Little Brush Creek Cave

[caverdaveutah]

Little Brush

Oh dear. That's not good news at all. If the Glowing Stream passage really is plugged up badly, then a whole lot of the cave just became inaccessible. From your descriptions, you have probably seen 10% of the mapped cave. I hope the flooding this spring opens it back up again.

The side passage just below the Corner Pool leads into a maze area called the Estuary. For the last 10 years or so, that maze has been badly plugged up as well. In good years, that lead (and several other left-hand side leads closer to the entrance) connects into the Mushroom Room area. In bad years, the lead by the Corner Pool just ends at logjams.

The up-going side lead is a short but fun little place called Nahaj's Folly. Did you guys climb up into that little hole in the roof? It's an awkward climb, but fun and scenic. Nahaj's Folly ends in an upstream sump (it goes underwater). The first sump was pushed (drained and passed), but the passage simply led to another sump.

If the Glowing Stream really is plugged up badly, were there any side leads in the Onyx Passage, beyond the junction with the Glowing Stream? It's very sad news for me, if most of the cave is no longer accessible. I have many fond memories of that cave, and several places I wanted to photograph, and to push and explore farther. The flooding next spring may wash the Glowing Stream open again, but then again, it might plug things up worse than ever. I guess we'll have to just wait and see what happens next spring.


caverdaveutah

[hondadrift]

Hey caverdave, sorry about the clog before the glowing stream! We were pretty bumbed out to. One could probably snake his way through but we couldnt tell for sure if it would open up enough to get turned around. 30 yards straigh after the right turn T we level off at a 15' flat squeze. At the end of it, it makes a 90 degree left hand turn and drop about three feet and make a right turn continuing the same direction as main tunnel. That bending portion is clogged wih logs and rocks. From what we could see, a small person could maneuver through it, but, once you drop in it would be nearly impossible to back yourself out again. I hope it cleans itself out this spring!

[caverdale]

Caverdaveutah's story about the gate is apocryphal - a tale that many people have made up to account for a gate that seemingly protects nothing. Normally, the pits are not accessible, which causes much confusion about the gate. Experienced cavers who know about the pits have put two and two together and came up with the story. The real story is more complex.

From the 1920s until about 1970, the entrance to Little Brush Creek Cave was hopelessly clogged with logs, a result of a large log bridge washing out above the cave. I heard several stories from older Vernal locals telling a a very large system beyond the clog. In 1960 some of us dug out a chimney on the left as you enter that led to a crawl and a 40 foot pit. One of the rooms we found was named the Mushroom Room, for growths on the mud floor (probably actually toadstools). Several passages leading off were hopelessly clogged. Then about 1970, a flood opened up the the cave for exploration. Very prominent among the explorers was a Vernal resident named Arnold Ufford. Arnold was well-known as a story teller, and most of the stories he told about the cave can only be called fantastic and incredible. I won't go into details. Ufford's stories immediately circulated in Vernal about the cave which, in turn, brought many unprepared cavers to see what was there. Concern was raised by the Forest Service about safety of some of the people, many of whom were getting into trouble.

Ufford worked part time for the Forest Service. He managed to convince the District Ranger that the right hand opening, where the gate is now, could be gated, then the main passage sealed off so people couldn't enter and kill themselves. Ufford staunchly maintained that a passage existed between the portion to be gated and the rear of the main cave. The gate was built at the cost of several thousand dollars. It didn't take long for some Forest Service people with clear minds to realize how stupid the idea was. They had seen the creek flood and knew the idea of blocking off the entrance was not feasible. Also, the supposed passage connecting the two sections never materialized. The gate was abandoned and never once locked to my knowledge. The pits weren't discovered until at least a decade after the gate project.

By the way, may I add a caution. Be very careful entering the cave after the first of April. Even if the creek isn't flowing, springs erupt in several places in the interior, and some known streams greatly increase in volume. Watch for spring thaws. I've heard the when the water starts flowing it occurs very suddenly.

Caverdale

[Mike]

Very good information Caverdale. Its good to finally get to the bottom of the reason for the gate. I'm sure glad they didn't seal off the main entrance.

Water melting into the cave is always on our mind when were very deep inside the cave. Kind of a scary thought. We'll keep that in mind to not go in after April. We have one last trip planned in March, and probably will not be going in after that until next winter.

Big Brush Creek Cave is holding my interest right now. When we went in December, the ice formations were phenomenal. I really wish there was a way to get to the cave before the snow begins to melt.

[caverdaveutah]

Sorry CaverDale

Thanks for the update CaverDale. Sorry about the apocryphal story, but that's what I was told years ago, and I was just passing it on. Thanks for taking the time to tell the real story.

caverdaveutah

[mymania]

Man those ice formations are awesome! I'd intended to hit LBCC last winter but kept putting it off. I should have gone.

