Post by Brad Tipton on Feb 25, 2007 20:17:40 GMT -5
I figured since everyone else was doing it, we would go see what all the fuss was about. ;D
First off, I would give an appendage or two to own a cave like that right in my front yard. It would be a caver's dream to be able to finish the yard work on a hot summer day. Throw on some gear and make the short hike to the upper entrance. Get cooled off with a quick thru trip, then finish the day drinking a cold beer in my hammock while enjoying the cool breeze blowing from the entrance. What more could you ask for?
The eight of us arrived at the upper entrance which is quite impressive with the waterfall cascading down the cliff face. I couldn't help but notice how close the cave is to a quarry. They are literally rolling car sized boulders down the hill almost into the cave entrance. I wonder if the upper entrance is on private land? I would hate to see a fine cave get destroyed by a quarry.
Our trip leader Chad Dubuisson was the only one of us who had been through the cave before. The rest of us, mainly CHCRS members, were there for his audition of sorts, as I hope he will soon be a new member of our team. Chad and his friend who I forgot his name
went ahead of the rest of us to rig the 1st pit just inside the sink.
When I saw the amount of water falling into the 1st pit I was sure it would be drencher. Luckily the rig positioned us just to the side and was mostly dry with the exception of the spray. At the bottom quite a few of us were getting tangled in all the old water lines that ended up at the bottom of the pit. Chad, Tim, Rob?, and myself went on to the climbdown to the next drop while the others, Bruce, Bob, Andy and Mike were still rappelling in.
The 2nd drop was wet. No chance of staying dry on that one. I stayed up top while everyone rappelled to take photos in the climbdown section. It was a bit warmer waiting up top than at the bottom of that 2nd pit and I didn't wear a wetsuit. I got a bit cold after getting soaked to the bone on that drop. 8 people just don't move fast enough!!
The stream leading to the top of the 3rd drop consisted of some crawling......much to Bruce's dislike. He is still recovering from his 2nd knee replacement surgery and this was his 1st real caving trip since his last surgery. Considering all he has endured in the past year or so, Bruce managed to negotiate the crawls quite well.
The highlight of the cave has to be the last drop and the river passage leading out to the lower entrance. Again, quite a lot of water was falling over the lip, but not enough to drench us on rappel. Tim discovered that the plunge pool was rather deep at the bottom right after he stepped off in it. Then a couple of them attempted to trick me into walking off into it as well. Ahhh Friends......what would I do without them?
The lower cave has some nice formations and there looked to be some upper levels that we didn't probe. I lagged behind to get some photos of the lower level passage and some looking out of the lower entrance.
In all, Pryor Springs Cave is definately worthy of all the fuss.
First off, I would give an appendage or two to own a cave like that right in my front yard. It would be a caver's dream to be able to finish the yard work on a hot summer day. Throw on some gear and make the short hike to the upper entrance. Get cooled off with a quick thru trip, then finish the day drinking a cold beer in my hammock while enjoying the cool breeze blowing from the entrance. What more could you ask for?
The eight of us arrived at the upper entrance which is quite impressive with the waterfall cascading down the cliff face. I couldn't help but notice how close the cave is to a quarry. They are literally rolling car sized boulders down the hill almost into the cave entrance. I wonder if the upper entrance is on private land? I would hate to see a fine cave get destroyed by a quarry.
Our trip leader Chad Dubuisson was the only one of us who had been through the cave before. The rest of us, mainly CHCRS members, were there for his audition of sorts, as I hope he will soon be a new member of our team. Chad and his friend who I forgot his name
went ahead of the rest of us to rig the 1st pit just inside the sink.When I saw the amount of water falling into the 1st pit I was sure it would be drencher. Luckily the rig positioned us just to the side and was mostly dry with the exception of the spray. At the bottom quite a few of us were getting tangled in all the old water lines that ended up at the bottom of the pit. Chad, Tim, Rob?, and myself went on to the climbdown to the next drop while the others, Bruce, Bob, Andy and Mike were still rappelling in.
The 2nd drop was wet. No chance of staying dry on that one. I stayed up top while everyone rappelled to take photos in the climbdown section. It was a bit warmer waiting up top than at the bottom of that 2nd pit and I didn't wear a wetsuit. I got a bit cold after getting soaked to the bone on that drop. 8 people just don't move fast enough!!
The stream leading to the top of the 3rd drop consisted of some crawling......much to Bruce's dislike. He is still recovering from his 2nd knee replacement surgery and this was his 1st real caving trip since his last surgery. Considering all he has endured in the past year or so, Bruce managed to negotiate the crawls quite well.
The highlight of the cave has to be the last drop and the river passage leading out to the lower entrance. Again, quite a lot of water was falling over the lip, but not enough to drench us on rappel. Tim discovered that the plunge pool was rather deep at the bottom right after he stepped off in it. Then a couple of them attempted to trick me into walking off into it as well. Ahhh Friends......what would I do without them?
The lower cave has some nice formations and there looked to be some upper levels that we didn't probe. I lagged behind to get some photos of the lower level passage and some looking out of the lower entrance.
In all, Pryor Springs Cave is definately worthy of all the fuss.
Stephen Adcock & myself went through Pryor's last weekend & brought a drill & hardware. We set about the task of rebolting the cave with dual chain pull down stations. We drilled all the holes & put in big, nice 1/2" Stainless bolts, complete with dual SS chains & mallions, etc. Unfortunately, we got some of the bolts mixed in the bag & it turns out I only brought about 4/7 of the correct bolts with us 
