Return to Illinois Caverns
by Adam Stanford, Copyright April 16, 2005, all rights reserved. 1012 views
5:15am The Stanford, Bluedorn and Sisson members head south from the Stanford residence in two vehicles. Can you guess the planned departure time?
8:05am We arrive at the Wal-mart in Waterloo and meet the Reynolds.
8:45am We arrive at the cave and turn in our permit application. The ranger tells us that a group of 60 is coming at 9:00 so we decide to hurry and get inside to be in front of the throng.
9:15am We enter the cave after waiting for Adam to walk back up to the ranger station to get the key.(The ranger thought it was unlocked, sound familiar?)
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| From Misc Images |
As we entered the cave another group came in right behind us, and as I was depositing the gate key in a secure compartment they proceeded on into the cave. We followed at a short distance and let them move on a bit as some of our group took the upper path of Canyon Passage. After everyone had climbed down at the end of Canyon Passage, we moved on and found that the other group had stopped at Waterfall Passage and some of their party were exploring it. Since most of us had explored this passage previously we took the opportunity to move on past and take the lead.
The next side passage we came to was Cascade Canyon. When we had been here formerly, the water had been much higher and we were only able to see part of Cascade Canyon. This time the water was only waist deep and we were able to pass on and see new parts of the passage. As I was going along I looked down and spied a flashlight under the water. I fished it out and to my surprise it worked, it seemed we had discovered a species of native cave flashlights.
At the very end of the passage a few of us crawled on in the water for quite some distance and were gratified to find a small place where we could sit up and one person at a time could stand up, although when standing you could not move around. This small space was also useful for getting up out of the water for a few minutes to warm up before the return crawl. It is always surprising how far you crawled when you turn around to crawl back. Once we made it back to the others we all headed for the main passage but stopped and took a detour back up Marvin’s Misery which is the right fork of Cascade Canyon.
On the way out of Marvin’s Misery we stopped to let a group of boy scouts (remember that group of 60?) pass up Cascade Canyon. As we were sitting there we all had our lights off and Joe and I were up front just watching them go by. One of the kids looked at us and then away and then looking back he said “Oh they’re fake”. He was startled and slightly embarrassed when we replied that we were real.
By this time we were getting hungry and some of us were slightly chilly so we moved on to the Breakdown Room for lunch. Nate Sisson had been carrying most of our lunches so he passed out sandwiches. All the sandwiches came through in good condition except for his which was squashed very effectively . Thankfully he was prepared for this possibility and had packed a backup sandwich.
After we had eaten and rested a bit we were ready to look for new territory. We moved on down the main passage a short way and soon came to the mud slide. Here we noticed a small opening in the wall directly across from the slide. None of us had explored this passage which is shown on the map as Tight Canyons, so we all commenced entry. At first there were a few tight spots but it quickly opened out some and was pretty easy going. We soon left the water behind and came to a couple of tees although each time there was only one direction really went on very far. At one point we were crawling on hands and knees and there was a crack running right above us the whole way. We could see up into another passage but could not find a place wide enough to squeeze through. Finally we reached a spot where we could just fit through, and some of us moved up and proceeded on the upper level.
Shortly after this we came to a good sized room which had some very interesting formations and a neat side room. Zack climbed up to check out a small upper area but reported that it did not go on very far. After looking about and enjoying our find we moved on crawling again but the passage did not go much further before it became to small to squeeze through and we had to turn around.
Once back in the main passage we did not have much time before we had to start back for the exit, so we moved on to see as much as we could before turning back. We reached the Dragon which is a natural sculpture that really looks like a dragon’s head sticking out of the mud, and pressed on toward the waterfall. We had just passed the waterfall when the time came that we had to turn back or be late exiting the cave.(We had to be out by 2:30pm.) We concluded that this was about the point where Kelli Hedding was forced to turn back on our previous trip although the water was much lower this time.
After exiting the cave and changing into clean dry clothes we went to Dairy Queen for some ice-cream and conversation before going our separate ways.
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| From 2005-04-16 Illinois Caverns |
We don our equipment in the parking lot.
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| From 2005-04-16 Illinois Caverns |
Climbing down the steep cement steps into the cavern.
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| From 2005-04-16 Illinois Caverns |
Nate Sisson climbing the upper canyon to avoid the stream below.
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| From 2005-04-16 Illinois Caverns |
Johannah climbing down into the stream when the upper passage becomes too difficult.
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| From 2005-04-16 Illinois Caverns |
Looking at the map to decide where we think we are.
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| From 2005-04-16 Illinois Caverns |
We sit in a relatively dry spot to rest. The ceiling is just above our head.
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| From 2005-04-16 Illinois Caverns |
Zack and others return after exploring a tight spot.
