Santa Rosa Blue Hole Cave

[helodriver87]

The Karst formation in Santa Rosa is very deep. At Rock Lake (just a couple miles from blue hole), the bottom is at 280' and there is no sign of any limestone, yet you will find your gear coated in limestone dust once it dries.

My understanding from speaking to persons involved in the last Blue Hole expedition is that the cave goes strait down and is side mount only with several major restrictions. They stopped the push at around 150' depth as it was just too tight.

My best guess, based on the limited USGS information I've been able to find, is that the Permian limestone layer in Santa Rosa probably doesn't start until 320+ ffw. The 190ft spring vent at rock lake might be passable in SM/no mount, but stability is super questionable in my opinion and it's a long way to 320'.

 

[boulderjohn]

I was on the team that tried to open the Blue Hole cave a few years ago. The team (before I was on it) had barely opened it a year before, and we were back to make it a reasonable passage and possibly open it to regular cave diving. The city of Santa Rosa was sponsoring our work in an attempt to gain a tourist attraction.

When we started, the opening was very tight and almost perfectly vertical. As we surveyed what we were looking at, we divided into three groups.

1. The team of Mike Young and Shane Thompson were to do the real exploration to see where the cave went. They were using rebreathers--Mike with a Kiss Sidewinder (he owns Kiss), and Shane with a back-mounted Kiss. They were our most skilled divers, and they were really the only ones who could get to the most extreme areas. The cave floor was a mixture of loose rock and silt, so they were working in absolute zero visibility, feeling their way wherever they went.
2. The big problem was a large rock at (IIRC) about 145 feet that made a very tight restriction, and two divers were working on that.
3. The rest of us worked at the upper levels, between the opening (85 feet) and about 120 feet, trying to open that enough so that passage to the rest of the cave could be done more routinely. There was a lot of loose rock and silt there.The area from about 120 feet to 145 feet was fairly large, so we had a choice of taking the loose rocks all the way out of the cave or tossing them to the edges of that open area. We got the area pretty well open, working in about 10-15% visibility. One day we decided that I would go into that area solo, with the idea of opening it as much as possible, and intentionally raising as much silt as possible so that the flow would take it out into the Blue Hole, and it all could clear by morning. I had a specific timeline by which to be out, or else others would come in looking for me. I moved rock for a while and then, as my time came near, I shoved my arms as deeply as possible into the silt and threw it up behind me. I then worked my way to the surface, sticking my arms into the muck and throwing it into the flow. When I exited the cave, the only way I knew I was out was that I could not feel the ground any more--that is how much I mucked up the Blue Hole.

The next morning the flow had cleared it all out, and the upper opening was wide and clear. Our plan for the day was that Mike and Shane would go in first and explore. The second team would go in after they came out, and our shallowest team would go in last. This was so work at the upper levels did not endanger the deeper divers.

The night before, Mike and Shane talked about their plans. They had to go through two very tight restrictions at nearly the 200 foot level. Shane, with his back-mounted unit, could not get through the second. He wondered about ways to reconfigure it, but they could not see how. The plan was for Mike to go through the second restriction and explore and extend line as much as possible, while Shane waited on the other side. Mike eventually came to a rocky wall. The flow was coming through, but he could not find any real opening. In his words, "the cave didn't go." It was a dead end. In his mind, the trip was over. He turned to exit, and he soon ran into Shane, who had come through the second restriction. There was no real room to turn. The details after that are are long, and I am afraid to recite them too fully for fear of not remembering accurately. To make a quick summary, Shane didn't make it.

We were not feeling all that good at that point. MIke said that in his very expert opinion, there was no point in opening the cave--"it didn't go." It would be a very short and very dangerous cave dive, not the sort of thing that would draw loads of cave diving enthusiasts. The next day we recovered Shane's body and put the grates and the snorkel device back on top. Nothing has been changed since.

Because we were in a really depressed mood, we did not do the very best job in the world sealing it up. That was partly because we had enlarged the opening so much that the grates really didn't cover it well any more. I have not been in the Blue Hole in years, but I am told that the covering is collapsing, which does not surprise me at all. I have sent a message to the mayor offering to get a team there to fix it, but we have given up communicating about it because New Mexico is now closed to outsiders because of Covid.

