Glory Hole Cave 1-27-07 GLORIFIED!!

[graveleye]

Glory Hole Cave 1-27-07

Background

More than 30 years ago while driving about south Georgia, my dad pointed out a clump of trees in a field and told me that the reason the trees were there was because of a sinkhole in the field. The farmer couldn't get his tractor close to the sink so he let the trees grow up in and around it. He told me there was a cave in that sink. Well this sparked my young pre-teen curiosity of course. "Can we go in it?", I inquired innocently. The answer was a resounding "NO", and we were forbidden to even think about the cave from that point forward. Of course, I could never get it out of my mind, even to this day.
What my dad did not tell me then, and only recently revealed to me, was that in around 1959, he and some of his young buddies had indeed entered the cave cap'n'candle, so they say. They were young, curious, and definitely ill-equipped, but went in anyway. Of course, they got lost, and one of the larger ones got stuck and exhausted and they frantically dug the sand away from him to help him through. They had taken all of the power cords from the coffee percolators, lamps and other appliances from their parent’s homes and used them as a hand line to climb in. When they didn’t return for dinner, the parents (my grandparents) naturally became concerned and they eventually figured out they had gone down into that hole. Meanwhile, my dad and his partners, with 1950s technology flashlights and batteries, no helmets or equipment were hopelessly lost, cold, and almost in the dark. The local police and fire department wouldn't dare venture in, so some cavers from Florida State were called to help extract them. They were found, obviously or I wouldn't be writing this report. They were scared, tired, cold and hungry, but unhurt. My father received the wrath of his parents for years following this stunt. I do not know how far back cave rescue records go, but if anyone has a report of this rescue, please let me know as I would be interested in seeing it.
Needless to say, my interest in caving did not waned, and despite my fathers passive objections, I made it a top priority to follow his footsteps, and see this place where my dad once adventured. For over 30 years I have thought about that one day that I would also go and explore the Glory Hole Cave.



REPORT

Friday, 1-26-07, Shannon and I headed out of Atlanta on a journey to the southern parts of Georgia. It took almost two hours of the trip just to get through the traffic, of course. This was the trip I had looked forward to for all these years !! It had taken literally months to arrange the trip. We got a room in a local hotel where unfortunately there was a combination of argument and making up session going on in the room above until all hours of the morning, and didn't get much sleep. My brother Spencer had wisely elected to just get up early and drive down to meet in town.

There in town, we met with Tom Moltz, Ed Pratt, and Jody Frazier and had some breakfast. Spencer was running late so we elected to head out to the cave anyway with Ed staying behind to wait for him while we went forward. Unfortunately for Ed, Spencer arrived before he could take a nap.

Tom Shannon and Jody, and I headed down to the sink. The entrance is like a wishing well and leads to a steep corkscrew climbdown through multi-sized breakdown. Here are the "before" pictures:
Before 1
Before 2
I was first down and when I was unsure of which way to go, I was reassured that there was only one way: down. Down through the breakdown went, then down some more chimneys until we were at the cave level. We counted 16 bats, probably pips, on the way down. We finally reached the bottom and entered into the aptly name Hall of High Hopes. It was more than evident that we would soon have to pass through the Birth Canal, but it was not to be now. Instead we headed off through some sand crawls to the Sand Room and beyond to see EH Polleys signature and the Diamond room.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... G_1231.jpg
Christmas trees!!
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We heard a rustling and saw that my brother and Ed had caught up with us and after a little rest, we headed back through the sand crawl towards the Hall again. Somewhere along this crawl, I flicked some sand into my eye, and being a half blind contact wearing guy, found myself in a little ocular pain. We pressed on (bleeding eyes and tight quarters never stopped any caver I know anyway, so I've heard). At the end of the Hall of High Hopes there is a mud plug with a hole at the ceiling which is the Birth Canal. Shannon went first, armed with a crowbar to dig out the passage to make it easier for the longer cavers. It is headfirst or feet-first depending on what you chose, and no way to change your mind once you chose. Its an almost (backwards) Z-shaped passage and there was about six inches of water in the "/" part of the Z. The exit from the Z is about a 160deg turn. It is difficult to describe, but you can slink your feet into a void at the back and come out facing the new passage you are trying to get into - sort of like parallel parking, only you cant see.
This was the beginning of the sand crawls, and at times they seemed to go on forever if it wasnt for the lattice of stone you would see in the side passages. We crawled on to the Tomb Room to see the famous Granny Star.
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I headed up into the room to see the Granny Star, and looked down into the passage I was supposed to take. I never made any claims about being the bravest caver out there, so it comes as no surprise that I wimped out. Shannon gave it a try and got stuck which caused a bit of well understood panic for a moment given the very tight quarters. Thanks to Toms calm nature, he helped her extract herself and she routed. Spencer and Ed didnt try it either, so the only one who saw the beloved Granny Star was Jody!

