This cave is a rare find in southeastern New England and it has been ignored for over 40 years. Though it is far shorter than most I’ve traversed, I couldn’t wait to get back and follow the passage to its conclusion. I hadn’t seen much during my first visit but I could tell that it exceeded the few details of its map. I couldn’t stop thinking about how much more it might surpass the survey that had been done in the 60’s. Was the cave really 25 feet long? Could there be more caves nearby? How big was the upper chamber at end of the main passage. These were the question that haunted me all week. Anxious to answer them, I began preparing for a return visit. I got all my gear packed, batteries charged and made plans with Chad Grisly to hike to the cave on Saturday.
The Ridge the Cave Lives In
My plan was to not only crawl the entire cave, but also do a quick survey and a short ridge walk. Unfortunately as the week progressed the weather for Saturday began to look grim. Disappointed but undeterred, I quickly made plans with Penelope for Sunday. Due to a previous commitment for Sunday afternoon, I would have to make my visit earlier and shorter than I hoped.
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The winter is a great time to get out into the forests of New England to locate those treasures well hidden in The Northeast. With all the foliage off the trees, it makes it much easier to survey the landscape. As this winter is coming to an end, I felt the itch to get out to explore before the trees begin to bud.
This weekend I choose to find a cave that has been on my wish list to find for the past 3-4 years. Its located not far from me and is just outside of Boston. I found this cave mentioned in a publication called ‘Caves of Massachusetts’ that was put together by a caver in the late 60’s. What made this cave so interesting is that it appeared to be a solution cave over twenty five feet long with a varying height of 5 to 2 feet tall. Finding a solution cave this large so close to Boston seemed rather odd to me. The description of the cave also mentioned an upper chamber at the far end, a 2 foot tall secondary entrance and that Indian artifacts had been found on the cave floor. I would have tried to locate this cave long ago, but due to past experience, I expected it would not live up to the description.
Saturday afternoon I headed up to the location accompanied by Penelope. Though it was sunny outside, the temperature was a chilly 38 degrees. The land the cave is located was now surrounded by private property. Finding an access point was going to be the first challenge. Though I have no problem speaking to the local residents for permission to cross their property, I prefer to avoid drawing attention to myself and my goal.
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