The The Kansas City Area Grotto

Volume 18Issue 1-2February 2004

Caving inArkansasCaving with BMG inArkansas

including Whippoorwill Cave, Pine Creek Cave, and Picnic Cave

Plus trips to Copperhead Cave, Skull Pit,and a hiking trip to Indian Creek

including Whippoorwill Cave, Pine Creek Cave, and Picnic Cave

Plus trips to Copperhead Cave, Skull Pit,and a hiking trip to Indian Creek

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March 20-22, 2004 Cave Research Foundation � OzarkRiverways trip. For more information, contactScott House at scott_house@semo. net.

April 14, 2004 KCAG business meeting � 7:00pm in theMagg Conference Center at the corner ofVolker and Cherry (on the UMKC campus).

April 16-18, 2004 Cave Research Foundation � OzarkRiverways trip. For more information, contactScott House at scott_house@semo. net.

April 30-May 2, 2004 Spring MVOR � Location: Hulston Mill, nearStockton Lake, in Dade County Missouri.Check for additional details atwww.mvornss.org.

May 12, 2004 KCAG social meeting � 7:00pm - 9:00pm atWaldo Pizza at 74th and Wornall Rd.

May 15, 2004 MSS meeting at Rolla, MO.

May 16, 2004 Cave Research Foundation � USFS trip nearRolla with camping at USFS campground.For more information, contact Scott Houseat scott_house@semo. net.

May 20-23, 2004 SERA 2004, hosted by the AppalachianGrotto at Camp Davy Crockett in St. Clair,Tennessee. For more information, see theAppalachian Grotto�s website atwww.caves.org/grotto/appalachian/.

May 28-31, 2004 33rd Annual Speleofest 2004 at CampCarlson in Fort Knox-Meade County,Kentucky. For more information, visit theLouisville Grotto�s website atwww.caves.org/grotto/louisvillegrotto/.

EventsTable of Contents

KCAG/BMG Caving Weekendreport by Gary Johnson, photos by Mike McKinney, Gary Johnson, and Michael Schreiber

page 4

KCAG/BMG Caving Weekend

Whippoorwill Cavetrip reports by Marianne Krist and John Prigmore, photos by Jeff Page, John Prigmore, and Gary Johnson

page 6KCAG/BMG Caving Weekend

Picnic Cavetrip report by Gary Johnson, photos by Michael Schreiber and Michael McKinney

page 10KCAG/BMG Caving Weekend

Pine Creek Cavetrip report by Pam Rader, photos byMichael McKinney and Jeff Page

page 12

Copperhead Cavereport by Pam Rader, photos by Michael McKinney and Jeff Page

page 14

Skull PIttrip report by Mike McKinney, photo byPam Rader

page 18

Indian Creektrip report by Gary Johnson, photos byMichael McKinney and Gary Johnson

page 19

Cover photoThe lower canyon of Indian Creek at Buffalo National River ends at this towering bluff.The remnants of old cave passages dot the bluff. For a sense of the scale, look at thecenter of the photo. You�ll see a tiny dot. That�s Gary Johnson. He�s standing inside alarge shelter cave with a 40 foot high ceiling. Photo by Mike McKinney.

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The GuanoFebruary 2004, Vol. 18, Issue 1-2

The Guano is published bi-monthly

Submit articles via e-mail to the editor: guano-editor@kc.rr.com. Preferred file format fortrip report attachments: Microsoft Word. Multiplephotos are typically required for each trip report.

Guano subscription rate for nonmembers: $6.00annually. Electronic: FREE.

President: Jeff Andrews (president@kcgrotto.org)V.P./Treasurer: Jeff Page (info@kcgrotto.org)Secretary: Bill Gee (bgee@campercaver.net)

Web Master: Sam Clippinger (samc@kcgrotto.org)Editor: Gary Johnson (guano-editor@kc.rr.com)Co-editor: Bryon Carmoney (Packratt@aol.com)Copy editors: Bill Gee & Pam Rader

The Kansas City Area Grotto is affiliated with theNational Speleological Society and the MissouriSpeleological Survey. In addition, KCAG is afounding member of the Missouri Caves & KarstConservancy.

Business meetings are held quarterly. Checkwww.kcgrotto.org to determine the dates.

Annual Dues: $15 for full members (three cavingtrips with KCAG, nomination, and vote ofmembership required.)

NCRC Callout number � Emergency use only:Central Region (502) 564-7815. This number maybe used for cave rescue emergencies in thestates of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

This is my first letter as President of KCAG. As a member of this grotto for thepast eight years, I have watched an amazing evolution. When I first startedgoing to meetings, this newsletter was usually two pages with one of those

pages being donated from another grotto. Now through the considerableefforts of Bryon, Gary, and contributors, this newsletter has evolved into a�quality magazine� (quoting Jeff Page here).

In the last couple of years, we have seen our sport evolve from somethingtalked about by only a few people to being used as a major marketing tool(thank Nissan�s ad agency). As many of you know, this sparked many heateddebates among cavers centered on the topic of conservation. As cavers,conservation is one of our greatest concerns. This grotto has taken severalsteps to become more active in conservation: we have adopted a cave, wehave organized a better approach in helping scouts learn about caving, andwe have been active in the NCRC. Several members have taken NCRC orien-tations or at least gone to Level One training. Way to go KCAG members.

As we move through 2004, I would like to put this question to you. How do yousee the evolution of KCAG? E-mail me your thoughts.

As always Cave softly, Take only Pictures, andLeave only Footprints.

Jeff AndrewsKCAG President

MessagePresident

A From

the

Trip reports tentatively scheduled for future issues of The GuanoSkaggs Cave and Cave Lodge Cave ... Paddy CreekNatural Arch and Slabtown Natural Arch ... MillerCave and Stone Mill Spring at Fort Leonard Wood... Look for these trip reports and more in futureissues of The Month�s Guano ... And if you�ve beencaving, please share your experiences by submit-ting a trip report.

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In October 2003, the Kansas City AreaGrotto got together with the BostonMountain Grotto of Fayetteville for a

caving weekend. Ten people from KansasCity made the drive south, meeting severalmembers of BMG at Withrow SpringsState Park. The caving destination lay just afew short minutes north�MadisonCounty Wildlife Management Area. ThisWMA is home to over 20 caves. Membersof KCAG had visited the largest cave inthe WMA, Whippoorwill Cave, twice overthe last several months. In addition,members had visited Kiddy Mix Cave, butthese were the only caves in the vicnitythat we knew anything about. However,because the grotto makes a yearly trip tonearby Beaver Lake and members typicallyend up in the WMA doing some caving, Idecided it was time we expanded ourrepertoire of caves. Luckily, I had metMichael Schreiber of BMG earlier in 2003when we had both been on a trip to FittonCave organized by Wade Baker (also ofBMG). So I sent Michael a message, askingif he knew anything about caves nearBeaver Lake. And he responded with anencouraging note about several possiblecaves. After a couple dozen moremessages, we had a trip set up that wasopened to members of both grottos.

