snugtop Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 Thunderclouds pushed us underground this Saturday...headed up to Cave Ridge near Alpental. After one false start on the trail, Ken 4ord, Loose Brei and myself headed up the climbers trail. We scrambled up for about 45 minutes, making sure to stop, some of us for the stunning Mount Rainier view, other for a quick Virginia Slim (menthol). We found the first cave ("Hellhole") with relative ease, and headed down a VERY tight squeeze, and into a 30-40 foot chimney. The chimney is a bit claustrophobic but widened at the bottom. One caver--ok me!--asked for a belay here. Being in vertical chimney with water dripping from the snow above, the limestone was quite clean and took on a marbly texture and grey-white color. Gloves would have been good here; the wet rock was quite cold. Next to the chimny room, a larger room with a low ceiling led to a ledge, blocked by a few large rocks, over another 30ft drop, some it free hanging. Ken, our expert spenlunker, set up an anchor with a cam and a chockstone. It's probably woth noting at some point that the caves in this area are all technical (not walk in) and to bring appropriate gear--in this case, rope, ascenders, aiders, a belay device and a small rack. (Or so I'm told!) We rapped another 30 feet over down to the main chamber in the cave, a wider room with passages leading in several directions. We scrambled down to the lowest point we could reach, and a followed slimy dirt ramp up as far we could go but alas, it dead ended. going back to the main room, Ken and Loose Brei found some potential passages, one squeeze looked like it might continue, but having one too many beers at the last pub club, I feared I might get stuck. And, I should note, it's easy to get cold in there--it's very wet and your clothing is constantly getting brushed against the rock. Caves have one thing in common with spray--no matter what you go in with, you're going to come out slashed and soiled. I received a 2-minute introduction to jumars are etriers, and managed to haul my dirty ass up the line. Ken and Loose Brei moved a little faster and pretty soon we were climbing up the first squeeze, then blinking madly in the bright snowy sunlight. Ken found another cave that looked more promising, with fixed lines and a bit drier. Perhaps for another day. 1,500 feet and three 'Slims later, we emerged at the trailhead caked in mud and a bit scratched up. Returning to our meeting point at Tully's, Ken declared that I looked like a homeless junkie who lived under a bridge. Luckily, they still served me a latte. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ketch Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 Hey Snug, Congrats, sounds like a sweet trip and I know the caves was something you wanted to start doin. Sounds like an overall great time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelawgoddess Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 cool. i didn't know there was any spelunking around - not that i've ever inquired that thoroughly. sounds like an interesting experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Szyjakowski Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 there are tons of caves and deep tunnels to explore all over the place...ya just need to talk to the right people. nice tr... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinker Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 If you venture into the caves, please respect them. They are typically home to some pretty unique and fragile biological communities. So....take a pee bottle (and USE it), blue bag it, and treat the caves like the wild and delicate environments they are. If we don't respect the caves we could very easily see padlocked steel gates on them like many other places around the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWolfe Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 to going down under ground Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snugtop Posted June 21, 2004 Author Share Posted June 21, 2004 If you venture into the caves, please respect them. They are typically home to some pretty unique and fragile biological communities. So....take a pee bottle (and USE it), blue bag it, and treat the caves like the wild and delicate environments they are. If we don't respect the caves we could very easily see padlocked steel gates on them like many other places around the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 That sounds really fun! Where would one go about getting some information on getting (safely) started in exploring some of those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 caving is a sport for climbers who are scared of heights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snugtop Posted June 21, 2004 Author Share Posted June 21, 2004 That sounds really fun! Where would one go about getting some information on getting (safely) started in exploring some of those? www.cascadegrotto.org Show up to a meeting (3rd Thursday of the month) Meeting's about an hour then pizza and beer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 caving is a sport for climbers who are scared of heights No, No Dru, it's for those whose dignified reserve is offended by the "public bravado" or mountain climbing, who prefer their moments of darind "personal, silent, and unobserved" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderfour Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 caving is a sport for climbers who are scared of heights climbing is a sport for cavers who are afraid of depths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken4ord Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 Hey Snugtop, from the descriptions that I have read, I think that second cave that I started down was Hellhole, I don't know the name of it. Hellhole opens up in the ceiling of a chamber to a free hanging rap. The rap we did wasn't really free hanging. Kudos Thinker, caves have a very fragile eco-system, it is important that we disturb the area as little as possible when going under ground. Dru, yeah I don't know if I agree with you, you damn troller. I have found caving at times to be more strenuous than climbing and there are some caves that have 1000's of feet of vertical relief. There was on I was in Mexico, that most likely hadn't been expored. I was like 200 feet down this chimney to a floor, which looked solid. I step onto the dirt and it collapsed under my feet. Luckily the cave was still quite narrow and I was able to get into a stem. The caves that we went into this weekend only go down something like ~250 feet. Snugtop, Virginia Slim menthol??? What? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dru Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 if you don't use a headlamp all caves are on sights or maybe nonsights is the better term did you guys find any evidence of cpt.caveman in your cave? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken4ord Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 Nope, no beer bottles or cans lying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snugtop Posted June 21, 2004 Author Share Posted June 21, 2004 Snugtop, Virginia Slim menthol??? What? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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