LAG Trip Report: Lake & Chimney Caves
By: Dan Rhoads
February 27, 2010
Attending the weekend festivities were Dan & Carol Dennison, Derek & Jaclyn Smith, William & Tammy Tucker, and Dan & Amy Rhoads. The Tuckers and the Dennison’s stayed in campers at the Hilton (located on the Bureau of Land Management property, near the Slaughter Canyon Cave parking area), and the Smiths and the Rhoads stayed at the Super 8 luxury suites. Amy secured permits from Stan Allison of the National Park Service for Lake Cave on Saturday and Chimney Cave for Sunday. These were Amy’s first experiences as a trip leader. Go Amy! Amy also had Stan send a Saturday permit for Chimney Cave to Dan Dennison in case we were able to take two groups to Chimney on this weekend. As it turned out, we did not use the Saturday caving permit to Chimney.
On Saturday, we rendezvoused at the Slaughter Canyon parking area at 8am (local time) where Amy held the safety meeting. In attendance were the Smiths, the Rhoads, William, and Dan Dennison. We anxiously began the three hour trek to the cave. The sky was clear, and the weather was perfect with the high reaching a little over 60°F. We tried to stay on the trail, which basically followed the dry riverbed for the first third of the way. Dan Rhoads found a “shortcut,” which mostly led through prickly pears and other thorny flora. Amy was pulling out the remnants from that adventure for the next 36 hours. Dan Dennison and William were vigilant in their search for the point at which the trail branched from the riverbed and led up the ridge, and they warned us that missing this trail has happened and is less than preferable. Thankfully, our trip up to the cave was uneventful, and after Dan Rhoads’ shortcut, there were no other painful or otherwise misfortunate detours.
According to the cave log, it appeared as though this was only the third trip to the cave in the last year. We initially explored a small, cool area that lies beneath the main passage to the cave. The area had several bony remnants including what appeared to be a goat or sheep skull, some partially dissolved and somewhat rounded stalactites, and numerous broken formations. We then walked up the trail to the main section of the cave. The warm, humid air of this area of the cave felt stifling after the cool, dry outdoor air in which we had been in until that point. The Seussical cave formations dazzled the newcomers (Smiths & Rhoads). A couple of the most remarkable formations in the cave are just past twilight. In the floor, we noted one large hole, approximately four feet in diameter that was in this area. We did not venture into the hole because it was mostly covered with a spider’s web.
We spent much of our time in the cave enjoying the lakeside view. Derek, Dan Rhoads, and William enjoyed exploring the path that led up and to the left of the lake. The path nearly reached the ceiling and allowed for a good view of the stalactites, and the path led very near to a large, column of uniform diameter that I thought was remarkable.
Before commencing our exit, we posed for a group shot near the lake, which featured one of the unique, Marvin-the-Martian-style formations. The hand line that was recommended by the Park was helpful, but by no means was it essential for our hike out of the cave because the slope for which it was recommended was dry; those that had been there previously (William & Dan D.) said that the cave is not always so kind in this regard. On the way out, Amy made sure to take numerous photos of several formations with William and the Dan's helping with the lighting.
The trek back to the parking lot took about two hours as opposed to the three hours required for the hike up to the cave. We did not need to take my shortcut this time because the trail was easier to follow on the way out than on the way in. We took time to admire some wildlife on the trip out of the canyon. We spotted a bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) looking down on us from a ridge as we neared the parking area. We counted about 10 sheep in the herd, and Jaclyn put her telephoto lens to good use. We made it to the parking lot before dusk.
That evening, we all ate at Chili’s to celebrate Dan Dennison’s birthday. We noted that Tammy and Derek’s birthdays were also very close to this time. Carol brought cupcakes to celebrate!
On Sunday morning, we met at the Carlsbad Cavern parking area around 7am. On this trip were The Tuckers, Rhoads, Derek, and Dan Dennison. Unfortunately, we were unable to get our vehicles through a key gate until 8:20am, when a ranger opened it for the day. It is noteworthy that the gate is only scheduled to be open from 8am until 4:30pm, and it is advisable that any future trip leader to Chimney should obtain the combination lock to the gate in case the gate is closed. After arriving at the parking site for the cave, we set out on the hike to the cave. Of the two possible trails at the parking area, we correctly took the trail on the right. The hike only took about 20 minutes. Those that had been to the cave before noted that trail was marked well with cairns at this time. The trail led directly by the lower entrance to the cave, which is the correct place to enter. The lower entrance is locked with a T-shaped gate and has a large nautilus fossil (approximately three inches in diameter) directly above the opening. The upper entrance is closed due to safety concerns; this entrance has a square gate and is not immediately adjacent to the trail.
We entered the cave without our harnesses on and walked a short distance to the drop point before harnessing up. Dan D., Derek, and William rigged the drop. William led the way down, and Dan D. manned the top of the rope while the rest of us rapelled into the main part of the cave. In my opinion, the most notable formation was near the center of the cave, very near the drop point. It is a very unique mushroomed-shaped formation that is approximately 10 feet tall.
Very little area in the cave was marked as "off trail", and flagging tape is mostly absent from the cave. The cave is very dusty, and many large formations had been broken in the past ages by seemingly natural causes. Innumerable helictites were present in one area of the cave, although dust and time made them appear dingy, rather than sharp and pristine as I've grown accustom to seeing. However, despite the cave appearing very aged, some formations are still growing.
Near the area of dense helictite formations was a tight passage that included a few crawling squeezes before finally ending in a small room. Delicate formations can be seen along this passage and much care must be taken to avoid accidentally damaging them. Near the end of the passage I noted a cave cricket, and in the final small room, I noted a 3x3 cm area in which small root tips were protruding from the wall.
Another area of the cave was composed of large breakdown boulders. Presumably, one of these passages led to the upper entrance. In the midst of this breakdown area was a large antenna that was used by the United States military during the first half of the twentieth century to test low frequency underground communication. The antenna is a long, thin sheet of copper that is approximately four inches wide and twenty feet long. It is anchored to the wall in one location with a thin rope and a wooden spike. In the opposite wall, an eye screw is anchored, but the antenna is no longer attached.
We ascended and climbed out of the cave without incident. A low-pressure system had moved in while we were in the cave. Highs winds and a cold light rain had blown into the area. The cave was blowing warm air from its entrances at this time. We hurried back to the parking area to begin the trip home.
