Reappearing River, BC, Canada

[nadwidny]

Really nice video. Thanks for sharing. Great use of the Google Maps clip too.

The cave is beautiful with the water-worn relief of the rocks.

If not sherpas, how about one of those 2-wheeled folding pull carts?

Thanks. It really is a beautiful cave with lots of really cool hydrological features.

I have a cart similar to what you are describing but the path is too narrow for it in a lot of places.

Richard brought a back pack that worked really well for stages and deco cylinders. I'll pick up something similar for next year for my stages and camera gear. Plus we probably won't be diving doubles so that will reduce the weight greatly. This year we typically did 2 trips in and 2 trips out, except on the last day where I did 4 in and 4 out. It took us just over 2 hours to carry all our stuff out on the last day.

 

[rjack321]

I thought about a wheelbarrow but the path has 2 little steep sections that I'm not sure I could push it up full.

 

[Roko]

Awesome video, thanks for sharing.. I knew I brought my Jeep out to BC for a reason. Now if only I had the skills for caves. Maybe one day after a schwack of training....

Regarding the suggestion for the folding 2-wheeled hand dollies, I use one when moving my steels around from our apartment to the Jeep when I'm feeling too lazy to carry them. They work great on flat surfaces, but the second it gets bumpy, any worthwhile weight on them will damage them. I tried using it once to get into Horseshoe lake in Jasper, and it survived only about 5 meters into the trail before the wheels folded in on themselves and the thing got damaged. Granted the trail was rockier than I remembered it... (So we just sucked it up and carried our stuff in like we always do). Some may be built better than others, though.

 

[Rainer]

Great video. Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[Jasonmh]

Awesome video, thanks for sharing it. What kind of video equipment are you using?

 

[HenrikBP]

I have a cart similar to what you are describing but the path is too narrow for it in a lot of places.

Richard brought a back pack that worked really well for stages and deco cylinders.

I understand about the trail width.

Back in my backpacking days - way back - I started out with an external frame pack somewhat similar to this:

Cabela's Alaskan Guide Model® Frame Pack

When we made camp I'd take the pack off of the frame and use it to gather firewood; easy to strap stuff to the frame itself, in particular when it has that shelf on the bottom. Might be handy for carrying stuff on trails like that.

Henrik

 

[rjack321]

Back in my backpacking days - way back - I started out with an external frame pack somewhat similar to this:

Cabela's Alaskan Guide Model® Frame Pack

This would be a more comfortable way to carry doubles 900-1000m from the car to the entrance. But the sheer weight is still brutal on the legs, we were all a bit sore after 3 days and ~14-16 round trips in and out (over 9miles).

The reality is that we went about as far in this cave as you can go in standard manifolded backmount doubles anyway. And the AL80s we used were complete overkill (way more gas than we actually needed to get where we stopped). To get over the dry areas we need something lighter and more modular, for Brian and his CCR it will be a load of al40s (6?) as bailout. For anyone on OC it will probably have to be sidemount. Its the only realistic way to break up the weight into managable chunks which can be hoisted (via a block and tackle system) over Never Never Land (the 100+m dry section). You could probably raise and lower doubles but risk bending the manifold in the process and I'm not sure the net value in bringing them in there.

The cave is too wet/flooded for the splunkers and there's a fair number+distance to the portages to be true cave "diving" per se.

 

[b1gcountry]

Really neat. Thanks for sharing. One of our MO caves has a pretty good hike to get to, but it is shorter, and pretty steep. I can appreciate the idea of bringing lighter tanks for dives like these.

Tom

 

[nadwidny]

Back in my backpacking days - way back - I started out with an external frame pack somewhat similar to this:

Cabela's Alaskan Guide Model® Frame Pack

When we made camp I'd take the pack off of the frame and use it to gather firewood; easy to strap stuff to the frame itself, in particular when it has that shelf on the bottom. Might be handy for carrying stuff on trails like that.

I like that. I'll have to get one. With the pack off it looks like we could even use it inside the cave for the long portage.

 

[HenrikBP]

This would be a more comfortable way to carry doubles 900-1000m from the car to the entrance. But the sheer weight is still brutal on the legs, we were all a bit sore after 3 days and ~14-16 round trips in and out (over 9miles).

Wow, lots of hiking with really heavy gear. In the army we carried ~30kg => 66 lbs of gear. When hiking we tried hard not to go over ~25kg at the beginning of a trip. So I can see how even heavier gear and considerable slope and a good distance will wear you out.

I like that. I'll have to get one. With the pack off it looks like we could even use it inside the cave for the long portage.

Add a couple of ratchet straps and you should be able to secure a rig to the frame.

Henrik