Post by Brad Tipton on Apr 2, 2006 16:47:59 GMT -5
On Saturday a few of us visited Wil''s Welsh Well with the purpose of
bottoming the cave while the water levels were low. On two previous
visits in the past 4 years the 148 foot drop had so much water in it
that the force of the water would pound me against the wall of the
pit. Both times I wimped and climbed back up before I drowned. This
cave system and nearby Water Well drain massive amounts of water from
the hillside and are a mere 200 yards from one another. Both have been
high on my "to-do list" for many years.
Of course, I should have guessed it would rain all through the night
late Friday. But, we figured the ground being dry as its been that the
hillside would absorb a good bit of the run-off. When we arrived at
the entrance I could tell the water level was way lower than in my
previous attempts so we rigged up and headed in. The rebelay bolt made
for a good drop into the entance pit to the right of a rather large
death boulder. The drop was actually pretty dry other than some spray.
The sunlight from the top had the pit lit up bright enough that I
didn''t even realize that my headlamp was off. At the bottom, the floor
is clean of hardly any debris other than large rocks. All the water
from the top consolidates into a 15 foot climbdown that leads directly
to the top of the 50 foot pit. This cave trip was no longer dry beyond
the climbdown. The 50 footer itself was an absolute gullywasher! There
are 3 bolts there for rigging. 2 of which are farily old but are in
good condition and one which looks like it was placed there the day
before. Tim and I left Clay behind at the top of the 50 footer, we
rappelled down into the torrent and we proceeded farther into the cave
to find Carol''s Cascade. The water pretty much guided us through the
cave. There was a low space halfway between the 50 footer and the last
pit that we had to submarine under. I can imagine that place sumps
rather quickly in a flash flood. Beyond that we stumbled through some
muddy canyons and found a nice formation area before regaining the
stream and climbing down into an area where the stream starts to drop
thru the contact. We continued to follow the water until it dropped
into a small limestone tube beneath a large flowstone mound. We could
hear the water crashing beyond this funnel and we assumed that it
could lead directly out into the last drop of 100 feet. I decided to
try a head first assault to maybe get a glimpse of where the water was
going. All the water goes directly down this tube and the human body
became the cork. The water backed up fast and when I popped out on the
other side it was like pulling the plug at Mystery Falls and I was the
plug! I would suggest to any who visit to go in head first so you dont
drown. Directly after I popped out of "The Nozzle" as it is
appropriately named on the map, there I was perched at the top of a 15
footer. We rigged some webbing for the climbdown since we were
fighting the water launching from the nozzle. Taking a fall beyond the
nozzle would not be recomended. After the climdown the water
immediately entered a duck under and spilled straight down the last
drop. Here there was only one bolt for rigging. It was very rusty, yet
still sturdy. We opted for a bomb proof back up which was the
flowstone plug directly above the last drop. We used the bolt for
direction only and I rappelled in. That last drop is one wet S.O.B.
The water at the bottom of the pit was knee deep where I landed and it
was chest deep in the middle. A 40 foot high flowstone mound prevents
any escape from the water and wind at the bottom. I quickly evolved
into a popsicle waiting on Tim to descend and I was a nice guy to let
him climb first. Climbing up Carol''s Cascade wasn''t too bad......at
times. I can''t imagine the force of the water in this pit during wet
periods. Other than Tim and I taking turns drinking our way back out
of the nozzle, (did I mention the human cork?) the return trip to the
surface was uneventful. The water levels were just perfect for a nice
sporting trip, void of worrying about drowning and such. Clay was
waiting up top when we surfaced and we hauled the gear over to Water
Well to check out the 124 foot entrance drop.
Water Well, again, appropriately named. Another gully-washer, yet it
was just enough to motivate us to keep climbing. One bolt found
directly inside the entrance made for a good redirect down the pit.
The pit was wet for the entire 124 feet, not quite as intense as
Carol''s Cascade, but wet enough. At the bottom I checked the next pit,
which we had already decided to save the rest of the cave for another
day. I found someone''s rope stuck into a crack between the entrance
and the 2nd drop. I left it there, just in case the owner came back
for it later. I drank a little more water on the way back up and we
called it for the day. We made it back to the truck with daylight to
spare. The warm sunshine, the light breeze. A fine day for a great
adventure.
PS. Does anyone know where the water from these 2 cave systems
resurge? Are they seperate places or do they come out in the same
resurgence?