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| From 2005-04-16 Illinois Caverns |
This may be one of the rare Illinois Cave Amphipod (Gammarus acherondytes), an endangered species that only lives in this cave.
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| From 2005-04-16 Illinois Caverns |
Zack investigates a lead at the top of a dome.
Zack Reynolds’ Trip Report
When I stood at the top of the stairs and looked down into Illinois Caverns, I didn’t realize how much of a vertical cave it would be. Descending into the cave was about as vertical as descending into Little Scott, but for a much longer distance. Of course, at Little Scott’s, we didn’t have stairs, but the sorry representation of stairs at this cave were almost worse than no stairs at all. Each stair was so narrow I could only fit about half my foot on it. And they were wet and muddy. The stainless steel handrails were a lifesaver.
Before we descend into the cave, let’s go back to Waterloo. Joe, Mary, and I stayed over Friday night at our uncle’s in St. Louis, so it was only a short drive for us in the morning. We got to the Waterloo Wal-mart at 7:40, twenty minutes early. We went into Wal-mart for a few minutes, and when we came back out, everyone else was there. After a quick consultation as far as directions, we headed for the cave.
We donned our gear fairly quickly and efficiently (nothing like practice), then headed to the cave entrance. We started going down the stairs, when we discovered the gate to the cave was still locked, so Adam ran to get the key from the Park Ranger.
We were in a bit of a hurry, because the Ranger had told us that sixty people were arriving at 9, so we wanted to be well inside before rush hour.
Adam came back with the key, and then we headed down into the darkness.
At the bottom of the stairs, we began moving forward, but in front of us was a partioned-off area that was off-limits. A group that had been behind us ended up going down the main passage in front of us.
We followed them somewhat ruefully.
Most of the cave was just regular caving. However, there were a few notable incidents.
At one point, we started going down a side tunnel, but just when we were well into it, somewhere up ahead, they said it was a dead end. So we turned around and went to the entrance of the tunnel, and found that the 60 boy scouts were just coming up. So we all just sat or stood motionless and waited for them to pass. As they were passing, one of the boy scouts wondered aloud if we were statues. Somebody must have moved, because then he realized that we were real people.
Later, we crawled down another tunnel for a while until it finally opened up into a room. The room had two other tunnels leading out, and then a hole in a ledge near the top of the room. After quickly investigating it, Joe stepped out of the way and told me to try it. So with plenty of advice and encouragement, I clambered up the wall onto the ledge, with memories of rock climbing flooding back to my memory. However, unfortunately, the hole didn’t really go anywhere with enough space for me to squeeze through. I almost got my helmet stuck when I was trying to see if I could get through. So I backed up to the ledge and told them my observations. Then I had to get back down. The problem was that I had to use a stalagmite that I couldn’t see as a foothold to get down, so Joe and other people (I think Adam, too, but I can’t remember) guided me down. Then I discovered that there was another ledge in the tunnel next to me, so of course we had to go see. There were actually two ledges. One was quite easy to get up to, but it led nowhere. The other ledge was basically at the top of the room, but once I started climbing the wall to reach it, I could see that it, too, didn’t go anywhere.
So the cave ended up being more vertical that I thought at first. The stairs should have warned me.
When we got out of the cave, the bathrooms and the changing house were running decent business for a while. Fortunately for me, I was wearing shorts under my jeans, so I was able to be at least semi-clean while I put away my stuff and waited for an empty stall.
Finally, when everyone was changed, we had just enough time to determine that we were going to eat somewhere in Waterloo before we had to take off (the gate was supposed to be closed).
We ended up driving to Columbia before we finally ended up eating at a Dairy Queen. We had some nice conversation about this and that. Finally, we had to leave, as time was trying to run away with itself, and as all of us know, once time gets away, there’s no catching it.
This report seems a little short to me, but I guess it was just a normal sort of cave. I mean, of course, there was the time when I was clambering along a tunnel that you had to put hands and knee on either side of a chasm that fell down to the next level, and my knee pads started slipping. Of course, I took off my kneepads. And there was when I had fun sliding down the mudslide, using a rope I brought along as a safety catch (there was a particular knob that I was particularly warned about). It was a good thing, too, for the first time I slid down, I went straight for the knob. I had fastened the rope firmly at the top, however, so I stopped just short of it. Overall, however, it was just a normal sort of cave. But it was still cool. I hadn’t gone to that cave before, so it was new for me.
Of course, just caving itself has always been really cool for me. As a little kid, I had all these fanciful ideas of what caves were like. Now I know. And of course, it’s always fun to get bruises and scrapes and just tire myself out having a grand ol’ time with my comrades.
Until the next grand ol’ time—see y’all!
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