Everyone got together at WithrowSprings State Park to set up camp.Camping is also allowed at the WMA, butthere are no facilities, no showers, nowater. Withrow Springs, on the other hand,has showers and heated restrooms. In addi-tion, it�s easy to find the state park,whereas the camping areas at the WMA

are widely scattered and a bit more difficultto locate. We needed a spot that would beeasy for everyone to find, especially whensome participants would be arriving longafter dark. So Withrow Springs was an easychoice.

I tried to anticipate all the needs of thetrip. I had arranged for the group campsiteand even called the local sheriff �s office toget the regulations for alcohol posses-sion�for Madison County is a dry county.But thankfully, Terry Mitchell of BMGknew something about what�s required fora caving weekend: he showed up with a

trailer load of firewood in tow. And withweather reports predicting a drop intemperatures and all-day rain for Saturday,he pitched a large group tent, so we�d allhave somewhere to huddle against theelements. Luckily, however, the rain nevermaterialized and the weather in generalcooperated to perfection.

This was a great weekend for caving.The plentiful firewood made for a greatcampfire and that helped pull the grottostogether as we warmed ourselves aroundthe fire and shared stories. Vertical caverscouldn�t resist a large nearby tree and soon

Top: Withrow Springs issues from a small cave and flows through a man-made channel. This spring islocated beside the group campsite at Withrow Springs State Park (photo by Michael McKinney). Bottom: The group campsite at Withrow Springs made a good place for KCAG and BMG to gettogether for a caving weekend (photo by Michael Schreiber).

Reports from the

KCAG/BMGCavingWeekendreport by Gary Johnsonphotos by MichaelMcKinney, Gary Johnson,and Michael Schreiber

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had a rope rigged for practice. SamClippinger served as breakfast chef onSaturday morning, whipping up biscuitsand gravy, and that evening MichaelSchreiber served chili.

On Saturday morning, two caves wereon the agenda, Whippoorwill and Picnic.Members of KCAG and BMG decidedwhich caves they wanted to see and joinedthe appropriate teams. Terry Mitchellserved as the guide to Whippoorwill. Hehad been in Whippoorwill several timesover the past couple years while resur-veying the middle section of the cave anddrafting a new and improved cave mapthat actually makes sense of the upper andmain passages. We couldn�t have hoped fora better guide. Michael Schreiber led the

way to Picnic Cave. He had been in thiscave several times and knew it quite well.

On Sunday, we had two more caves tochoose from�Pine Creek Cave andGaffney Cave. Everyone from KCAG wasso tuckered out after Saturday�s activities,however, that they all chose the less chal-lenging cave, Pine Creek. This made mefeel a little bad because I knew Michaelhad done considerable work scoutingGaffney and becoming familiar with it, butluckily a couple additional members ofBMG showed up that morning andMichael led them on a trip to Gaffney. SoMike�s work wasn�t wasted. Terry Mitchellled the trip to Pine Creek and afterwardsshowed the curious the location ofGaffney. (Gaffney Cave requires verticalgear and a temperment for negotiatingtight squeezes.)

Altogether, this was an outstandingtrip. We owe the members of BMG a bigthank you for hosting this caving weekendand showing us the caves of MadisonCounty WMA. In particular, we oweMichael Schreiber for organizing the BMGfolk and convincing them that this was aworthy endeavor. Thank you, Michael.Thank you, Terry. Thank you, BMG.

Before we move on to the trip reports, here�s afew notes on the state park where we setup camp:

Withrow Springs State Park Withrow Springs State Park is a small

park nestled beside Hwy. 23 and War EagleCreek. A west branch of Hwy. 23 runsthrough the campground, which is locatedin a small valley between two ridges. Nocampsite is more than 100 feet away fromthe road, so there isn�t a lot of privacyhere. All the campsites are in the open. Butwe didn�t see (or hear) much traffic downthe road. It was quieter than I expected.Our campsite was tucked beside the park�snamesake, Withrow Springs. A modeststream branch flowed underneath the roadand into a pond. The spring issued from asmall cave. There was no rise pool. Thecave contains several hundred feet ofpassage, but the passage is only about twofeet high and it contains a few eardipsalong the way. (A large-scale map of thecave hangs on the wall of the park admin-istrator�s office.) No one bothered enteringthe cave and in fact the state park discour-ages entry (although there are no signsexpressly forbidding it). The cave is at thebase of a steep hill and the spring branchflows through a man-made channel withstone retaining walls. It�s a modest littlespring in a pretty location. (The springflow probably doesn�t exceed a milliongallons a day, so it�s a relatively smallspring.)

Bill Gee and I arrived earlier thaneveryone else (in fact Bill arrived on

Top left: War Eagle Trail at Withrow SpringsState Park climbs small ridge that looks overWar Eagle Creek (photo by Gary Johnson).Above: Bill Gee peeks into War Eagle Cave(photo by Gary Johnson). Left: Sam Clippingercooked breakfast for everyone on Saturdaymorning (photo by Michael McKinney). Lowerleft: Grotto members set up many small tentsin the group campsite at Withrow SpringsState Park (photo by Michael McKinney).

Marianne Krist�s Report

It was cold Friday night. KansasCity cavers had been trickling down toWithrow Springs State Park inArkansas that afternoon and evening.After setting up our campsites, wegathered around the campfire todiscuss (among other things) the nextday�s caving.

For Saturday, our Boston MountainGrotto hosts gave us a choice: PicnicCave or Whippoorwill Cave. I don�trecall much discussion about PicnicCave, except that it is strenuous andrequires lots of crawling. SeveralKansas City cavers are veterans ofWhippoorwill Cave, and their vividrecollections were daunting to this newcaver. There was talk of a terrible,

narrow, icy water crawl, with only afew inches of air space.

I�m an adventurous person, and Ilove a challenge as much as anyone.But as a vegetarian/Californianwithout much natural body insulation,I just don�t �do� cold. No way. I woulddo Picnic Cave. Come morning, Iwaffled. I changed my mind afterhearing a few people describeWhippoorwill as a multi-layered, fasci-nating cave. KCAG member SamClippinger remembered Whippoorwillas having a �Swiss cheese� look. Idon�t remember anyone sayinganything quite so intriguing aboutPicnic Cave. So in the end, I decidedmy choice should be based not onphysical comfort but on which wouldbe a more interesting caving trip. This

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Thursday evening), so we spent part ofFriday afternoon hiking War Eagle Trail.The trail starts by the Hwy 23. bridge overthe War Eagle Creek and follows the creekfor a half mile before climbing a modestridge. Along the lower portion, the trailleads to War Eagle Cave, which consists ofa single large room about 150 feet wideand 100 deep. The ceiling is about 30 feethigh. The left side of the room largelyconsists of breakdown. A small streamwinds through the breakdown and joinsanother stream that comes from a smallcavity in the back wall. The water thenflows out the mouth of the cave, through abreak in the bottom of an old stone man-made wall. The water then joins the WarEagle Creek. A nice formation, now dry,hangs from the center of the ceiling, with acounterpart 20 feet below on the floor.The stalagmite is carved out on its top toform a small basin. The formation pair issort of like a dry version of Angel Fallsfrom Ozark Caverns, although here thetwo portions are much further apart.

