A list of over 200 caves coming. ©2022 Written By Ahrlin Bauman.
187 (MAP)
Abyss-Small Cave (75 feet): Just upslope from Taco Bowl Cave and a little to the south is a menacing hole that drops down into a deep fissure cave that at times is in complete darkness. The fissure cave runs north to South and at its lowest depth is approximately 35-40 feet deep. There is about a three level drop to get to the very bottom of the fissure, but it has not been explored through its entirety. The length of the fissure is between 75 and 100 feet, and is also fairly close to another collapsed surface chamber that is parallel to the upslope portion of Taco Bowl Cave. Source Speleograph 417.
Adams View Junction Cave: (map) This cave was discovered after Garry Petrie and Bob Roe had showed Josh Hydeman and Ahrlin Bauman the 5 caves they had discovered the previous year, so this was the first new find on the Big Lava Bed in 2019. We approached the cave from the down slope area, but actually hit the middle entrance area of the system. It was and multi-level section of tube that Josh initially entered and thought was just a room. I noticed an upper passage jutting off the entrance opening, and climbed in it, only to discover it led above the room Josh had stood in.
I climbed back down into the standing room, and peeked upslope through a narrow drop in the passage. It was only about a foot tall, but you could squeeze through it, and immediately pop out into more standing passage that headed steeply up to another entrance. I walked out into a very large collapsed sink that we eventually dubbed the Junction Sink, as there were four passages leading off in every direction.
To the south, and what seemed like the upslope direction of the cave, the largest opening led into a spacious bubble chamber where the lava probably originated to form the down slope cave. It was a standing room with a dimension of 30 feet by 20 feet and 6 feet tall at its highest point. It would have made a great home to early natives if they lived on the lava fields, but wildlife seemed fairly sparse in all our trips there, so it probably wasn’t very likely, unlike other caves lower in the valley.
To the western edge of the sink, a small crawling passage leads away from the sink for about 50 feet. Just to the right of this longer crawling passage, another short segment of tube is in the NW corner of the sink but is just an alcove or possibly a sealed passage. The main passage of the cave, where I came from was about 20 feet to the east of this alcove and dropped steeply into the 9 foot high walking passage.
More interesting though, was that as you entered this short walking passage, another side passage lie in the right side of the wall and went about 10 feet to a T-section which continued to the left and right. The right side went about 25 feet and seemed to end at a lava seal, while the left side continued parallel to the main passage for about 45 feet before further exploration was halted due to lack of knee pads and gloves on the prickly floor.
Garry Petrie along with several OHDG members who were visiting for the weekend returned to the cave in late July and conducted a full survey of the entire cave. The Lidar image of the system shows that much of the cave’s down slope line is just a long collapsed trench, so the length of actual cave may have been quite considerable when it initially formed way back when, but none the less, it was a great find for 2019 and another nice addition to the Big Lava Bed caves.
Alcove Oasis Cave: (108 feet) While only one of these short segments of tube seems to be substantial, the area is littered with lots of broken chunks of surface tubes that meander throughout the flat area. The most significant of the alcoves seems to have a portion of passage located near a larger lava wall where the entrance to the cave resembles a jagged triangle. Source Speleograph 417.
Amphitheater Cave: (40 feet)This large collapsed bubble chamber appears to be a large cave entrance, but upon entering is merely the outer edges of the un-collapsed portion of the massive bubble room. Requires a 6 foot drop to gain access. Source Speleograph 415.
Backdraft Cave: (135 feet) Backdraft is a small cave located downslope from Downdraft Cave, which are on a lobe off of Big Lava Flow.
Backed Up Cave: (85 feet) (MAP) Backed Up Cave is an interesting short cave, as the entrance chamber seems to be just an alcove, but a small little side chute leads into the majority of the cave. It is located on the left side of the dome chamber and requires a tight squeeze to access. Once through the pinch, the cave is a hand and knees crawl down a steep portion of tube before it eventually reaches an end chamber where all the draining lava backed up and sealed the cave up. The map makes the cave look like a tadpole ready to become a frog. The immediate area surrounding the cave is littered with other collapsed domes, but none were extensively investigated to see whether they behaved similarly. Source Speleograph 416.
Be Fitting Cave: (50 feet) Josh Hydeman squeezed into this short cave, and made it to a sky light that required a smaller body to exit, so he crawled back out the way he came. This cave is near the Hydey Hole Caves and is roughly 50 feet long.
