A HISTORY OF THE CAVE The Cavers Plunge Geocache has been up and
running for over six years now (February, 2012). There have been
many “finders”, many photos shared and some great logs
and stories written regarding personal experiences in pursuit of
this geocache. As such, I thought a little history about the cave
and the area would be a nice addition to the cache post. In so far
as I know, the first human beings to reach the bottom of this cave
were a group of cave explorers from the Philadelphia, PA area who
called themselves “The Dirty Dozen”. In about 1962,
this group of explorers ventured into the wilds of Kentucky,
perhaps seeking the next Mammoth Cave. How they came to know of the
cave and its location remain a mystery. Once on the bottom, this
group, bent on exploring the cave entirely, scaled the wall where
the log latter now resides. They placed pitons to protect their
climb, some of which may still be visible. But as luck would have
it, the cave did not go anywhere as “The Dirty Dozen”
had hoped. Because the 1950’s and 1960’s were peak
times in Kentucky cave exploration, I suspect this group was hoping
to link several caves together by navigating from “Cavers
Plunge” to caves both east and west of the pit. That did not
pan out. The next group to actively explore this pit was the Dayton
Area Speleological Society (DASS) in about 1972. I believe DASS
became aware of the pit from one of the Philadelphia group. DASS
was actively mapping and researching caves in the immediate area,
and had a scientific interest in the cave itself. DASS exploration
of the cave confirmed “The Dirty Dozen’s”
findings that the cave didn’t extend much further than the
bottom of the pit itself. By the late 1970’s and early
1980’s the pit was declared a dead-end by the caving
establishment, and relegated to extreme sports enthusiasts. In the
early 1980’s, the Lake Cumberland Speleological Society
(LCSS) took up an interest in the cave as training and adventure
(this is the point where I first dropped the cave). Since it had
been established that the cave itself had no value in terms of
expanding other know caves in the area, individuals who explored
this cave became known as “yo-yo’s” or yo-yo
cavers; people who just wanted to go down, pause for a time, then
come back up. After serious scientific interest in the 1970’s
and 1980’s, the cave was probably not visited at all until
the geocache was established by a former LCSS member in 2006. At
this time, the land owner was logging the ridge. When approached
about placing a geocache at the bottom of the cave, the land owner
expressed both curiosity and great concern regarding the deadly
opening on his land. Earlier, he had placed barbed wire and
surveyors tape around the entrance in an attempt to warn hunters
and hikers of the hazardous opening. Still, the owner expressed a
deep curiosity about the void below the deadfall opening. He wanted
to know what it looked like down there, and now, because of the
Veterans of this cache, he knows. The general area of this geocache
is intensely cavernous. The cave opening, a wonderful example of a
karst window at the parking co-ordinates is not Wind Cave, but Hamm
Cave. Hamm cave has been mapped by DASS and LCSS and is comprised
of about 1,200 feet of passageways. Some low and wet crawlways have
not been extensively explored. Wind Cave itself is located at 37 3
30.31N, 84 31 16.93 W was mapped by DASS (1974) and LCSS (1982) and
contains over two miles of passageways. It is believed by both
caving organizations to extend much further as much of the cavern
has been left unexplored. A truly gigantic cave system is located
less than a mile to the east of Wind Cave, Hamm Cave and Cavers
Plunge. This cave was mapped by DASS (1972-1985) and contains well
over 30 miles of passageways. Publication of this speleological
research does not exist since DASS desired to preserve the pristine
condition of the cave system. To this day, it is believed that Wind
Cave, Hamm Cave and the pit at Cavers Plunge tie in or are linked
to the larger cave system to the east. But the researchers who
worked on this project are now all old men, entirely incapable of
pursuing a physical linkage of all of these caves. It was once and
still is believed by some, caves in this region, if linked
physically together by exploration and mapping, could rival Mammoth
Cave in length as the longest cave in the world. Whether all of
these caves are physically linked is not known, and anybody who
once desired to explore the idea have grown too old to pursue this
idea. Be that as it may, this idea was what led “The Dirty
Dozen”, DASS and LCSS to first explore the pit at Cavers
Plunge. For now, please enjoy the cave at Cavers Plunge for what it
is: an experience in geocaching. Any aspirations to map and link
all of the area caves together would require an effort of hundreds
of experienced cave explorers, every weekend for at least a decade.
And there is nobody on the radar screen interested in pursing it.