From the Granny Star, we re-entered the sand crawls once again and slowly the passages began to get a little wider, and we began to see some crystal formations here and there. Before long we found ourselves in the FSS Bypass, which was a nice open walking passage. We wound around through the Loch Ness Passage which is named for a cool chert formation that appears to be a orange sea monster weaving in and out of the surrounding white limestone. The limestone in the cave, by the way, is quite soft and powdery like nothing I have seen up in TAG. Before long we were in some very large breakdown rooms and beyond that is was our main photo destination: Fallen Angels.

Fallen Angels is again, nothing like I have ever seen before. Angel wings and long white soda straws were everywhere... some of the angel wings were two feet long!! Huge columns of solid white flowstone were everywhere. The formations were so pure that they looked like ice! It was simply beautiful!! We hung around that area for a while, checked out some water pools that had crystals in them, and even some that had a very unusual formations in them called "shot-glasses". One soda straw in a particular room was over sixteen inches long!!! Amazing!

We stopped and took a break for a while, one by one turning off our lights until we sat there silently in the pitch black, reclining against the rocks listening to the water drip. I could have fallen asleep in the peaceful setting.

Unfortunately, we couldnt press forward into the Regal Wiggle because the sand has become too high and, although the Regal Wiggle is passable, the following passages were not. It just wasnt worth the chance of breaking any of those beautiful formations by crawling through, so we headed back the way we came.

As we walked we picked up spray bottles that had been left in there after past cleanups. We crawled back down into the sand crawls and found ourselves back at the Birth Canal again. In my opinion, it is harder on the way out because the last leg involves struggling up the mud bank instead of down.. gravity is your friend on the trip in, but your enemy on the trip out. After that we rested in the hall of high hopes, then headed back out the climb, relaying the spray bottles as we went. The chimney up was pretty tricky, but we all managed. Tom, bolted up first to open the gate while we were still deep within the corkscrew. You sure could tell when he opened it, because the airflow literally began to howl. The barometric changes in the atmosphere had that cave blowing like crazy. I wouldnt be surprised if it was 30-40 mph. Tom most correctly described the sound it made as a "Giant Blowtorch" as it was really roaring.

After we all routed the cave, we went and visited the landowner, who remarkably knew all of my relatives. She is a wonderful sweet woman who loves cavers! We visited with her for a while then it was time to leave forthe long drive back home, dead tired.

I really dont have the words to describe what I saw, so here are some pictures.

Shannon admiring a crystal formation:
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Jody getting the best shot!
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Pretties!
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... G_1238.jpg

Somewhere in the sandcrawls:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... G_1240.jpg

More pretties:
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Did I mention there were some pretties in there?
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Oh yea, I forgot to mention the pretty formations!
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... G_1256.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... G_1257.jpg

The tape is to keep that one caver from bumping his head and breaking them.. these were in a blind area:
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Spencer and Jody in awe:
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Shannon couldnt get us to smile, and so here is where she said "Saaaaay Bat Doodie!!" and we laughed.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... G_1272.jpg

A crystal pool:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... G_1247.jpg

and the unique "shot glasses"
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... G_1262.jpg

And here we were after the second time through the Birth Canal:
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And the obligatory "after" pictures:
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http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/ ... G_1280.jpg

I marked our route through the trip on the map, but I dont want to post the map up on the board. If you are interested in seeing it, then pm me.

