Deep Fault Drilling Project Jan 2011

I am loosely involved in an international collaboration of geologists drilling through the Alpine Fault at Gaunt Creek near Whataroa. I spent a couple days visiting the site and doing some related fieldwork up some nearby creeks. Two holes were drilled up to 150m depth through the fault to extract near-continuous rock core through the fault and to install instruments in the hole to listen and record earthquakes and other ground deformation.

On site everyone was working hard and it was easy to feel like an impostor as I was taking photos and not being of much help. It was fascinating to see the whole thing in progress though. There were many setbacks, but in the end I think everyone was satisfied with the results of this first phase of the DFDP and it is clear a lot of good science will come out of it. It was exciting to see a big science project in action.


Geologists drooling over the core from the center of the fault



Alpine Fault gouge sculptures


Gaunt Creek Drill Site 2

Honeycomb Jan 30

Honeycomb Cave is one of the longest caves in New Zealand with about 14km of mapped passage. Because of the internationally significant collections of sub-fossils that have accumulated below some of the pit entrances, it is one of the most important caves in the country in terms of conservation and access is relegated by a permit system. Formations are also abundant. It is a maze of several levels of interconnected passages that document a long history of underground streams. The passages are enormous and there are well over 30 entrances to the system- Honeycomb is an apt name for the cave. The comparisons to Megamania Cave are obvious.

The other people on my permit were unable to go at the last minute. Since I did not know when another opportunity would come up, I decided to go alone and have a cruisy photo and conservation trip rather than the longer, more extensive trip I would have had. I walked along the tour trail, and along side passages to some of the other entrances, generally getting a feel for the cave and its geology. The Honeyflow Stream was particularly interesting- the stream has cut down to the granite basement underneath the limestone so no further cave development can occur other than collapse.



I had a pretty miraculous incident of note. I set my camera and pack down for just a moment. Their position was unstable and I heard a terrifying crash as my camera and pack tumbled 25m down a slope towards the stream. My pack splashed down in the shallow stream. I removed it instantly, expecting the worst. Miraculously, almost everything was in a dry bag and the only real casualty was some postcards. My camera had also rolled and bounced 25m in its case to land less than a meter above the stream. To my utter disbelief, the camera was completely fine other than a slightly muddy case. I sat for a moment to contemplate my luck and the disaster that could have unfolded.


Moa



The trip was cut short by an unpleasant misunderstanding, but I hope to get back again for a more thorough trip in this amazing cave.

Megamania Expedition Jan 23-29

Megamania is a cave I have always wanted to visit since I heard vague mentions of it. It is the 4th longest cave in NZ (over 15km of mapped passage), but next to impossible to find a map or accounts of trips there. So I jumped at the chance to be a part of a well-organized expedition to this remote cave in Kahurangi National Park. It would be a joint expedition between Nelson and Wellington cavers so lots of familiar faces, and a few new ones.

I had my pack flown in in the helicopter and walked/ran in on the Heaphy track with a light daypack. It was true luxury and I made it to the Heaphy Hut in 2.5hrs. I continued on, taking a detour to look for Fields Cave. To my great surprise I found it instantly. It was an impressive little cave. The front half is an enormous trunk passage with several skylight entrances at intervals. The rest of the cave carries on past Hanging Rock Corner (above) where giant chockstones are wedged dramatically and light filters down between. Also impressive were the giant roots that snaked their ways across the passage floors.





As I was the last to arrive at camp, I found it already well set up. It seemed like I was the only one who did not have a tent fly. I found a small, moderately-flat spot between ferns and juvenile rimus, just barely big enough for my tent, but good enough to be my home for the week. The warm, tanin-stained river was a stone's throw away. Evening baths in the river were a delight despite the 4ft eels that would occasionally swim by. The warm water, lush rainforest and humid temperatures reminded me a great deal of Borneo to my satisfaction. Unfortunately the mosquitoes and sandflies quickly found our camp and patrolled in shifts. There was usually a nightly massacre of sandflies and mosquitoes in my tent before I could go to sleep.


Camp kitchen


The longest I have lived in one place in the last 2 months.