__________________ THE CACHE!!! DUE TO THE EXTREME NATURE OF THIS
CACHE, SUPPORT OR TEAM MEMBERS NOT ACTUALLY MAKING THE DROP ARE
ENCOURAGED TO SIGN THE LOGS. BUT PLEASE INDICATE YOUR ROLE ON THE
PHYSICAL AND ONLINE LOGS. This is an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS cache and
should be attempted only by very serious minded and well trained
individuals. This is a cache for experienced cavers who are well
versed in vertical work. This cache will require highly specialized
skills (repelling and ascending) and will require special
equipment. The cache is located at the bottom of a 100-foot + deep
vertical cave (a pit) and the coordinates listed is the location of
the entrance. The cave - called Wind Cave Pit - is not widely known
and to my knowledge, has not been explored since the mid
1980s.
It was once thought possible that Wind Cave Pit could connect to
Wind Cave itself but extensive exploration by several caving groups
concluded that it basically goes nowhere. Once on the bottom- the
explorer will find no leads - unless of course - those who have
explored it in the past (including myself) overlooked something.
Expect this to be a simple "repel and ascend" expedition and not
one of genuine exploration (unless you find more "cave" than
everyone else did - which is very possible).
WARNING: Do not attempt to find this cache if you are not an
expert in rope work. It will require rigging the pit, repelling to
the bottom (93-foot single pitch), signing the cache log book and
then ascending a free-hanging rope. Not only will repelling gear be
necessary but mechanical ascenders will be 100 percent necessary to
climb back out.
WARNING: If you are not an absolutely competent vertical caver -
DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS CACHE!! If you do not know exactly what you are
doing when it comes to repelling, ascending (not rock climbing) and
caving - there is a very good possibility you could get yourself
killed. Do not make the mistake that you could repel to the bottom
then rock-climb back out - IT CAN NOT BE DONE.
WARNING: No not take children or pets near the entrance to this
cave! It is dangerous to even be near it. The entrance to this pit
is a rather small unremarkable hole in the forest floor that goes
straight down. At the entrance, the hole is approximately four feet
in diameter. Approximately 15 feet below the entrance, the cavern
opens in to an impressive chasm. If you attempt this cache, you
will repel through the narrow entrance chute and down in to the
very impressive chamber directly under the entrance. As you
continue your repel deeper, your rope will be dangling in the
darkness below you and several feet from the nearest wall. Once
through the entrance chute - the remainder of the drop is
considered "free". At about 93 feet below the entrance, you will
land on a fairly high mound of rocks and forest debris. This
"mound" is stable and you may "un-rope" here. Even though the area
around the entrance was logged two years ago, there is still plenty
on which to rig the pit for the descent. There is a good approach
to the entrance and a gentle break-over - it is not awkward getting
vertical - it is a nice drop in almost every aspect - however - if
it has been rainy - a bit of a shower forms and in worst case
conditions - may be drenching for the repel and ascend.
Like i said above - the area at and near the entrance has been
logged recently and there is a considerable amount of logging
debris around and near the entrance. This includes numerous limbs
and unwanted or unused logging waste (timber). Also as a result of
recent logging - with the thinning of the canopy, some thick
undergrowth and briars have grown and may make for a mildly
unpleasant or, at the very least, unremarkable journey to the
entrance itself. Also note that the current owner of the land had
placed a barbed wire fence around the entrance in order to protect
hunters and others from venturing too close to the pit by mistake.
This barbed wire fence is no longer intact and the wire is laying
near the cave entrance. In short - with the logging and wire
fencing - this is a rather unimpressive cache when viewed from the
surface. However, even though the entrance itself is unremarkable -
once you see what lies just underfoot - a magnificent - gigantic
cavern - i think you will be impressed! If i am not mistaken - this
is the deepest pit-cave in Pulaski County - and the county is very
cavernous.
Directions: From Somerset Kentucky - drive east on Kentucky
Highway 192 to Pitman Creek. Just on the east side of the creek -
turn Right onto Clay Hill Road. Go past Clay Hill Church a few
hundred yards and take a right on to Strawberry Road - follow the
creek around about a mile and park at 37 03.316 , 84 31.750. From
there - use your GPS to navigate to the entrance of the cave - the
cache will be located 93 feet directly underneath the listed
coordinates for this cache. This cache is small and is composed of
a log book only. To avoid most of the logging debris - go straight
up and over the ridge line. Again - for the untrained - this should
be considered an extremely DANGEROUS cache. Do not attempt this
cache alone or if you are not a completely competent and expert
caver.
This cache will require planning and organization - please feel
free to email me if you have any questions