We had heard stories about anotherroom, so Bill and I dropped past thebreakdown and peeked into several cavitiesoccupied by the stream, but we didn�t findany indications that the cave continued. Isuspect the stories we heard were justwishful thinking, but our search wasn�texhaustive. We were primarily dressed forhiking, not for getting wet following thestream passage underneath the breakdown,so I suppose it�s possible there was apassage that we didn�t find (but I highlydoubt it).

After exiting the cave, we followed thetrail to the top of the ridge. It�s a nice hike,with the ridge rising high above the creek.You�ll find several nice rocky promontorieswith stunted cedar trees, providing viewsover the creek to the east. On the otherside of the creek, the land is owned byfarmers and ranchers, so the view is some-what marred by farm equipment andfences. But this is still a nice trail, withmodest but impressive bluffs that risevertically 50 to 70 feet above the creek.

Overall, this is a nice park. I�m not sureI�d return here on my own to do anycamping. When I go camping, I like placesthat are a little more remote. But theWithrow Springs State Park served ourpurposes well. In addition, park rangerChris Marley was very helpful andprovided good tips about hiking trails (aswell as many old-timer tales about rumoredcaves in the vicinity). Chris even accompa-nied us caving on Saturday.

KCAG/BMGCaving Weekend

WHIPPOORWILL CAVEtrip reports by Marianne Krist and John Prigmorephotos by Jeff Page, Gary Johnson, and John Prigmore

In Whippoorwill Cave, Peddgie Heinz andBill Gee inspect a thin layer of chert thatresembles Swiss cheese (photo by JeffPage).

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would be my third wild cave experience; Iwas not dissappointed.

In the morning, eight of us left forWhippoorwill. Our leader, Terry Mitchellof BMG, led us on a 15-minute driveinto Arkansas forest on a dirt road. Ashort hike led us to a hole in theground�the cave entrance. There aretwo entrances to Whippoorwill, or ratheran entrance and an exit, so there is noneed for backtracking through the cave.One by one we left the sunshine andswirling fall leaves above ground and slidthrough the narrow entrance into the firstof many large rooms and canyons inWhippoorwill.

Rather than give a chronologicalaccount of the trip or detail the cavelayout, I�ll describe what I remembermost:

Whippoorwill is indeed multi-layered.I loved the possibilities in this cave!Rather than just straight forward, everyroom seemed to have up or down possi-bilities too. It is probably possible to walkupright through most of the cave, but Ibelieve a trip through Whippoorwill canbe as easy or as difficult as a cavinggroup chooses. In the larger rooms, ourgroup would stop and allow the moreagile cavers to climb up slippery clayledges to explore rooms at higher levelsor down over breakdown into adjoiningrooms.

Whippoorwill is not very �decorated�in the usual way with stalactites andstalagmites. Yet to me it was very inter-esting geologically. Limestone layers wereseparated by thin, flat layers of chert.There were many chert ceilings in thecave. One room in particular remindedme of a house from the animated TVprogram The Flintstones with its flat chertroof.

It seemed that whereas water hadeasily eroded the limestone, creating largeopen spaces, it was taking its time withthe chert. We saw layers of chert thatwere exposed to view from above andbelow. These layers were perforated byirregular holes and looked like Swisscheese (as Sam had described).

Many of the large rooms had severalround adjoining rooms that I�ll call

�closets.� These round closets appeared(to my inexperienced eye) to have beeneroded by the force of swirling water.

One of the most dramatic features ofWhippoorwill are its stone-walledcanyons. The limestone walls were sohigh I couldn�t see the cave ceiling. Thisgave it the illusion of being outside (onthe surface somewhere) at night. Ormaybe I needed to more effectively usethe light on the helmet I borrowed fromJeff Page. In any case, the result wasstunning. The effect of water was evidentin the wavy sides of the tall, narrowcanyons. The flat sand floors of thesecanyons were quite different from theslippery, uneven clay and chert floors weencountered throughout most of thecave.

We saw plenty of bats on this trip.Except for the few that flew right intome (yes, I screamed), most roosted singlyon cave walls. The wavy canyon wallsseemed to be a favorite bat hangout.

After several hours of exploring, westopped to eat in the �Lunch room.�Lunch was not a highlight of the trip,and I decided that on future cave trips itwill be worth it to lug a few extra poundsin the form of a thermos full of hotcoffee or soup. Oh, yes, and cold clayisn�t very accommodating. From now on,I will bring something to sit on. Andsomething to... urinate into (the small soy

milk bottle presented a bit of a chal-lenge).

Our group was comprised of a nicemix of cavers. Because there were three�newbies� on the trip, Terry didn�t set anintimidating pace. I�m glad I wasn�t theonly one with not-quite-there-yet gear.The experience and knowledge of therest of the group made the trip inter-esting and comfortable. I especiallyenjoyed Peddgie Heinz�s enthusiasm!

After lunch we split up. About halfthe group headed for the exit while theremainder of us explored more amazingcanyons and rooms. There were a fewtight belly crawls and some challengingclimbs to keep us on our toes. I washaving so much fun I almost forgotabout the dreaded water crawl.

And then we were there. It looked tobe a fairly tight hands-and-knees crawlover sharp breakdown and through icywater. A few cavers went before I did,and they seemed to be doing ok. �If youcan do this water crawl, you can callyourself a real caver,� our leader Terrypromised me. I began the crawl into thewater and got about 3 yards out. I felt mybody seize up from the cold, so I turnedaround and quickly got out of the waterand thought about what I was doing. If Ididn�t do this crawl, I�d have to backtrackto the cave entrance, and Terry wouldhave to take me. I took a few deepbreaths and tried again. It was easier. The

Above: Peddgie Heinz backs through Whippoorwill Cave�s dry entrance . This entrance was dug outby Arkansas cavers to provide easier access to the cave. The cave�s main entrance requires a wetcrawl to reach the cave�s main passages (photo by John Prigmore).

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crawl takes an L-turn, so when you�restarting out you don�t see the end�onlya dark wall straight ahead. After about 15yards I took the turn and�daylight! Ha!Piece of cake! Another 10 yards and Iwas done.

It�s impossible to exit Whippoorwillwith any dignity. The cold pool spit meout on my belly onto a pile of break-down. Once we�d all made our exits, wegathered for a few group pictures andthen walked to our cars and our dryclothes for another undignified part ofthe trip�standing on the cold leafyground, peeling drippy, muddy clothesoff and putting our dry clothes on.

Caving is very dirty and cold, and itcan be awkward. But I look forward todoing it again. Whippoorwill was a blast!

John Prigmore�s Report

Whippoorwill Cave is the longestcave in Madison County, at about 1.2miles. It is a good cave for beginners andhas an exciting wet bellycrawl exit.

Terry Mitchell of the BostonMountain Grotto served as our guide.Terry has been to Whippoorwill severaltimes and has even re-surveyed and re-mapped the middle section of the cave.He is very knowledgeable of all thevarious passages that we could explore,thus making him an excellent choice as aguide.

Withrow Springs State Park is locatednot far from Madison County WildlifeManagement Area, approximately 5 milessouth. We got in our cars and followedTerry from the state park to the cave.Once in the WMA, the road began tofade away under the cover of leaves. Weparked in a small area with only room fortwo or three cars. Then we walked up atrail to the cave�s dry entrance. Terry toldthe group a little about the history of thecave (which he repeated for me by wayof e-mail):

�Rodney Tennyson, a member of theMOLES, dug open the Sassafras entranceafter finding roots at the end of SassafrasPassage. Knowing that Sassafras treeshave shallow roots, he determined that itcouldn�t be too far to the surface. He dugit out and placed a barrel in the entrance,which was still in place until five or sixyears ago.

