Post by Chad Dubuisson on Aug 11, 2008 17:59:54 GMT -5
Sunday we awoke early to head up to do Bloodstone, but after meeting up in S.Pittsburg and having breakfast, we drove over to the parking area only to realize that our drill for the day had a dead battery. This caused us to abort our original plans to do the Bloodstone trip, due to the condition of the rigging in there. It has to be redone and isn't safe till some new hardware can be set in there. 
So, in a rebound effort, we decided to go tour Solution Rift instead. Led by Jason Hardy, along for the trip were Brad Tipton, Matt Schohl and Chad Dubuisson.
We arrived at Charlie Smith’s house about 12:30 and after getting his permission, we kitted up and headed up the mountain. The long hike up was brutal in the heat of August, but after about an hour, Jason walked us right to it. The little drip of water at the entrance felt amazing to stand under for a few minutes to cool us off.
After suiting up, we headed in about 2pm, making our way down the first 3 drops in good time. The bolts on the first drop looked scary as hell, but they managed to hold all of us on the way down. Plenty of gorgeous walking canyon passage is found in this part of the upper cave. Once down the third drop, we started the crawling, which included lots of tight, muddy nasty shit, in and out of the water, which felt great by that point in our suits. We crawled for about a half and hour, then stopped just before the forth drop for a break, after which we proceeded into the infamous “Burr Tubes.” Nice cold water crawling with a few ear dippers which Jason explained would only last “about 25-30 feet.” About 350-400 feet later, we emerged from the Burr Tubes at the top of Confederate Well, the deepest pitch in the cave weighing in at 167’ deep.
We descended the photogenic drop quickly and without issue, that was until we tried to pull the ropes down. I tried first, putting my full body weight into it, which proved futile. I then clipped in with my croll and jumped off a five foot ledge into the center of the water on the down rope, which resulted in my just bouncing up and down. Then Matt clipped in and we tried it again, to no avail. Finally, Jason and I both clipped into the rope and jumped, finally freeing it from the bind. After recovering and coiling the ropes, onward to the next drop we went, quickly making our way through the remaining drops, descending some beautiful cave till we’d reached base level.
With the vertical gear stowed, we found our way through the watery crawls of the lower cave, slinking in and out of the water over and over. After what seemed like an hour or so, we saw the concrete dam in sight, signaling the end. The final water pool at the resurgence smelled like a mix between beaver piss and hot ass, but we emerged into the twilight of dusk about 9pm. Trampling along next to the corn at night, we made our way back to Charlie’s house and the trucks about 20 minutes later.
Total trip time: ~7 hours
This was followed by the traditional caver meal of Mexican food at the Michjical in South Pittsburg. A wonderful trip through a fantastic cave.
So, in a rebound effort, we decided to go tour Solution Rift instead. Led by Jason Hardy, along for the trip were Brad Tipton, Matt Schohl and Chad Dubuisson.
We arrived at Charlie Smith’s house about 12:30 and after getting his permission, we kitted up and headed up the mountain. The long hike up was brutal in the heat of August, but after about an hour, Jason walked us right to it. The little drip of water at the entrance felt amazing to stand under for a few minutes to cool us off.
After suiting up, we headed in about 2pm, making our way down the first 3 drops in good time. The bolts on the first drop looked scary as hell, but they managed to hold all of us on the way down. Plenty of gorgeous walking canyon passage is found in this part of the upper cave. Once down the third drop, we started the crawling, which included lots of tight, muddy nasty shit, in and out of the water, which felt great by that point in our suits. We crawled for about a half and hour, then stopped just before the forth drop for a break, after which we proceeded into the infamous “Burr Tubes.” Nice cold water crawling with a few ear dippers which Jason explained would only last “about 25-30 feet.” About 350-400 feet later, we emerged from the Burr Tubes at the top of Confederate Well, the deepest pitch in the cave weighing in at 167’ deep.
We descended the photogenic drop quickly and without issue, that was until we tried to pull the ropes down. I tried first, putting my full body weight into it, which proved futile. I then clipped in with my croll and jumped off a five foot ledge into the center of the water on the down rope, which resulted in my just bouncing up and down. Then Matt clipped in and we tried it again, to no avail. Finally, Jason and I both clipped into the rope and jumped, finally freeing it from the bind. After recovering and coiling the ropes, onward to the next drop we went, quickly making our way through the remaining drops, descending some beautiful cave till we’d reached base level.
With the vertical gear stowed, we found our way through the watery crawls of the lower cave, slinking in and out of the water over and over. After what seemed like an hour or so, we saw the concrete dam in sight, signaling the end. The final water pool at the resurgence smelled like a mix between beaver piss and hot ass, but we emerged into the twilight of dusk about 9pm. Trampling along next to the corn at night, we made our way back to Charlie’s house and the trucks about 20 minutes later.
Total trip time: ~7 hours
This was followed by the traditional caver meal of Mexican food at the Michjical in South Pittsburg. A wonderful trip through a fantastic cave.
