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What started as a day I didn't even want to get up for, turned into a fun filled and exhausting exploit in southern Minnesota. When the alarm on my watch went off at 6:50 am I thought of every excuse during the next ten minutes of why I should just stay there until the second one went off at 7. Based on the forecast from the night before and a quick glance out the window I knew it was not going to be a sunny, warm "bluebird day". There were two events going on that day, both of which I really wanted to participate in....I just wanted it to be nice outside.  During that ten minutes of indecision I also pieced together a plan in which I would be able to do both....now I just had to drag my ass out of bed, get a bunch of gear together, and be on the road soon. I was able to do just that, and by 7:47 am I was ready and out the door for a gravel bike race in Miesville and a caving trip leaving out of Lake City.

The standard gravel grinder pre-race meeting...stand on car,truck or SUV, tell people not to do anything stupid and have fun.   This was really great race ....I'm sorry I could not stick around or thank the promoter.    Thanks for a fun race and your hard work.

Chuker and G$      1st and 4th     

I was treated to a wonderful tailwind when my route split from the main pack....unfortunately it was short lived and I would battle the wind for a most of the ride back to Miesville

Beautiful scenery portion of the course when I dropped down to the Cannon River near Miesville Ravine Park.....have to ride this section again 

  The Miesville Grinder started at 9am sharp...and he meant it !  I had less than 10 minutes to spare when I got there, I was dressed and on the bike when the racer meeting was called. The Miesville Grinder was a short one by gravel standards at 56 miles. I thought it was the perfect length when I signed up over a month ago and was even more happy when the night before I discovered there was a 40 mile option that would go perfectly with my time frame. Based on Google maps it was 36 minutes from Miesville to Lake City. That meant I would have to be back to my van by 11:30 am and be motoring if I wanted to meet my caving friends before they rolled out of Kwik Trip at 12:15 pm to the cave entrance. I had an excellent time on the 40 mile route. I rode with the lead pack until mile 17 ++ when my route veered the opposite direction and I was by myself to the end. I made it back to the van at 11:26 am with four minutes to spare.....heck yeah, was going caving now for sure.

The approach to the mouth of the cave is down in a very rugged wash. 

Before going in.....CLEAN 

most of the passage is small with very few places to fully stand up .....cave has about 1000 feet of passage ...I think 

Randy coming out of  a small passage from below into the Funnel room

Yes ...much of it was this tight...most of Tim's body fills this passage...he is skinny so it's no problem

 At 12:10 pm I rolled into the Kwik Trip and a few minutes later we were off to Hiawatha Caverns in Wabasha County. Our group numbering 6, spent the next 4 hours in the cave squeezing through the many tight passages and doing our best to avoid the raccoon and coyote shit as well as many bones and skulls from said animals. The cave was a lot of fun despite the resemblance to a wild animal toilet. There were not too many features (pretties) or living parts (speleothems) of the cave, but the tight crawls which required some exhaling to move through were fun.  Honestly I can't tell you why this was fun, in the past these really tight caves kind of freak me out when I get stuck. huh? We exited the cave around 5:30 pm from there I made one more stop at Kwik Trip to THOROUGHLY wash my hands and grab a snack before hightailing it home.

One of the few "live" sections of the cave....I know it's not much, but we were all geeking out to see it

Long section of live cave....by live, I mean it's growing

Not too much water in the cave 

soda straws

This old cart has been in there for who knows how long (40's 50's ? )when the cave was being dug out in the hopes to commercialize it. That obviously didn't happen and remains here to this day

           

Going Underground

The last two Saturdays were spent caving, my back and sciatic nerve issues have (since May) kept me off the bike as of late, so this seemed like a good compromise. I say seemed, because it still hurt like hell last week when ArcFlash and I did Cold Water Cave in Iowa. Things are healing nicely now and this past Saturday at the Minnesota Speleological Survey's (MSS) Cornfeed at Mystery Cave was enjoyable.