Beary Cave: (45 feet) The furthest upslope cave in the Holey Ground Cave System, it probably is associated with the original tube but is about 100 feet upslope from the closest segment so is difficult to orientate its general association with the system. The entrance to the cave is a wide, 2 foot high and five foot wide opening. The cave extends back about 45 feet and seals upslope, so the source of whatever initially fed the cave is difficult to assess. Speleograph 417
Big Cove Cave: (345 feet) (MAP) This unusual find was discovered on a trip back from the higher Level Up Cave area, and wasn’t a set trip to investigate. While taking a different route back down to the Big Huckleberry Cave System, this large open sink with its massive western edge entrance looked like a huge cave. Like many of the other large sink alcoves discovered on the Big Lava Bed, this one was much the same, but offered several surprises. The large alcove area actually had a bit of passage creeping around the perimeter of the sink that wasn’t exposed, but the opposite end of the sink was even more unusual. Speleograph 417.
Big Hucklelberry Cave: (MAP) (420 feet) The largest of the Huckleberry System of caves, this multi-leveled find is quite unique for Big Lava Bed Caves, as it has an under passage 125 feet from the entrance that travels back up to the entrance beneath the main passage.
The lower level passage is mostly just tight crawling, but you are able to turn around without backing up at the end of it as it just reaches the entrance sink just to its southern edge.
The main section of the cave has a 5 foot drop off at the junction area to the lower level, and continues down slope as a walking passage cave, with the ceiling height reaching about 10 feet at its highest point.
During its way down slope, the passage slowly widens from being 5 feet in diameter to almost 25 feet in diameter. There are a few interesting formations near the end that are unique to this cave.
The end of the down slope passage is around 350 feet from the entrance sink, and is a large room that seals. Lava ripples in the floor indicate the back up as the cave drained its contents, and a few drip formations cling on the sides of the walls.
The upslope portion of the cave is shorter, but starts out as a seven foot high walking passage that soon meets a large lava intrusion. The intrusion might be a result of a large spatter vent that burst upslope and filled the passage. Or the result of another surface tube to the south that may have spilled into the main route as it started to drain.
It’s difficult to tell which surface tube cased the intrusion without hammering some rock out of the tight 7 inch air gap that blows air at the upslope end.
The lava intrusion is very jagged and difficult to crawl on. The spatter vent upslope does suck in air, and drops beneath the surface about 4 feet, and might connect to the passage below, but both leads would need to be worked on significantly to find the answer. All in all, the cave is probably around 420 feet long.
The area surrounding Big Huckleberry Cave is riddled with multiple surface tubes which branch off of the upper collapsed sinks. These small tubes indicate that there was quite a bit of overflow coming through the system as the main passage may not have been able to accommodate the amount of lava running through the area. Judging by the multiple tubes found within the system, there was quite a bit of lava running out of the local vent that produced the caves. Although they are not large caves, the Big Huckleberry system is quite complex, and with noting as a significant find of the southern tip of the Big Lava Bed. Speleograph 416.
Big Lava Beds Cave: (MAP) (645 feet) Big Lava Bed Cave was a surprise to us all when we finally found it. After crossing over a 40 foot high lava ridge about ½ mile from the edge of the Big Lava Bed Cone, we wandered up a short rise and immediately were greeted by a large lava channel that went into a big entrance hole just down slope.
Excitement shot through us all, and we made our way into the 8 foot deep channel, which more than likely was just the remains of the actual tune but the roof collapsed making it look like it did.
The open segment was about 115 feet long, and then you entered a 15 foot high cave with the typical bell shaped feature of many lava tubes. There was breakdown throughout the 200 foot long segment of passage, and the ceiling height average about 8 feet. We were greeted by a curious bat flying through the cave and disappearing into the darkness, so we were mindful of not getting to loud and crazy.
The through trip cave brought us to another sink in which the main passage dropped down a small hole on the left side and continued steeply through a 100 foot section of steep passage filled with rock before reconnecting to the paralleling large sink via an impressive side break entrance in the southern edge. It spit you out near the end of the large collapse, and towards a small entrance that most likely continued the cave further down slope through the forest..
The others sat down to recover for a moment, and suggested I squeeze into the hole and see if it continued down slope. I obliged, and backed down into the hole and into a small breakdown chamber that ended about 20 feet later. This wasn’t the main passage however, and as I turned my light to the left side of the breakdown, a larger passage popped into view. I crawled over to the standing passage and headed further down slope through the cave, hoping that it would keep going.
