Great Basin National Park

Snake Creek Cave

When we parked, we didn't realize at the time that we were in the wrong location. Spotting a hole up in the cliffs, we assumed it was the cave, but after hiking up to it, we found it wasn't. We then made our way toward the pin we had marked, only to discover that was wrong as well, the cave is actually situated on a lower cliff band. After roaming around for quite some time, we finally located it, along with Fox Skull Cave.

Once we got ready, we assigned tasks to each group member to ensure we accomplished everything we had planned for the day. The cave involves a lot of crawling until the back section, where it opens up considerably. We recorded three data loggers throughout, essentially one at the beginning, middle, and end. We skipped the H passage, as we had been asked not to visit that section despite our curiosity. In the back of the cave, we noted a lead that wasn't recorded on the map and sketched it in. We also investigated another lead and were able to find its end. Lastly, we mapped a small bit of additional passage off one of the big rooms that leads to a potential dig site. At that point, we had been in the cave for quite a while and decided to head out so we could visit more caves.

Fox Skull Cave

Since we were already at Snake Creek Cave, we decided to collect data in Fox Skull Cave as well, though the coordinates for it were slightly off. We recorded two data loggers, one of which showed signs of having been chewed on extensively. Beyond the second logger, the cave narrowed into a low, dusty crawl teeming with spiders, so we turned around. This cave had a notably high concentration of bugs and spiders throughout.

System's Key Cave

Following the cliff band along the river will put you right on top of the entrance. The cave appeared to be mostly crawling and was very dusty through the upper half. Upon reaching the roughly 40-foot rope drop, we recorded a data logger, the first one we encountered. After rappelling down into the big room, we observed eight bats, one of which was shaking violently in a way I had never seen before. It had a yellowish body and small, pointed brown ears. We checked the upper passage but determined that continuing would require stemming in a potentially dangerous spot, and since we were near the distressed bat, we opted to explore the lower section instead. We crawled through all the passages and found another data logger in the waterfall room, but nothing else of note.

Ice Cave

We followed the cliff around from Systems Key Cave to the Ice Cave and went in to search for data loggers. We didn't find any, but we did spot four bats throughout. Weylan discovered a lead trending downward that was pushing a significant amount of air. He described it as tight but felt he could have continued. This may be worth investigating in the future if it hasn't already been.

Old Man's Cave

We had a mostly successful trip to Old Man's Cave. We surveyed roughly 650 feet of passage, including the large lower passage that leads to a sizable mud room. We left a clearly identifiable last station and photographed it for reference. Gretchen got to use her new tablet for survey work, which was impressive and should make future surveys considerably more efficient.

Unfortunately, we did have one accident during the trip. Doug slipped on a slick slope and tweaked his knee, and when he tried to stand, his knee gave out, and he tumbled further down the slope. Gretchen and I helped him out of the cave and to his truck. This happened while we were in the last room of the cave. Overall, the self-rescue went remarkably smoothly. Gretchen fashioned a sling for his foot using webbing to help him move his leg more easily, and we made it out quickly. After they departed, I went back in and rejoined the others to help finish out the day's survey efforts.

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