The first day of the expedition a keen friend and I did some vicious bush-bashing in an area that had never been explored before. Never had I seen kie kie and supplejack in so potent a combination. It took us the whole day to travel about 2 kilometers. While we did not find the extensive cave we hoped to find, we found some amazing karst and lots of potential for a yet undiscovered system. We explored about 50 sinkholes and dropped about a half dozen pit entrances (tomos), finding them all previously unexplored. Since we had a GPS, we were able to mark the locations of where we looked to save other cavers the trouble. We did not travel nearly as far as we planned to, but this just goes to show that there is still a huge cave out there somewhere, and that only persistence will find it.

The second day of the expedition Justin and I planned to do a full traverse of the backbone passages of Megamania. After a detour to look at the impressive main entrance, we dropped down Shortcut Tomo and had a look at the amazing anthodite formations in a hidden grotto near the entrance. We then carried on past Orgasmia to the spacious dimensions of Megablast. We had some navigational trouble finding our way through the Passage of Passing Waters, but eventually got on the right track and found the Great Wall. We popped out the Big Chicken entrance for a snack before heading on. We briefly joined another group to search for the Treadmill, a remarkable sandy chute that connects the lower level (which we were in) to the upper level (which we could see above). I managed to find it with the help of another group looking for it from the top. Justin and I continued on through the wonderfully pleasant Gold Rush Passage, particularly admiring a dramatic but easy traverse over a 25m deep hole in the floor. We had a quick look at the Gold Rush entrance before ascending up the rope at the Seagull Airways entrance. Despite a great full day of caving, we still made it back to camp at a comfortable time.






Megablast


Trying to find the Treadmill




Gold Rush Passage


Cave pearls


Seagull Airways

Day 3 Justin, Richard and I did some horrible bush-bashing in search of a shaft we found the previous day. At the worst of it, it took us about a half hour to go 40m! We dropped the muddy and loose 25m shaft to find a rock blocking passage beyond. Justin and I rigged a pully, were able to move the rock, and Justin bravely slid through the mud in his yellow PVC cave suit. It sumped convincingly in 5m- oh well. Grot Pot we less than enthusiastically named it. We then used my GPS and compass to try to locate Gold Rush entrance for the first time ever. This could have taken all day, perhaps without success, but we found it remarkably easy- it was the first place I looked. We got a GPS coordinate, rigged the drop, and were the first people to ever enter the cave from this entrance (the entrance has never been found from the surface). It was a particularly beautiful abseil. We then traveled through the cave and exited via Big Chicken. Despite a "trail," it seems like every time back to camp we take a slightly different route.

Day 4 a group of four of us decided to survey Minimania Cave, a resurgence system on the Gunner River. This involved putting all of our gear in clothes in a waterproof barrel, swimming into the entrance, then suiting up to begin the survey. It is an usual cave as every passage eventually is filled up with sediment or collapse and progress is made only by traversing chance interconnecting passages. We surveyed about 150m and spent a bit of time digging at a drafting pile of rather large rocks. Hypothermia no longer an issue, most wore their muddy cave clothes out of the cave for a good clean. I spent some time bouldering on the overhang above the cave until I saw a 1.5m eel heading for me and decided I had enough. On my stroll back to camp I saw a pair of the extremely rare blue ducks casually patrolling the river, which were a welcome sight.


Minimania


Passageway to the rest of the cave




Blue ducks (whio)

The last full day Justin and I had planned to go in Big Chicken entrance. We found a good trail and got to talking. Eventually we found ourselves on a part of the trail very unfamiliar. I turned on my GPS...we had overshot Big Chicken and were now a mere 30m from the Crimson & Clover entrance! We consulted our cave map and decided that it would ultimately put us closer to where we wanted to go. About 100m of very pleasant cave brought us to where the connecting passage should have been. We searched for over an hour, exhausting every possibility before deciding the map was just plain wrong (it was not the first time). We then went to check out "P33" on the map- worst case scenario we should be able to get down. As luck would have it one of the other groups just happened to be walking through Charming Creek as I looked out on it from above. It was certainly a possibility and looked to be less than a P33. We strolled down the Busting Blues passage to its end, only then realizing what we thought was a connecting passage was actually a lower level. We went back to P33, easily rigged a 8m drop, pulled the rope down after us, and finally were back on track heading up Charming Creek to its entrance.

