ADAM HAYDOCK

SHIPWRECK OF THE VERNON

June 16, 2015

From the Shipwreck of the Vernon

Photo By Ellery Kretlow Port bow of the Vernon Shipwreck.

On October 25th.1887, the Vernon set out for Mackinac Island making periodic stops along the way to pick up cargo and passengers.

Walter coming into the cargo hold of the Vernon Shipwreck Photo By Ellery Kretlow

The 158ft. wooden passenger and cargo ship found herself in a gale 8 miles northeast of Two Rivers in Wisconsin and took between 40 and 50 people down with her in the frigid sub 40 degree waters to a depth of 205ft.

portside of the Vernon Shipwreck Photo By Ellery Kretlow

The only survivor was found two days later on a small boat.

Cargo of the Vernon Shipwreck Photo By Ellery Kretlow

Reports have been noted that she might have been overloaded and her cargo doors were open which might have caused the Vernon to founder where she lies today.

Bow of the Vernon Shipwreck. Photo By Ellery Kretlow

Vernon Shipwreck Photo By; Jitka Hanakova

Mike Apke, Leo Quartullo, Ellery Kretlow, stayed in Two Rivers the night before so we could get a good night sleep and make our way over to the harbor by 730am.

Vernon Shipwreck Photo By; Jitka Hanakova

I was not able to get the best sleep due to Chris snoring like he was sawing logs all night.

Artifacts inside the Vernon Shipwreck Photo By Ellery Kretlow

In my opinion, she is one of the most impressive Lake Michigan shipwrecks that can be found above 220ft.

Vernon Shipwreck Photo By; Jitka Hanakova

She is very well preserved and intact listing on a 20-30 degree angle on her starboard side.

Shipwreck of the Vernon Photo By Ellery Kretlow

Vernon Shipwreck Photo By; Jitka Hanakova

Some of her cargo is scattered on her starboard side debris field and scattered about inside her holds.

Vernon Shipwreck Photo By Ellery Kretlow

I was absolutely impressed with this shipwreck but at a max depth of 190ft, the narcosis was pretty apparent.

Vernon Shipwreck Photo By Ellery Kretlow

My focus was on our dive plan and procedure so I stuck to the plan until I saw a nice entry point into the wreck with an obvious exit point so we proceeded through and I saw Walter hanging out in the cut.

Walter inside the Vernon shipwreck

Vernon Shipwreck Photo By; Jitka Hanakova

I continued to follow the wreck to the other side but realized we were descending down and scraped 190ft as we exited through the other side.

Vernon Shipwreck Photo By; Jitka Hanakova

We camp back up to a depth of 175 and continued with our dive until it was time to ascend back up to the surface.

Jitka Hanakova at the bow of the Vernon Shipwreck

We got some pics here and there but they did not turn out the way I wanted them.

Vernon Shipwreck Photo By; Jitka Hanakova

Thankfully Jitka was taking photographs and Ellery was using a GoPro and took the best video that I have seen of the Vernon to date.

Original Carvings on the bow of the Vernon Shipwreck

We started our ascent up and followed our decompression procedure flawlessly and got back on the boat without any incident.

Vernon Shipwreck Photo By; Jitka Hanakova

Next to the Sandusky and the Eber Ward, the Vernon was the most impressive shipwreck I have seen in Lake Michigan thus far.

Mike at the bow of the Vernon Shipwreck

That is one shipwreck that I am excited to return to and can’t wait to get back into the inner bowels of her cargo holds, but for now we are on our way to one of the most mysterious and historic shipwrecks of the great lakes, The Rouse Simmons.

VIDEO OF THE VERNON

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/sets/72157654215963638

Shipwreck Explorers: www.shipwreckexplorers.com

Wisconsin Shipwrecks: http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/624?region=Index

Vernon Shipwreck

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SPELEOFEST 2015

May 28, 2015

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SWAMP SPRINGS CAVE RESURGENCE

May 28, 2015

Swamp Springs

We came to Alfred Crabtree's property the night before to camp and ended up camping in our car which was a change of pace and worked out quite well. We were actually able to fit in the Subaru. The morning broke and the warm air started to burn off the dew from the night before. Birds chirped, larger birds coasted above the tree lines and a beautiful property on the cane creek was visible throughout the shoreline of this site.

Swamp Springs

To back it up a bit as to why we are here, I initially secured access to visit a closed cave on state park lands called Black Rock River Cave or Dark River Cave. Years ago cave divers pushed a sump from Windy River Cave and they believed they popped into Black Rock River cave.

Kayaking to Swamp Springs

Unsure of their where abouts, they left the line and a line arrow in the insurgence of where they made their dive. They are pretty certain the made the connection but I wanted to make sure the connection was made because this is a important piece of information as to how the hydrology of the Rumbling Falls System operates which is though to come from indian spring, into black rock river, into windy river, and on into Rumbling Falls. Furthermore, significant passage is yet to be discovered in the already 16 mile cave system. Unfortunatly, we were not able to access the cave due to technical logistics not working out with the DNR so a future trip to black rock river will have to happen but for now we can assume that those two caves are connected. Swamp Springs is the main drainage for Rumbling Falls and Thunder Run appears to be a overflow system recharging when swamp springs floods. We went to visit where the resurgence of Swamp Springs drains all the water from the cave when Tim and Janice Curtis showed up with kayaks.

