by john norman » Feb 11, 2009 3:59 am
I can tell you somthing about the caves in Glen Park. Me and my friend Kier went down into them ten times or so back in the 1980s. There is ice down there, presumably from glacial times, since we saw it on the hottest day of August. Plenty of sink holes in the forest. Don't mess with the caves monitored by the university for bats -- be polite. Different sets of the cave systems connect under the ground; once went down in the field on the other side of the road, and came out overlooking the river. One caveat: there are some tight squeezes, but know your limits, and don't squeeze on your way down, which in my book is not worth it, even with expert backup -- those caves are narrow to begin with, and you could be dead before they pulled you out. Number two, on our last and deepest exploration we found running water, and it was warm and had the smell of the river. We concluded it was coming from the water above the rapids called Knife's Edge, and then making its way back to the river. And on other trips we found thick mud with signs of water running. This two observations should be plenty of good warning to you to not go squeezing deep into those caves when there is any chance of thundershowers, or you may find youself in a cave-diving scenario, but without the tanks. Not a pleasant scene, to say the least. Oh, and always bring a candle and waterproof matches, when all else fails. Almost forgot that last one.