Man made entrance, the river is 90++ feet down  

The platform at the bottom

Good pics are hard to come by down here. The walls are mostly black and suck up all the light and the humidity is 100% so everything gets misty when you breath 

 Cold Water cave is truly amazing. It's an underground river, and as the name suggests it's cold. A dry route does not exist, so anyone entering the cave must wear a wet suit, preferably of the 7mm variety (thick). While 7mm wet suits are nice and warm, they are restrictive and cumbersome. AF and I entered the cave at the Flatland entrance, run by the Iowa Grotto. This weekend was their annual picnic in which they get together and socialize as well as go caving. We were not able to stay for the potluck that evening or join other trips in the area scheduled for the next day, but had a great time on our 4+ hour trip.

Crinoid bed

Good formations are everywhere and become commonplace and taken for granted down here

AF coming up on Big Bertha

 Our route was  a simple one, consisting of a nice stroll in the main passage, up, and then down stream of the Flatland entrance. I have done this route before but was amazed at the side passage our trip leader took us down at the turn around point. It's called Cascade Canyon. It's much smaller than the main passage, highly decorated, many degrees colder, and has crystal clear water. To get through the passage most of our bodies were submerged including our hands. After about fifteen minutes my feet and hands were numb. We turned back shortly after that, and by the time we reached the main passage's 50 deg + water it felt like a warm bath. AF and I are already planning trips back to cold water but with some improvements on gear. The Iowa Grotto is a friendly group and does trips every third Saturday throughout the year. If you have the desire to check out a National Historic Landmark look them up HERE . For good pics go HERE and for more info go HERE.  

Nice and clean

On our way to the Bear Crawl

 This Past Saturday was the MSS's annual picnic known as the Corn Feed. It was held at Forestville/ Mystery Cave State park in southern Minnesota. This is my fourth Corn Feed and would be my first trip going into Mystery Cave as a leader. I was a little nervous but got some help from Paul who is an excellent caver, leading trips down there for years. I really didn't have much to worry about, but I didn't want anything to go wrong on my first real trip. I was pretty much just leading my boys and wife, although I think it would have been much easier leading grown adults :-). Things went well as we explored areas that presented little danger. I avoided anything with deep crevices or pits, there are a lot of areas that could be life threatening in the event of a fall. Places like the Straddle Galleries, the Jump Off, The Incline and the Discovery Route will be off limits until they are a little older.

Inside the Bear Crawl, it goes on this way for a hundred feet or so

Lynn almost finished crawling, she doesn't really like caves 

 We ended up heading out to Dragon's Jaw Lake which was un-passable due to high water. From there we went to the Bear Crawl and The Labyrinth, finishing the day at Enigma Pit. We tried one more time at Dragon Jaw before exiting the cave. A siphon was set up to drain the water just enough to get in the passage without getting soaked. The water didn't come down enough so Super Y, Big D,  and Lynn will have to wait until next time.

Logic......It doesn't count if your finger is not in the glove. This was Big D's idea BTW

 The trip was a a success and a lot of fun. Big thanks goes out to Paul who helped our group avoid the tour group. After caving for some four plus hours, we all relaxed with a good meal and story telling around a campfire.

White Nose Syndrome was just detected in Mystery Cave, everyone's gear needed to be decontaminated upon exiting the cave. 

Sleep Under 2013

Getting ready, pre-meeting

 The Sleep Under is an annual caving event held at Crystal Cave, in Spring Valley Wisconsin. It goes the whole weekend with free camping and caving , socializing and a bonfire. We were not able to make the camp-out but Super Y, G Man, and myself were able to get under ground for the first day of the event.

Eric McMaster leading us to the wild part of the cave through the commercial tour entrance 

Let the crawling begin

 The cave is under new ownership this year, a husband/wife team the Mc Masters, and we are fortunate they still allow the local grottos access to their commercial cave.  While it's not a long cave it was fun and relatively close to home. The routes we use are off the commercial tour so there is no conflict with paying costumers.This was also a chance for Super Y to get in some real caving complete with lots of crawling.

Checking the map

One of the large rooms

 The first trip out for the day was a door-to-door. We went in on the commercial side and exited out a different cave system called Tree Fork. Nearly all of the door-to-door route was belly crawling broken up by several large rooms big enough to sit-up in and take a break. We were in the cave about two and a half hours before exiting into a large ravine with many other cave entrances.

