ADAM HAYDOCK

After lunch in the Camps Gulf Property, we make out way to locate Jimmy's Hole which appears to be situated somewhere deep in the woods. We search for a couple points of entry and found a spot off the raod to park the car and traverse the gorge to the sinkhole pit.

JIMRON WELL

We had about 2 miles of hiking to do each way to find this pit. Lucky we had good cords that took us right to the entrance of the hole which worked out great.  The rain never stopped and made this hike a wet one.

JIMRON WELL

Right as we approach the hike I made the epic mistake for completely forgetting my vertical gear in the car!!!! haha...who even does that?!?!?!...sooo stupid.  Justin was able to drop down and photo document this sinkhole pit. which appeared to be a mini neversink and about 100 ft deep at the most.

JIMRON WELL

This was just a sinkhole with very little passage and a gapping open air entrance which made this one interesting to check out. We got back to the car before dark and headed back over to the campsite where we had dinner under a old tent that I had.  I set it up in a way where we had a tarp over us so we could be somewhat dry as we huddled around in the cool rainy night.

JIMRON WELL

Camps Gulf Cave

Camps Gulf Cave

We continue on to a section where we can set up a place to have lunch and where I can get ready to take a shot of this place.  It took almost an hour to set up everything the way I wanted it and with the size of this room and the lack of experience I had with this new camera I was using, I was not able to get the best shots that I wanted form this shoot. 


I was able to snag a couple decent ones but I really met my match coming into Camps Gulf which was something I was not prepared for. We follow the passage and down to a river section which took us to another large room! This place was impressive.  We ended up going in a complete circle and about the time when we got done with taking photos it was time to leave so we didn't get a chance to see all of the cave.  I cant wait to come back to this place for so many reasons!!!  It kicked my ass with regard to photography but it was just a awesome place to see.

We arrive at the Rocky River Cave park and proceed to have dinner in the small parking section while the sun started to set.  Afterwards we entered the large entrance in a sinkhole right next to the road. This place almost appeared to be a park of sorts where people come to enjoy the area and visit the cave.  We enter Rocky River Cave and walk to the first waterfall. 

This was a beautiful rimstome dam with water spilling over into a plunge pool of clear water!! I love these caves!!!  We continue on down another larger rimstone dam waterfall utilizing rope and our rappelling gear to be overly safe since we were tired from the trips activities.  This was even more impressive !!! 

there appeared to be two more levels above us which required stemming and traversing over exposed chert cut rock that opened into the main lower level.  It appeared that the water cut itself down creating multiple levels of passage that would test your traverse skills. There was a ladder at the top of the first rimstone dam which took people up to the top level.  The next room contained some breakdown to climb over than some absolutely amazing rimstone dam pools with crystal clear blue water!!!  So beautiful!!! 

  We continued to the last room which was a lake of sorts with water contained around a solid rock wall.  It was a mystery to us as to where all this water was going as it appeared to be stagnant where we were yet it was clear.  The water must be moving through something and continuing on down stream. 

 Regardless we wanted this to be a easy fun trip as we visited 3 caves and prospected for two more through out the course of the day.  We head back to the state park and Justin was waiting for us to join us on our remaining portion of the trip to camps gulf jmmy hole rumbling falls and frenchamns knob.

FLICKR ROCKY RIVER CAVE: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/sets/72157645853335784/

Ferris Pit

 The entrance looked like a typical Indiana pit nestled in the back of a farm field with a fence surrounding it. I decided to rig to a distant tree so we didn’t have to concern ourselves with the widow maker boulders hanging over the entrance of the pit.  After rigging and preparing to drop, I made the descent into Ferris Pit’s 250ft darkness and reach the bottom a couple minutes later. This was just a pit with a dome room next to the pit and a register.  Chris comes down shortly after and we snap a couple pictures of the register room. 

Ferris Pit

Shortly after Chris makes his Ascent up to the surface and I make my way up.  I found it interesting that my adrenaline was pumping a bit more this time which went away after each pit we dropped on the trip going forward.  I was thinking to myself that I am going have to do four of these and than some more if I am going to drop the cave of swallows next year.  NICE!!!...need to prep for that with another TAG trip!! . 

Bo Allen Pit

After leaving Ferris Pit we went to find doomsday pit which turned out to be something that was not existant.   We also looked for Lanie pit and we were not able to find that one either.  Chris was referred to check out Bow Allen Pit which is a 155ft pit south of where we were but on the way back to the state park. We rig this interesting entrance and drop through the small troll house looking entrance into a belled out pit with a dome room and interesting flowstone features as you descend down the pit. 

Bo Allen Pit

 This pit used to be called Skull Well as there are multiple skulls of cow and horse at the bottom.  After snapping a few photos Chris starts his ascent up to the surface.  As I am taking pictures I hear a whistling sound that gets louder and louder.  I thought it was a bat of some sorts but as I start to look up Chris’s QAS slams into the ground with his carabiner!....shit that was about 10ft way.  Always be out of the fall zone no matter who is climbing because they may or may not notice they lose something until they hear it hit the ground.  

