Post by Taylor on Aug 20, 2006 10:04:27 GMT -5
Hollowed territory
Need something to sate a deep desire? Try cave exploration
By Brian Metzler, Special to the News
August 19, 2006
Dropping into the subterranean depths of a cave can be a bit spooky at first. But once you get used to the darkness and confining conditions, a whole new world opens up around you in the glow of your headlamp.
Exploring wild caves in Colorado, you might encounter extraordinary geological formations, underground bodies of water and uncommon wildlife - such as bats or albino insects. And depending on the cave, you're also likely to do some hiking, climbing, scrambling or crawling along the way.
Experienced cavers consider it the last frontier, the opportunity to venture into places where few people have been. Others find it a unique way to combine outdoor recreation with scientific inklings and a quest for adventure.
"It's a lot of fun," said Glenn Strouhal, 33, a computer programmer and part-time Englewood resident who has explored several caves in Colorado. "I like the exploration factor and the fact that there's always an element of the unknown."
There are about 700 known wild caves in Colorado, but there are believed to be many more that have been kept secret by cavers or private landowners. Many of the known caves are believed to have undiscovered chambers and passages.
Although a few caves in Colorado were formed by fissures, or faults, in the Earth's surface, most were created by rushing water during the course of hundreds or thousands of years.
Caves close to the Earth's surface maintain a constant temperature of 45 to 55 degrees all year. But deeper caves, which might stretch several miles underground, have temperatures slightly above freezing. Some are dry, some are damp and many feature underground streams.
Like snowflakes or 14,000-foot peaks, no two caves are the same inside.
Take, for example, three caves near Eagle. Fulford Cave has magnificent stalactites, stalagmites and flowstones, as well as an underground stream. Sinking River Cave has a 160-foot pit, the largest of any cave in the state. Groaning Cave, believed to be the state's longest cave, with more than 11 miles of passageways, has numerous geological features, including a red-gray-blue carbonate ooze known as moonmilk.
That might sound fairly intri-guing, but if you want to start exploring caves in Colorado, you won't find much information readily available. There are few caving Web sites on the Internet, and the only book ever published on the state's caves is long out of print and very hard to find.
For the sake of preserving the fragile environments found underground, the caving community doesn't openly share details or locations of caves outside of "grottos" or caving clubs. Vandalism, injuries and theft of geological features are other reasons the clubs limit the information they make public.
There are five grottos in Colorado, the largest of which is the 112-member Denver-based Colorado Grotto. The clubs conduct monthly meetings to discuss exploration projects, share trip details and welcome new members.
While some caves are beginner-friendly, Christa Schneider, president of the Colorado Grotto, suggests anyone interested in caving should join a grotto so they can learn the necessary skills and make their first subterranean trips with experienced club members. "A lot of times, our best way to protect a cave is to keep it quiet," said Schneider, 32. "It's not that we'll never take new people there. But we'll take them in a controlled environment where we can have experienced people with them that can teach them the proper ways of moving through a particular cave and areas we might want to avoid."
Many caves on Forest Service or National Park Service land are gated and locked, in order to limit the number of people who are allowed to visit them each year. Grottos are aligned with land agencies and have access to those caves, and their members often conduct volunteer exploration and work trips to help preserve the caves.
For years, grotto members have followed the motto, "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time." But caves that are not gated often wind up covered in graffiti and broken beer bottles. Last year, at the Fault Caves near Golden, eight grotto members picked up 40 pounds of trash and debris found in and around the caves and spent hours scrubbing spray paint from cave walls. "Conservation is our No. 1 focus," said Schneider, who works as a buyer for an electronics company. "Once there is damage done, it can't be repaired, it can't regrow. There are some caves that aren't beginner caves and can be dangerous places. And a rescue attempt can do a lot of damage to a cave as well."
There are several commercial caves in Colorado and nearby states that can serve as a good introduction to wild caving. Among them are Cave of the Winds in Manitou Springs, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs and Wind Cave National Park in Hot Springs, S.D.
Schneider, who also enjoys skiing, backpacking, camping, kayaking and mountain biking, got hooked after taking a tourist trip through Cave of the Winds nine years ago. She has gone on two or three caving trips a month since the spring, including trips to South Dakota and New Mexico. "My mom looked at me and said, 'Why in the world would you find that fun?' " she said. "It's definitely different, and it's not for everybody, but it's a lot of fun. For me, it's the beauty, the exploration and the uniqueness of every place that I go."
www.rockymountainnews.com/
Need something to sate a deep desire? Try cave exploration
By Brian Metzler, Special to the News
August 19, 2006
Dropping into the subterranean depths of a cave can be a bit spooky at first. But once you get used to the darkness and confining conditions, a whole new world opens up around you in the glow of your headlamp.
