|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A fantastic cavern only accessible by boat and a 100’ rock climb. I’m still looking for my pre-digital camera era prints of my last trip here in 1997. Revisited this year with Guy Starbuck who has his own website full of adventures. .
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Finally! After 7 years, got a chance to go back to this nice but “scarily accessible” cave. My co-explorer on this trip was Guy Starbuck, a guy who drew the long straw when Bart Feeblecorn drew the short one in the name picking game....
Here you can see Guy and I, scaling up the crumbly limestone cliff towards the cave. The angle of the camera here is actually quite accurate. This is a steep incline. My daughter Alisha and Guy’s wife Alysia, (A verbal pairing that was good for more than one joke!), took these photos from the “Farm Boat” below while we men-folk risked life and limb while climbing photogenically.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Guy and I eventually decided that the amount of cold sweat and urine that would expended going up this route would be excessive. We both backed down carefully. Alysia was helpful here as she spotted hand and foot holds for us as we descended over the rotten cliff face.
We were about to leave the area a bit discouraged, but backed the boat off the cliff face a bit to see if we could spot an overland trail. We did spot one and Guy noticed that by scrambling up a nice “easy” talus slope of broken limestone, we could probably intersect the trail from the next ravine over. Having never participated in a rock slide, this sounded like a fine plan to me....we scaled the adjacent rock fall to the level of the trail without dislodging more than a few thousand pounds of rock. Guy actually went a bit farther up the trail, but as I was waiting 100’ downhill (presumably to be out of dislodged rock distance, but actually so I could catch my breath where he wouldn’t hear me panting!), I noticed a large cave opening nearby. When Guy (100’ above) called out “So...which way should we go from here?” I pointed out the cave opening a mere 30’ away and nonchalantly said “ dunno...maybe we should try going into this cave opening here?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Guy Starbuck coming out of a dead-end cave
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The lowest room of any size in the cave definitely lends credence to the “crystal” part of this cave’s name. The whole cavern is carved in grey veined marble; the lowest room is still “alive” as 1000’s of water drops still build formations. Most of the cave is above the water table but this one “nursery room” room still drips and grows new works of art that sparkled like diamonds in the glow our lights.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unfortunately, it turned out to be a very short dead-end....just what I deserved for being a smart ass!
The dead end however turned out to be alongside a very faint trail. Following the trail, and guided by my suspect memory and dead-reckoning, we found the REAL cave entrance.
Crystal River does not dissappoint. The cave is a stand-up , walkaround kind of cavern with a colony of bats and a 20’ ceiling in places. In the picture at left, Guy poses by a nice flowing formation.
In the picture below, I pose by a really cool column; this is a 3 bats-on-the-wing photo too...very cool!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the photo at left, Guy shows how his patented cave camo- coveralls make him blend into the scenery. This is so the bats don’t er...ah...drop guano on him. Were it not for his helmet, you would never know he was here....but it does give a sense of scale to this great room.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Upon leaving the cave, I snapped this picture of lake Tulloch showing the sunset from the cave opening.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Disclaimer: All photos on this site our property of offroadexplorers.com. Unauthorized use will cause us to employ our team of flesh-eating lawyers to sue your ass off. Off-Road and desert travel carries with it inherent risks. Pack plenty of water, spare gas and a lot of common sense. If you break down 75 miles from the nearest point of civilization, don’t come whining to us! Respect the roads and artifacts you might find off-road. Leave everything where you find it so your children and grandchildren might have something to see in the future. Above all, tread lightly & pack out your own frigging trash.
No electrons were harmed in the making of this website; only cruelty-free voltages are used in maintaining this site
which is guranteed to be low-carb, fat-free, phosphate free, and 100% American Made.
|
|
|
