TAG Caving: Part 2

Friday, December 8th 2006 - Ralph Powers

Location: Cedar Ridge Crystal Cave Trip Leader: Ginger Knotty Knanna! On Trip: Ralph Rodney Kevin Robert Jerry #2 Ginger I wasn't totally sure I'd be able to go on this trip or not. Previous and on-going committments to my parents sometimes doesn't allow for the wonderful world of caving. Yet sometimes... things work out. I managed to get ahold of Ginger by phone, (or she got ahold of me) in time to ensure a ride to/from and just chilled out until she arrived. We drove to South Pittsburg and met up with Rodney at the Krystal and found Jerry 2 waiting inside. The others arrived shortly thereafter. Once food was in our bellies and who was going to ride with whom was established we were on our way. At the cave entrance, Ms Knotty (which rhymes with naughty) had a devil of a time trying to find all her pads. After a quick search she was ready to go. The cave was pleasantly warm, this was especially nice considering the sudden drop in temps over the last few hours. Like Jerry, my glasses fogged up promptly once past the gate. Wiping them down with my yet to be soiled t-shirt I was ready to go explore my second TAG cave. Already I was impressed with first, the gate itself, then secondly the cave. As a (former) Utah/Western caver I was very impressed with the size and number, as well as the variety of spelothems to be found here. Only in a few places was there room for more formations. Many parts reminded me of the profusely decorated caves back west and the draperies I discovered after squeezing through this and that little tight spot in the lower levels had me "wow-ing" and wishing I had my own camera. If I had, the trip probably would've been a lot longer than the roughly two hours we spent inside. This is a very very nice cave in regards to it's decorations and it's relative simplicity to move around in. Break-down is abundant all across the floor and slick in some spots. There were still calcite rimmed pools to be found, many of them were empty however. One or two appeared empty but closer inspection found just how clear cave-pools can be when they're not disturbed. Also remarkable, as Jerry pointed out in a few choice spots were signs of ancient tetonic plate movement as columns and other formations were "shifted" to one side from their original locations. I've seen this before in Porcupine cave (Utah) and it makes one appreciate the wonders of the earth all the more. The usual sit-around and chat about anything and nothing occurred before we decided to head out. I'm still poor with names but one of the "guides" did his best to show how a bright enough light can cause certian speleothems to glow. The result was dismal at best but it's still neat to see even a small spot of green eminating from a nice white calcite stalagmite... if only for a few seconds. If I can get my hands on one (again) I think a million candle-power spotlight will do the trick rawther nicely next time around. I'd like to visit the cave again, this time armed with a good camera and some slaves. Thanks to Ginger for leading the trip. It was well worth it.