My excitement was put in check about 100 feet down the passage, as I reached a pinch in the passage that required a lot of work to get through. It wasn’t a breakdown pinch, it was a rough hodgepodge of original floor that could be pounded on and extracted. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any tools so any effort to get through the tight constriction was foiled. I could see that the passage opened back up into nice walking passage, but there wasn’t any way to pound my way through and keep going, so I reluctantly turned around and headed back to the surface to relay my information. Josh gave the window a look, but knew he would never fit in there unless there was some serious rock breakage. I decided to save it for another day when I had a little more energy to pound on a solid lava floor. We headed back upslope after that to see if we had missed anything up above where we had entered. We arrived back at the lava channel and made our way up to a small lava arch that led into another deep sink with a small entrance at the bottom. Bob Roe climbed in the sink with Josh, and they took a peek in the entrance and slid down into it. I could hear Bob laugh, and state “we have more passage.”
Garry and I immediately followed, and popped into a nice walking passage section of the upper cave. Bob and Josh had disappeared around a corner and when we caught up to them, they had reached a large room filled with rubble. An alcove sjirted the right side of the 250 foot tall room, and what looked like a lava spring nestled in the left side corner. It appeared that this was probably the source of the lava tube, and we tried finding if the room had any more passage associated with it, but there was no more. All in all through, the Big Lava Bed Cave was a great find for the year and energized us all to keep searching out there on the new frontier of caves.
Several weeks later we returned, and did a survey of the newly discovered cave, and it was a healthy 646 feet long, with potential for more passage down slope. I brought a heavy duty six foot bar along, and did quite a bit of pounding off the lower cave’s floor and ceiling at the pinch. I made a lot of progress, but I needed to break a bit more of the rock from the floor and ceiling. I even brought some card board to lie on, and tried squeezing my skinny body through a cardboard tunnel, but I needed a few more inches to make it work.
I was pretty spent from all the hard work, and found myself drifting away into sleep as I laid there recovering on the cardboard mat. I don’t know how long I slept, but I woke up not knowing where I was. I laid there in total darkness for a moment wondering what was going on, and slowly realized I was in a cave dig. I was crazy to think that I might have just slept until the evening there, and then had to try and get back in the dark, although Garry and Bob probably would have found me before that. I packed up my gear and returned to the surface to tell them about my failed attempt, and found them in the middle section of passage.
I volunteered to do the tight side section of passage, and then returned to my dig and surveyed that as well. The passage on the other side of the window continued for 42 feet before I couldn’t get anymore readings, but the wind at the window suggested there was a bit more cave hiding somewhere beyond my line of sight. Another trip will probably return to work on the lead, and hopefully break in to more walking passage.
Blast Thru Cave: (MAP) (282 feet). Blast Thru Cave is located in the middle portion of the Big Huckleberry Cave System sinks, and is a series of short caves starts in the lowest of the three successive sinksin a 9 foot high chamber with passages branching off in three directions. The passage closest to the entrance is merely a tight drainage channel that cannot be crawled through, but can be seen to continue around 20 feet down slope. The lowest passage in the entrance chamber opens into a small chamber that seals with lava, but probably drained into Big Huckleberry Cave, as it is in direct line with the larger cave’s upslope passage. The longest portion of passage that exists in the cave is the upslope tube, which is a very tight drainage channel leading up to Blast Thru Cave’s second large sink. The passage is about 35 feet long, but ends at a small sky light that cannot be exited, however light does peek through several small openings.
The rest of Blast Thru cave is connected be a short lava bridge that leads into the upper sink which has a 10 foot long alcove which exits into another upper sink through a chimney; the upper most sink also has a large alcove it the top of it, as well as an smaller room by the chimney. Back at chimney alcove sink, another branch trends back down slope through the cave’s largest passage. It is entered through a small hole near the lower end of the sink and once inside, the passage is about 15 feet wide and 3 feet high, and looks out towards the next sink down the line. The sink itself is about 30 feet long and at its lower end has another tight entrance into a short alcove cave that is about 20 feet long and 2 feet high. The length of the three sink cave system is about 210 feet with half of it passage. Speleograph 416.