Thanks for reading, hoped you enjoyed it!

****Note: All photos by Shannon Glenn

[MUD]

Absolutely GREAT report graveleye! Sounds like you guys had a blast and that's what it's all about. Great pics also. I bet you're still thinkin' about it, huh? Sore feet? Sore muscles? I bet your heart and soul feel good!

[Dane]

As always, a great report Kev.
I know this one was special to you, which made the report special for the rest of us.

[graveleye]

It was special.. perhaps were it all began for me, caving-wise. I had wantred to go down there since I was just a little kid, and now I have been.
Yup, I feel like a changed man, and was quite sore, but on an adventuresome high that I I've never felt before. I feel like a million bucks!! Can't wait to go back, but I have some other caves to explore first.. hmm... whats next?

[batrotter]

Interesting trip report and a pretty cave!

[Phil Winkler]

Kev,

Wonderful report and your descriptions are accurate. It really took me back to the early 70s when we members of the Ft Rucker/Ozark Grotto explored it many times.

The limestone is named the Crystal River formation as I recall and it is very pure; hence the proliferation of white formations. Further back are clusters of anthodites, too. I can only describe where they are as "back and over to the left side" when looking into the cave.

Here are 3 pictures from 1973. The one with me in it appears to match your IMG_1255 one. Note I'm touching the wall and not the formations! These were taken with a half-frame 35mm that automatically advanced the film after each shot so you point and shoot quite fast. It was a very compact camera, too. That's why the pictures are so small.





Your pictures are wonderful and I can appreciate your feeling of awe of being able to experience the cave.

[bigalpha]

Dang Phil, been around for a while, eh?

Kev, awesome report -- I don't think I could have done the birth canal.

[graveleye]

I don't think I could have done the birth canal.

that was the only way to get the pretties, and therefore, well worth the effort!!

Yes, Phil, looks like we were looking at the same formations - its nice to know they are still there isnt it? The cave is in very good shape in my opinion. I know for a fact that we didnt break anything, not even close.

The map I had was surveyed by the Ft Rucker Grotto. Were you on the survey there?

[Phil Winkler]

Kev,

Yes, we surveyed in there, but I don't recall when the map was done. Whose name(s) are on it? Jimmy Harrison?

Could you fax me a copy or send me a copy? I'd love to see a map again.

[Ozymandias]

Friday, 1-26-07, Shannon and I headed out of Atlanta on a journey to the southern parts of Georgia. It took almost two hours of the trip just to get through the traffic, of course.

Awesome trip report! Loved the photos... truly a beautiful cave. It's good to know there's something like that close to Atlanta. There were a number of great things in your report, but I just had to quote the above. Isn't that the truth? Friday afternoons are the worst. If you're not out of the city by 2pm, you're stuck until late in the evening!

[graveleye]

I've lived here in Atlanta since 1969... it sure has changed, and mainly for the worse. The traffic here is simply disgusting.

[Phil Winkler]

Someone commented privately about my lack of a helmet in the picture above. In Glory Hole it is/was common practice to remove your helmet once you get to the formation areas. The theory being this will make you less likely to carelessly bang into and possibly destroy any of the formations on the walls and ceiling.

Glory Hole is so heavily festooned it is a distinct possibility and we all removed our helmets for that reason.

[graveleye]

Phil, I noticed that there was a lot of survey tape winding through the cave and was told that it is there to mark the safest paths in order to avoid breaking anything or stepping on stuff that they have cleaned. In a few instances, especially where the formations are around a blind corner, they have flagged them with some survey tape to warn you before you smack them.

[Scoon1]

What an awesome trip report!! I almost felt like I was part of the adventure. Keep the reports coming!!

[bigalpha]

Someone commented privately about my lack of a helmet in the picture above. In Glory Hole it is/was common practice to remove your helmet once you get to the formation areas. The theory being this will make you less likely to carelessly bang into and possibly destroy any of the formations on the walls and ceiling.

Glory Hole is so heavily festooned it is a distinct possibility and we all removed our helmets for that reason.

Phil, excuses excuses. hehe.

Would it be possible to impale your head on some of those formations?