All those different Caves

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!