Greetings from KY "the other land down under"

[creektrails]

Im new at this site and actually new to real caving. I was told about a bottomless pit on a farmers property a couple of years back. I asked permission to go in and it was granted. I live near a major river and my property has big sinks and sink holes so I figured that I might have caves near me. I self taught myself rappelling and went down. (I first dropped a string into the pit with a rock on it, pulled it out and measured the depth. 120'. ) I went down by myself and found mostly tires and trash. It was real wet so I didnt check for a hole going out the bottom. About two months ago (two yrs after my first decent) I went back in with a rock climbing, rappeller friend. we found a hole about large enough to squeeze thru w/out packs. He stuck his head in and heard water falling. He went first and within 6' found a large cavern and creek running north and south. Weve been in once more and have had a blast. weve only gone north and have explored about a 1/4 mile of river. 20' wide, 2 to 4' foot deep. low ceiling. we are ready for this. we are keeping it secret so don t even ask. will probably have a lot of questions. I did buy "on rope" and have learned a lot. thanks for the help Ive already gotten from this site.
Nate

[boogercaver71]

Good luck with your exploration, and when you get done, this trash in the bottom needs to be cleaned out. It is probably hurting the cave life in the stream. There are organizations such as the ACCA in Horse Cave that has the manpower and know how to get this done. And if you don't know how to survey, there are many KY cavers that will be willing to help.

[Squirrel Girl]

Welcome to Cavechat, Nate!


I totally "get" wanting keep your caves secret! I'd probably do it too!

But even so, I would suggest you contact some organized cavers in your area so that can learn about caving safely and with cool tricks and equipment. It doesn't mean you have to share your secret locations, but who knows maybe you'll find friends, you'll have giant cave and want more help. Or maybe you could cave with them in other, well known caves, and go with your friend to your own caves.

Here's a link to the NSS page where you can find local "grottos" (chapters). Maybe another state will be closer than KY?
http://www.nssio.org/Find_Grotto.cfm

And while I totally understand you wanting to explore your own area, maybe don't make it sound like, "Hey teach us to cave and we'll go to our secret area and not let you come." That wouldn't come across well. But just be friendly. Most groups welcome new folks, and if you don't hit it off with them, find another group!

HAVE FUN!

[l lambert]

Hey, I think my secret cave connects to your secret cave.

[creektrails]

I didnt mean to seem snooty w/ the keeping it secret part. Its just that its not on my land and im afraid that if word got out that we may loose access completely. The owner was worried about liability already. I do think getting into a local group would be a good idea possibly making friends with other local cavers and sharing the wealth soon. I originally thought about the trash removal. I am already trying to take out at least one more item than i took in. The saddest thing is that at least a couple of cans of paint had been thrown down there over the years. paint is splattered all the way down the walls of the pit.
I have seen ,so far a red salamander a small fish and a crawfish. Im pretty stoked about this. I will post some pics later. my friend has a waterproof camera and it takes pretty good shots.

[Squirrel Girl]

LOTS of cavers believe in secrecy. Most cavers will understand about wanting to keep control. I was just encouraging that you interact with organized cavers, but just be cool about not taking their knowledge and not sharing your locations!

[creektrails]

Thanks for the tip Squirrel Girl
a couple of photos



first lifeform found



My brother caver going from the cave to the pit

[Speleomander]

Hard to make out enough detail in the small picture, but that's either a long-tailed salamander or a cave salamander. Sounds like you've found a pretty cool pit-congrats.

[Squirrel Girl]

Fun times!

[Jagdmann]

Greetings to ya' from another Ky. caver!