ADAM HAYDOCK

ARIZONA CAVE SURVEY

September 04, 2018

Clint Climbing in a Arizona Cave

Arizona has some fantastic caves and great cavers that have been protecting these delicate and fragile environments.

Andy Orr in a Arizona Cave

One in particular is a multi mile cave that has on-going survey exploration occurring.

Paige and Clint in a Arizona Cave

In the past caves were destroyed by mining operations and individuals that vandalized caves from graffiti and broken formations.

Clint climbing out of the first pitch in a Arizona cave.

Not only did this destruction cause caves to be gated and closed, it could become a problem for the bats and other species of life that find these caves their home.

Clint in a borehole passage in a Arizona Cave.

Most caves in Arizona require you to have experience in caving, vertical caving experience, or be apart of a grotto.

Clint in a borehole passage in a Arizona Cave.

On this particular trip we went to visit a cave to photo document some of the passages and anticipate that we survey more cave.

Samantha Lester, Chuck Chapman, Andy Orr, Clint Poole, and Paige Gilmore in a Arizona Cave.

Clint Poole, Paige Gilmore, Samantha Lester, Chuck Chapman, Andy Orr, and I entered this cave that had all types of passages ranging from walking borehole passage to crawling on hands and knees.

Clint "zoolander" Poole in a Arizona Cave

It was a fun cave and has many galleries and great opportunities from continued survey.

Chuck Chapman and Andy Orr in a Arizona cave.

Clint Poole has taken over the survey project and has more going passage to survey along with leads to explore.

Clint and Paige in a Arizona Cave

At this point the survey trips are lasting between 14-16 hours but our trip was only 10.5 hours in length.

Clint looking at a colorful flowstone in a Arizona cave.

I am looking forward to coming back soon to help with the survey so Clint can complete the map.

Paige Gilmore in a Arizona cave.

If you are interested in joining a local grotto in Arizona so you can help protect these precious caves and get a chance to visit some of these caves please let me know or reach out to your local grotto in your region.

Paige Gilmore in a formation room in a Arizona Cave.

They will be more than happy to help prepare you for visiting these caves and the caving community can always use help with survey and project caving.

Andy climbing out of the bottom of the second pitch in a Arizona Cave.

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SNAKE CANYON CAVE, NEVADA

August 21, 2018

Randy Paylor in the formation room in Snake Canyon cave, Nevada.

After Goshute cave we headed to Ely for some food and than headed out to the range where Snake Canyon cave is located.

James, April and Tim Gocha hanging out as the sun goes down near Snake Canyon Cave, Nevada. PHOTO BY: JUSTIN BAILEY

Snake Canyon is more remote than Goshute and the roads were a bit rough for the cars to gain access to the trailhead so we camped along the way up the road.

Camping in the desert near Snake Canyon Cave, Nevada. PHOTO BY: JUSTIN BAILEY

The following day we got to the trailhead and we also met up with Doug from the forest service. Doug was fantastic and helpful with knowledge about this cave.

James in the formation room in Snake Canyon cave, Nevada.

Snake Canyon cave is at an elevation of around 9000ft. and took over an hour to hike up to the entrance. The entrance was a a small crawl into a room that opened up into a series of faulted passages that have appeared to have moved over time.

Randy with the full spectrum of the flow stone drapery in Snake Canyon Cave, Nevada.

The rooms were a series of wet and muddy breakdown piles with a few formations along the way.

Tim Gocha checking out a passages with bones in Snake Canyon Cave, Nevada. PHOTO BY: JUSTIN BAILEY

We made it to the back of the cave where there was a 15ft climb that had a few penalty points for falling so we secured a hand line for safety.

Snake Canyon cave.

Once we climbed into the final room we noticed the beautiful formations and the impressive flowstone drapery on the wall.

Formation room with randy in Snake Canyon cave, Nevada.

This flowstone must have been around 25-35ft high and around 15-20 in length.

