Nevada caving!
A vast desert country land full of geologic and ancient history.
Caves within the borders of Nevada are usually quite small but quite decorated in nature.
A interesting fact about Nevada is that most of the state is yet to be discovered within the caving community.
the secrecy within the caving community and within other organizations remains at a stalemate.
I can only hope that one day we will be able to work together as a mechanized machine and continue to preserve and conserve caves.
For now caves remain within a secrecy on many levels
As much as I am for the inclusion of people with cave discoveries, I have become to understand that the secrecy of cave discoveries is more important than I thought. .
Lets work together so we can accomplish more with our underground.
at 114 degrees David Harris and I set out to find a sinkhole in the desert which had apparent features to be at least a sinkhole.
Indeed once we got there, we confirmed that there is a sinkhole so we set out to located and identify what this potential cave could be.
We made it the the entrance and it was indeed a
sinkhole with shade!!! Lots of shade and much needed to get out of the heat.
We get into the sink and there appears to be a room just inside the bottom of the sinkhole. We get in there and immediately we start to hear a loud rattle. A grand canyon rattle snake appears and looks quite pissed of our presence.
The passage appeared to start to close up but the snake blocked continuing to look further into the small area where the passage could go. This is why we called this sink...
Rancor cave is a new Nevada cave that was discovered on a ridge walk in the Mormon Range.
This cave has a interesting entrance with a complete skeleton of a bighorn sheep at the entrance that was eaten by something...
Indeed the tall narrow entrance with the big horn skeleton at the entrance made for a warming welcome when I walked into the cave.
The passage has a nice red color to the walls and ceiling. I wish I brought my proper camera to photograph the passages but I will be returning for more.
Red Breaks is a beautiful non technical canyon location in Escalante, Utah.
Swirling red/orange narrow corridors and beautiful sculpted walls make for this canyon trip a must do in the region
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There are multiple ways to enter Red Breaks
One way is a traditional route from harris wash up to the canyon.
You climb as high as you can and head back when you had enough canyon fun or make it to the end.
Another route is from Spensor flat, where you cross country over to the top of red breaks and descend down into the canyon.
care must be taken when descending down into the canyon so you do not get stuck in the canyon and have to go down and out to come back around.
an alternative to that is that you can go down and out and cross country hike back to your car a spensor flats.
regardless on how you do it, its a great hike
and a great way to see a beautiful non technical slot canyon.
enjoy the Escalante
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Box death hollow is a non technical canyon located deep within the Box Death Hollow wilderness of Escalante
Pristine, remote, solitude, is starting to become harder to come by with social media and I must admit,
this diary of a blog BUT, places have natural filters in place to keep out the people not willing to put forth the effort and training.
Lucky for this canyon, it is non technical and the only thing that is slowing some people down is the approach and shuttle to gain access to this canyon
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There are multiple ways to gain access to this canyon
One is the traditional approach where you come in from the northeast.
You will either have to park and hike than gain a shuttle car for the complete loop or
you will need to hitchhike.
Another way, is a bit more effort but a preferred way, which is to come in from the southwest of the Escalante trail and hike up the boulder mail trail to box death hollow.
This is where the adventure begins.
Hiking up to get the crux of the ascent was helpful and gained within two hours time as the sunset over the plateau.
Night skies and no city light stars bloomed within the atmosphere above
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The following day, an early start indicated a cool non water bearing hike through the high desert of box death hollow
at times we would see the telephone line that stretched from boulder to Escalante as a means of communication in the past.
Now, as we continue our travels across the desert the deep sand slowing our movements as mileage closes in on Death Hollow
The canyon is within in view but not without minor challenges of canyons in the foreground taking down and demands more elevation gain before access to death hollow is granted.
The slab rock starts to heat up as we crest over the ridge into the Zion like gorge below known as death hollow.
Lush vegetation and running water can be heard as the baron desert gives way to a life bearing and beautiful canyon below
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Impressive walls and deep corridors are encountered as we make our descent down to the canyons bottom and into death hollow.
Lunch is served from crystal clear cold waters of death hollows spring and our journey continues down
Meandering around bends in the canyon floor we can see the fall colors start to illuminate the varnished fiery canyon walls.
Our continued descent reviles the death of poison ivy as it dry's out and fades into the ground along with the start of maple trees changing color.
I was surprised to see how easy it was to walk in the stream, unlike other river hikes, this stream was very easy to follow and not slippery at all. not sleepers under the water and just a pleasant walk down the canyon.
Eventually the canyon got deeper and the variety changed to a more Zion like feel.
We continued on to an alcove to set up camp for the night as we broke out feet free from the soggy shoes and enjoyed the jungle like sounds of a desert with unlimited water
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The following morning we broke camp and continued down to the Escalante river and back out to the car. the river loses underground and our meanderings were dry and a bit of a slog back to the car.
Regardless the views were spectacular and I was impressed with how well this canyon holds its solitude and stillness.
If you were to go downstream on the Escalante from box death hollow, you might be able to find more source for water.
I found the complete hike to be rewarding the way it was done as work was put into the reward.
I think fall is the best time since the poison ivy would be dried out around October time.
bringing a filter for the water is a wise decision
Enjoy this beautiful hike!
