Cavers clean rock walls to preserve fort property

Herald/Review

FORT HUACHUCA — Pyeatt Cave near this Southern Arizona Army post’s West Gate is associated with a number of myths.

One is that Apaches used to ride their horses into the cave and come out in Mexico.

Another is that there is an underground river that people could use to raft from the United States to Mexico.

Like legends, there may be a grain of truth to them, said Sheridan Stone as he sat in the cave.

The reality is that some of the twists and turns in the cave are too low and narrow, and the inclines are steep, too much for a person to navigate on horseback, said Stone, a wildlife biologist on the fort.

Indians did use the cave, as seen in the pieces of pottery that have been found.

And while water is found in the living cave, no river has been found, Stone said.

The constant drip of water still builds stalagmites from the ground, which takes eons to connect with stalactites on the ceiling from which water drops.

Stories about the cave just add mystery to it, Stone said.

For most of the year Pyeatt Cave is off limits to humans.

Seven months of the year the cave is a roost for bats, including the protected lesser-long nose species. This year, more than 14,000 of the species called the cave home.

Bats are not the only inhabitants. Stone said the Pyeatt Cave has its own ecosystem, including cave crickets and other species that have a symbiotic relationship with each other.

And now that the bats have abandoned the cave for the winter, spelunkers are allowed back in.

On Saturday, one group of them worked on cleaning up the cave, where there is spray-painted graffiti.

“Some of it are names, directions and profanity,” Stone said.

Members of the Cochise County Cavers, a grotto of the National Speleological Society, take it upon themselves to remove as much of the graffiti as possible, said Stone, who is a member of the group. Grotto is the word used to designate a chapter of the society.

Proper caving means not leaving a human trace behind, Stone said. But some who like to go into caves do not have the same ethics.

While graffiti removal is the main work of the Cochise County Cavers, not all the writing is eliminated. Anything that is more than 50 years old remains because it is considered archaeologically significant.

Spray painting is younger than a half century, but marks made with pencils and graphite fall into the protected era, Stone said.

The cave is named after the Pyeatt family, who arrived in the Arizona Territory in the late 1800s as ranchers.

One signature in the cave, which has been known since 1890, is of Joseph Pyeatt. That signature has a date of 1915.

The spray paintings are cleaned using distilled water and stainless steel brushes, which minimizes damage to the cave.

Members of the grotto, including children, made their way into the cave on Saturday.

The natural opening soon narrowed, requiring group members to crouch down to make their way into one of the main rooms.

Parts of the cave are slippery and require sure footing. A fall ending with a slide can take a person into a dangerous situation.

Safety is a main concern. On Saturday, everyone wore helmets with lights on them, gloves and knee pads.

In the cave’s darkness, strange shadows are cast, creating an almost 1940s movie atmosphere when lights and shadows were used. Misshapen and large outlines appear on the cave’s walls. Some of the shadows took on the appearance of aliens from outer space.

But there is one thing that those who took part in Saturday’s clean up understood: No one went off on their own.

“Caving is not a solo sport,” said Doug Noble, outgoing chairman of the Cochise County Cavers.

People who go into caves alone can get lost, hurt or killed, he said.

People who like to cave also know how physically hard it is.

“It’s a sport that you use muscles that you normally don’t use,” Noble said.

The environment changed drastically once a person enters a cave. The cool air at the entrance soon gave way to warm, humid air.

Temperatures in caves are usually constant. On Saturday, the temperature was around 70 degrees Fahrenheit with high humidity.

Sweat rolled down the cavers’ faces. Some people took off sweaters or light jackets when they entered the cave, leaving them at the initial entrance to be reclaimed once they headed for the outside.

The Cochise County Cavers see part of their mission to make places such as the Pyeatt Cave better for people to enjoy.

“Our payback is to clean it up,” Noble said, noting the group would spend half the time removing spray paintings, then they would go on to explore the cave.

While the grotto was working in the cave, another group of four entered earlier to tour the site.

There is an accountability system with each person with the county cavers signing in on a register and checked off when they leave. Name, age and hometown is listed.

As group members moved further into the cave’s interior, their voices grew faint and echoes slowly disappeared. The yellow lights of their helmets became less visible until there was blackness as they rounded corners.

Stone said the cave goes in about a half mile. There also are many unexplored smaller side areas. The length of the entire corridor system in the cave is unknown.

Noble noted there are many caves in Cochise County, but the exact number is not known.

Arizona apparently likes to keep the number of caves in the state a secret, he said with a laugh.

“We’re known as the state with no caves,” he said.

Of course, that isn’t true. Arizona has a number of public access caves, such as Kartchner Caverns near Benson, which is considered a premier living cave.

Pyeatt Cave on the fort receives additional protection. People who want to spelunk have to make arrangements with the military police. The site also is monitored by cameras and sensors during the time the cave is off limits to humans because of bats.

There are a number of caves on the post. In the past, they have been explored by soldiers and others.

In one, “Kilroy Was Here” type graffiti of soldiers from different cavalry units of the late 1800s and early 1900s can be found, Stone said.

While the Pyeatt Cave has its myths, perhaps the others do, too. But, Stone said, what they are is part of their mystery.

“The reports of fables are always interesting,” he said.

SENIOR REPORTER Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.