Indian Burial Cave

In going back through my photos, I realized I hadn't posted about a couple fun days in April. If you've been following this blog, you know that I like caves a little.

Or maybe more than a little.

If you're not sure, do a search on this blog for caves (or click the cave label at the bottom of this post), and you will see some of the other things I've written about caves.

I've been caving for 17 years now (that's making me feel old!), and I like teaching other folks how to cave safely and with cave conservation in mind. One of our archeologists had been asked to do an archeological survey in a vertical cave, but she didn't know how to rappel and climb rope, so she asked for a lesson. We were happy to comply, as none of our little caving group had done much on rope recently.

We started with practice outside. I always recommend practice out of the cave first--it's so much easier to see what to do when you have full light and not just the beam from a little headlamp. We spent a couple hours practicing climbing rope, changing over to rappel, and rappeling down.

Later that week, we went to a nearby cave, Indian Burial Cave. It's a gated cave and requires a permit to enter.

We did some rigging practice before we went into the cave and talked about ways to rig so you are ready for a rescue.

Then Meg volunteered to go down first. She rappelled into the cave and we heard her call back,
"There's a snake down here!"


Someone asked, "Dead or alive?"


"Alive!"

Nothing like wildlife to make the trip a little more interesting! I found several dead snakes in the cave. I imagine that they're attracted to the pleasant temperature of the cave and then get on walls that are a little too steep and just fall in.

Meg pointed in the direction of the live snake, and I found it trying to hide. Poor thing, it will soon join the other carcasses. The silver lining is that they provide food for the cave-adapted organisms. In fact, before the gate, there probably was a lot more that fell into the cave and provided food for the severely nutrient-limited underground ecosystem.

Also right near the entrance drop was a sign. It says:

Paleontological Research in progress

Funded by the National Geographic Society 

and the Geological Society of America

PLEASE DO NOT DIG IN THIS AREA

Your cooperation is appreciated.

Numerous animal and human remains have been found in the cave.

I was more interested in the live wildlife. This caterpillar was climbing on a rock. I don't know if it will find enough food to survive.

The darkling beetle was wandering around.

A few flies hung out, too.

Then it was time to head deeper into the cave and take some photos.

Hi, Meg! She is wearing good caving equipment: helmet, lights, elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves.

The most notable formation in the cave are these folia, a shelf like feature that is really pretty.

More folia.

Then it was time to head out of the cave. We went one at a time, with two ascenders that gripped the rope. We all used the frog system, which is a sit-stand system. You alternate sitting and standing, moving one ascender with each movement. In that manner, you can move up the rope about a foot and a half at a time.

It wasn't a very long cave trip, but it was a fun one. It's always a good day when I can go into a cave--and get out safely!

Down, Down in the Underground

Ready to go undergound? Check out this video? Be sure you have your audio turned on.

A Trip to the Black Hole

One late afternoon in the not-too-distant past, I decided it would be fun to load up the kids and head out towards the fields and see what my husband was up to. The afternoon light was gorgeous, and it felt great to be out of the house.

We couldn't find my husband (he was out shuttling farm equipment), but we decided to enjoy our time outside and go on a little adventure trip.

We drove up one of the two-track roads until I spotted an interesting looking hole in the hillside. Usually I look at those holes and say, "I should go check that out some day."

That day I decided it was "some day." It was the day to go check it out.

So we piled out of the van.

We weren't at all prepared. I didn't have the baby carrier for Emma and I didn't have a flashlight. The hole was so far away you can't even see it in the photo above.

But we had a snack and we had gumption.

What else do you really need?

I say that the kids are easily distracted by what's around them, but I have to admit that I was, too. I really liked how this Indian rice grass looked in the afternoon light with the faded autumn vegetation around it.

We're getting closer, but you still can't see much of the hole in the rocks. Henry was happy to run around. Can you see him?

It was nice when we started getting to rock, the walking was easier and it just felt more adventurous.


Desert Boy and I took turns leading. He didn't like all the bushes in the way, but he had been promised a snack when we reached the hole, so he kept going.

It got steeper and more interesting.

And then I couldn't resist racing ahead so I could get a photo before the sun disappeared behind the mountains.

Whenever that happens, Desert Boy asks, "Is the earth turning?"

You betcha.

Desert Boy did a good job getting up the steep parts.

Even though he was wearing his cowboy boots on the wrong feet.

Some of the climb was a hand-and-foot scramble.

