I Can’t Believe It Took Me 20+ Years to Cave in Indiana!

26 minutes ago

3 min read

Come along with me as I venture a little ways north into Indiana for a long weekend of caving, adventure, swimming, and good times at the annual Cave Capers event!

Would you believe that after more than 20 years of caving, I had never actually caved in Indiana before?! Well, that was about to change!

This trip was extra special because it was my first-ever Indiana caving adventure. Unfortunately, Jason wasn't able to make this trip with me, so this time it was just me heading north on my own. I headed up a day early and stayed with my new Indiana friend Doug, along with my Tennessee friends Kelly and Dave.

Thursday morning, we kicked things off with a stop at a cute little diner in Marengo, Indiana, for breakfast before heading out to tackle a classic 103-foot Indiana pit. After checking out the pit, we headed over to another caver's property for what turned out to be one of the best parts of the day, swimming!

When they said "pond," I had a very different picture in my head. 😂 Let's just say…this was NOT the little pond I was imagining! It was absolutely beautiful and the perfect way to cool off in the Indiana heat.

From there, we headed north to Mitchell, Indiana, where the annual Cave Capers event was taking place, hosted by the Central Indiana Grotto.

For the next two days, I got to cave with my friend Jeffrey Gosnell, aka Cave Goose, who already had some great trips planned. It didn't take much convincing for me to jump right in!

🦇 Friday - Indiana Karst Conservancy Cave

Friday's trip took us to a nearby cave owned by the Indiana Karst Conservancy. The cave is approximately 3,000 feet long, but getting inside required a little work.

We had to climb a metal extension ladder to reach a ledge near the entrance. From there, it was a short passage to another pit and then down into the cave.

Once underground, we explored this beautiful cave all the way to the low-air passage. Our group decided not to tackle the low air space that day, although some cavers did make a trip through the waterfall crawl on their way back out!

After the cave trip, we headed back to camp for an evening of festivities, hanging out with fellow cavers and listening to some awesome music from the well-known caver band Muchos Garcias.

🧗‍♀️ Saturday — Two Pits & A Few Thousand Feet of Cave

Saturday morning, we were back at it!

This time, we traveled about an hour to another vertical cave featuring a 70-foot entrance pit, followed by another pit of around 30 feet, and several thousand feet of cave to explore.

I happened to be the first one down, so Jeffrey put me to work! I got to rig the traverse line and the second pit before everyone made their way down.

Once we were all underground, we split into several smaller groups and explored different sections of the cave. We crawled through some upper-level passages and eventually came across a really beautiful decorated room.

After another great day underground, we headed back to camp for one final evening of Cave Capers festivities, and, of course, more music from Muchos Garcias!

This trip was an absolute blast, and I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to Indiana caving. After more than two decades of exploring caves, I finally checked Indiana off the list, and I definitely hope it won't be my last time!

Thanks for coming along on my first Indiana caving adventure. 🦇❤️

If you enjoyed the adventure, be sure to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and leave me a comment telling me where I should go caving next!

⏳ TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Welcome to Indiana! 🦇

00:33 — My First Time Caving in Indiana

12:55 — Time for some Swimming!

13:30 — Setting up Camp at Cave Capers

15:12 — Breakfast and Headed Off to My Second Indiana Cave

16:17 — Second Cave of the Weekend

17:02 —Climbing a Sketchy Ladder

12:30 — Cave Capers & Central Indiana Grotto

21:30 — Exploring the Second Cave