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Plumbing
the Depths
Montanas cavers
(dont call them
spelunkers) endure
cold, muck and
darkness as they
explore the wonder
of our hidden places
BY PHIL KNIGHT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELLIOT STAHL
The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.
Joseph Campbell
sparkling rivers,
clear skies and vast valleys make the state a
beacon for those who seek vistas and vastness.
But James Cummins knows Montana has a
deeper, darker side. He plumbs it.
Sometimes caving is cold, muddy and exhausting, Cummins
said. And, Sometimes its like walking around in a museum of
natural wonders.
But he never knows until he gets there, so, for him, the thrill
comes in seeing whats around the next bend. To satisfy that
curiosity, he spends hours and days delving into the underpinnings of Montanas rumpled landscape.
With more than 50 caves over 200 feet deep, Montana is a
mecca for cavers like Cummins, a member of the Northern Rocky
Mountain Grotto of the National Speleological Society. And the
states caves run the gamut. Lewis and Clark Caverns, a Montana
State Park, is well lit and accessible to anyone who can walk,
while Lost Creek Siphon near Big Timber requires rappelling
down vertical pits through underground cascades with names
such as Hurricane Falls. Bighorn Cave (at 16 miles, Montanas
longest) and the ice caves in the Pryor Mountains have gates
built over the entrance, requiring cavers to contact the US Forest
Service or the Bureau of Land Management to obtain a key,
which limits use by those without experience and proper gear.
But with at least 350 caves in Montana, theres plenty of exploring for adventurous cavers.
Above: The view from the mouth of Tears the Turtle Cave, at 1,629 feet
the deepest limestone cave in the United States. Just getting to the cave
requires a 22-mile hike in to the heart of the Bob Marshall Wilderness
Area. Then the hard work begins.
Opposite page: Jason Ballensky squeezes through a tight, muddy passage
in the Tickle Me Turtle Cave in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area.
M O N TA N A Q U A R T E R LY
33
limestone, sedimentary
rock composed of the
compressed shells of
ancient marine life. The
thick limestone reefs in the Bob Marshall
Wilderness and in Glacier Park were
formed during the Cambrian era more
than three hundred million years ago and
are riddled with caves. The Silvertip cave
system alone extends for fifteen miles
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Above: Some of Montanas big caves require multiple rappels. Hans Bodenhamer tackles one of
them in the Tickle Me Turtle cave.
Left: Jason Ballensky installs climbing bolts, critical safety devices, in Double Date Cave.
M O N TA N A Q U A R T E R LY
35
Cavers are protective about cave locations, and for good reason. Many
caves, including Lewis and Clark Caverns, have been vandalized by
people breaking off mineral formations, lighting fires in the caves,
dumping trash, stealing fossils and artifacts, and leaving graffiti.
emerged through a waterfall into the entrance sinkhole, having
unwittingly completed a loop.
Cummins and Bodenhamer have spent seven years mapping
Crystal Cave to a length of nearly 2 miles, and there is more yet to
map and explore. Mapping a cave like this is best done in winter
when less water runs through it. This requires a 6-mile approach
on skis or snowshoes just to reach the entrance. My summer trips
into the cave sound like picnics in comparison.
According to Cummins, to reach the most inaccessible part of
Crystal Cave requires a 300-foot crawl. This may be the most
remote place Ive been, because a rescue from beyond the crawl
would be almost impossible, he said.
Jason Ballensky has been caving for 17 years in the Bob
Marshall, discovering and mapping miles of new cave passages.
Caving often requires you to keep pushing even in the worst of
BUFFALO CAMP
36
M O N TA N A Q U A R T E R LY
37
More on Caving
Caves of Montana: www.cavesofmontana.org
Northern Rocky Mountain Grotto: www.nrmg.org
Bigfork High School Cave Club:
www.bigforkhighschoolcaveclub.weebly.com
life
exists in caves. Amphipods (small crustaceans such
as sand fleas) and isopods (think wood lice) have
evolved in the cold and darkness. Wood rats build
huge middens in caves, some of them thousands
of years old; and bears, mountain lions, and wolverinespicture
meeting Gulo gulo in a tight cave passageall make use of caves.
Montana caves host hibernating and roosting colonies of little
brown bats, big brown bats, long-eared myotis, and Townsends
big-eared bats.
Bats across North America are in extreme danger from
White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), a fungal infection that kills
entire colonies of hibernating bats. As of 2012, WNS had killed
at least 5.7 million North American bats since the disease was
discovered in 2006. Three species of bats found in Montana are
currently affected in other places by WNS, and the disease is
slowly spreading toward the state. Its been found in Wisconsin
and Iowa and has no known cure.
In the eastern and central US, most wild caves are closed
to the public, because cavers are suspected of spreading WNS
through their visits. If and when it takes hold in Montana, WNS
may end recreational caving in the state.
Concerned both with the fate of bats and the future of their
sport, cavers are trying to get ahead of the curve and do their
part to protect Montana bat populations. James Cummins helps
survey bat populations, in part by capturing bats and swabbing
38
Caving is not without its perils for both enthusiasts and their equipment.
Tears of the Turtle Cave took its toll on this caving suit.