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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It was an interesting trip but before I share the details I want to say that the total I was able to collect for the relief fund came to $400. With all of the other cavers, our total came to over $2000. After our run through the passage, the Howe Caverns Tour Manager Jeff DeGroff spoke to us about the many families in Schoharie who have received no support from U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and are still homeless. The money all of you contributed will help these people greatly.
Ok now to the cave crawl.
After work Friday I began the four hour trek to Howes Cave NY. The weather seemed to change with every hour. The highlights of the journey were forty five minutes of dense fog and low visibility in central MA, a snowy winter wonderland in the Berkshires and torrential rain with almost zero visibility outside of Albany NY. Once comfortably settled in my room at the Howe Caverns Motel, my night consisted of dining at a local pizza joint while absorbing the local culture and later preparing all my equipment for the morning.
Members of the trip – Courtesy of Aaron Tester
Saturday morning, we began to collect in the main main building at the cave. There was a mix of familiar faces and strangers soon to become new friends. I mingled in and out of different conversation as I waited anxiously for the moment the expedition would begin. At 10 AM we began our fifteen story plummet into the cave below. I was crammed into the same elevator I had taken over thirty years ago, but instead of being surrounded by casual tourists, this time my company was tubs of equipment and serious explorers. We were about to visit a place very few have ever seen and this thought was exciting and a bit scary too.
We followed a narrow brick lined passage that wasn’t part of the standard tour. In an article from 1885 this passage was known as the Devils Gateway. At its conclusion was the Silent Chamber and a nine foot drop to Fat Man’s Misery. Ahead, the passages would be no longer have modern amenities; we’d be to diving into the dark wet Mystery Passage.
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Howe Caverns
The expedition into the Reynolds River passage will be this coming Saturday. We have 20 cavers including some who I’ve only known through their name and long history of contributions to caving in the Northeast. This should be a fun and exciting weekend.
Though Most of the passage was mapped in 1965, hundreds of feet beyond the 4-Way Junction remain to be mapped. Seasoned cavers Art Palmer and Chuck Porter will map from the 4-Way Junction towards the pool at the end of the cave, while another mapping team will start at the pool and map out to meet them.
The map to the left was surveyed in 1965, the year of my birth, and drawn four years later. The circles along the cave passage with numbers show the height of the passage at that location. As you can see, some parts of this passage are very small. On top of that, the shade part are filled with water. This is why we’ll need to wear wet-suits for this trip. Though it might look tough to a non-caver, I it will be much easier than some wet passages I’ve had to negotiate in the past. Hopefully we will be able to add several hundred of feet of passage to the map when we’re done.
Helmet Cam
There are some spectacular formations in the passage, and very few photos exist, so some of us will be spending time photographing the cave. Howe Caverns requests the right to use photos taken on this trip. Since my adventure camera was long overdue for an upgrade, I went out and purchased a 14 MP Fuji S2950 camera. I also purchased a Pelican 1200 watertight case. In an attempt to capture as much of the expedition on video, I fastened a universal camera mount to my helmet so I can attach my Kodak waterproof HD video camera to it. Hopefully with the headlamp and extra lighting I will be carrying will be enough for the video.
As I mentioned before, each of us will be donating $50 – $100 to the Schoharie Relief Fund. Due to the generosity of my friends and coworkers, so far it looks like I will be handing them a check for over $300. I again encourage those who can spare a few dollars to do the same. You can find where to send the donation at the Howes Cavern Relief Fund webpage.
We will be entering the passage aroung 9 am and hope to exit by 5 pm the latest. The entire expedition will be about 6-8 hours. After we exit, we’ll be eating a hearty meal in the Howes dining area. Shortly after eating I will be making the 4 hour trip home.
I’ll be tweeting and sending picture to the website when possible. Once I’m home though, I probably will fall into a deep coma like sleep until the next day.
~Michael
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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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