�Apparently, even the wet entrancemust have been partially blocked at onetime, and Rodney opened it up for explo-ration by modern man. It has been saidthat in the days before the dry Sassafrasentrance was dug, the cavers would takedry clothes in waterproof bags with themas they crawled in through the water, thenchange clothes in the No-Name Room forfurther exploration and surveying.

�I was first led into Whippoorwill inDecember 1999, and the old barrel ortube, made of two 55-gallon drums weldedtogether, was no longer in the Sassafrasentrance hole but was laying on theground nearby. The hole had erodedlarger to the point that the barrel was nolonger needed. I�m was also told thatsquirming through that old, rusty steeltube was somewhat daunting for manycavers. When I returned to Whippoorwillfor the second time in September 2001,the old �barrel� had been hauled off.�

The new Sassafras entrance lookedlike a small sinkhole. One by one, weentered the cave by sliding down throughthe hole. The Sassafras Passage was easygoing and wide, with plenty of headroom. Terry guided the team to the backof the passage, where a large roomopened up to the right, called the MiddleRoom. From the Sassafras Passage, youcould look down into the Middle Roomand see an upper section passage above it.

Above: Most formations in Whippoorwill Caveare the same brown color (photo by JeffPage). Right: Small crystals encrust a wall inWhippoorwill Cave (photo by Jeff Page.)

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Among the cave�s highlights, besidesthe water exit, were the cave�s various sidepassages, called canyons. The first canyonwe explored was the First Chert Canyon.The width of the canyon was about threeshoulder widths across until you got tothe back of the canyon and then itnarrowed down to one shoulder width.There was some climbing also after youreached the back of the canyon. Manyteam members ventured to the back ofthe canyon, while Terry, Richard and Iwaited. When they returned, theyreported that they found some nice flow-stone. During the wait, I could hear waterdripping somewhere in the cave. Terryinformed us that there was also a lowersection of the cave where the naturalspring ran through, but it was too smallfor anyone to explore.

At first, I thought the cave waswarmer than the ones I experienced in

Missouri, but during the wait and theinactivity, you could begin to feel the coldtemperature of the cave. Afterwards,when the group returned, we ventured onto the middle section of the cave, towardsthe Heart Room. It was called the HeartRoom because the room was shaped likea heart.

The middle section of the cave wasmore challenging for beginners. Thepassage narrowed down considerably toabout shoulder width across, and it beganto twist and turn back and forth, mean-dering its way to the Heart Room. Onecould not stand straight up in the passage.You had to bend over to go around eachand every turn.

Before reaching the Heart Room, theteam came across two other canyons andan open area, called the Fluted Dome,which contained flowstone. The firstcanyon we encountered was calledChimney Canyon because one mustchimney down to the passage and thenchimney up afterwards. Jeff Page, JeffChase and Marianne Krist decided toexplore Chimney Canyon while the restof us went ahead to the Heart Room. Westopped at the second canyon, which iscalled the Fluted Canyon. A couple of theteam members did a quick check of thearea before we moved on toward theHeart Room. Peddgie found a newsmaller passage that Terry didn�t knowabout. Finally, we made it to the HeartRoom where we took a break for lunch

and waited for the others to catch up withus.

After lunch, Terry talked aboutbreaking the group in two so that onegroup could stay behind and continue toexplore some of the other canyons thatventured off from the Heart Room. Theother group, which would be led by Terry,would go on to the water passage and outof the cave. Terry would then return tothe Heart Room and to the waiting group.

Peddgie, Richard and I elected to goon to the water passage and out of thecave. The water passage was not far fromthe Heart Room. Before you knew it, wewere there. Terry showed us where thepassage started. The entrance to thepassage was approximately 2 feet highand 3 feet wide. I made sure everything inmy pack was protected from the water.Peddgie was first to crawl into the smallpassage. After approximately ten feet, sheentered the cold spring. The water levelwas a couple of feet deep, about to one�sneck, if you were on your hands andknees. The spring was so cold, it literallytook my breath away. The water passagewas another fifteen to twenty feet long,with a dogleg to the right, before reachinga small opening into the natural entranceportion of the cave. I was second, andRichard brought up the rear. The three ofus spent nearly 4 hours in the cave. Theothers came out an hour or so later.

I really enjoyed going throughWhippoorwill cave. As a beginner, I didn�thave to worry much about where I wasstepping. Most of the areas were largeand open. I thought the meandering ofthe middle section was a little challenging.However, the water exit was the mostchallenging part of the cave. I didn�tknow if I could do it. Nevertheless, I didit and I felt great afterwards. I now knowwhy it has become a �rite of passage� forbeginning cavers in Northwest Arkansas.

Left: Because most cavers are so anxious toget out of their wet clothes after exitingWhippoorwill Cave, few photos exist of thecave�s main (wet) entrance (photo by GaryJohnson). Below left: A faint trail leads to thepool at the back of the entrance passage atWhippoorwill Cave (photo by Gary Johnson).

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Picnic Cave is one of severalcaves located alongside PineCreek. It gets its name because

it�s near one of the picnic/campingareas in Madison County WildlifeManagement Area. It didn�t get itsname because it�s an easy cave. Asseveral members of BMG told us:�Picnic cave is no picnic.� We endedup spending about five hours in thecave, and of that time, we probablyspent less than 30 minutes with ourpacks on. This is almost entirely apack-off cave.

Michael Schreiber led the trip. Hedirected everyone to park their vehicleswithin a couple hundred yards of thecave. Then we piled into the flatbed ofDave Wyckoff �s truck and he drove usfurther up the road, where there wasonly room for a single vehicle to park.From there it was a short walk throughthe brush and across the creek, to abluff with a modest overhang. Wefollowed the bluff south for 20 to 30yards. The cave entrance wasn�t large,only about three feet high. We duckedinto the cave�s first room, which wasabout 20 feet wide and five feet high.

To continue further back into thecave required negotiating two tightcrawls. The crawlways were fairly widebut they were only about a single foothigh. To get through the second crawl,

I took off by helmet so I could get abetter perspective. These crawls werealmost tight enough to cause my claus-trophobia to kick in, and indeed beforestarting the first crawl, I had to take afew extra seconds to shake off somewelling feelings of claustrophobia. Butnone of the crawls in Picnic Cave wereparticularly long. I could always lookthrough the crawls and see wheresomeone was sitting or standing up.Pam Rader also has a tendency forclaustrophobia, and we had talkedabout the crawlways. (Michael hadpassed out maps of the cave, so weknew we were in for some tightpassages.) I think it helped her to seeme make it though the crawls.

After the second crawl, we were ina nice sized room with 20 feet ofceiling. The room was about 50 feetlong and 20 feet wide. The floormostly consisted of breakdown. Fromhere, we squeezed down into a passagethat required hands-and-knees crawlingand a little bellycrawling. The passageled to what was undeniably the high-light of the cave�a dome/pit about40 feet high called Sam�s Dome. Thecrawlway led to a spot about two thirdsof the way up the dome. From there,we had to free climb up for at least 10feet.

