Sunday, August 31, 2008

[trip] Cry Wolf Cave

On the first day of the Cascade Grotto's Labor Day weekend trip to the Trout Lake area, Claude Koch led a trip into Cry Wolf Cave. Cry Wolf is a fantastic lava tube that Claude and company dug into last year, and it features some large passage and formations, including a mystery gelatinous thing called The Blob. The cave is on private property and is gated.


Claude Koch dropping into the gated entrance pipe of Cry Wolf Cave.


A shelf covered in lavacicles in Cry Wolf Cave.


Rosey, Chris, Albert, and Hester in typical walking passage found in Cry Wolf Cave.

See also: more photos of Cry Wolf Cave

Saturday, August 16, 2008

[trip] Trout Lake Lava Tube Digging and Caving

I went digging this weekend with Claude Koch, the "mad lava tube digger" from the Willamette Valley Grotto. Over the last two or three years, Claude has worked his way into dozens of small new lava tubes and a few really amazing ones. He focuses on the Trout Lake area, a lava flow along the flanks of Mount Adams in WA.

We first dug a bit on Dig 69 Cave - yes, he's got so many that he's resorted to numbering them! We spent around an hour digging on a dirt/silt fill that completely plugs the 3-foot-high tube, and then decided to move onto something more productive. We quickly made a stop at Ottoman Cave to check out a dig that was too tight even for me, and moved on again.


Doug Marchant and Claude Koch outside the entrance of Ottoman Cave.

We then headed over to Dopey Cave, which had about 75 foot of known passage, blocked by breakdown. I headed in and was able to pry a frightening loose block from the ceiling crust and move it out of the way, which enabled Claude and I to scoop around 400 feet of virgin lava tube between 6 and 3 feet tall, with an amazing lava intrusion in the floor.


The entrance to Dopey Cave, which we easily extended by 400 feet.

After a chilly night of camping, Ken Stickney of the Oregon Grotto took me on a tourist trip into Resurrection Cave. This cave features some extremely impressive lava formations, and was discovered only after the dense forest had been cleared.


Ken Stickney poses with the "old lady" in Resurrection Cave (I've forgotten its real name).


Formation Alley in Resurrection Cave features a dense collection of lavacicles.


A lava rose (R) next to an oddly-shaped lavacicle (L) in Resurrection Cave.

See also: more photos from Resurrection Cave

Friday, August 15, 2008

[meta] Pacific Northwest Caving

Despite this being the "WV Speleo-Log", I'm spending the Autumn in Portland Oregon, and will be posting trip reports from the Pacific Northwest for the next few months. I hope that all my faithful readers enjoy a break from the norm...