The Secret Cave

Most of the time, maybe all of the time, the answer should be greater openness with those who have earned that trust. In some circumstances, though, even that is hard to justify. Some caves are so delicate that it doesn't matter how careful a person is; repeated traffic leaves its mark. In those cases, closely guarding a cave's location starts to feel not just reasonable, but necessary.

I know of a few caves in Utah that fall into this category. A few years ago, I had the privilege of visiting one of them. While I was grateful to be included and to see the cave, the wear was obvious. Only a handful of people had ever been inside, all experienced, yet mud and dirt had been tracked onto formations, and the paths used had left broken bits of flowstone in their wake. The cave I'm writing about here fits this same description. Though I've long disliked secrecy among experienced cavers, I find myself grappling with the sensitive nature of this place, not only because of its delicate formations and genuine dangers, but for a few other reasons as well.

The discovery happened entirely by accident. We were investigating an area when we broke into this system. I had only made it a short way in before getting stuck, while another member of our group pushed a little further and found an additional pit. At first, I wondered if we had stumbled onto a completely new cave, but the details matched the rumors I'd been hearing for three years far too well. After that initial discovery, I was able to confirm that we had found the top-secret cave I'd spent years searching for.

We couldn't wait to go back. But there was one problem: I couldn't fit through the entrance. So we returned and got to work. Eventually, I made it through. Not far inside was a second pit, the same one a previous group member had descended before turning around. We knew there were passages below, but nothing could have prepared us for how incredible they turned out to be.

The rumors had been vague, but the cave exceeded every expectation. Passages branched off in all directions, tall and wide enough to walk through with almost no squeezing or crawling required. The decorations were stunning. In one room sat the whitest flowstone I had ever seen, at least as bright as anything in Main Drain, possibly whiter. Formations were scattered throughout. Some of the passages and rooms looked like the photographs you see in NSS Magazine of TAG caves. There were leads in the ceiling, active inlets, and going passage everywhere, everything a caver could want in a discovery.

We weren't the first people to find this cave, but it felt that way. We knew very few had ever stood where we were standing. The only traces of those who came before were a few ropes, a couple of footprints, and some flagging tape.

Standing there after three years of searching felt surreal. It was one of the most rewarding moments of my caving life, and in that moment, I understood completely why it had been kept secret. In some sections, it's nearly impossible to walk without stepping on flowstone. Damaging formations is far too easy in certain spots. The entrance alone presents a serious risk, and the dangers inside are just as real, as one of our group members discovered firsthand when they became briefly stuck. Deeper in the cave, the rock deteriorates badly, making several down climbs a genuine gamble. A rescue from inside, as things currently stand, would range from extremely difficult to outright impossible without significant alterations to the cave itself, including some of its flowstone.

With all of that in mind, we have a plan. We intend to rig the sections that need it for safety, mark trails through the areas where staying on route matters most, and survey the cave so that a map can help guide future visitors through its many passages. On this first real push, we only explored what appeared to be the main route. Much of the cave remains unknown to us, and we expect this project to take several years to complete.

While I can't claim to be the one who originally discovered this cave, and it does have a real name, not "Secret Cave,"  it will remain one of the most memorable experiences of my caving life. Some of my closest caving partners, including my brother Blake, have spent thousands of hours together planning, exploring, digging, mapping, ridge walking, and making discoveries across Utah, Nevada, and Idaho. This cave is something different, though. After years of rumors, dead ends, and wondering if it was even real, we found it, and the reality was better than anything I had imagined. That's a rare thing in this life, and I won't take it for granted.