This free climb was a little bit scary.You made the climb by using ledges ofchert. These twisted fragments ofchert layers were sturdy, but I keptimagining what would happen if onewere to give away. It would meanplummeting to the bottom of thedome, and encountering other sharpfragments of chert along the way,which stuck out like knives, just aboutright for cleaving your head from yourshoulders.

After climbing up the dome, thegroup rested. Chris Marley (who is apark ranger at Withrow Springs StatePark) and I climbed on up to theEyeball Room. It looks out over a nice-sized room, roughly circular, about 30feet high and 30 feet across.

Top: Mike Bayona, Lois Wintersteen, ChrisMarley, and Dave Wyckoff in a narrowpassage in Picnic Cave (photo by MichaelSchreiber). Above: Pam Rader negotiates oneof the many tight crawlways in Picnic Cave(photo by Michael McKinney).

KCAG/BMGCaving Weekend

PICNICCAVEtrip report by GaryJohnson, photos byMichael Schreiber andMichael McKinney

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Meanwhile, Michael and Dave climbedto the bottom of this room and inves-tigated the passages. Eventually,everyone returned to the dome andthen we began the long descent to thebottom. This descent was necessarybecause this is where the cave passagescontinued.

I stood at the top, watching as oneby one everyone made the descent. Itwas sort of cool to look to the bottomof the pit, 30 feet below, where thecavers were walking around, their head-lamps just dots. I was somewhatconcerned about the clay now cakedon my shoes. I tried to scrape the clayoff as best I could. I kept envisioningmyself slipping off the chert andtumbling to the bottom. But when Ifinally started the descent, I found itwas fairly easy. The chert ledges werearranged just right. A couple times Ihad to spend a few seconds planningwhere I would go, but I didn�t thinkthe descent was particularly difficult.Some of the participants had someminor troubles locating a route downand needed guidance from thosepeople who had already reached thebottom. My biggest problem with thedescent was a sharp piece of chert thatripped away a section of the seat ofmy pants. But I was fortunatecompared to Lois Wintersteen ofBMG, who found the entire rightcheek of her pants had been rippedaway. The last few feet of the descentwas a simple chimney.

I found the bottom of the domeroom consisted of gravel. A steady rainfell from the ceiling. From here, twopassages led out. One passage headedfor the stream passage and twistedback toward the entrance. We took theother passage, which was about threeto four feet high and only about a footand half wide. It was lined with smallfragments of chert that ripped away atour cave suits like razor blades. Thischert passage did a number on my suit,ripping several new holes. (My cavesuit is now in the trash.)

I don�t remember much of the restof the cave. It was intermittentlywalking, stooping, and crawling height.These passages led back probably2,000 feet. The one noteworthy sectionwas a vertical passage that could beclimbed to a fair-sized room with a fewsmall formations. We followed thepassages all the way to the back of thecave and then turned around. Therewas one minor incident on the wayback out: while chimneying back upSam�s Dome, Lois slipped and fell. Ididn�t see her fall, but I heard the thudas she landed. She scraped her back onthe fall, but luckily she was otherwiseunhurt. Her hard plastic kneepadslikely saved her from damaging herknee. The pads slammed hard against arock at the bottom, but she rose andshook off the fall and started tochimney again.

In general, the cave mostlyconsisted of rock and breakdown withno flowstone and only a few sodastraws and stalactites. Picnic Cave isnot a particularly pretty cave, but it isdemanding. For those people whoapproach caving as an athleticendurance test, Picnic Cave is a goodcave. It contains well over 4,000 feet ofpassageways and will keep you busy forseveral hours. For those people who gocaving to see pretty stuff, you shouldprobably look elsewhere.

Michael Schreiber did a great job ofleading the trip. Without his knowledgeof the cave, I doubt that I could havemade it through the tight passages.Thank you, Michael.

Top to bottom: 1) Gary Johnson descendsSam�s Dome in Picnic Cave while �Grinin��Sammy Clippinger awaits his turn. 2) DaveWyckoff helped other cavers descend Sam�sDome. Lois Wintersteen is dimly visible behindhim at the bottom of the pit. 3) MichaelMcKinney and Pam Rader at Sam�s Dome.4) Michael McKinney performed animpromptu rub-a-dub-dub in Picnic Creekafter exiting the cave. (Photos by MichaelSchreiber.)

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Sunday morning began with thediscussion of who would be going toPine Creek Cave. I had slight reser-

vations after going into Picnic Cave, butwhat the heck. I was up for more adven-ture.

We formed a caravan and began theshort drive to the same turn off that led tomany different caves, including Kiddy Mix,Picnic, Wagon Shed, and Pine Creek Cave.As we were driving, we past a house with acave in its backyard that was being used asa storage shed.

We arrived at a little meadow and ourguide, Terry Mitchell of BMG, directed uswhere to park. There was a little creek thatled up to a rather impressive bluff, with anopening to a cave passage below. Thatopening led to Lower Pine Creek Cave.Terry told us that when the springs areflowing Lower Pine Creek Cave is prettywet. Terry then pointed up a steep pathand said, �That�s were we are going.�

We changed into our caving clothes,checked our packs and lights, and hiked upthe path. At the large cave entrance, graffitilittered the left wall. The floor slopeddown and on the right hand side a verticalslit opened up, leading down into a streampassage. I looked down into the openingand could hear the distinct sound of trick-ling water. Terry said you could usuallyhear water roaring through the passage.This was Lower Pine CreekCave, whichcontains 200-300 feet of passage.

The upper section of Pine Creek Caveis much longer than the lower section. Itsentrance is futher up the bluff. We climbedup and found the second entrance. Toenter the cave, we climbed between several

large boulders, and then start up a slopethat was sticky Arkansas mud. You know,the stuff that sticks to your boots andwon�t let you get any traction. You have torely on hand grips and just the luck of footplacement so you don�t slide back down.At the top of the slope, I navigated aroundslick unsteady rocks to a large circularroom that housed a waterfall. There is aledge on the right that upon closer exami-nation has pieces of burned wood andlittle circles of black at close intervals.Terry said the local witches� coven meets inthis little room on nights of the full moonto hold their rituals. They light candlesand small fires for warmth and light.

The waterfall has a small flow anddrops about 30 feet. The pool at thebottom of the falls appeared to be 5-10feet deep with a smooth back wall. MichaelMcKinney asked Terry if anyone has everscaled the wall and checked out the streamthat feeds the waterfall. Terry said, no, andthe fact that there are no anchors on thewall tells us he is accurate.

After we had sufficiently looked aroundthis room, Terry led us to the left oversome large rocks and breakdown that were

Top right: Pine Creek Cave�s entrance hasbeen marred by graffiti but the setting isscenic nonetheless. Above right: The lowerentrance at Pine Creek Cave drops to astream passage. Right: Terry Mitchell in theupper entrance of Pine Creek Cave. (Photosby Michael McKinney).