The hole was big, and little Desert Girl makes it look even bigger. However, it didn't go back far. Oh, well, now we know.

We had our snack and everyone was happy.

We enjoyed the last rays of the setting sun.

Then it was time for the long hike back to the van. But before we left the rocks, we spotted something else...

...another cave!

We will return to explore some more someday. And eat more snacks.

Marengo Cave

For one of our family outings, we decided to go to Marengo Cave, a privately owned cave in southern Indiana that operates commercial tours. Some of us wanted to take one of their crawling tours, but they didn't have any available that day, so we settled for the one-mile walking tour along the Dripstone Trail.

I noticed a few cave crickets near the entrance. They were more colorful than the cave crickets I see in caves out here in the desert. They acted pretty much the same, though: hang on to the ceiling and wall and not move.

Little Maria was a little tired at the start, so it was her day to get the royal princess treatment (like Emma got the day before) and be carried along the trail. She had plenty of willing arms.

The tour was in old stream passages, and the stream had eroded out wide and tall spaces. This made for easy walking, although in a few spaces they had dug out the cave floor to make it easier for visitors to traverse.

A stream still runs along lower passages in the cave, and that's where some of the crawling tours go.

Here was most of our family group that went on the tour. We even managed to appear fairly respectable. Maybe that's because it was the beginning of the tour. By the end, Desert Boy had gotten his clothes coated with mud. Despite it being a walking tour. In mostly dry passageways.

His uncles thought it was pretty funny.

Maybe they'll come over and do the laundry.

Here's the rest of our group: Emma and me. Photography by Desert Boy. He may need a few lessons in photography.

Miss Maria in her new throne.

I think she liked the cave. All the kids seemed to like it.

There was no screaming. There were no noxious smells from diapers. And, a little to my surprise, there were no urgent requests to find a bathroom.

Although most of the part of the 3+ mile long cave we toured didn't have formations, here and there we did see some nice ones, like this wall of columns and flowstone.

Desert Boy was a source of constant amusement along the trail.

Maybe this indicates how he got a little dirty.

The tour came to an end all too soon, and it was time to head back up to the daylight.

The plan was to go back to the cabin and eat lunch and then hang out at the nearby lake. Somehow I never managed to get a photo of the lake. And I didn't see too much of it, as I spent a good part of the afternoon napping.

And watching kids. They were so fun to watch as they interacted in various ways.

We also had to save some energy for our next day's adventures...

Bowers Cave

After a visit to Mammoth Lave Tube, we decided to try and find Bowers Cave. None of us had ever been there before, so it took a little looking. We knew we were close when we saw the sign pointing to the parking area. Desert Boy and Desert Girl had had enough excitement and were napping, so my husband stayed with them while Kent and I went in search of the cave entrance.

The entrance wasn't far away, and we found the cavers we had met at the other cave. The main entrance to Bowers Cave is a 15 foot drop, and they had rigged the entrance with a rope and were taking turns rappelling into it.

It's a good place to practice basic vertical skills.

We hadn't brought our vertical gear, but fortunately one of the cavers in their group showed us another entrance into the cave.

It was kind of small, but it didn't require rope!

It's not easy to find entrances with so much lava in the area! Or rather, it's not easy to find entrances that go very far.

This entrance was used by a canid (member of the dog family). There was a lot of canid scat, so possibly it's used as a coyote den.

There was also lots of packrat scat and three of these large Tipulidae flies.

After we got through the crawly part, the cave opened up and we were able to stand up.

I found a cave cricket on the wall, the only one I saw in this cave.

Down one passage were really cool roots hanging from the ceiling. Often roots are a good place for cave critters, so I looked a bit.

I didn't find any, but I did see some neat water drops on some of the roots.

We followed one passage until it pinched off. Then another passage until it did the same. Then we headed back into the main passage.

It was easy walking, with a high ceiling. Wow, I could get used to this kind of caving!

I saw a couple of these silver springtails, less than a centimeter long. They have strong tails that help them spring from place to place. Usually they just walk around, though.

I found an interesting rock covered with beetle carcasses, but couldn't figure out what had left them.

We kept on going down the main passage past the main entrance until it got really low and we decided we really didn't want to crawl.

Then we went back to the main entrance to take a look at it. I saw a way to climb out and did so, and then Kent followed.

It was a neat cave, and I'd definitely go back some day.

Maybe next time Desert Boy and Desert Girl will be awake enough to enjoy this cave!