Exploring wild caves in Colorado, you might encounter extraordinary geological formations, underground bodies of water and uncommon wildlife - such as bats or albino insects. And depending on the cave, you're also likely to do some hiking, climbing, scrambling or crawling along the way.
Experienced cavers consider it the last frontier, the opportunity to venture into places where few people have been. Others find it a unique way to combine outdoor recreation with scientific inklings and a quest for adventure.
"It's a lot of fun," said Glenn Strouhal, 33, a computer programmer and part-time Englewood resident who has explored several caves in Colorado. "I like the exploration factor and the fact that there's always an element of the unknown."
There are about 700 known wild caves in Colorado, but there are believed to be many more that have been kept secret by cavers or private landowners. Many of the known caves are believed to have undiscovered chambers and passages.
Although a few caves in Colorado were formed by fissures, or faults, in the Earth's surface, most were created by rushing water during the course of hundreds or thousands of years.
Caves close to the Earth's surface maintain a constant temperature of 45 to 55 degrees all year. But deeper caves, which might stretch several miles underground, have temperatures slightly above freezing. Some are dry, some are damp and many feature underground streams.
Like snowflakes or 14,000-foot peaks, no two caves are the same inside.
Take, for example, three caves near Eagle. Fulford Cave has magnificent stalactites, stalagmites and flowstones, as well as an underground stream. Sinking River Cave has a 160-foot pit, the largest of any cave in the state. Groaning Cave, believed to be the state's longest cave, with more than 11 miles of passageways, has numerous geological features, including a red-gray-blue carbonate ooze known as moonmilk.
That might sound fairly intri-guing, but if you want to start exploring caves in Colorado, you won't find much information readily available. There are few caving Web sites on the Internet, and the only book ever published on the state's caves is long out of print and very hard to find.
For the sake of preserving the fragile environments found underground, the caving community doesn't openly share details or locations of caves outside of "grottos" or caving clubs. Vandalism, injuries and theft of geological features are other reasons the clubs limit the information they make public.
There are five grottos in Colorado, the largest of which is the 112-member Denver-based Colorado Grotto. The clubs conduct monthly meetings to discuss exploration projects, share trip details and welcome new members.
While some caves are beginner-friendly, Christa Schneider, president of the Colorado Grotto, suggests anyone interested in caving should join a grotto so they can learn the necessary skills and make their first subterranean trips with experienced club members. "A lot of times, our best way to protect a cave is to keep it quiet," said Schneider, 32. "It's not that we'll never take new people there. But we'll take them in a controlled environment where we can have experienced people with them that can teach them the proper ways of moving through a particular cave and areas we might want to avoid."
Many caves on Forest Service or National Park Service land are gated and locked, in order to limit the number of people who are allowed to visit them each year. Grottos are aligned with land agencies and have access to those caves, and their members often conduct volunteer exploration and work trips to help preserve the caves.
For years, grotto members have followed the motto, "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time." But caves that are not gated often wind up covered in graffiti and broken beer bottles. Last year, at the Fault Caves near Golden, eight grotto members picked up 40 pounds of trash and debris found in and around the caves and spent hours scrubbing spray paint from cave walls. "Conservation is our No. 1 focus," said Schneider, who works as a buyer for an electronics company. "Once there is damage done, it can't be repaired, it can't regrow. There are some caves that aren't beginner caves and can be dangerous places. And a rescue attempt can do a lot of damage to a cave as well."
There are several commercial caves in Colorado and nearby states that can serve as a good introduction to wild caving. Among them are Cave of the Winds in Manitou Springs, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs and Wind Cave National Park in Hot Springs, S.D.
Schneider, who also enjoys skiing, backpacking, camping, kayaking and mountain biking, got hooked after taking a tourist trip through Cave of the Winds nine years ago. She has gone on two or three caving trips a month since the spring, including trips to South Dakota and New Mexico. "My mom looked at me and said, 'Why in the world would you find that fun?' " she said. "It's definitely different, and it's not for everybody, but it's a lot of fun. For me, it's the beauty, the exploration and the uniqueness of every place that I go."
www.rockymountainnews.com/