KCAG/BMG Caving Weekend

PINE CREEK CAVEtrip report by Pam Raderphotos by Michael McKinney and Jeff Page

at times hard to navigate. If it weren�t forconvenient handgrips on the boulders, Iwould have fallen more than once. Afterzigzagging through several spots thatinvolved stooping, crawling, and morestooping, we made it to a smooth tunnel.The tunnel began as a walking passage andslowly shrank. First, we were stooping.Then, we were kneeling, and then we were�spider� crawling through the passage,negotiating around �pot hole puddles.� Atthe end of the passage, we crawled up andover a bigger puddle and were able tostand up in a little passage. Thank God,some walking passage, but it didn�t last forlong. Terry pointed to a small hole, just upahead, that required �packs off.� By thistime, I had started taking my cues from

Gary Johnson: if he can make it through,then so can I. This is where we startedworking our way through some break-down. We climbed down, then up andover, then under a lip, emerging into a bigroom with breakdown littering the floor.Climbing over the breakdown, I wonderedwhat this room would have looked likebefore the ceiling had fallen.

We climbed down the breakdown andentered a smooth passage, all walkingheight, for a couple hundred feet. Thepassage came to an abrupt halt. Terry toldus that by crawling past breakdown wecould go another 50-75 feet, but that wasas far as anyone had been able to go.However, if we could find a way throughthe breakdown, he would be happy to pushon. Jeff Page gave it a good try, but withno luck. We did find a great many fossilsin the breakdown as we waited for Jeff tofinish his solo adventure.

We backtracked to the big breakdownroom and took another path that led to the�prettiest room� in the cave. This pathinvolved a vertical �slide� down to a roomthat had several stalagmites, stalactites, anddraperies. We reached the decorated room,rested, exchanged caving stories, and took

a few pictures. One of those pictureswould reveal a bat in mid flight positionedright next to me.

As we started our trek back out, severalmembers of the group elected to followTerry by taking an alternate route, a smallcrawlway that led underneath breakdown.Gary and I elected to not go through thecrawlway. We returned the way we cameand met the rest of the group. Theremainder of the trip back out wasuneventful except that we all went differentdirections around the breakdown near theentrance. Two members of our groupended up on top of the breakdown andhad to climb back down the way theyclimbed up. Once back at the entrance,several of us posed for pictures.

Overall, it was a great cave trip. Terrywas an excellent leader. He was veryknowledgeable about the cave and thesurrounding area. He shared quite a bit ofinformation about the other caves in thisarea. He even took us on a brief cavelocation trip and showed us several othercaves in close proximity to Pine CreekCave. My favorite was called Wagon ShedCave. Mike took a great picture from justinside the cave. It frames my X-Terra andme perfectly. Boy, wouldn�t the Nissanpeople love to have that picture.

I look forward to making more tripsback to Arkansas in the near future toexplore other caves with my new foundfriends.

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Left: Gary Johnsonat the base of a tall water-fall in Pine Creek Cave (photo by MichaelMcKinney). Above: Several small formationsline a shelf at the back of Pine Creek Cave(photo by Jeff Page). Below left: A fortuitousshutter click captured this image of a batflying beside Pam Rader in PIne Creek Cave(photo by Michael McKinney).

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As we made our way from KylesLanding to Copperhead Cave,I was reminded why I bought a

4WD X-Terra. The road is steep,rough, and narrow with non-existentshoulders on both sides. I�m sure it�snot as bad as some of the �backroads,� but we sure did a lot ofbouncing. Not a road you want to dowith a full bladder.

Once we arrived at the spot pastthe creek, near the �entrance� ofCopperhead, we made a quick walk to�size up� what we would need to enterthe cave. Keep in mind that I havenever been to this cave and MikeMcKinney says, �The Boy Scouts usethis cave as a training cave forrappelling, but you can get into it witha simple hand line. Some people don�teven use that.� Because Mike knew thecave, he decided to rig the entrancewith a simple hand line. Someone hadplaced a sturdy �pine tree� trunkacross the entrance, making riggingeasy. Hand loops were tied to make thedescent easier.

Mike went in first, making his waythrough the slightly tight, awkwardentrance, which just happens to be ahole on a path next to a creek. Mikehollered, �All clear. Send the nextperson down.� I elected to be next. Ipulled up the line, attached my cavepack, lowered it down, and then beganmy descent. The descent begins with ashort drop through a small hole to asmall lip. You sit down on the lip, thenshimmy down to an outcrop on theopposite side of the chimney. Imanaged to turn around and not lookdown at the 20 foot drop where Mikewas standing, giving me play-by-playdirections on where to place myhands/feet/butt.

Once over the lip, I saw where Mikewas standing and this caused me topanic because I saw no feasible way toget there. Silly me, I wasn�t looking in

Top: Gary Johnson inspecting a collection ofstalagmites in Copperhead Cave. Left: GaryJohnson and Pam Rader resting in a small,waterway passage in Copperhead Cave.(Photos by Jeff Page.)

KCAG/BMGCaving Weekend

COPPERHEADCAVEtrip report by Pam Raderphotos by Michael McKinney and Jeff Page

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the right direction. I should have beenlooking to my left, not down. Therewas a vertical chimney just waiting forme with conveniently placed chertstepping stones and hand holds toguide me to a crevice about 8 feetabove Mike. He had climbed down tothe stream below to help the rest of usnavigate safely and to take a fewpictures.

I have never been in a cave wherepieces of rock just stuck out of thewall the way they do in this cave. Iturned away from where Mike was totake a look down this passage I wasstanding in. It was body width,smooth, without mud on the floor.Farther back in this passage is a turn tothe left with a small flowstone dam andslightly narrow spot you have to turnon your side to crawl through. Lookingmore closely at the pool, we spottedthe first of many salamanders that wewould encounter in this cave. This onewas yellow with black spots�a long-tailed salamander.

The challenge in this cave is to seehow long you can stay dry. As I mademy way farther back into the cave, Iencountered flowstone that rantogether like ice cream scoops melting

on the floor, but around the nextcorner, the passage was deeply rippledfrom large volumes of water rushingalong the floor. The next obstacle wasflowstone that we had to actually slidedown. Boy was that formation going tobe a bear to get back up. There werevery few hand or foot holds near thebottom, so I knew getting started backup would be difficult.

In many of the passages, you haveto straddle the water to keep your feetdry. At other times, you have to

chimney above the water. There is a lotof �walking� passage and then youstoop under large draperies to continueback farther. Many of these stoopsinvolve what I describe as crabcrawling, where you are on your handsand boot tips making your way underdraperies and over water. You couldeasily hand-and-knee crawl, but thechallenge was to stay out of the wateras much as possible. At one pointduring these crawls, someone spottedsalamander larva in one of the many

Above left: Pam Rader slips between the flowstone walls of Copperhead Cave. Above: Pam Raderducks beneath a large flowstone outcropping in Copperhead Cave (photo by Michael McKinney).

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pools along the passage, so it becameeven more important to stay out of thewater.

As we made our way further intothe cave, there were many side spotsthat had very nice formations, but itwas evident that many people had beenback there and had dirtied up theformations. One formation near theback of the cave was a white flowstonewith a very clear muddied trail leading

up the middle of it. We elected to notexplore up that trail but did think thatcleaning the formations that had beendirtied would be a good project.