[Stuart]

Ice

They are great formations, LBCC is a fun cave indeed. When we went in January it was soo cold! We will be going again this next winter if you want to join us, hopefully the water will have pushed some of the bad blockages out.

-Mojave

[mymania]

The one time I did LBCC there was still water flowing into it. So we didn't go back very far. We did BBCC though. I definitely want to go do Toothbrush sometime too.

[hondadrift]

Toothbrush is quite an intersting little cave. From the research ive done it hasnt been completely explored yet. We went down to the funnel that leads to the main cave but didnt dare venture further without equipment. Afterward I found out there is a good 30' drop through the funnel. Mike, that epson salt really does work! Thanks for the tip!

[MA-Caver]

Toothbrush is quite an intersting little cave. From the research ive done it hasnt been completely explored yet. We went down to the funnel that leads to the main cave but didnt dare venture further without equipment. Afterward I found out there is a good 30' drop through the funnel. Mike, that epson salt really does work! Thanks for the tip!

It would be a good idea to get in touch with one of the cavers on this group who knows the cave and has made several trips to it. CaverDave is one and lives near Vernal. He'd be your best bet/guide.

What good is a caving trip if you don't live to tell about it?

[offroadcmpr]

I though to bring this thread up again as I just did it today. I am very tired from it though.
I am not really sure how far back we got though. We passed a couple of places with flow stone.

We took the first right after going for a while. The left side was clogged. I think that we passed the pools that were they called the long stretch. There were two of them. One of them was too difficult without getting wet, the other one I was able to stem across it. We went a little farther and took the next right. We met two men at the junction who said that if you went to the left you went to a room called the atrium. We followed them for about 50 feet but quickly realized that to go farther would involve wading through cold water when the roof was only 3 feet high. We decided that it was not worth it so we took the right hand passage. We followed it for an hour or so. It involved lots of crawling and such. We passed one place that had flow stone. It was narrow and very tall, with lots of debris on the ground. We found a passage that went up at about a 45 degree angle and with much difficulty made our way up on our stomachs. I barely made it as my shoulders had a hard time fitting through two rocks on the way up. Soon after we got to the top we found one more area that had some very cool flow stone. But we were not able to go any farther after that because we would have need a rope. The passage dropped down about 20 feet into a very long and tall room that looked to be at least 20 feet wide. The passage kept on going but since we did not think it would be safe do down climb it that far into the cave, we turned back and came back.

But now I have a couple questions after reading this thread as I would like to figure out how far we went and where we went.
It sounds like the room that we would have needed a rope to drop into was the H-room. But it sounds like the only way to that is through the glowing stream, and we did not do a 20 foot crawl through water. Was that the left passage that the two men went? Did they call the H-room the atrium? But then that brings us back to what was the big room we saw but needed a rope to get down into, is it a completely different room, or is it the same room just from a different angle?
I think that the area where we stopped right by the drop is onyx canyon, but I may be wrong. Does the end of onyx canyon end with a 20 foot drop?
I do have some pictures if that would help. I will probably up load them tomorrow if there is a need for them.

[MA-Caver]

I do have some pictures if that would help. I will probably up load them tomorrow if there is a need for them.

Finding formations in LBCC is indeed rare, due to the extreme hydrodynamic nature of the cave. Yes pictures ... definitely pictures.

[offroadcmpr]

Here are a couple pictures of the flow stone from what I think was the onyx room right before the drop off.



This is the one looking from the area with the flow stone down into the room that we would have needed a rope for. The flowstone wall is directly on our right.


This one is some flow stone that we found before we got to the other stuff. It was a very distinct orange color and was kinda translucent.


Those are the best ones that I have. some of the other ones didn't turn out well because of lighting and the other guy I went with has some pictures too, but I have not yet had the chance to get them from him.

[MA-Caver]

Very nice indeed...
Here's a tip on photography... get yourself a small slave/flash unit (i.e. Quantaray ME-1) and have someone hold it off to one side of the camera so that the flash will hit the sensor but the flash from the slave illuminates part of the wall opposite of what you're photographing, particularly a narrow stream passage. This will cause the slave's light to bounce off the wall and provide more light where it's needed. If you're using a digital camera with a view screen then you can experiment in mines or other darkened rooms and play around a bit to get the idea of what to do. Oh and turn off your head lamps while shooting so that the camera's sensors know to slow down the shutter and allow more light in. A tripod helps as well.

[offroadcmpr]

Thanks for the tips. I just have a cheap point and shoot, so I am limited on what kind of pictures I can take. But I would like to take a tripod sometime and try some painting. We tried it a little bit, but because the camera did not have a long exposure option we could only get the lens open for a second or so.

What ISO do you usually have it on? I can adjust that more easily than the exposure time. I know that using a higher ISO will make the picture more grainy, but it is all a trade off, especially when you don't have a tripod.