Cathedral Cave Attempted Break in

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Cathedral Cave Attempted Break in

Postby pub » Oct 27, 2009 9:48 pm

Just posted in SoCal Grotto Yahoo group:

cavedoug wrote:FYI

We were just Notified by members of the Northern Arizona Grotto that some one has hack sawed into one of the bars of the Cathedral Cave gate. They were unsuccessful in entry, but very close to getting all the way around one bar. Earlier this year someone tried ripping the gate open with a Vehicle or ATV. One bar was bent but nothing broke. It sounds like they were using a cordless grinder cutting around the edge.

I suspect they are entering the property from behind the property on ATV trails and also would not be surprised if they continue the attack on the gate. Our wild west neighbor care taker has been under the weather which has limited his ability to look over the place.

Anyone responsible caver's, (likely everyone on these lists) wanting to do a trip to the cave, we would welcome trips right now to keep a caver presence at the location.

We will need to return soon, to repair the cave gate, Ad a second road gate and fence off between trees to limit ATV access and restore some unwanted to raods. I will also be adding more threatening singage, including one acknowledging the trespassing/ vandalism issue.

Cathedral cave is a private preserve with 2 caves owned by 3 western caver's, Myself, Tom Gilliend and John Norman. Cave ownership has turned out to be both very rewarding and challenging. Since purchasing the cave, about 7 years ago for the sake of preservation, we have made many great finds. Notably protected is a Maternity colony of Townsend Long Eared bats, that is now thriving and growing in size, the discovery of new invertebrate species, and a thriving colony of Salamanders and a family of javelina in Indian cave. This in addition to archeology discoveries and nicely decorated
rooms. The cave has lots to protect ! Previous horror stories included heavy use a party cave, with activities such as shooting of bats and stalactites off the ceiling, in addition to flat out wholesale vandalism and graffiti. I am definitely concerned to avoid a repeat for any of this.

So we may be recruiting for some conservation work at the cave in the next few months, mainly securing land above ground and repairing the gate. The bats are out for the season so responsible visitation not an issue. I suspect this is weekend visitation. There are guide books and maps that include directions to our cave, so it is no secret. One popular book professes that a candle will not suffice at the cave, you will need at least one flashlight. The cave is located in Northern Arizona, near teh town of Ash Fork.

Thanks for all support, past, present & future, I will keep all posted.

Doug Billings

Desert Dog Troglodyte Grotto
Steward/ Owner Cathedralcave.org
Balincaguin comes from the Zambal phrase, "Bali lan caguing" meaning "house of bats."
This was the former name of the Municipality of Mabini, Pangasinan, when it was part of the Province of Zambales (of Mt. Pinatubo Volcano fame).
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pub
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Re: Cathedral Cave Attempted Break in

Postby Tom Gilleland » Jan 9, 2010 2:03 pm

The gate has been repaired, and we've installed a variety of security measures to help protect from illegal access.
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Re: Cathedral Cave Attempted Break in

Postby pub » Jan 9, 2010 5:39 pm

Thanks for the update Tom, hope your new security measures will be effective... :kewl: :waving:
Balincaguin comes from the Zambal phrase, "Bali lan caguing" meaning "house of bats."
This was the former name of the Municipality of Mabini, Pangasinan, when it was part of the Province of Zambales (of Mt. Pinatubo Volcano fame).
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Re: Cathedral Cave Attempted Break in

Postby plicpriest1 » Jan 15, 2010 11:56 pm

You can beef up security measures with a sniper in the woods. Anyone who comes near... well I think you get the idea :rofl: . In all seriousness (dont think i spelled that right) I think that having an impenitrable gate is the best bet. Where there is a will there is a way. With that said if there is no way the will dies. It is a bummer that folks dont respect the gate. You can make scary sighns (for the faint of heart), but that wont detract from the drive of some people.

I dont know what kind of gate yall have, but some gates ive seen are pretty much impassable without a key. Occasionally there are people that will try to defeat the gate but ultimatly go home defeated.

The moral of the story: have a damn good gate and sleep easy :big grin: .
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Re: Cathedral Cave Attempted Break in

Postby Tom Gilleland » Jan 28, 2010 3:41 am

Actually, our gate is pretty beefy and it has already withstood two significant attacks. We also have a neighbor "mountain man" caretaker who runs off most people that don't have our permission to be there. He always walks down with his pistol on his hip. In fact, there was a past incident that wasn't too far off from "a sniper in the woods." Remember that this is backcountry Arizona where the Wild West rules still apply. Having a local cave steward is certainly the best solution, and back these up with a significant gate, and a high security Medico Lock.
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Re: Cathedral Cave Attempted Break in

Postby plicpriest1 » Jan 29, 2010 1:59 pm

Sounds like yall have it covered pretty well. Wild west rules? Hmmm mayby ile move out there. Sounds like fun. Since I dont really know about arizona caving, how is it out there? I live in CO. At any rate glag yalls gate can survive.
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Re: Cathedral Cave Attempted Break in

Postby davantalus » Apr 5, 2010 2:11 pm

plicpriest1 wrote:You can beef up security measures with a sniper in the woods.

Haha! The cacti are deadly too, and damn stealthy!

My buddy and I were out there this weekend. The gate was in good shape. We fixed up a small fence that had fallen down (wind?).
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