Colorado Cavers?

[biologyben]

Howdy all :)

I was on the old board but just been lurking since the crash. I've been caving for a while in WV, VA, and MD caves, but i'm leaving in January to Denver, Co with the AmeriCorps*NCCC program. I'm not going to have tons of time to cave, but there will be the chance now and then. Anyone here from the Denver area? I found the Denver Grotto webpage already.

Also, what's the temp of the caves in that region? I'm sure they're cooler than the 50ish caves i'm used to, but any specifics?

Thanks :)

[jmo]

Ben - Colorado has some very awesome caves.

There are some great Colorado grottos available to join and a lot of very friendly people to go caving with.

You might also want to check out the Colorado caving forum at http://coloradocaves.org/

Two great books to read up on some of the great caves Colorado has are:
Colorado Caves by Richard J. Rhinehart (Has some awesome pictures plus a lot of history) and The Caves of Colorado by Lloyd Paris(Has some maps, history and some "old school" photos). I have seen both of these books at the library, so you might want to check them out.
:P

[Wayne Harrison]

The cave temperature here in Colorado is largely dependent upon the altitude of the cave, so there is no "mean" temperature that I'm aware of. But you can count on cave temperatures anywhere from 55 to 35 degrees, from my experience -- again, depending on the altitude.

[Dan Sullivan]

Hello Ben,

The closest caving to Denver is Williams Canyon in Colorado Springs. It's less than an hour South of Denver. I'd be willing to show you around some of the caves and such when you get out here. I'll PM you my E-mail address. I have several projects going this year or can hook you up with other trip leaders if you like to dig for virgin cave. The Williams Canyon Project has a lot going on this year. Come join the fun.

Check out http://WWW.coloradocaves.org for more info on Colorado and the Williams Canyon Project. (Which is sponsered by the NSS.