This is what cavers look like

More crawling and nearing the exit. The track thingys on the ground were put in by the people digging so they could move the dirt out easier on carts 

   After the door-to-door we did  a quick tour of Fuzzy Critter Cave and called it a day. A year and a half ago we toured all the caves in the ravine so we opted to skip them this time. If you are interested in a cave tour of your own the Wisconsin Grotto in conjunction with Crystal Cave is hosting the Hodag Hunt in the fall. It only costs 18$ for a family to join the club for a year and is the only requirement other than a helmet, headlamp, and old clothing. For a walking tour of the really pretty stuff, the Mc Masters and their friendly staff will be glad to host you, your family, or group for a nominal fee. Check them out at Crystal Cave

The exit

Entrance to Fuzzy Critter

Please Note: it's possible I have Tree Fork and Fuzzy Critter miss named and will correct it ASAP

Training Day

   

Cave bacon anyone ?

 I've been a member of the Minnesota Speleological Survey going on four years now. In that time I have had a lot of fun heading underground exploring, digging, getting muddy and doing things a little out of my comfort zone. It's also been fun to get to know a great group of new friends.

Canada Scott

 Most of my caving has been in Mystery Cave State Park in southern Minnesota.  In order to get in this cave a plan needs to be formulated and paperwork needs to be submitted to the park by a recognized trip leader. You also need keys, the cave is locked. Over the years, as trips came up I got on as many as I could, usually with "G" Man, my son. He has been caving nearly as many times as I have, and is a good caver. Due to the small 6 person limit in a caving party, Super Y, Big D, and Mrs Death Rider have not been on many good trips. Most people think my youngsters can't handle anything more than walking passage and don't want to give up a day to go see some clean, run-of the-mill tour guide stuff. My kids want to crawl around and get dirty. On the flip side, other trips are in fact, too dangerous. I can't blame the leaders, getting access to the cave is not something that happens all the time and no one wants to waste it.  Subsequently they have not done anything "fun".    Bottom line.... I needed to become a leader, and get the rest of my crew caving.

The Dragon's Jaw

Mr Savage at Mystery Pool

  It just so happens that the day of the Almanzo 100 was the same day as cave leader training. This has not come up in the four years I've been with the club and I figured I was ready. I skipped the Almanzo in favor of getting leadership status and get my kids caving. I showed up at Mystery Cave at 10 am to go over the basics in trip planning, paperwork submission, gear requirements, and general rules. After all the talking it was time to get down to business and get in the cave. Being a leader in the cave really just boils down to knowing your way around and exploring it in a safe and careful manner. The careful part meaning to not break or damage anything in the cave itself.  "Pretties" in a cave take forever to get that way , the saying often passed around is...Break bones, not formations.

Yours Truly

Nadsters at the jump off. It's about 30' to the bottom of the 3' ++ slot she is crossing

 The size of the total group for the day was 8. We had two leaders, K-Haug and Mr Savage. Four of us, Jkellberg , Canada Scott,  El Presidente' and myself, were vying for leadership status. Nadsters and Sh-Sean were just along for the ride. Once inside K-Haug gave a list of places in which we were to safely, and successfully, lead the group to. I took the first turn since I was holding the map. Honestly the map doesn't mean a whole lot. Single, black, two dimensional lines on a piece of paper hardly mean anything when they are supposed to convey all manner of passage from city-bus sized bore holes, all the way down to routes my kids could barely fit into. Add to that the fact that the cave is not on a level plane and often intertwines at different elevations. Although every passage is named on the map, it's not like there are a bunch of street signs in the cave letting you know where you are. It all really comes down to knowing the cave and paying attention to the leaders of previous trips.

Back in the Straddle Galleries

This is one of my favorite spots in the cave located in the Straddle Galleries

  First up was Dragons Jaw Lake, I've been there plenty of times almost to the point that I'm tired of it. The water level was really low so crossing it was not going to happen today. Next we headed to Sand Camp, The Culverts, and The Incline. The Culverts and the Incline are a real ball-buster requiring a massive amount of strength, contortion-ism, some bruising, and pain to pass through. At the end of the culverts is The Incline, a 20 foot chimney. Both of these must be done in order to complete the Door -to Door Route, and is somewhat the "crux" of that trip. The Door-to-Door has eluded me for several years due to bad timing so I wanted to see The Incline and what all the fuss was about. It definitely was tough going through The Culverts, down The Incline, back up, through The Culverts again, then finally slumping down on the ground in Sand Camp. I was pumped out and cooked ! Break Time.  Next was Enigma Pit, and Way the Hell an Gone. I opted not to cross the pit and took pictures instead. I've been across a couple times and we were turning around there anyway. At this time we were joined by Thleen who was doing some survey work in the Labyrinth nearby and wanted to do some sport caving with our group. I think she wanted to spend some time with K-Haug too, either way she's a good caver and fun to have along on a trip.