FERRIS PIT FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/sets/72157645846939622/

 

BOW ALLEN FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/sets/72157645853577974/



Fall Creek Falls State Park

Fall Creek Falls itself is about a 250ft waterfall that goes down into a gorge surrounded by limestone cliffs and pine trees.  It is a beautiful place and I highly recommend camping at this state park as well as spending a day hiking the gorge itself.  

fall Creek Falls State Park

We didn’t get a chance to hike as much as we wanted to as we were waiting to plan for the trip into Keystone River with Troy but during our hike we got the call from troy that he was not going to be able to make it so we ended up cancelling the keystone river cave trip and going to Ferris Pit, Bow Allen Pit and Rocky River cave. 

fall Creek Falls State Park

It was a good decision to do so as it would have been just Chris and I going into the cave carrying all kinds of camera and rigging along with 380ft of rope  to the back of the cave to drop a 250ft waterfall pit. 

Fall Creek Falls State Park

The cave itself was a water cave with navigation and technical risk Chris and I decided to not face.  We felt good about it and were happy to drive a bit north to go to Ferris Pit.

Driving through the night to get to Pall Mall Tennessee was quite the driving adventure in it self yet it is almost becoming somewhat of a normal procedure when we go to TAG.  I woudl like to leave out the waking up in the middle of the night in my car to the driver in between lanes but..hey, its always a experience.  I had to make a 120 mile 2 hr pit stop in bloomington on the way to pick up Chris so we could get to pall mall by 9 am. I drove until around 2 am and Chris took over shortly after.

Sleeping in the car 

Sandstone passage Wolf River Cave

 
is never good sleep and was apparently not a good time for Chris to be driving so we went to a rest stop and slept for a few hours more. When the sun was up we started our drive in a daze and got to the landowners house that had bugger hole on it. After getting verbal directions, we attempted to look for it and after about an hour we didn't find it so we took off for wolf river cave. We set up a tent thinking we were going to sleep at the property but we decided to go to Fall Creek Falls afterwards. We entered the cave with relative ease through the gate and proceeded to find the remaining part of the cave. 

Wolf River Cave

Wolf River Cave Horrendous Hallway passage

Wolf River Cave

Sandstone Painted passage Wolf River Cave

Jaguar habitat Wolf River Cave

Waterfall next to the Miami Beach Room

Entrance to Wolf River Cave

WOLF RIVER FLICKR: https://www.flickr.com/photos/exploration-worldwide/sets/72157645846966162/


Last year at wolf river cave   http://adamhaydock.blogspot.com/2013/08/wolf-river-cave.html

 We got to Ironwood Michigan which saved off some time with driving as the cascades were near the town.  We set off for The Presque Isle River as I am hoping to see some waterfalls and a section where water has eroded the rock into razor sharp circular scalloped formations. We drive down and it turns out that the waterfall section is a state park so we ended up paying the fee and followed the trails to the falls.

The Presque Isle river had four waterfall sections to check out and I was figuring this would have been more of a canyon route but it turns out that this waterfall system would be fantastic for the 1 man technical kayakers that negotiate class 5 rapids

after going down the four waterfalls we worked our way over the Superior trail to check out some vistas including the Lake in the Clouds

Last stop of the trip we checked out Bond Falls State park in Michigan which was a impressive waterfall for Michigan standards. The waterfall itself is fed by a dam that was made by the city to control the flow of water and preserve a small lake for people to enjoy. 

We meandered around the falls and climbed up side to get to the top of the falls.  I was considering climbing these falls but with all the people around and the slippery rock, I decided to stay dry so I didn't give anyone any bad ideas.

This was a beautiful waterfall with a impressive flow

Afterwards we took off and headed back to Chicago.  we kayaked 56 miles in two days while visiting 11 islands, 3 of which had sea caves, we hiked around 5 miles, and got to visit 4 waterfalls.  Not bad for a long holiday weekend in Michigan's U.P.!!!

After Leaving the Presque Isle River we went to visit the superior Trail and venture over to lake in the clouds to see the vistas and the kettle lake left by a glacier from the last ice age.

  The Superior trail is interesting as it takes you up to various vistas that overlook Lake Superior and the valleys below.  The section of the trail that we were on appeared to be pretty typical but reminded me a bit of Alabama with the rolling hills and the vegetation surrounding encapsulating the region.  The lake in the Clouds was a lot more scenic than I thought

It was very touristy and set up with concrete walkways and a large parking lot full of weekenders but the view of Mirror Lake was spectacular.  We walked around thinking about how this was a clear cut example of glacier erosion and how interesting this destination can be when the leaves are changing in the fall.

I can see why this is a choice location for people on vacation and sites seeing but if you can just get a bit off the beaten path you can nestle yourself in a nice little spot away from the tourists and enjoy the dry fresh pine smell, the warm summer weather and the valley winds of Lake in the Clouds.