Dry Caving Illinois Caverns

[b1gcountry]

Yesterday I made my first cave exploration in an air filled cave. I think most people call them dry caves although it was anything except dry. It was a whole lot of fun!

WHERE
Illinois caverns is in Waterloo, IL about 30 minutes SE of St. Louis. It is a small state run park with a single attendant and minimal infrastructure. It is open Fri-Sun.it was closed from 2011 - 2021 to help protect the resident bats from white nose disease.

SAFETY
Hard hats, 3 sources of light, good shoes, good weather monitoring, and a sense of direction. There is no shortage of air, so you won't run out, but there is a lot of water, so you do want to be careful. I used my backup cave lights plus a head lamp. You can actually change batteries in the cave, so that was new, but you should have a towel to dry off your light and batteries first. You absolutely need a hard hat to protect your noggin. My biggest fear was falling. There is often a high route and a low route, and it was often a choice between staying dry, or wading through water. Rock climbing skills are a legit benefit. Cold was a definite limiting factor. The water was up to waist-high, and it was 58°. I wore trilam type pants that worked okay for me. Wetsuit would have been okay too because there is no evaporation in a cave due to 100% humidity.

 

[b1gcountry]

Navigation
There are no lines. Plus we went in over 3 miles. Plus I'm pretty sure lines would have been trip hazards. This was the part that worried me having no dry cave training. It does rely more on knowing the cave and I feel this will give cave divers a new perspective thinking about cave navigation. This cave was a sump, so we were following the water in and walking upstream on the way back. There were a few side passages, and all of them had flow as well. The side passages were much shorter, and we went in some of them, but all of them narrowed uncomfortably within 1/4mi. The main entrance is actually a side passage however, and exiting the cave, a few members of our group started walking past our entrance. We were told that dead ended into a slit blockage within a 20min walk.

Experience
The cave was really fun! The entrance is a paved staircase about 50' tall at a steep 60-70° angle. The initial passage is relatively small and dry. It feels like a cellar basement with roughly people sized passages. There are a few areas with vaulted 16' ceilings, and a few areas with flow stone causing you to have to duck or scurry under them. About 15minutes in, the decoration is so big it obstructs the passage, and a ladder leads you above the blockage for 150yards until you reach a ln aluminum ladder leading you down to a keyhole passage. My friend walk along the walls in the upper keyhole and I walked through the ankle deep water. That ended and we went through some winding and decorated corridors.

Eventually we came to a room about 30' wide where the entrance tees into the main flow. To the right it led to another upstream passage. We followed the main route downstream and I marked the exit with a rock tower. A foot path wandered to either side of the flow and some rocks and metal bridges were clearly placed for cavers. We passed several waterfalls and one-under passages. There were many active and dormant flow stone features. We counted at least 4 aide passages and explored one until it became a knee-deep stream that even our shortest teammate needed to duck walking through.

We continued on to a ladder that brought us over the largest cave formation (over 1 mi in). This created a large shelf 10' above the water below that we all comfortably took a break at. After a snack we continued on down the incline and the cave narrowed down a bit into a subway tunnel that reminded me of twin cave. The water was unavoidable at this point and there was no point avoiding it. We saw several ceiling features and intricate stalagmites in some large ceiling tubes. About 2miles in, there was a cool formation called the dragon's head.

The cave became more winding and started narrowing from a generous 20' tube to smaller dimensions gradually until we found a significant breakdown called the 2 feet room around 3miles back. We climbed over some breakdown and away from the water through a wide and low room that involved a mix of stooping, crawling and crab-walking. I was thankful to have brought knee pads. After crawling about 200yds in to see how far the passage went, we saw it kept going after a turn, and we called the turn. We wanted to save some energy for the return and we were fairly tired and didn't want to over extend.

On the way out, my legs were definitely more tired and the footing was less sure. The group was also getting cold so some were moving faster than I wanted. I was also the oldest in the group, and I was being a little more deliberate.