Don't touch

Enigma Pit. Note the water pouring from the left side. The next day a lot of the cave was underwater not sure if this area was though

  The last part of the trip/training was one I was dreading. We were headed to the Bear Crawl and The Flake. I hate the Flake! I scared the shit out out of me the first time and even more so the second time. Let me paint a picture for you...... After a leisurely crawl down a tight, one arm forward one arm back, laying on your side, head facing solid stone,cave pack tied to your boot to make room, please nobody fart,  for 150-180' you emerge at a junction known as Standing Room Only. This is the enjoyable part. Next comes some easy walking through a little underground stream in narrow but tall passage. As the floor starts to drop out, a small ledge emerges. You walk along this ledge for a while with your now muddy and slippery feet. As the floor drops further the space below becomes narrower, but not to the point in which you wont fit. In fact it's just wide enough to fall into but not wide enough that you can breath easily if it should happen. While suspended above this stone constrictor, feet pointed out, on the brink of slipping, the thru-passage comes in on the left side, perpendicular to the one your on. It's even worse, the small ledge disappears, the tall narrow passage is now slightly at an angle and even tighter. You now have to traverse the really narrow stuff by smearing on the walls to get to a point where you can drop to the floor to pass a constriction at your current height. Smear on what ? it's mud on mud and is much worse than it could be if you had not just been walking through the water.

Almost out 

Now the tough part begins, dropping down into the slot was scary, I fit before but it looks super narrow now. I can really only fit in one spot in which I can still breath freely. It's now time to climb back out of the slot at an angle, up to a ledge, and over The Flake. Being a bit of a fat ass makes this super fucking hard for me. I have absolutely no wiggle room and nowhere to leverage myself on the slimy smooth rock. With much effort, using snake-like moves, I mange to get my self off the ground about three feet. I now have to start traversing as the space above and below starts to narrow. I slip many times, and feel as if I will fall into the slot below and suffocate, there is just nothing to hold on to. Nadsters is right behind me and is able to use her hand and give me something to push off of. I get further up and further over the narrowing slot but still cannot reach the bomber hold that is taunting me just out of reach. I'm getting super freaked by now and pumped out. I keep sliding back down into the slot with the walls pressing on my chest and back, it's like a fear factor episode but I can't call uncle. Canada Scott now trades places with Nadster. I'm not sure where, or what body part I was standing on, but Scott is able to help me through the tight spot and onto the ledge near the Flake. I'm relived. It took everything I had just to go up 7-8 feet and over about 9. Once on the ledge I help Nadster over. She has a way easier time with it. Next is El Presidente', he goes over the top of Sh-Sean and Scott and gets help from K-Haug now standing on the Flake. I am tired and of no use so I move down the passage and hang out with the girls. All that can be heard is El Presidente' yelling and cursing as he moves through The Flake. He had a worse time than I, but still made it. Scott is next and requires some help but makes it through. Sh-Sean is a climber and seams to have made it through effortlessly. K-Haug was first through and made it look easy, he's like a cave super hero or something. Thleen was just in front of me and needed only my hand to push off of with her foot and a brief hand from K-Haug who was standing on the ledge just forward of the Flake. Mr Savage and Jkellberg are spared the nasty traverse by aborting just before the bear crawl and will meet us later, above ground.

  I vowed to never go back there again but probably will just to see if I can do it clean. I'm chalking that one up to being drained by the Culverts and the Incline I had done a few hours earlier. With everyone through it was time to get the hell out out of there. The rest of the cave was easy going compared to what we had just done. We reached the super easy tour route and exited the cave. Eight and a half hours in the cave and I was exhausted but happy I passed the test. I thought I was dodging a bullet by pulling out of the Almanzo 100 my friends had finished hours ago........ was I wrong!     Thanks    K-Haug and Mr Savage.  It was great caving with the entire crew, and I look forward to more adventures with all of them.