Brad Tipton
bottoming the cave while the water levels were low. On two previous
visits in the past 4 years the 148 foot drop had so much water in it
that the force of the water would pound me against the wall of the
pit. Both times I wimped and climbed back up before I drowned. This
cave system and nearby Water Well drain massive amounts of water from
the hillside and are a mere 200 yards from one another. Both have been
high on my "to-do list" for many years.
Of course, I should have guessed it would rain all through the night
late Friday. But, we figured the ground being dry as its been that the
hillside would absorb a good bit of the run-off. When we arrived at
the entrance I could tell the water level was way lower than in my
previous attempts so we rigged up and headed in. The rebelay bolt made
for a good drop into the entance pit to the right of a rather large
death boulder. The drop was actually pretty dry other than some spray.
The sunlight from the top had the pit lit up bright enough that I
didn''t even realize that my headlamp was off. At the bottom, the floor
is clean of hardly any debris other than large rocks. All the water
from the top consolidates into a 15 foot climbdown that leads directly
to the top of the 50 foot pit. This cave trip was no longer dry beyond
the climbdown. The 50 footer itself was an absolute gullywasher! There
are 3 bolts there for rigging. 2 of which are farily old but are in
good condition and one which looks like it was placed there the day
before. Tim and I left Clay behind at the top of the 50 footer, we
rappelled down into the torrent and we proceeded farther into the cave
to find Carol''s Cascade. The water pretty much guided us through the
cave. There was a low space halfway between the 50 footer and the last
pit that we had to submarine under. I can imagine that place sumps
rather quickly in a flash flood. Beyond that we stumbled through some
muddy canyons and found a nice formation area before regaining the
stream and climbing down into an area where the stream starts to drop
thru the contact. We continued to follow the water until it dropped
into a small limestone tube beneath a large flowstone mound. We could
hear the water crashing beyond this funnel and we assumed that it
could lead directly out into the last drop of 100 feet. I decided to
try a head first assault to maybe get a glimpse of where the water was
going. All the water goes directly down this tube and the human body
became the cork. The water backed up fast and when I popped out on the
other side it was like pulling the plug at Mystery Falls and I was the
plug! I would suggest to any who visit to go in head first so you dont
drown. Directly after I popped out of "The Nozzle" as it is
appropriately named on the map, there I was perched at the top of a 15
footer. We rigged some webbing for the climbdown since we were
fighting the water launching from the nozzle. Taking a fall beyond the
nozzle would not be recomended. After the climdown the water
immediately entered a duck under and spilled straight down the last
drop. Here there was only one bolt for rigging. It was very rusty, yet
still sturdy. We opted for a bomb proof back up which was the
flowstone plug directly above the last drop. We used the bolt for
direction only and I rappelled in. That last drop is one wet S.O.B.
The water at the bottom of the pit was knee deep where I landed and it
was chest deep in the middle. A 40 foot high flowstone mound prevents
any escape from the water and wind at the bottom. I quickly evolved
into a popsicle waiting on Tim to descend and I was a nice guy to let
him climb first. Climbing up Carol''s Cascade wasn''t too bad......at
times. I can''t imagine the force of the water in this pit during wet
periods. Other than Tim and I taking turns drinking our way back out
of the nozzle, (did I mention the human cork?) the return trip to the
surface was uneventful. The water levels were just perfect for a nice
sporting trip, void of worrying about drowning and such. Clay was
waiting up top when we surfaced and we hauled the gear over to Water
Well to check out the 124 foot entrance drop.
Water Well, again, appropriately named. Another gully-washer, yet it
was just enough to motivate us to keep climbing. One bolt found
directly inside the entrance made for a good redirect down the pit.
The pit was wet for the entire 124 feet, not quite as intense as
Carol''s Cascade, but wet enough. At the bottom I checked the next pit,
which we had already decided to save the rest of the cave for another
day. I found someone''s rope stuck into a crack between the entrance
and the 2nd drop. I left it there, just in case the owner came back
for it later. I drank a little more water on the way back up and we
called it for the day. We made it back to the truck with daylight to
spare. The warm sunshine, the light breeze. A fine day for a great
adventure.
PS. Does anyone know where the water from these 2 cave systems
resurge? Are they seperate places or do they come out in the same
resurgence?
Brad Tipton
