ADAM HAYDOCK

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana

Shipwreck of the St. Albans After finding out that the St. Albains and the EMBA were at around 150-160 to the dirt I wanted to make sure I got out to these two shipwrecks this summer and after some equipments updates, I was able to get these last two dives in before the viz in the lake started going down. My Dive Buddy Mike Apke chartered Shipwreck Explorers with Jitka Hanakova on the Molly V to take us out to the St.Albans and the EMBA.  These were two technical dives which were both scheduled to have a bottom time of 20 minutes with a schedule set for 165 ft.  My max depth on the St. Albans was 150 ft so running extra deco is fine by me.

From the Stern looking down the St. Albans towards the bow

Debris Field on the St. Albans



Entrance to Wells Cave

Jorge and Rich Pagels were waiting around all day to do something since they are not vertical cavers so i wanted to make sure we were able to get something horizontal in before it got too late.  I got back and Laura, Rich, Jorge, and myself got to Wells cave in good time.  We rigged a hand line and descended the 12-15 ft pit to the bottom walking passage. 

Typical walking passage in Wells Cave

We followed the 2000 ft cave going over break down sections and cross the stream passage at times. We made it the the helicitite rooms where there are small clusters of helictites growing on the ceilings.  It was a beautiful place.


helictite clusters on the ceiling in Wells Cave.




Laura crawling to the formation room in Wells Cave




Formation room in Wells Cave



helictites in Wells Cave



Wilson's Pit




On the ledge in Wilson's Pit.

I continued to traverse across a small exposed walkway to another small climb using rope to get to the top section of the pit.  I am so glad I did this because it was amazing to see the beautiful formations and popcorn formations that have grown in this section.  It was a like a little room full of designs and colors.


Top shelf formation room.



Top of the third level where the formations were.

This was a small cave but one of the most beautiful Pit caves I have been in and the best for indiana standards.  There were a lot of people here on this section of the trip so it took some time to get out but we all made it out and headed back to the campsite for a horizontal trip into Wells cave

back of the formation room.

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Easy Pit entrance with a trickling waterfall

We woke up early to get a head start so we could get to these pits at the right time.  We ate breakfast at Fredrick's in Corydon IN which is a good breakfast place and also a meet up for cavers in the area.  We got through that and made it over to the property Easy Pit is on...( a Buddhist Temple).  Very interesting to see a Buddhist temple in the middle of the woods in south Indiana, but why not........They had their own micro eco system working out for them, utilizing the resources they had which made them pretty self sustaining from what I can see.  Very cool!!!!  We went up the forest and made it to the pit entrance after a little search.   We rigged The pit entrance and dropped down the 70 ft pit to the bottom. 

Descending down Easy Pit

We all got down to the bottom and noticed around the pits walls were sculpted rock formations, a trickling water fall coming from the top,  and some flowstone draping the walls.  There was no passage but It was a nice looking cave from the inside. 

Bottom of Easy Pit.

 We got to the bottom and I noticed a bright green snake on a ledge.  It was super freaking green!!! Tymme rescued the snake by placing the snake in a bag and brought it back up to the surface so it can have another chance at life. 

snake at the bottom

We all ascended out of the cave without any issues and quickly got into the car to get to the next location which was Wilson pit.  The highlight of Cave Capers 2013 IMO

looking up from the bottom of easy pit.

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Ascending out of Rothrock Pit




Entrance to Rothrock Pit Cave

We dropped this 50 ft pit and found some garbage at the bottom as well as a yellow/black snake sitting on the ledge. The Pit Itself was small with a dome next to the drop.  There was some small passage that lead to another drop down into another dome where water was heard but we didn't make it into the second section of the cave.

Chris Parks going into the second section of Rothrock Cave

 We all ascended back out of the cave to go grab some dinner in hopes of getting to another pit in time but the sun at settled down and we decided to go back to the campground.  We hung out at the campgrounds listening to Dave Everton and Rich Pagels sing in the bands as well as have a few beers.  We got to bed to make sure we got an early start to the long day we anticipated on having.

Chris Parks Ascending Rothrock Cave

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Eb Allen over the bow.

The last dive of the trip we dove the Eb Allen.  This is one of the Preserves classic dives with a ship at around 100 ft to the dirt and buoyed!! The Eb Allen was going to New York and was hit on its portside and tore a large hole into the hull.  She sank and rests upright with its windless and rudder in tact as well as the frame and hull are pretty in tact. 


torn hole that brought the ship to its demise.

We made a 20 minute dive and as I got down to the wreck, I found that my lens was fogged out due to opening the camera out in the damp weather which pretty much destroyed my pictures. some of these pics are from mike apke but overall it was a nice last dive. 

lower deck of the EB Allen

I made my last deco ascent to the surface and shortly after I saw a lift bag and my buddy pop out of the water.  I guess he wasn't able to find the anchor line as the viz was only about 30 ft.  This was an amazing trip and I cant wait to come back to thunder bay for more deep shipwreck diving.  We also have some sinkholes to check out too!

in the lower deck.

coming out of the lower deck inside the Pewabic

divers going down to salvage the pewabic

in the lower deck looking up on the Pewabic.

Shipwreck of the New Orleans midship next to broken mast.

Broken midship with some penetration under the lower deck.

bow of the new orleans We got down to a depth of 125 ft and found the temp to be about the same and the viz to be just a bit less at around 60 ft.There was a little penetration to be had but mainly we admired her shear size and workmanship this wooden steamer had. We ascended without any issues and or decompression times went smooth.  What a great day of shipwreck diving on the great lakes!!

Shipwreck of The New Orleans.