Yes, I wish that the corps of engineers had not dropped those rocks, but the cave itself stops at the 200 foot level. There is a lot of loose rock, more than 2 dump trucks. In my opinion, we were working our way primarily down a pile of collapsed rubble from the formation of the Blue Hole, created first by a much deeper limestone collapse. I don't think we are missing anything by having it sealed.

 

[boulderjohn]

My best guess, based on the limited USGS information I've been able to find, is that the Permian limestone layer in Santa Rosa probably doesn't start until 320+ ffw. The 190ft spring vent at rock lake might be passable in SM/no mount, but stability is super questionable in my opinion and it's a long way to 320'.

At 190 feet at Rock Lake, there are several spring vents.

• There is one right on the east wall that I suspect might go horizontally into the wall. I suspect that there is potential for a new collapse at the surface to the east, that suspicion based solely on the fact that over the years I have noticed that when the spring vents are flowing strongly down deep, the surface to the east will have water seeping up onto it. That pring vent is not large and has no clear potential for opening it.
• The spring right below the tie off of the east line, a few feet away from the spring mentioned above, has more potential and may be the one intended in the quote above. The east line ties off on a very large triangular rock, and the opening runs horizontally directly under that rock The area is covered with organic silt from the dying vegetation above, but there is a clay-like silt coming out of that vent and leaving deposits when the flow is strongest. Several of us have tried to get as much of that silt out of there in order to see how far it goes. (I once brought a hoe for that purpose.) Another one of our group once backed in as far as he could and kicked like heck to stir things up and get the flow to take it out. That's the best we have done--one body length. When we have been gone for a while and come back to take a look, it's usually half filled again.
• About 15 feet south of that, there are two vents side by side. In reality, I think it is one spring with a big rock lying across it. This one actually looks to go farther than the one under the line, but the rocks on top of it are very big and very heavy. Josh (jvogt---see post #10) and I tried to use a lift bag on one, but we couldn't, both because we couldn't easily tie off on it and because it is under a ledge of the east wall, meaning there is no room for an adequate lift bag above it and no room for us to work without creating a silt storm.

In any event, the 190-foot level at Rock Lake is the top of the débris cone, so what we are seeing with those springs is water that has worked its way up through a deep pile of broken rock, which does not sound like a good chance for a cave. The deepest part of the lake we have found so far is 280 feet, which is still well above 320 feet. If you are looking for the limestone layer, you would be better off starting near the 280 feet level than the 190 foot level.

A couple years ago we were diving to the bottom of the lake in late fall, after an algae bloom that had evidently created a hypoxic death of algae, resulting in a thin dark black layer on top of the light tan organic silt covering the bottom. That was great because all the vents appeared as light tan spots in the black. We found a lot of them, including a couple decent sized ones in the 250-foot range. The bottom of that lake, underneath all that organic silt, must be all sandstone rubble with artesian water working its way up from deep below. I have no hope for finding any real cave there.

 

[VikingDives]

. The next day we recovered Shane's body and put the grates and the snorkel device back on top. Nothing has been changed since.

Because we were in a really depressed mood, we did not do the very best job in the world sealing it up. That was partly because we had enlarged the opening so much that the grates really didn't cover it well any more. I have not been in the Blue Hole in years, but I am told that the covering is collapsing, which does not surprise me at all. I have sent a message to the mayor offering to get a team there to fix it, but we have given up communicating about it because New Mexico is now closed to outsiders because of Covid.

My understanding is that there was a tech diver who opened the area to the right of the snorkel. I've been told he was angry that he wasn't selected for your team, and wanted to explore the cave himself (though that's second hand info). Originally, it was well placed, it was the actions of that particular diver that really caused the problem.

At any rate, I was part of a group that pulled the fencing from behind the snorkel last year (it had become covered with sediment, and it's kind of nice to show students a view of the cave during deep dive training). The fencing was also causing more flow to the right of the snorkel. We succeeded in moving the snorkel slightly to the right, so the gap isn't as pronounced. (All done with the Mayor's approval).

If you go back to do this, I'd be happy to assist, and I'm sure I can bring some local help. I don't think anyone could get more than an arm in there now, but I haven't checked recently to see if that's changed.

