DISCOVERY OF HIGH HOPES CAVE, NEVADA
May 02, 2017
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| High Hopes cave, Nevada PHOTO BY: Dan Straley |
I headed out into a remote part of Nevada with some friends to a range of unexplored limestone mountains that might hold a bunch of caves and karst features to photo and map. We slept out on a basin and in the morning headed out to the head of a promising looking limestone canyon that appeared to have a lot of opportunity.
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| Camping in the basin, Nevada PHOTO BY: Dan Straley |
We looked at a bunch of ridges in the area and turned out nothing. There was a section that turned into crumbly granite from limestone that also threw us off a bunch so we headed into another canyon and a cave became visible from the parking spot. Our hopes were high as the caves looked like it would go from the spotting scope so we hiked up to the entrance of the cave. The cave itself had a nice entrance but ended 36ft. from the entrance. This cave was more of a cave shelter which had some very small popcorn and rat scat towards the back. Regardless, it was exciting to hike up there and it was an interesting find. The entrance looking out of the cave had a beautiful view. We continued to hike in the region without any other luck so we headed out of the basin and down to our next destination.
Adam Haydock ridge walking in Nevada. PHOTO BY: Dan Straley
I bet there is a lot more opportunity to find some deep caves in this area but we have a lot to cover on future visits to this area. The decision was made to call this cave " high hopes" cave since we had high hopes that it would be a going cave with passage and it is considered pretty high in elevation for Nevada standards.
To learn more about safe caving activities, caving in Nevada, or to learn how you can get involved and visit caves like these, please reach out to your local caving grotto, The Southern Nevada Grotto. If you have any questions or you need help with reaching out to the right caving organization, please reach out to me directly.
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