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The Hole in the Wall Grotto
Trip Reports
A Caravan of Cavers February 3, 2018
Damon Uleberg
Our trip to Boulder Choke Cave started by meeting all the Casper cavers at 6:45 in the West side Walmart parking lot. Once everyone showed up, we started a caravan of vehicles driving to Lander. We met up with more cavers from various parts of Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota at the McDonald's in Lander. Then started an even longer caravan of vehicles up to Sinks Canyon where we finally meet up with our trip leader Juan! Somewhere around 21 people anxiously got all their gear ready for a trip underground. It seemed like it took forever for everyone to get through the entrance and the baby that was in the group wanted nothing to do with being carried through the small dark opening going into the cave, so Mom and baby turned back to the cars. This left 19 of us to explore the cave. There were some beautiful ice formations near the entrance as usual and I don't think I'll ever get over how cool those scalloped walls look inside the cave! We made our way to the Lunchroom with Juan stopping a couple of times to give some of the new cavers who hadn't visited the cave before some background info on the cave. Then it seemed like chaos broke loose as the huge group broke into smaller groups to explore the cave on their own. There was a group trying to do a bat study, even though I've personally never seen bats in the cave before, others went for the pond that sometimes has fish in it, others the river, and some straight to crawling around in the bottom part of the cave to check out fossils and a deep pool of water, and some just relaxed in the soft sand of the lunchroom. After everyone had their fill of the underground wonderland, and finding some lost cavers (not lost, but missing from the group), we took a group photo in the lunchroom before making our way out toward daylight. After caving, we checked out the Sinks, hiked up to Popo Agie Falls, and ate lunch at the Lander Bar before heading home. It was a fun trip, a chance to meet some new cavers, and a chance to catch up with some great old caving friends!
Photo Credit: Ellen Whittle
Our trip to Boulder Choke Cave started by meeting all the Casper cavers at 6:45 in the West side Walmart parking lot. Once everyone showed up, we started a caravan of vehicles driving to Lander. We met up with more cavers from various parts of Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota at the McDonald's in Lander. Then started an even longer caravan of vehicles up to Sinks Canyon where we finally meet up with our trip leader Juan! Somewhere around 21 people anxiously got all their gear ready for a trip underground. It seemed like it took forever for everyone to get through the entrance and the baby that was in the group wanted nothing to do with being carried through the small dark opening going into the cave, so Mom and baby turned back to the cars. This left 19 of us to explore the cave. There were some beautiful ice formations near the entrance as usual and I don't think I'll ever get over how cool those scalloped walls look inside the cave! We made our way to the Lunchroom with Juan stopping a couple of times to give some of the new cavers who hadn't visited the cave before some background info on the cave. Then it seemed like chaos broke loose as the huge group broke into smaller groups to explore the cave on their own. There was a group trying to do a bat study, even though I've personally never seen bats in the cave before, others went for the pond that sometimes has fish in it, others the river, and some straight to crawling around in the bottom part of the cave to check out fossils and a deep pool of water, and some just relaxed in the soft sand of the lunchroom. After everyone had their fill of the underground wonderland, and finding some lost cavers (not lost, but missing from the group), we took a group photo in the lunchroom before making our way out toward daylight. After caving, we checked out the Sinks, hiked up to Popo Agie Falls, and ate lunch at the Lander Bar before heading home. It was a fun trip, a chance to meet some new cavers, and a chance to catch up with some great old caving friends!
Photo Credit: Ellen Whittle
Cave Creek Cave Trip June 16, 2018
Anna Sucher
On June 16th a few members of the grotto drove down to Cave Creek Cave. We collected soil samples in hopes of being able to provide them for testing for white nose syndrome. Lorraine collected samples while the rest of us looked for signs of bats to sample the soil beneath. Most of the bats were in the large room, but one was a bit farther back.
It was my first caving trip, so Damon, Lorraine and Ben had to help me find footholds in the fissure portions of the cave but everything went well. At the bottom of the fissure the water was up to my knees. When we reached the sandy room at the end of the cave we found the guest book of the cave needed to be replaced. It was too soggy to even open the pages.
On the way out, just above the small room with large circular holes in the floor, Ben and Damon explored the beginning of an upper passage that was a little too tight to get anywhere. Closer to the entrance they followed a painted arrow up and found a very decorated section of the cave. It was a very fun trip, and it was a great introduction to caving for me. I really appreciated all the help everyone gave me and hope to go again soon!
Photo Credit: Lorraine Lehman
On June 16th a few members of the grotto drove down to Cave Creek Cave. We collected soil samples in hopes of being able to provide them for testing for white nose syndrome. Lorraine collected samples while the rest of us looked for signs of bats to sample the soil beneath. Most of the bats were in the large room, but one was a bit farther back.
It was my first caving trip, so Damon, Lorraine and Ben had to help me find footholds in the fissure portions of the cave but everything went well. At the bottom of the fissure the water was up to my knees. When we reached the sandy room at the end of the cave we found the guest book of the cave needed to be replaced. It was too soggy to even open the pages.
On the way out, just above the small room with large circular holes in the floor, Ben and Damon explored the beginning of an upper passage that was a little too tight to get anywhere. Closer to the entrance they followed a painted arrow up and found a very decorated section of the cave. It was a very fun trip, and it was a great introduction to caving for me. I really appreciated all the help everyone gave me and hope to go again soon!
Photo Credit: Lorraine Lehman
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