Formation room with Randy in Snake Canyon cave, Nevada.

Furthermore the formations had some interesting ribbon lines within the drapery.

beautiful Nevada hills.

The cave was around 1000ft in length so it was a bit shorter than Goshute cave but it was very interesting and different from a lot of other caves in the area.

Randy coming out of the entrance of Snake Canyon cave, Nevada.

Tim and Doug headed down into a side passage and found some bones that they are going to discuss more about with each other.

Just outside of Snake canyon Cave, Nevada.

What a fantastic weekend and I am glad everyone got a chance to get out and go caving. I hope that the momentum continues to inspire more people to get outside so they can get inside these beautiful caves.

Tim Gocha stretching out at the entrance of Snake Canyon Cave, Nevada.

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GOSHUTE CAVE, NEVADA

Adam Haydock August 21, 2018

April and Tim Gocha in Goshute cave, Nevada

It has been a while since we went on a Grotto trip and I want to make sure I can include and give people opportunities to explore and enjoy some of the caves in Nevada. I announced a trip for the grotto and I got a great response from people for a recreational trip to Goshute cave and Snake Canyon cave.

night sky at Goshute cave PHOTO BY: JUSTIN BAILEY

Goshute cave is one of the more popular, and decorated caves in Nevada that REQUIRES a permit to gain access. Please reach out to the Ely Forest service, local grotto, or just reach out to me and I can put you in contact with the department that grants permits.

Entrance to Goshute cave

We ended up having six people head out to central Nevada, Tim Gocha, April Gocha, Justin Bailey, Randy Paylor, and James Edwards.

April entering Goshute cave PHOTO BY: JUSTIN BAILEY

Goshute cave was discovered back in the late 1800s and was at one time, a commercial cave but due to the location and the caves challenges, the commercialized project closed.

Goshute cave, Nevada

The cave has been known to have some very interesting Hydro thermal and hypogenic properties which gives the galleries and side passages very interesting to enjoy.

Goshute cave, Nevada

Unfortunately there is some graffiti and writings on the wall but given the amount of traffic that this cave has had, the cave is relatively in good condition.

Morning sunrise and smoke clouds over the valley of Goshute.

The cave has around 4000 feet of total surveyed passages which might continue in some sections that are not quite accessible to to humans.

Goshute Cave, Nevada

Entering the cave is though a smaller hole to the left of the obvious looking entrance.

Goshute cave PHOTO BY: JUSTIN BAILEY

The passage, and the duration of the cave contain mammillaries which are a type of calcite that forms on the ceiling and overhanging walls of submerged rock. Mammillaries tend to occur in shallow phreatic conditions near the surface of the water table. Under the right conditions, calcite can precipitate and coat the bedrock forming balls on the walls.

James Edwards in Goshute cave, Nevada

The trunk passage is a walking corridor that is around 15ft to the ceiling and at time appears be around 20ft to the ceiling.

Aragonite bushes in Goshute cave, Nevada PHOTO BY: JAMES EDWARDS

Aragonites, folia, and frost work decorate the cave with some rooms full of speleothem galleries.

Goshute cave, Nevada

The group headed down to the bottom of the sloping trunk passage and started to climb through some small passage to a flowstone with a fixed rope.

Randy in Goshute cave.

This fixed rope took us to an upper level full of mammillaries and another section where we could squeeze down into a small passage.

April in a mammillary room in Goshute cave, Nevada

I went back to get some photos and the group attempted to get into TJ hideout which proved to be a lot more difficult than anticipated. It was really tight and nobody was able to fit through.

April in a Mammillary room of Goshute cave, Nevada

We started to back track a bit and after snapping a few more photos, we saw another group of 12 people come in from the wasatch grotto.

James in the main trunk passage of Goshute Cave, Nevada.

When we all exited the cave, we noticed a lot of smoke covering the valley floor from the fires in California. It was impressive, sad, and odd...all at the same time to see such a view.