Blowhole Cave

Saturday, December 16th 2006 - Rodney Mulder

Trip Leader: Rodney Mulder On Trip: Rodney Mulder, Randy Clement, Barbara Smith, & Jeff Goben Last year's regional near Pink Lime Pit was such a hit; Barbara Smith from Colorado just had to come back. She brought her boyfriend Jeff Goben. She asked me to set up the trip, and I invited Randy Clement. We agreed to an afternoon trip at Blowhole Cave. The trip started out with an exciting drive through the snow. The roads were covered, which made for more fun each time we slid into the ruts in the road. We arrived at the top of the hill to chilling winds. The cave was greeting us with steam. There was a circle around the pit entrance where the warm air had melted the snow. This is the first time I had been to the cave since the gate was installed and the management plan established. The rules now stipulate that vehicles must be parked 100 yards away. This means no more anchoring to the vehicles. Instead, there is a bar in the ground with a carabiner attached. Rigging was easy. I was also first to enter the cave: I saw the gate for the first time and was very impressed. I opened it with no trouble. We decided to play with GMRS radios in the cave. I rappelled to the bottom of the free-hang and waited for Barbara to come to my position. Each time a caver made it to the position of the person to their front, the front person moved on. In a short manner of time, we were all off rope in what was the Register Room. So where is the register now? I noticed several skeletal remains of small animals in this cave, and a few things covered in mold. We all worked our way towards the bottom of the cave. We did not have enough rope to do the short mud pit, but we did go to the bottom of the passage with the large cable. This cable has made a durable hand-line over the years. Movement through the cave was expedited using the 2 re-belay points. The upper one is the larger bar protruding from the wall. The lower one is a bolt in the wall placed by Shay Lelegren in rescue pre-planning for the UCS&R several years ago. The radios worked for us as long as we didn't get too far. They worked just a short distance farther than yelling. I made sure to show our friends the beautiful décor in the cave, and my favorite napping area. It was very pleasant inside, but we were at threat of freezing once we got out. It was much colder leaving. We entered the cave around 5PM, and left around 8PM. The time went very fast. We had the opportunity to go to Nutty Putty cave - given access when we requested access to Blowhole. The option of the Nutty Putty tour lost out to the fine dining at the Family Tree Restaurant. But first, we got to drive in the snow again. Thanks to the Colorado folks who came out to play, and thanks to Randy for his help.