Just for the adventuresome...

[+The Jester]

I just planted some caches down south of Mt St Helens, highlighting a couple of other lava tubes in the area. One is for those of you who are not at all afraid of small spaces (you can get the cache without crawling, but it does show you where a mini-lava tube is): Burst Bubble. The other two will take you thru Ole's Cave: A Jester Unemployed... & ...Is Nobody's Fool. I'm working on a Earthcache for another lava tube nearby that has some unique features in it. So grab your flashlights & gear and go have fun! (Down deep in the dark where no one can hear you scream! )

[+LandRover]

Cool, I explored a lot of these caves when I was a kid. I have tried to find coordinates for them on the internet but they appear to be one of those things that those that know where they are want to keep them as hush hush as they can.

[+The Jester]

Yeah, some of the spelunking groups think only members should "know" where caves are. They've done what they can at times to prevent any publication of co-ords of caves (search the forums to find some old threads about that). I've found several caves thru the GC.com listings.

[+-Hawk-]

Snookie74 and I are looking forward to heading to that area to do some of those. Another Lava Tube Earthcache would be great. We missed the Impressions of a Tree Earthcache, before it was archived. Thanks for reviving this type of cache.

[+klossner]

Yeah, some of the spelunking groups think only members should "know" where caves are. They've done what they can at times to prevent any publication of co-ords of caves.

And with good reason: well-publicized caves get trashed. Many of the lava tubes east of Bend have been gated by BLM to prevent the sort of vandalism that happened at Skeleton Cave.

 

It's not just the spelunking groups who keep these secret. The Gifford Pinchot forest rangers know where the caves are, but they won't tell you either. Thirty years ago you could get cave maps from the forest service, but not today.

 

I'm all in favor of placing caches near caves. Cachers tend not to be vandals, and I've explored some great caves this way. I was thinking of a return visit to Ole's and these new caches are the motivation I need. Thanks!

[+The Jester]

Yeah, some of the spelunking groups think only members should "know" where caves are. They've done what they can at times to prevent any publication of co-ords of caves.

And with good reason: well-publicized caves get trashed. Many of the lava tubes east of Bend have been gated by BLM to prevent the sort of vandalism that happened at Skeleton Cave.

 

It's not just the spelunking groups who keep these secret. The Gifford Pinchot forest rangers know where the caves are, but they won't tell you either. Thirty years ago you could get cave maps from the forest service, but not today.

 

I'm all in favor of placing caches near caves. Cachers tend not to be vandals, and I've explored some great caves this way. I was thinking of a return visit to Ole's and these new caches are the motivation I need. Thanks!

I'm sorry I don't buy the arguement. If well publicized caves get trashed, why isn't Ape Cave destroyed? It's one of the best publicized caves I know. Yep, they have a station there now - not always manned & hasn't been there that long - but that cave is on maps, signs, websites, books, etc and has been for years. There's another lava tube - Lava River Cave - in Arizona that has signs directing you right to it, nobody around to monitor it, and it's in fine shape.

 

As for the Rangers, there is a federal law banning fed orginizations from doing that (this is what the other groups were basing their arguements on).

 

Edit to correct Arizona cave name.

Edited August 30, 2007 by The Jester

[+klossner]

Bats don't hibernate in Ape Cave anymore. They do hibernate in Ole's Cave. It just takes one group walking through the cave during the winter to kill a hibernating colony.

[+The Jester]

Yep, that's why they are unavailble in the winter. ...Is Nobody's Fool has a picture of the closure notice and a Notice on the page. But that's different than vandalism...

 

But this isn't the place to discuss philosophies of listing cave locations. If you'd like to discususs the caches by the cave(s), continue to do so.

[+RogerAg]

I'm sorry I don't buy the arguement. If well publicized caves get trashed, why isn't Ape Cave destroyed?

 

Because organizations such as “The Cascade Grotto” (Seattle), “The Oregon Grotto” (Vancouver) and “The Willamette Valley Grotto as well as The Boy Scouts and others have all done Ape Cave clean up’s. Some of the trips I was personally on was:

1. Trips to remove pant. We took in 5 Gallon Water fire fighting bladers into the cave to wash off pant.

2. Trips to pick up garbidge.

3. Built 1 1/4 mile of trail from the main entrance to the upper entrance. It took all one summer

4. Removed wood that was thrown down the skylight.

5. Trips to replaced damaged steps in the stairways.

 

So why hasn’t Ape Cave been Trashed? BECAUSE WE KEEP PICKING IT UP!

Edited December 24, 2007 by RogerAg

[+GrnXnham]

I'm sorry I don't buy the arguement. If well publicized caves get trashed, why isn't Ape Cave destroyed?

 

Because organizations such as “The Cascade Grotto” (Seattle), “The Oregon Grotto” (Vancouver) and “The Willamette Valley Grotto as well as The Boy Scouts and others have all done Ape Cave clean up’s. Some of the trips I was personally on was:

1. Trips to remove pant. We took in 5 Gallon Water fire fighting bladers into the cave to wash off pant.

2. Trips to pick up garbidge.

3. Built 1 1/4 mile of trail from the main entrance to the upper entrance. It took all one summer

4. Removed wood that was thrown down the skylight.

5. Trips to replaced damaged steps in the stairways.

 

So why hasn’t Ape Cave been Trashed? BECAUSE WE KEEP PICKING IT UP!

 

Well, there you go then!