Post by Brad Tipton on Aug 31, 2008 16:28:09 GMT -5
On Saturday I met Will and Jessica in Chattanooga. We consolidated into one vehicle and headed north towards Spencer to meet John H, Wood and John L for a guided trip through Keystone River Cave. Will had just recently visited the cave in June, so we decided to take advantage of his memory while it was fresh. We arrived at the cave before the others, so we walked the 100 feet to the cave entrance, which looks like a vertical pit at the edge of a field. Once we reached the edge it was obvious that the entrance was climbable. We could feel the cold air bellowing out. It was already getting hot in the cove, I looked forward to the cool air and the water. John and the others arrived shortly and we began the arduous process of donning multiple layers of protective clothing. Everyone wore wetsuits for the river trip. I opted for polypro layers instead. Once everyone was thoroughly insulated we walked down to the entrance.
Keystone River Cave is a large underground river system that drains multiple miles of surface area. The cave entrance sits at the edge of a sizable field which is located in the bottom of a massive sinkhole at least a mile across. Old timers tell of huge floods where the cave entrance would fill up and back up into the fields, hard to imagine when you get your first glance at the dimensions of the borehole. The main trunk passage that carries the river towards the pit has multiple tributaries that contribute huge amounts of water. Once all the contributing streams combine, it becomes one massive river which terminates at a 246 foot deep pit. There it plummets into a voluminous chamber that rivals Surprise Pit or TAG Hall in Ellison's Cave. Where the river goes from the bottom pit, I know not. I figure it eventually ends up in Rocky River Gorge or maybe the Caney Fork River. The 246 foot pit is the highlight of the cave and the objective of our trip in particular.
Once inside the climbdown entrance, stoops and crawls following carefully placed rock cairns leads to a climbdown. This climbdown leads to a dug crawlway which puts you in the stream passage. More crawls and stoops lead to a slot and a wet belly crawl in the stream. Alternating walking and crawling leads eventually to a large water filled passage. We were a bit slow through the entrance crawls due to lugging a 300 foot rope. Eventually John L caught up to us in the crawls with the rope before we reached the lake. Jessica took the rope bag from him and I took her pack. This helped speed up the group and we reached the water filled passage shortly after that. This part of the cave is mostly walking with waist deep water in most areas for a couple hundred yards I guess. Once the water muddied from the lead person it was impossible to see the floor. This made for an entertaining stretch as Jessica routinely disappeared underwater, stumbling with the rope on her back.
Eventually the lake passage ends and the main borehole with an active flowing stream begins. The entrance series of passages are one tributary that leads to the main trunk. Once we intersected the main trunk, from there we could navigate the borehole upstream a ways, although I do not know the distance, or downstream to the pit. We chose the downstream route which winds for approximately 2,000 feet through dimensions exceeding 50 feet high by 75 feet wide. This section of the cave is the equivalent of a leisurely stroll.
In short time we arrived at the pit. Here the entire river dumps into the chamber 246 feet below us. An unwary caver could be fooled into thinking the the cave continues unimpeded by any vertical drop if the river wasn't present. Fortunately, the crashing of the water as it drops through the floor of the cave keeps cavers from Blondy wandering out over the pit unaware. At the pit, the river cuts through a deep layer of black chert. By carefully traversing across the hole riddled chert layer that separates the river passage from the chamber below, we were able to attain the dry continuance of the borehole. Here we set up shop, rested, changed into dry gear and prepared to rig the pit.
Sometime far into the past, the Keystone River meandered well past the 246 foot pit and likely resurged somewhere completely different from where it does today. Eventually the water eroded through the last of the remaining soluble rock that had separated the borehole from the massive chamber below it for uncountable millenia. Once the river had established a new route ending in the chamber below, the borehole downstream from the pit began to close up with large deposits of flowstone formations. Who knows how far the cave extends beyond the flowstone plug. Nature's mysteries leave quite intriguing questions for humans to ponder. This cave is certainly no exception.
John H and I rigged the pit, opting not to rig to the frightening mud boulders on the far side of the pit. We scouted areas around the scoured chert and found suitable rigging directly over the chamber. John rigged the main anchor and I rigged a redirect which dropped us straight down the pit far from the cascading waterfall. I rappelled first on a brand new PMI Pit Rope that was so white I was sorry to be the one to dirty it up. The rappel into this enormous chamber was a delight. Halfway down an incredible natural arch spans the pit. The bottom of the pit is scoured clean of any mud or debris by the continuous torrent of falling water. It has to be one of the cleanest pits I have ever visited. The chamber was foggy, but by turning off my light I could get great views of the arch and the pit dimensions as John and Jessica rappelled in. Will, John L and Wood all rappelled as we toured the bottom and enjoyed the scenery from the top of a 100 foot high flowstone mound.
Once everyone was down I began to climb. The climb out was great. I kept my light turned off, taking advantage of everyone elses light to get a better view of the massive arch. The redirect at the top proved to be a hassle when I reached it, but it was better than the mud boulder rigging option any day. Jessica climbed next, in her wetsuit.............the girl was literally smoking when she reached the top. I could see steam emanating from the pit before she came into sight. She clearly didn't enjoy frogging in the straight jacket that was her wetsuit. All the others climbed the pit without incident, although we fooled Wood into thinking that not only had he left his rack on the bottom, but he also dropped his rope pad down the pit too. Once the gag on Wood was up, we derigged and headed towards the surface.
