Blowing Hole Cave Survey Trip

[SinkholePlain]

Last weekend five Binkley Cave project cavers entered Blowing Hole Cave with two objectives. One team made up of Dave Everton, Rand Heazlitt and Gary Roberson would be surveying on the frontier at the upstream end of the river beyond the Moisturizer. The other team of Brad Barcom and Wayne Cottrell's objective was to attempt to enlarge a narrow canyon to follow the air in Brad's Passage just above the waterfall in the Upper BoreHole. To the team's amazement, the usually ice cold entrance pool was frozen over so they could slide in over the ice for the first 200 feet of the cave. Great fun!

Dave Everton's team surveyed around 1500 feet of new cave to extend the length of Blowing Hole to just over 4 miles. They stopped in a sizable breakout dome room. Exploring just beyond the survey, they found another large room, which Roberson dubbed "Titty City" as a result of the large semicircular chert balls hanging down from the ceiling of the room. Just beyond this room, Rand and Dave pushed into a second Moisturizer type passage with a couple hundred feet of near swimming depth passage with only a few inches of airspace for over 100 feet. Beyond this low airspace, the ceiling rose again into walking passage with waist to chest deep water and continues. The frontier of the upper rive is now about 2 1/2 miles from the entrance most of which is in deep water. The upper river above the waterfall is highly populated with cavefish numbering in the hundreds. Project cavers have taken to calling the larger one's "white dolphins".

Wayne had purchased an inflatible two person kayak to navigate the deep water of the Eerie Canal as far as the Torrent Room area. It worked great. They succeeded in enlarging the narrow canyon at the end of Brad's passage and climbed up into a domepit complex. On previous trips when the temperatures were colder, this passage had sucked in enormous amounts of air. There appears to be a sizable upper level passage about 18 feet above the floor of the first dome, which could be where all the air goes? Project cavers are hoping that it could be an upper level leading towards the closed Hollow Floor Cave and the Strike Section of nearby Binkley's Cave, which has just over 24 miles of surveyed passage. It will require bolting to reach the upper level.

[tncaver]

That sounded like an exciting trip with lots of potential. I hope you will let us know how it goes.

[wyandottecaver]

TN,
PM Sent.

[2.0]

No need to wonder if the upper level passage exists anymore.....

Partial trip report by Nick Benton:
3-6-10

"The survey team for the day was me, Time Pride, and Dave Everton. We surveyed roughly 400'
of the Rimstone Way passage and pushed though a bathtub and into a dome that Dave and
Rand had dug into a few weeks prior. Besides surveying, Dave's main objective for this trip was
taking photos to document the recent discoveries for the upcoming IKC/ICS Cave Symposium.
Once in the dome, Dave asked if I would try free climbing up and into a small canyon passage
to check for a lead he recalled seeing, which Rand had not pushed. He didn't have to ask me
twice.
Once I squeezed and wiggled past the main constriction, I could see a crawling passage in front
of me, while above me the canyon continued up another 15-20 feet in elevation. Dave and Tim
weren't able get through without rock modification, so from this point on I was on my own. While
in this mid-level of the canyon, I overheard Dave explaining to Tim that the original ISS
explorers believed there should be upper level passages in Blowing Hole, although none of us
planned on stumbling into it on this trip. I passed on the crawling lead in front of me and kept
climbing up, and emerged on the floor level of a large (for Indiana), dry borehole roughly 20 foot
tall and 30 feet wide.
This trunk passage has a completely different feel than the rest of Blowing Hole, with numerous
formations, flat ceilings, and dry, smooth silt floor. I couldn't believe it, but I was in the elusive
unknown upper level! I cautiously proceeded to the right to scoop some virgin borehole upper
level booty. Being alone in this passage I felt very exposed and vulnerable; even though there
were no major obstacles to negotiate, I knew even a sprained ankle would be a serious issue up
here. One thing that sticks out in my mind was the silence of this passage. Caving in Blowing
Hole, you normally are splashing water around, stumbling over and around rocks, talking with
your fellow cavers and so on. In this passage, the only thing I heard was my own breathing and
body movement. Besides the occasional water drop, it was an eerie dead quiet.
This main trunk passage seemingly ended in a large room with some nice formations. I retraced
my steps leading back to the floor opening to relay the good news. This was not hard to do,
considering they were the only footprints in the entire passage. They were just as excited as I
was, and gave me the go-ahead to check the other direction. In this direction there were more
formations and a small stream that ended in a room with large car-sized breakdown and one
solitary bat. There are numerous places to look for continuation on both ends of this passage,
but I was in no position to push anything on this trip. Although I have been in virgin passage
before, this was unique to me because of the unexpectedness of it, and the fact that I was alone
exploring this vast unknown passage. I was scooping for 20-25 minutes total. I'm hesitant to
estimate any lengths or measurements of this passage because I'm not sure I can trust myself
due to the excitement and adrenaline I felt at the time. I look forward to help map and survey
this discovery soon and see the true potential it may have. I feel confident I saw at least 1,000
feet of large upper level walking passage. When I climbed back down the dome, Tim and Dave
were shivering and cold, but didn't complain. Even though they couldn't see what I got into, they
were just as excited about the discovery. Our spirits were high when we exited the cave, and we
were treated to a campfire that Adam had made while waiting for us at entrance. It was the
perfect ending to my most memorable caving trip so far."

[MUD]

Keep pushin brother!