We proceeded on toward the back,taking different paths from time totime. Mike and I would stay in thestream passage, while Jeff Page andGary Johnson would climb up and takethe �high� road. We eventually reacheda spot where you have to climb up andchimney to avoid walking on a veryclean rust-colored flowstone floor. Itreminded me of a water park slide.Shimmying up was going to be a chal-lenge since my legs were shorter than

my other caving buddies, especiallyMike�s. He always makes things look soeasy. First I had to figure out how toclimb up to where they were standing.My legs just don�t stretch as far as theboys� legs do. It was a challenge, but upI went. At the top, Mike had continuedfarther back, but it involved crawlingcarefully over many small flowstonedams, not to mention it was narrowand there was a vertical slot right downthe middle, like a small canyon, inwhich water was trickling. It was single-file crawling only now. Farther back,Mike said it became tighter. We all tookturns crawling back to see, but afterchecking the time, we decided to notgo back any farther and began ourjourney out.

Returning to the entrance waspretty uneventful until we got back tothe big flowstone that reminded me ofa large mushroom. Mike made it uplike a spider on the wall, but my adven-ture up the mushroom was not aspretty. Initially, I tried climbing up on

Top left: A beautiful column is backed by flowstone walls in Copperhead Cave (photo by Jeff Page).Top right: These small strips of bacon line a wall in Copperhead Cave (photo by Michael McKinney).Above left: Flowstone is everywhere in Copperhead Cave (photo by Jeff Page). Above: A sala-mander larva in a shallow pool in Copperhead Cave (photo by Michael McKinney).

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my own, but I was unable to get anykind of grip�even with my 3rd grip-ping device (my butt). It has beenknown to save me on more than oneoccasion. I finally had to resort tohaving the guys give me a boost. It wasfar from graceful, but the job wasaccomplished.

Back at the entrance, we made thereverse climb up and out. My third gripcame into play as I wedged it againstthe wall as I made my way up to the lipat the entrance. I think climbing outwas easier (well, of course, I had beenhere before). During the climb out, anobject was dropped to the streambelow. I think it was a cave pack ormaybe it was a camera case, either wayit was retrieved.

This cave was great. It had manydifferent types of passages, flowstone,high water passages, and even somemuddy passages. The entrance was achallenge for me, but I would gladly

visit this cave again. Hopefully I willget the opportunity.

The trip out of the valley wasanother experience. Slightly below thecreek there were several paths tochoose from that started at the road.We chose the path that led to the topof a waterfall. Water from Copperheadcombined with another stream on aflat creekbed to form the waterfall�ssource. At this time of year, the flowwas barely a trickle. The falls had to benearly 50 feet high. With the waterflowing so slowly, ferns and moss grewwhere the water came into contact withthe rock wall. It was very pretty.

The drive out was also a new expe-rience for me. As we headed up thehill, we were suddenly stopped by aBIG hole that stretched completelyacross the road. Did the road washout? Did the Arkansas moles go crazy?No, next to the road was a dumptruck, a backhoe, and several men inforest ranger uniforms. Yes, you

guessed it. They were repairing adrainage culvert. They apologized forthe delay. They had seen our vehiclesbut had hoped to be done by the timewe were ready to leave. It was prettyclose. They were able to fill in themiddle of the road enough for our4WD vehicles to drive over it. Thedelay was only 15-20 minutes and wewere back on the road again.

Overall my trip to Arkansas wasabsolutely wonderful. I learned howmany layers of clothes I can wear tokeep warm and still move. I learnedhow out of shape I really am. Andhow deep my passion for cavingreally is.

Top: A cave salamander in Copperhead Cave (photo by Michael McKinney). Above right: A grottosalamander in Copperhead Cave (photo by Jeff Page). Above left: Long-tailed salamanders arenumerous in Copperhead Cave (photo by Michael McKinney). Above: Pam Rader watches with apark worker as the road from Copperhead Cave is repaired (photo by Michael McKinney). Right:Pam Rader standing at the top of Triple Falls (photo by Michael McKinney).

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Skull Pit contains about 130 feetof spectacular vertical passage. Itsits in a steep mountainside, just

off the road from Kyles Landing, andoverlooks a breathtaking bluff andArkansas vista.

Locating the opening has provedtricky in the past, especially on theoccasions when I thought I would walkstraight to it. This time I made surewe�d find it...I brought Pam! Pam hasan excellent memory for locations, andshe knew EXACTLY where to go.

The pit, while not very wide across,is highly decorated and interesting. Atthe bottom is a small area that usuallyhas water drizzling into it, and a smallpool, which was dry this time. Onprevious yo-yo trips in Skull Pit, asmall opening was noticed down in thelower corner of the cave...and it lookedlike it could go....

On this trip I finally decided that Iwould take off my vertical gear andslip into the small hole. I found myselfin a small room, fairly tall. There werebones of some unfortunate animalsetting on a shelf, as if on display. Oneend of the room narrows down to asmall crack, which I could not pass. Onthe other side of this room, right nextto the hole that allowed me entry, wasa short, steep, smooth and slick up-slope thru a hole...the darkness beck-oned.

I found a way to brace myself wellenough to slip my way up thru this

opening. Ahead of me I could see bootprints in the thin coating that coveredthe slippery rock. There were small batbones everywhere. This chamber washighly decorated, with tall, ornatecolumns and draperies. In the cornerwas an opening into a beautiful white-coated area with small stalagmites andformations, an area which is normally apool, but which was now dry. I onlylooked, being very careful not to messup this beautiful area.

I carefully made my way out of thisbeautiful chamber, being careful ofeverywhere I placed my feet. I metback up with Jeff Page, who waswaiting for me just the other side ofthe small hole that led into this littlevisited area, and we ascended back upto the surface.

A trip to

SKULL PITtrip report by Michael McKinneyphoto by Pam Rader

Above: Michael McKinny relaxes after makingthe long ascent at Skull Pit (photo by PamRader).

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Indian Creek is one of the besthiking destinations near the upperBuffalo River. It�s also somewhat

dangerous. Reportedly more hikers getinjured here than any other place inBuffalo National River. During therecent caving weekend with BMG, Iconvinced a few of the KCAGmembers to stick around a couplemore days and do some hiking andcaving. High on my list of prioritieswas Indian Creek. I�d read about it inTim Ernst�s Buffalo River Hiking Trailsbook, and he made it sound like anabsolute must see. Then MichaelSchreiber and Michael Bayona ofBMG they talked about the trail inglowing terms. So I knew I had to dothis hike. They also said there weresome caves along the trail.

We tried to squeeze in Indian Creekin the afternoon. In the morning, JeffPage and Michael McKinney droppedSkull Pit. After lunch, we headed forIndian Creek. We had camped at KylesLanding, which put us at the best trail-head for access to Indian Creek. Iknew we�d be somewhat pressed fortime. It would get dark around 5pmand we definitely didn�t want to be upboulder-strewn Indian Creek afterdark, so we set a turnaround time of3:45pm and hit the trail. I�m afraid Iset too fast a pace for Pam Rader. Ididn�t do it on purpose; it just kepthappening. Eventually, she decided tohead back to camp. Sorry, Pam. But inretrospect, it�s probably a good thing I

trip report by Gary Johnsonphotos by Michael McKinneyand Gary Johnson

A hiking trip to

Indian Creek

Left: The lower canyon of Indian Creek ends atthis huge bluff, which is pockmarked by sheltercaves (photo by Michael McKinney).

was setting a fast pace or we likelywouldn�t have reached the end of thelower canyon.