After a snack we headed across country, finding the seldom-visited Beyond Words entrance (yet to be connected to Megamania) with no trouble at all. Justin and I explored the mazy breakdown upper levels, eventually sorting out where we were on the poor survey. We managed to find the enormous 20m formation chambers, then after a few other detours had lunch by glowworm light next to the stream. We rigged a 20m pitch to drop into the streamway and climbed and traversed our way past the waterfalls and pools. This was extremely pleasant caving- much different from the dry caving in Megamania. We followed the stream a long way (~250m) to where it was about to sump. I found a spiraling mud chute that put us into 400m or so of very impressive upper level passage. It became clear this cave has a lot more to offer! We both got a thorough soaking climbing back up our rope. We rushed back to the Charming Creek entrance in 5 minutes. A 2 minute bush bash convinced us to get to Big Chicken through the cave and not overland. We did not even wear knee pads or suits and made it from Charming Creek to Big Chicken in a mere 32 minutes. We went from Big Chicken to the camp in less than an hour to make it back to camp 15 minutes before our call-out time. A solid, but exhausting, day.


At the top of the 20m pitch into the streamway



The week passed quickly. Overall the weather was terrific. Usually I would take at least one rest day but I managed to have full days every day. Reluctantly I packed and headed back down the river to the Heaphy in intermittent cloud bursts. I only had a light daypack and so did not even mind the rain. Stripping down to boxers, I made good time hiking/running out the Heaphy, only to wait several hours for the helicopter to arrive with the rest of the cavers and all of our gear.


About to walk back out to the Heaphy

Willow Creek Dec 13

We set off as early as we could. It would be a long day with potentially over six hours of canyoning, several hours of car shuttling, and a long drove back towards southern California. The canyon began at an elevation of 2600ft. The car at the bottom was at -220ft.

The beginning of the hike was very reminiscent of the start of Darwin Falls canyon, with springs and thickets between segments of dry wash. Steadily the canyon walls built momentum, the alluvium displaced by bedrock floors and the small creek became a permanent fixture. There were over 20 waterfalls in this canyon, a good portion of them enjoyable downclimbs, the rest rappels.





This canyon delivered what Darwin Falls only hinted at. Deep, narrow, dark, committing. All up, we did about 8 rappels to 170ft and numerous downclimbs. Each waterfall was unique and the character of the canyon changed around each bend. In the darker corners of the canyon I felt a long way away from anywhere. At two points, back-to-back rappels gave a good feeling of adventure as the canyon dropped away out of sight below. At one turn, looking out gave fantastic views of Telescope Peak on the distant skyline. Many of the falls had pools at their bases, but with care we were able to stay more or less dry. We dropped the last waterfall, then followed footprints down the fading slot canyon into the bright expanse of the alluvial fan. We made good time, reaching the car a touch over four hours from when we started.




Photo by Ryan









On the drive back we spotted a couple curious (hungry?) coyotes. We retrieved Ryan's car and parted at sunset. Despite a brutal car shuttle, the canyon was amazing and well worth the effort. Thanks to Ryan for a great few days of adventures.

Death Valley Dec 11-12

We crossed Lippencott Pass and were almost immediately presented with a view of the Racetrack, the dry lake bed famous for its mysterious moving rocks and their odd trails racing across the mud-cracked desert playa in this barren and quiet valley. Once dark, we tossed a light-up frisbee on the perfectly flat playa, the light from the frisbee reflecting off the bright playa surface in otherworldly fashion. If the frisbee was designed for anything, it was for just this- it was very memorable. It was a cold, cold night.

In the morning we photographed the lake and surroundings, and climbed the Grandstand, the ship-like rock outcrop protruding from the playa. We tried to make the best of this remote place despite poor lighting conditions for photographs.


Note tiny person in front of the Grandstand





We drove on to Teakettle Junction, where curiosity and lack of a plan detoured us up the Hidden Valley Road. We easily found several worthwhile distractions, including exploring the extensive and well-preserved Lost Burro Mine. We climbed the hill above the mines and were rewarded with panoramic views of Hidden Valley, the Racetrack, the Inyos, and Saline Valley in the distance. Snow filled the shadows.










View of the Racetrack. Saline Valley in the distance.



With a few other stops, we arrived at the paved highway in Death Valley proper. About to part ways, Ryan made me realize that I had somehow mixed up my days and did not need to be back until late the next day. I still do not know where this extra day came from, but I happily took it, and we made plans to go canyoning the following day. We drove south, catching a very blue post-sunset at Badwater (wet from the recent rains), leaving a car at the bottom of the canyon, then driving for well over an hour to the top of the canyon where we set up camp for the night. Photos of me by Ryan.


Badwater, lowest place on North America