The entrance crawls sucked worse on the way out, dragging wet rope and wet gear, but we persevered and the entrance greeted us with the hot, muggy air from outside. The one minute hike to the trucks was a plus. You can't ask for a better trip than Keystone River Cave. Park at the entrance, crawl a little, then thousands of feet of strolling borehole, drop a 246 foot freefall drop into a TAG Classic......what's not to like. This is a cave I plan to visit many times in the future.
Keystone River Cave is a large underground river system that drains multiple miles of surface area. The cave entrance sits at the edge of a sizable field which is located in the bottom of a massive sinkhole at least a mile across. Old timers tell of huge floods where the cave entrance would fill up and back up into the fields, hard to imagine when you get your first glance at the dimensions of the borehole. The main trunk passage that carries the river towards the pit has multiple tributaries that contribute huge amounts of water. Once all the contributing streams combine, it becomes one massive river which terminates at a 246 foot deep pit. There it plummets into a voluminous chamber that rivals Surprise Pit or TAG Hall in Ellison's Cave. Where the river goes from the bottom pit, I know not. I figure it eventually ends up in Rocky River Gorge or maybe the Caney Fork River. The 246 foot pit is the highlight of the cave and the objective of our trip in particular.
Once inside the climbdown entrance, stoops and crawls following carefully placed rock cairns leads to a climbdown. This climbdown leads to a dug crawlway which puts you in the stream passage. More crawls and stoops lead to a slot and a wet belly crawl in the stream. Alternating walking and crawling leads eventually to a large water filled passage. We were a bit slow through the entrance crawls due to lugging a 300 foot rope. Eventually John L caught up to us in the crawls with the rope before we reached the lake. Jessica took the rope bag from him and I took her pack. This helped speed up the group and we reached the water filled passage shortly after that. This part of the cave is mostly walking with waist deep water in most areas for a couple hundred yards I guess. Once the water muddied from the lead person it was impossible to see the floor. This made for an entertaining stretch as Jessica routinely disappeared underwater, stumbling with the rope on her back.
Eventually the lake passage ends and the main borehole with an active flowing stream begins. The entrance series of passages are one tributary that leads to the main trunk. Once we intersected the main trunk, from there we could navigate the borehole upstream a ways, although I do not know the distance, or downstream to the pit. We chose the downstream route which winds for approximately 2,000 feet through dimensions exceeding 50 feet high by 75 feet wide. This section of the cave is the equivalent of a leisurely stroll.
In short time we arrived at the pit. Here the entire river dumps into the chamber 246 feet below us. An unwary caver could be fooled into thinking the the cave continues unimpeded by any vertical drop if the river wasn't present. Fortunately, the crashing of the water as it drops through the floor of the cave keeps cavers from Blondy wandering out over the pit unaware. At the pit, the river cuts through a deep layer of black chert. By carefully traversing across the hole riddled chert layer that separates the river passage from the chamber below, we were able to attain the dry continuance of the borehole. Here we set up shop, rested, changed into dry gear and prepared to rig the pit.
Sometime far into the past, the Keystone River meandered well past the 246 foot pit and likely resurged somewhere completely different from where it does today. Eventually the water eroded through the last of the remaining soluble rock that had separated the borehole from the massive chamber below it for uncountable millenia. Once the river had established a new route ending in the chamber below, the borehole downstream from the pit began to close up with large deposits of flowstone formations. Who knows how far the cave extends beyond the flowstone plug. Nature's mysteries leave quite intriguing questions for humans to ponder. This cave is certainly no exception.
John H and I rigged the pit, opting not to rig to the frightening mud boulders on the far side of the pit. We scouted areas around the scoured chert and found suitable rigging directly over the chamber. John rigged the main anchor and I rigged a redirect which dropped us straight down the pit far from the cascading waterfall. I rappelled first on a brand new PMI Pit Rope that was so white I was sorry to be the one to dirty it up. The rappel into this enormous chamber was a delight. Halfway down an incredible natural arch spans the pit. The bottom of the pit is scoured clean of any mud or debris by the continuous torrent of falling water. It has to be one of the cleanest pits I have ever visited. The chamber was foggy, but by turning off my light I could get great views of the arch and the pit dimensions as John and Jessica rappelled in. Will, John L and Wood all rappelled as we toured the bottom and enjoyed the scenery from the top of a 100 foot high flowstone mound.
Once everyone was down I began to climb. The climb out was great. I kept my light turned off, taking advantage of everyone elses light to get a better view of the massive arch. The redirect at the top proved to be a hassle when I reached it, but it was better than the mud boulder rigging option any day. Jessica climbed next, in her wetsuit.............the girl was literally smoking when she reached the top. I could see steam emanating from the pit before she came into sight. She clearly didn't enjoy frogging in the straight jacket that was her wetsuit. All the others climbed the pit without incident, although we fooled Wood into thinking that not only had he left his rack on the bottom, but he also dropped his rope pad down the pit too. Once the gag on Wood was up, we derigged and headed towards the surface.
The entrance crawls sucked worse on the way out, dragging wet rope and wet gear, but we persevered and the entrance greeted us with the hot, muggy air from outside. The one minute hike to the trucks was a plus. You can't ask for a better trip than Keystone River Cave. Park at the entrance, crawl a little, then thousands of feet of strolling borehole, drop a 246 foot freefall drop into a TAG Classic......what's not to like. This is a cave I plan to visit many times in the future.
