part, about 15' long, that required we crawl through it, but with reference to Casparis, this was by far, much less pleasant. If Casparis Cave was like sitting on a bench and having the bus come by and drench you, I would say this was like being on a crab boat in the North Sea, and falling in without warning. Even though the water was only 4" deep, it took the breath away...We didn't say to play around in that. I think it was only worse knowing we had to come back through it.
At about 500' back in the cave, we found this little sign. It is point down and out. I find it amusing, because, if you are in the cave, it's pretty much a one way street. And fortunately, gravity still works in a cave, so you know which way down is, and out is usually, directly behind you. And shortly after that, I saw this neat little formation on the wall. It's hard to see the whole thing, but it was literally a little "cubby" in the rock, that had stalagmites grown down in front of it. I assume that the highly developed culture of bats living in the cave was using this as a prison. I mean, you know, when you live in a cave, there are just certain protocol you have to abide by, and there must be penalties for breaking said protocol. We were only able to go another 100' beyond that point. It got wet again, and the ceiling got real low, so that we had to ditch our backpacks all together. The room was probably 20' wide at a point, but Doug go to a point where his head would no longer fit (side ways even), so we had to call it quits. That was at about the 700' point, but they say it goes for another 1800', so I guess, we all need to resort to myself, who with the smallest head of the group, can hopefully get through next time.
Oh yes, and P.S. The new Hodag Proof helmet worked great. For all the bumps on my head, there were very few paint chips. The helmet will live to see another day. And one more thing...if you are reading this, and you happened to be going down the road that day, and saw us pop up out of the ground...give us a shout!
Thursday, March 30, 2006
The next caving Adventure
Okay, so I am getting psyched for Saturday. Beautiful weather in the 60°s, and I get to go caving down at Loyolahanna (Someday I will learn to spell that correctly!). Looks like about 2500 feet (so Doug tells me) of pristine caving passages. Supposed to be wet though. We'll see how the newly painted helmet holds up. Hmmmmm, I should re-water proot the seal skinz too while I am at it. Outtie!
Monday, March 27, 2006
Some New Swag for a Fabulous Caving Experience!
So, I decided that plain white was not the color for me for my caving helmet. I did teh works for this beast, and yes, I made sure to keep the "Hodag-proofness" in the helmet. Pics to be posted later. I may even post instructions on how I made my $6.92 hard hat from Lowes look like a real $3,549.94 caving helmet.
Awww Crap!!! So, I get home today from work and figure I will put the last coat of clear coat on the helmet right? Doh! Turns out, if you let clearcoat dry for two days, and then come back and put another coat on, it starts to wrinkle...Now my shiny helmet looks like a shiny prune...I guess I need to post a picture now.
Well, this is another cell picture, and it doesn't really do all my hard work any sort of justice, but this is what the beauty looks like. Who knows, I may even polish it friday night...get more of those water/mud shedding properties into it. Only time will tell...
Awww Crap!!! So, I get home today from work and figure I will put the last coat of clear coat on the helmet right? Doh! Turns out, if you let clearcoat dry for two days, and then come back and put another coat on, it starts to wrinkle...Now my shiny helmet looks like a shiny prune...I guess I need to post a picture now.
Well, this is another cell picture, and it doesn't really do all my hard work any sort of justice, but this is what the beauty looks like. Who knows, I may even polish it friday night...get more of those water/mud shedding properties into it. Only time will tell...