Bridging the Gap Cave: (MAP) (221 feet) This interesting cave is a series of sinks connected by a large lava bridge with several surface tubes connected around its perimeter. A walk-able portion of the cave exits in the lower sink and is enter through a drop down through some breakdown rock. Once within the section of cave, it initially starts out as a standing passage before it splits into a connectable series of 4 foot tall rooms. Another 50 foot long hands and knees section of cave is located in the upper most portion of the sink system, and is also where the majority of the surface tubes are located. Both the surface tubes average about 30-40 feet in length, with the eastern passage being about 3 feet tall and the western passage a bit tighter at around 1 foot in height. Speleograph 417.
This walking passage cave is located upslope from Southern Comfort Cave, and is separated by a long series of collapses which suggests that the caves may have connected while the lava was still active. Mid way between both large caves, which are separated by about 500 feet, as a large original ceiling alcove cave.(BAR-AAHP Cave). Broken Top Cave earned its name from the upper level chamber that was first entered by breaking open a portion of its ceiling to gain access. The roof of the chamber was just big enough to stick your head into, and you could see that it dropped down into the darkness about 7 feet. The roof rocks were fairly loose, so it was easy to just lift them up and put them to the side. Once inside the upper chamber, you dropped down into the main passage which is blocked upslope by the massive wasting of the original roof all the way to Between a Rock and a Hard Place Cave, which is about 100 feet down slope.
Down slope continues into a standing chamber that then drops into another walking passage area that goes upslope and downslope. Down slope continues to a lava scroll passage much like Scroll to the Right Cave’s, and ends at a lava seal. Down slope continues as a walking passage cave that goes into a large break down room before the passage splits into two smaller passages that are too tight to continue through, but can be seen to go much further. The break down area of this section of the cave has several points of light entry, but they are too small to gain access to. Top Cave: (224 feet). Speleograph 421.
Chambermaid Cave: (455 feet).This unique find is a complex series of sinks and passages. There are approximately 4 large sinks, and all but one has substantial passage. The upper sink has two entrances, but only one (the left side) goes into anything. It is a series of rooms measuring about 60 feet, and has a standing area that leads into a crawly room. A small sky light lies on the left edge of the room, but cannot by exited.
The most interesting part of the cave lies in the second sink, and is located in a small unassuming passage that leads almost back to the upper sink before it turns drastically down slope. Inside a sitting chamber opens to three passages; an upper, and two paralleling ones. In this junction chamber, two Indian artifacts were discovered; one spear point and a scrapping tool. They were left undisturbed, and add to the significance of the cave. Although they will eventually be turned over to the forest service for later cataloging The upper passage is too tight to go more that a body length, but appears to continue another 20 feet to the left. The left side passage links up with the right side passage about 15 feet down slope from where the junction chamber is.
Squeezing through the tight constriction at the beginning of the right side passage, the tube continues down to a stooping room, and then drops steeply to an impassable constriction that looks to keep going down tube. The total amount of passage is about 115 feet.
Also in the second sink is a segmented passage that drops steeply down the hillside. The upper portion of the passage goes to a sky light and then plugs for about 50 feet until you reach a lower entrance that goes back upslope. The passage upslope however seals as well, so there is about 50 feet of plugged passage that is there, but not measure-able inside.
Down slope from the lower entrance however, the passage continues to drop steeply and continues about 125 feet. It doesn’t end, but there is no way to safely turn around, so it wasn’t pushed completely. It appears to drop down into the valley where several more segments associated with the cave seem to drain.
Back in the third sink, another small entrance leads into a large 40 foot by 40 foot room, with a trip to another entrance.
It is called the Master Bedroom Cave, but seems to be a part of the sinks associated with Chambermaid Cave.
The forth sink has a lone alcove, and is mostly collapsed. There surrounding area in general may contain more broken passage, as it seems to be a down slope connection to Slim Chance Cave as well as another broken tube system between them known as Backed Up Cave.
On a return trip to the cave, we brought along retired Gifford Pinchot Forest Service Archeologist Cheryle Mack, who was interested in seeing the specifics of the finds within the cave and thee general area it was discovered near. It was an all day trip ,as we got side-tracked many times with looking at areas along the way there that we had missed that had potential for more caves. As luck would have it, we miraculously avoided all the terrible hiking sections we had encountered on previous trips, so Cheryle never knew how bad the terrain was if you actually walked a little off course. We eventually arrived at our destination and Bob Roe led Cheryle into the side passage room that contained the spear point and scrapping tool.