Indian Creek is a unique area.There are many steep valleys inArkansas, but this one redefines whatyou mean by steep. At first, the sidesare relatively modest, maybe 20 or 30feet high. But the farther up the valleyyou go, the higher the ridges becomeon both sides. By the time you reachthe end of the lower canyon, the wallsrise 200 feet straight up on both sides.Topo maps indicate total differentialsof nearly 500 feet from the creek bedto the tops of the nearby ridges.

For most of the route up IndianCreek, we hiked along the creek bed orjust next to it. At times the trail can bedifficult to follow, especially when itmerges with the creek bed and thensuddenly departs. If you�re notwatching carefully, you can miss whenthe trail leaves the creek bed, so it�sgood to hike with two or three otherpeople so the odds are increased thatat least one person will find the trail.In this respect, Jeff Page and MichaelMcKinney did a good job of findingthe trail, although Michael didn�t mindmaking his own trail by plungingstraight up the creekbed, snappingphotos furiously as he went.

Indian Creek is likely best appreci-ated in the spring, when the waterfallsare running. We could see severalplaces where running water had stainedthe bluffs. At one place in particular,we noted at least five places on a largeexposed bluff where water had flowed,with at least 70 foot drops to the creek.This area would be really something tosee after a hard rain.

THIS PAGE. Top left: Gary Johnson points outthe route to Indian Creek. Above left: Thehiking group sets off for Indian Creek. Above:Flowers and fruit-bearning shrubs provide asplash of color in Indian Creek. Left: Acrossfrom Kyles Landing, bluffs rise above theBuffalo River. (Photos by Michael McKinney).

NEXT PAGE. Top left: Huge breakdown blocksnearly block the path up Indian Creek. Forscale, look for Jeff Page in the upper rightcorner (photo by Michael McKinney). Lowerleft: Water pools in small depressions in thehollow�s rock floor (photo by MichaelMcKinney). Above right: Water trickles througha cleft between boulders (photo by MichaelMcKinney). Lower right: Miichael McKinneystands beside a small pit in the floor of IndianCreek (photo by Gary Johnson).

The trail was fairly level in thelower canyon. This is not a difficultsection of trail. You must scramble upsome rock ledges (more dry waterfalls)and past massive breakdown blocks,the size of entire houses. But the goingis relatively undemanding as you followthe creek. At one point, I walked into asmall shelter formed by a large boulderand then squeezed up through a hole.

Indian Creek Hollow is filled withcave leads. If you tried pursuing themall, it would take several days. All theleads we saw were relatively small, butthey are clues that the vicinity likelyharbors some cave passages. As youhike up the hollow, the lower canyoneventually reaches a dead end. You cancontinue but only by scaling the bluffs.On the left is Arkansas Cave, which isused by both Grey bats and Indianabats, so it�s closed year round. (Iexpected to find a sign that prohibitedentrance to the cave, but I didn�t seeone. However, I had talked to ChuckBitting of the National Park Servicebefore we left on the trip, and he

confirmed that the cave was closed toall visitation.)

Hikers used to walk throughArkansas Cave. It�s apparently a thrutrip. Exactly how far, I don�t know. Iclimbed up the bluff across from thecave (at this point the creek bed is onlyabout 20 feet across and the bluffs risevertically on both sides), giving me abetter vantage point for looking intothe cave. But I didn�t see a sign. Jefftried to get a little closer to theentrance by scaling the bluff. He foundan old trail, but it had eroded badlyand eventually he decided the trail was

Top left: This small tunnel (about four feet high)performates a bluff above Indian Creek(photo by Gary Johnson). Left: The lowervalley of Indian Creek comes to an abruptend when the hollow�s walls finally meet(photo by Gary Johnson). Top right: Jeff Pagetests the ropes that have been rigged up thebluff at Indian Creek (photo by MichaelMcKinney). Above right: This shelter cave sitshigh above Indian Creek (photo by GaryJohnson).

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too dangerous and gave up.Indian Creek�s lower canyon comes

to an abrupt end when the opposingbluffs get so close that they meet. Inthe wet season, there is likely animpressive cascade of water into thecanyon at this point. A stream is alsosupposed to flow from the mouth ofArkansas Cave, but we didn�t see astream. However, the bluff face belowthe cave mouth (the cave is locatedabout 30 feet up the bluff) is vibrantgreen from moss and ferns.

At this point, we were very close toour turnaound point. It was 3:30pm,but when I looked up I knew Icouldn�t turn around just yet. The rightside bluff was carved out underneath.A huge overhang at least 200 feet upthe bluff marked a shelter cave andpossibly more. I decided to investigate.The trail up the right bluff is extremelysteep. However, a collection of ropeshave been left behind. Typically I�mvery leery of using ropes that havebeen left in place. But these weren�tcheap hemp ropes. They were sportropes that were still in fair shape. Igave each rope a good inspectionbefore putting my weight on it. Theropes were well positioned. Whoeverhad placed the ropes knew what theywere doing.

I climbed all the way up to the bluffoverhang. It was indeed just an over-hang, not really even a shelter cave,although at sometime in the distantpast it had probably been part of acave (as weathered remnants of forma-tions indicated on the ceiling). To theright, I saw a promising cavity andwent to investigate, following a narrowlip along the bluff. The cavity wentback 70-80 feet and then seemed toterminate. I didn�t check it outcompletely. I wasn�t packing a light andit was hard to see anything as I peeredinto the shadows, so I might havemissed something. Across the way wassomething very cool�a small tunnelpierced the bluff. The tunnel was onlyabout 4 to 5 feet high, so I had tobend over to get through the tunnel.

Halfway through the tunnel, I noticeda small perpendicular passage. This washands and knees crawling. It took meto the edge of the bluff for a stunningvista over the canyon below.

I could see Jeff and Michael at thebottom of the canyon. They hadn�tfollowed me up the bluff, so I decidedI�d better wrap it up and head backdown. First, though, I wanted to get apeek at the Eye of the Needle. Fromthe creekbed, we had seen it as weneared the end of the lower canyon.Now, I wanted a closer look at itbefore I turned around. I walkedthrough the tunnel and followed thetrail for 100 yards or so, but I didn�t

see the Eye of the Needle (which is alarge hole, about 60 feet across, in thebluff). I knew it must be nearby, but wewere starting to lose light. So I climbedback down the bluff and joined Jeffand Michael for the hike back to camp.I was a few minutes tardy for our turn-around time of 3:45pm. But we madeexcellent time on the return trip andended up with at least half an hour tospare before dark.

This is a great trail. It gets myhighest recommendation.

Above: The path becomes rougher as younear the end of the lower valley at IndianCreek (photo by Michael McKinney).

Arkansas Cave sitsover 30 feet abovethe floor of IndianCreek. Entry to thiscave is strictlyforbidden in order toproject endangeredbat populations(photo by MichaelMcKinney).