Tim Curtis at Swamp Springs

This was a nice change of pace and finally we were able to get some sun and enjoy the warm weather as we kayaked up river to the resurgence of Swamp Springs.

Tim Curtis at Swamp Springs Resurgence

After about a half hour, we made it to the breakdown piles where the water leaves the caves permanently. It was interesting to see this as this is the bitter end of Rumbling Falls. I could feel wind blowing out of some of the rocks and I am sure there are leads just beyond those breakdown piles that will lead to the cave itself.

Kayaking to Swamp Springs Cave

There is another entrance to the cave that I will like to visit another time, but for now we all enjoyed a nice paddle up and down the river. Eventually we made it back to the property and decided on grabbing something to eat while we made our way back towards Chicago. Tim and Janice were awesome and I am so grateful for them to bring kayaks for us to use on the river. That was a real treat and we had a blast meeting them and hearing about some of the photography stories from the past.

Tim Curtis inspecting the Resurgence at Swamp Springs Cave

FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/sets/72157653151182279

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McBRIDES CAVE

May 28, 2015

Walter Stech in McBrides Cave Alabama

Our last day in North Alabama and what a day it was as we headed out towards Stevenson to visit the world famous McBrides cave. This is a classic pull down thru trip that is quite popular with cavers but the cave has also got some international attention with the rescue that occurred here 10 years ago where cavers had to be pulled from the bottom of the cave which took the team a couple of days to perform. We met up with Troy Fuqua, Jennifer Denton, and Derek Reneer.

Entrance to MhcBrides Cave

The hole was rather small in size but it sure was a pull drown trip!! The first three drops were right next to each other and were between 20 and 40 ft in length.

Troy Fugua at the top of the 2nd drop in McBrides Cave

We fixed a traditional clove hitch to the rope and worked our way down and through some small water crawling passage until we got to the forth drop which was another 30ft.

3rd drop McBrides Cave

This took us to a small room where we could either go up or go down to follow the water to the fifth drop.

Derek at the top of the 4th drop McBrides Cave

We went high and followed a dry canyon passage to a breakdown borehole passage that took us to the "lunch room", which is a standing and walking room where we could rest up for the water portion. This is where we suited up and prepared for lots of water!!! !!

in the lunch room of McBrides Cave

After getting turned around a bit, we made our way down a breakdown passage to the waterlevel and to the next drop. This was a really nice section of the cave!

McBrides Cave

The ceiling was decorated with formations and the floor had an “S” cut scalloped passage that worked over a 10ft waterfall and to the main 90ft big room drop.

Walter in McBrides Cave

Ok this was awesome, I was able to perch myself on a ledge to get some shots of walter going over the edge and we were also able to enjoy a healthy dose of water pressure as we went over the falls, what a great rappel!!

McBrides Cave

The there was a pool of water at the bottom and a breakdown pile which took us to the 6^th drop where the water was pouring over us but in a way that kept us out of the water.

Walter going over the 5th drop in McBrides Cave

This was another beautiful rappel!!!

Walter, Jennifer, and Derek, at the bottom of the 5th drop in McBrides Cave

We get down to the bottom and follow the passage 50ft to the 7^th rappel which is a series of a few table top drops and a re-direct that we put into the rope to keep it from sawing on the sharp rock.

McBrides Cave

We made our way down into this pool and started planning for the 8^th drop.

McBrides Cave

The 8^th drop is particularly interesting as it has a lot of water in a small confined area. We have been told that we will have to rig our racks with water pouring over our shoulders which woudl have been a unique rappel nobody has done before.

Walter Stech in McBrides Cave

It turned out that was not the case when we actually made it over there. The water was quite low but Troy rigged to lower us as we made it over the edge which worked out well but I think we could have rappelled this 40ft drop without too much difficulty.

Large fossil in McBrides Cave

Once we got to the bottom we warmed up in this room where the wind was not blowing and crawled our way over to the 9^th drop which was the last 20footer in a waterfall.

Walter Stech going over the 6th drop in McBrides Cave Alabama

Wooohoooo!!! We finally made it down the last drop and it is a walk out of the….well not so much of a walk more like a stoop walking crawling and some walking passage for a few thousand feet before we were able to exit the cave.

Chert Ball Crawl McBrides Cave

There was one section that had impressive chert ball formations in a watercut canyon so we continued down and made our way to the exit!!! Lucky, the owners dog was waiting for us at the exit of the cave which was a nice site to see.

Lucky realizing its Troy at the exit

The warm weather smacked into our faces and we enjoyed lounging in lawn chairs while troy pulled out some of his amazing deals he picked out of thrift stores including a tent you throw up in the air and constructs itself as it hits the ground…

Troy and Lucky at the exit of the cave

It was a blast caving with Derek, Jennifer, and Troy and I am grateful I was able to see Troy once again and to get a chance to go caving with him in McBrides!! What a great cave and great friends to cave with. We headed north to the Fall Creek falls Region to stay at Alfreds campsite and get ready for one last day of TAG hospitality!!

FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/sets/72157653575184575