There were several theories on what could have brought the artifacts into the back of the cave, as with all the other finds in and around Indian Heaven, the remains of anything killed by the weapons had long since disenegrated. The first theory was that a bear had entered the cave after being wounded, and died in it with the artifacts inside it’s fur or body.
That didn’t really explain the scrapping tool, so another theory was that the animal was wounded, and then chased into the cave and left to die so that fighting a wounded animal was avoided. Later, after the animal had died, it was skinned and the specific parts with the spear point in it were left and the scrapping tool was lost.
These were only theories however, because it could have been a multitude of other reasons why the artifacts were deposited there.
Cheryle removed the spear point and scrapper and sealed them in separate bags just in case blood could still be found on the ancient pieces. I had a strong feeling that after about 7000 years in the cave, and 7000 winters of snow and water dripping into the cave, the artifacts may have been washed clean, but I wasn’t 100% sure.
Cheryle also took pictures of the area in question, starting at the bottom of the large hill the cave was situated on. It was about a 75 foot high mound of lava with the cave branching off into at least four directions.
More pieces of cave were added on this particular trip with the western most alcove being much larger than previously estimated. The Master Bedroom sink also yielded another drop down room that was about 15 feet long and 4 feet high.
The steep down slope passage that drained off the eastern edge of the sink was finally surveyed with a DistoX, and nearly dropped to the bottom of the valley from its 75 foot high point start. At the bottom of the valley it drain into, a significant entrance slot lined up with the end of the main drainage chute, and probably came within 5-10 feet of connecting, as both portions of passage sealed before touching. All in all though, there was a lot more to add to the overall survey, as there were plenty of small surface tubes to associate with the main system, but not long enough to consider significant caves in their own right. Adding them to the survey however would give a better understand on how the cave drained down the hillside. Chambermaid Cave is not complete, so another trip is in order, whether it by this year before the snows bury it in, or next year after the snow melts. Speleograph 417.
Choked Up Cave: (41 feet) Short cave located near Elderberry Cave that is plugged upslope by a large lava intrusion. The cave may have been a drain off of the Elderberry Cave line, but until a proper survey of the exact orientation of the two caves is completely it is only speculation. There are several fake out caves nearby, but none lead into any significant passage. Speleograph 422.
Cinder Crawl Cave: (75 feet) This short crawling cave is about 200 feet north of the Dog Caves and is divided into two sections by a dug through constriction. The floor of the cave is covered entirely with 3-5 inch loose cinder rocks making the 2-3 foot high passage a very tough crawl. Speleograph 416.
Cone Cave: (165 feet) This short section of walking passage cave is located just on the lower edge of the cone, and is associated in some way to the Big Lava Bed Cave valley system of caves, but doesn’t seem to have fed the large caves in the line. It is most likely just another drain area for the lava coming off the cone, and formed a short section of tube before it ultimately collapsed, as much of the surrounding down slope terrain is collapsed domes and portions of passage. Speleograph 416.
Cooler Cave: (205 feet) Located to the west of Southside Cave about 600 feet, this multi-roomed cave branches into three different directions. From the entrance room, the left hand passage is a stooping, hands and knees crawl down slope for about 60 feet and an impassable duck under near the end leads into another passage that trends directly parallel off the main entrance room. That passage starts out on a small lava shelf and is a tube for about 25 feet before opening into a large bubble chamber that continues for another 50 feet. The impassable duck under from the parallel passage skirts the left side of this room. The largest portion of the cave juts off the right edge of the entrance room, and continues upslope for about 130 feet and is more like a large room than a tube, with the ceiling height averaging about 2 to 3 feet. Near the end of the passage, surface roots cover much of the ceiling, while several alcoves skirt the left edge of the enormous room. The cave is probably 200 feet of total passage, and seems to be the highest cave in immediate area Cooler Cave: Speleograph 421.
Corner Pocket Cave: (15 feet) This pocket cave is a 9 foot high bubble chamber located on the top of a cliff on the way to the Southside Caves. While it is not an actual lava tube, its size makes it a legitimate cave. There are two entrance to the cave, as well as a sky light.
Cracker Box Cave: (115 feet) Down slope several hundred feet from Slim Chance cave, this drop in entrance cave splits off immediately from the start. The right side passage is a tight squeeze crawl for approximately 30 feet, and then turns out of sight. The left hand passage starts out in a large sweeping 3 foot high chamber that heads down slope for another 50 feet before turning out of sight. Both passages were not thoroughly explored at the time, so there may be more passage to be found. The sketch of the cave resembles a tooth and its roots, but the name is derived from the fact that the entrance looks like a rectangular cracker box. Speleograph 417.
