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Big Brush Creek Cave one of the largest cave in the US. It is located in the Uintah Mountains at 40° 41.910'N 109° 35.128'W at 9500'. I searched for the location of the area for many hours with no luck. Finally, I convinced a forest service ranger to give me the location. We again jumped in the truck drove up the steep snowy mountain road until we reached our trailhead. After about 1 mile of hiking, we came up to an enourmous entrance. Big Brush Creek flows entirely into the cave during the spring run off each year. It fills millions of gallons of runoff each spring. The entrance is abnormally large for a cave. The terra consists mainly of limestone, which erodes easily under fluvial stress. After thousands of years, it has carved this cave into the surreal form in which it now exists. The cave is listed as the 21st deepest cave in the US. For comparison, the famed Lechuguilla is rated as the 4th deepest, and Carlsbad Caverns at 15th. A partial map exists of the cave.
At the front of the cave we found stalagtites and a large stalagmite of ice, making the cave partially an ice cave. In the large formation, a very steady drip of water formed a pool. The water was extremely cold, and the absolute most delicious water I have ever drank.
We hiked deeper into the cave and soon found ourselves in another world. Small and large formation littered the floor. The area seemed very alien.
I decided to start eating one of these. As you can see, I immediatly became stoned from licking it.
The ceiling took on an amazing form with millions of detailed and delicate ice structures. Under the freezing temperatures and high humidity, these single ice crystals can grow over an inch long.
After a bit more hiking, our adventure was put to an end. The cave was blocked with logs that have flowed in through the runoff. People in the past have sawed their way through all this and continued the journey. Perhaps another day, we too shall do the same.
On the way home, I chased a rabit with the truck for about a quarter mile and finally i ran over it. Had to pull part of it out of my chains.
Following taken from http://www.speleogenesis.info/archiv...pe=publication
Brush Creek drains about 65 km2 of high-altitude metamorphic rock, mainly quartzites, and today has a peak discharge of about 30 m3/sec. Much of the water is now tapped for irrigation, but there is evidence for larger flows in the past. Quartzite boulders up to 2 m in diameter have been carried into the cave (Fig. 16). There is still enough water today to fill the entire cave during high flow. The cave is fairly deep by American standards, extending to more than 250 m below the land surface. Its spring lies 650 m below the entrance. To reach the spring, the cave water must rise along fractures in an overlying sandstone formation, which presents a considerable impediment to floodwaters. Also, many constrictions in the cave have formed by sediment and rafted logs that have accumulated in large piles.
The earliest cave development followed the contact with the underlying dolomitic Deseret Formation, which dips about 15 degrees to the south, but most floodwater dissolution has been upward into the Humbug. Extensive spongework and 3-dimensional mazes have been dissolved in the Humbug (Fig. 17). Spongework and maze development is most prominent in the upstream part of the cave. A long, deep section not shown on the map contains unpleasant concentrations of carbon dioxide from organic decomposition. It is mainly a unitary passage with few of the floodwater features described above.
At the front of the cave we found stalagtites and a large stalagmite of ice, making the cave partially an ice cave. In the large formation, a very steady drip of water formed a pool. The water was extremely cold, and the absolute most delicious water I have ever drank.
We hiked deeper into the cave and soon found ourselves in another world. Small and large formation littered the floor. The area seemed very alien.
I decided to start eating one of these. As you can see, I immediatly became stoned from licking it.
The ceiling took on an amazing form with millions of detailed and delicate ice structures. Under the freezing temperatures and high humidity, these single ice crystals can grow over an inch long.
After a bit more hiking, our adventure was put to an end. The cave was blocked with logs that have flowed in through the runoff. People in the past have sawed their way through all this and continued the journey. Perhaps another day, we too shall do the same.
On the way home, I chased a rabit with the truck for about a quarter mile and finally i ran over it. Had to pull part of it out of my chains.
Following taken from http://www.speleogenesis.info/archiv...pe=publication
Brush Creek drains about 65 km2 of high-altitude metamorphic rock, mainly quartzites, and today has a peak discharge of about 30 m3/sec. Much of the water is now tapped for irrigation, but there is evidence for larger flows in the past. Quartzite boulders up to 2 m in diameter have been carried into the cave (Fig. 16). There is still enough water today to fill the entire cave during high flow. The cave is fairly deep by American standards, extending to more than 250 m below the land surface. Its spring lies 650 m below the entrance. To reach the spring, the cave water must rise along fractures in an overlying sandstone formation, which presents a considerable impediment to floodwaters. Also, many constrictions in the cave have formed by sediment and rafted logs that have accumulated in large piles.
The earliest cave development followed the contact with the underlying dolomitic Deseret Formation, which dips about 15 degrees to the south, but most floodwater dissolution has been upward into the Humbug. Extensive spongework and 3-dimensional mazes have been dissolved in the Humbug (Fig. 17). Spongework and maze development is most prominent in the upstream part of the cave. A long, deep section not shown on the map contains unpleasant concentrations of carbon dioxide from organic decomposition. It is mainly a unitary passage with few of the floodwater features described above.
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