 

[boulderjohn]

My understanding is that there was a tech diver who opened the area to the right of the snorkel. I've been told he was angry that he wasn't selected for your team, and wanted to explore the cave himself (though that's second hand info). Originally, it was well placed, it was the actions of that particular diver that really caused the problem.

I am pretty sure I know the diver you are talking about, and I know him well. I can certainly tell you that some of the information is absolutely wrong. He was selected for the team, and he was on it for the preliminary long distance preparation. He and another diver who had been selected (and whom I know) decided (totally their choice) to withdraw their participation for reasons we discussed before the work began.

I will tell you more in a private message.

 

[helodriver87]

At 190 feet at Rock Lake, there are several spring vents.

• There is one right on the east wall that I suspect might go horizontally into the wall. I suspect that there is potential for a new collapse at the surface to the east, that suspicion based solely on the fact that over the years I have noticed that when the spring vents are flowing strongly down deep, the surface to the east will have water seeping up onto it. That pring vent is not large and has no clear potential for opening it.
• The spring right below the tie off of the east line, a few feet away from the spring mentioned above, has more potential and may be the one intended in the quote above. The east line ties off on a very large triangular rock, and the opening runs horizontally directly under that rock The area is covered with organic silt from the dying vegetation above, but there is a clay-like silt coming out of that vent and leaving deposits when the flow is strongest. Several of us have tried to get as much of that silt out of there in order to see how far it goes. (I once brought a hoe for that purpose.) Another one of our group once backed in as far as he could and kicked like heck to stir things up and get the flow to take it out. That's the best we have done--one body length. When we have been gone for a while and come back to take a look, it's usually half filled again.
• About 15 feet south of that, there are two vents side by side. In reality, I think it is one spring with a big rock lying across it. This one actually looks to go farther than the one under the line, but the rocks on top of it are very big and very heavy. Josh (jvogt---see post #10) and I tried to use a lift bag on one, but we couldn't, both because we couldn't easily tie off on it and because it is under a ledge of the east wall, meaning there is no room for an adequate lift bag above it and no room for us to work without creating a silt storm.

In any event, the 190-foot level at Rock Lake is the top of the débris cone, so what we are seeing with those springs is water that has worked its way up through a deep pile of broken rock, which does not sound like a good chance for a cave. The deepest part of the lake we have found so far is 280 feet, which is still well above 320 feet. If you are looking for the limestone layer, you would be better off starting near the 280 feet level than the 190 foot level.

A couple years ago we were diving to the bottom of the lake in late fall, after an algae bloom that had evidently created a hypoxic death of algae, resulting in a thin dark black layer on top of the light tan organic silt covering the bottom. That was great because all the vents appeared as light tan spots in the black. We found a lot of them, including a couple decent sized ones in the 250-foot range. The bottom of that lake, underneath all that organic silt, must be all sandstone rubble with artesian water working its way up from deep below. I have no hope for finding any real cave there.

Yeah, the one off the east wall was the one I was referring to. I think you'd have to work your way through pretty extensive breakdown to get to any going cave. I've spent enough time in relatively shallow unstable breakdown to definitively say i have zero interest in finding any going cave in rock lake.

 

[boulderjohn]

Yeah, the one off the east wall was the one I was referring to. I think you'd have to work your way through pretty extensive breakdown to get to any going cave. I've spent enough time in relatively shallow unstable breakdown to definitively say i have zero interest in finding any going cave in rock lake.

Right, but I still think it's a great dive site without a cave attached. There are still lots of places we have not explored, especially since we have been pretty much shut out all year because of NM's Covid rules.

 

[helodriver87]

Right, but I still think it's a great dive site without a cave attached. There are still lots of places we have not explored, especially since we have been pretty much shut out all year because of NM's Covid rules.

Oh, for sure. It's been the highlight of my move from very near cave country to out here. I've been able to put in real, meaningful time on the loop and stay proficient between my (unfortunately) infrequent trips back. It's probably the best site for hundreds of miles from here and the only one within reasonable driving distance. I'm really grateful to have access.

 

[boulderjohn]

Have you followed any of our lines? If not, would you like to know where everything goes?

 

[helodriver87]

Have you followed any of our lines? If not, would you like to know where everything goes?

A few! I'm headed there tomorrow with a bunch of rec divers, so I doubt I'll do anything deep. But it's good info to have for future trips!