Cross Section Cave: (35 feet) Another short cave on the way to Level Up Cave, it collapsed within the passage revealing a cross section of what the country rock looked like. The cross section is about midway through the short cave, which ends at a lava seal. It originally was a smaller lava produced tube, unlike many of the break down holes found nearby. The cave entrance looks out to the north. Speleograph 422.
Dead Snag Cave: (125 feet) Dead Snag Cave is located about 300 feet south of Southside Cave, and has a large snag that is adjacent to its entrance. The passage was only explored far enough to see that it indeed kept going, as there wasn’t enough time left in the day to do a proper survey. The cave appears to be a hand and knee crawling cave from initial viewing. Speleograph 416.
Deep Chute Cave: (175 feet) (Big Huckleberry System)
This unique cave seems to run the deepest of all the Big Huckleberry System caves, as it requires a 15 foot drop down a breakdown chute to access. The tube is located in the upslope end of the Deep Chute sink, with the down slope portion of the sink containing a standing room alcove that doesn’t form a tube, or if it did; sealed completely.
The 30 foot long sink parallels the other caves in the system and might be a truncated portion of Big Huckleberry Cave but a lower level.
Accessing the actual tube requires a tight squeeze through breakdown, and a 9 foot drop down a crumbling chute. Once inside the main passage, it is half stooping and half hands and knees for approximately 125 feet.
There is a small standing room chamber midway through the cave, and the floor is mostly the rough Aa Aa textured lava which grabs at everything. All in all, it is an interesting find amongst the half dozen sinks located in the system; most of which are short segments of broken tube.
Another small entrance chamber can be found about 30 feet down slope from the large sink, and it contains a small room that looks down into a window that drops into more stooping passage that seems somewhat related to the Deep Chute tube. It currently cannot be accessed due to the jagged lava, and a solid piece of lava that hinders the left side of the drop in. It appears to be associated with the longer tube area of the Deep Chute sink. Speleograph 416.
Deep Dive Cave: (52 feet) Located near the valley below Level Up Cave, this drop down cave is a series of short rooms entered through a larger standing entrance chamber. The initial drop is about 6 feet, and then a stooping area leads into the majority of the cave with a small room connecting the larger room. Even though the cave lacks length, it is roomy. Speleograph 422.
Deep Throat Cave: Speleograph 426.
Denny Caves System: (75 feet)
Denny Cave (A): (upper 15 feet)
While this is the upper most portion of the Denny Caves system, it is also the shortest in the series of broken segments of lava tube near the surface. It almost appears to be a pressure ridge that formed a cave inside before finally becoming a small surface tube as the lava drained from it. The cave does make for a nice duck in from the weather if it is hot or even rainy, as there is room to sit in it.
Denny Cave (B:) (middle 25 feet)
This portion of the Denny Caves was the first to be discovered and looks into what appears to be a Pica den, hence the name of the caves (Denny), with the usual host of sticks and leaves that Pica’s use to attract mates. Beyond the abandoned nest, the cave appears to drop at a subtle pitch and then disappear around a corner to the right and probably meets up with the lower entrance. Exploration of this short cave was bypassed as knee pads were required and none were available.
Denny Cave (C): (lower 35 feet)
The air blowing from this entrance suggests it is the continuation of the middle Denny Cave’s passage where it disappears around the corner. This lower entrance is fairly tight, and looks to go directly into the path of the middle cave, so it is logical to assume the caves are connected, as they are only about 35 feet apart. The slight turn in the cave makes a light connection non-existent. Speleograph 416.
Devil’s Dungeon Cave: (24 feet)HGCS
This 15 foot deep slot cave is the furthest upslope of the Holey Ground System but is not related to it. There is a plateau that is just above the highest of the Holey Ground Caves, which is Beary Cave. The small entrance into Devil’s Dungeon Cave makes it look like a large cavern beneath, but it is mostly a large breakdown chamber once you gain access.
Dog Days Cave: (100 feet) Discovered after Labor Day during what is considered the dog days of summer, this short stooping passage cave is just down slope from the already known and mapped “Dog Caves,” so it was only fitting that the name be-fitted the cave. It is likely a lower extension of the Dog Cave system, but was only recently discovered, so adding it to the system might give a better idea of how it is related as a whole to the flow the caves are found on and whether they are related to each other. Speleograph 416.