Into the pit at Mass-Hole
This year is already off to a great start. Some of my fellow explorers and I just signed onto an expedition into a portion of Howes Cavern known as Reynolds River. The purpose of this trip is to not only further explore the cave system, but also raise money for those in the Schoharie that were devastated by hurricane Irene this past year.
This event was coordinated by The Northeastern Caver, The Boston Grotto and Howes Caverns. Each of us going on this expedition will be making a donation to the Schoharie Relief Fund to participate. I personally saw how the flooding affected the area and strongly encourage those out there who can spare a dollar to do the same.
This is a portion of the cave system that is rarely visited and has never been fully explored or mapped. Most of the passage was mapped back in 1965, but there are hundreds of feet beyond a 4-Way Junction that remain unmapped. There are also passages noted on the 1965 map that appear to have not been explored. We hope to not only explore the passages, but also document our findings through photographs and further map surveying.
We will be entering the cave system around 9am February 25th and hope to be out by 5pm. I will be sending information, tweets and updates as things develop. I hope to be able to share photos and videos of our experience afterward.
More to come very soon!
~Michael
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Immortal Words of Rev. Paine
New England has many rocks with mysterious and cryptic messages scaring their surface. One of the more recognized is ‘Dighton Rock’ located along Route 24 in Dighton Massachusetts . Also off of 24, buried in the forests of East Bridgewater , is a strange rock not many are aware of. In this case, the words can clearly be read by anyone and the person scribed them is not a mystery at all. What inspired this man to sprawl these words on a boulder is what puzzles me.
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Allen Israel’s Last Words
Recently I was digging through the cold cases and decide to pull out the Smallpox den file. I had known of the den for over ten years. Though it was a fantastic story, all I was left with was the name of the town and brook it lies near. The brook stretched for miles through fields and forest. Without more clues it would be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. I thought I’d review the material to see if I could find something I might have missed.
In 1786 Israel Allen of North Brookfield Massachusetts contracted Smallpox. The residents of the town gathered to discuss how to prevent this from being the beginning of a pandemic. It was clear that they would have to ask Israel to leave the town immediately. They knew of a small cave near Sucker Brook that would an excellent home for him and keep him a safe distance from residents.
The village pastor was the person who delivered the verdict of the townsman. Israel agreed with their decision. He knew that this might prevent others from the suffering and possible death of this disease. He gathered the things he would need and disappeared into the forest to his new home. Though nobody ever saw Israel again, the following winter hunters heard the sound of hammer and chisel echoing from the hollow where Israel had taken refuge. No man in town was brave enough to investigate the source of the noise for fear of crossing paths with the ill Israel .
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Sunderland Ice Cave
New England is a fantastic place for an outdoor explorer. Though it has been well explored for over 390 years, I continue to hear of exciting new discoveries made by fellow explorers. There also are many natural wonders and curious locations that had been found and then lost again, just waiting to be rediscovered.
In my over thirty years of exploring New England, I’ve found that the greatest adventures are made of eighty percent research and twenty percent of actually being out on the trail. While extensively researching the northeast, I managed to build an extensive library of books and journals going back as far as the 1700s, and interview with locals. Though I have also been fortunate to be assisted by, and had the pleasure to aid other New England explorers I’ve met over the years, this loosely banded network of explorers has lacked the attention it deserves.
12 years ago I began to shared online some of the stranger tales of the adventures and mis-adventures some of my fellow explorers and I have experienced. Some were amusing, scary and often just plain weird. These were the most entertaining of the stories my close friends frequently wanted to hear over and over. Though they were enjoyable to tell, they were not the most serious, engaging or exciting.
After some thought over the past year, I decided it was about time to start to share the more sober and exhilarating experiences we’ve had. That is why I decide to create this blog. Though it will begin as a place to share some stories with the arm chair explorers, I hope to also share some of the resources, leads and even some locations we’ve collected over the years.
I hope you enjoy the stories and look forward to hearing about your adventures while exploring New England.
~Michael
editor@neexplorers.org
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