On the exit, the stairs seemed much taller and steeper than I remembered, and I was happy for the sturdy railing. Exiting the cave air into the 87° air was a definite and abrupt transition like hitting a thermocline, but the weather shade and breeze were perfect for a post cave drink of Gatorade and a bobo's muffin.

 

[InWay2Deep]

This is really cool and close to me! You think it's an appropriate activity for a group of Boy Scouts?

Thanks for sharing

 

[Lorenzoid]

This is really cool and close to me! You think it's an appropriate activity for a group of Boy Scouts?

Thanks for sharing

Or a Thai boys soccer team?

But seriously, thanks for the interesting read, @b1gcountry . I'm an NSS member, but I know dry caving is not for me; I'll stick with the water-filled kind.

 

[b1gcountry]

This is really cool and close to me! You think it's an appropriate activity for a group of Boy Scouts?

Thanks for sharing

I was considering taking my three kids there and inviting some of the boys.from their troop. I cannot say what regulations the scouts have for caving though. They usually want someone with a badge there...

 

[prid1279]

Well worth gaining some dry cave experience, if nothing else it helps you to realise how much easier it is gliding neutrally through restrictions than scrambling on hands feet and stomach.

Can be a whole lot of fun.

 

[b1gcountry]

Well worth gaining some dry cave experience, if nothing else it helps you to realise how much easier it is gliding neutrally through restrictions than scrambling on hands feet and stomach.

Can be a whole lot of fun.

I was surprised how difficult it was getting through sections that are easy to swim through

 

[mdwalter]

InWay2Deep:
This is really cool and close to me! You think it's an appropriate activity for a group of Boy Scouts?

Yes, they love it

I was considering taking my three kids there and inviting some of the boys.from their troop. I cannot say what regulations the scouts have for caving though. They usually want someone with a badge there...

I've recently added dry caving to my repertoire here in PA. Most of our caves here are much more crawly / muddy than what you posted about IL, but I know caving is a popular activity for the scouts here. I would think if the BSA has no problems with that, they would be OK with the stand up walking caves described here.

 

[mdwalter]

On the way out, my legs were definitely more tired and the footing was less sure. The group was also getting cold so some were moving faster than I wanted. I was also the oldest in the group, and I was being a little more deliberate.

I think as cave divers we are better cold-adapted than most cavers, and definitely more wet-adapted. While the others spend the longest time on the way in avoiding getting their feet wet, I just get right in there from the beginning, right up to my knees or deeper. You will get wet at some point and it's much easier to just walk than perform gymnastics just to postpone the inevitable. Also, I find that I usually have a problem with being too hot in a dry cave, even when the others are cold. In fact, I've been known to take the wetter route just to cool off.
As for age, having taken up dry caving at 50, and joining (and now chairman of) a grotto with many members in their 70s (who don't really go in anymore) and a few in their teens - 30s, I often find myself as the oldest caver on the trip. I've found that it's easier to keep up by letting the college kids crawl through tight spots while I take the long route to meet them on the other end or just wait for them to come back from a crawly circuit. This also mitigates my overheating issue, and I enjoy being alone in the dark and quiet from time to time.

On the exit, the stairs seemed much taller and steeper than I remembered, and I was happy for the sturdy railing. Exiting the cave air into the 87° air was a definite and abrupt transition like hitting a thermocline, but the weather shade and breeze were perfect for a post cave drink of Gatorade and a bobo's muffin.

Yeah, I prefer the cool of the cave, so I actually get a little sad coming out of the cave in the Summer. Winter is actually sometimes nicer, but Spring and Fall are ideal for me. Unfortunately, opportunities are more limited in cooler months, because bats (WNS closures).

 

[mdwalter]

Well worth gaining some dry cave experience, if nothing else it helps you to realize how much easier it is gliding neutrally through restrictions than scrambling on hands feet and stomach.

I have this thought in almost every big room: "If this were under water, I could really get a close look at that ceiling / formation / wall"
I have this thought in almost every crawl: "If this were under water, I could glide right through quickly and easily and not have all these rocks poking me in the ribs / testicles / buttocks"