The winter is a great time to get out into the forests of New England to locate those treasures well hidden in The Northeast. With all the foliage off the trees, it makes it much easier to survey the landscape. As this winter is coming to an end, I felt the itch to get out to explore before the trees begin to bud.
This weekend I choose to find a cave that has been on my wish list to find for the past 3-4 years. Its located not far from me and is just outside of Boston. I found this cave mentioned in a publication called ‘Caves of Massachusetts’ that was put together by a caver in the late 60’s. What made this cave so interesting is that it appeared to be a solution cave over twenty five feet long with a varying height of 5 to 2 feet tall. Finding a solution cave this large so close to Boston seemed rather odd to me. The description of the cave also mentioned an upper chamber at the far end, a 2 foot tall secondary entrance and that Indian artifacts had been found on the cave floor. I would have tried to locate this cave long ago, but due to past experience, I expected it would not live up to the description.
Saturday afternoon I headed up to the location accompanied by Penelope. Though it was sunny outside, the temperature was a chilly 38 degrees. The land the cave is located was now surrounded by private property. Finding an access point was going to be the first challenge. Though I have no problem speaking to the local residents for permission to cross their property, I prefer to avoid drawing attention to myself and my goal.
Thorn Patch
I had a plan for accessing the land but as soon as we arrived, I found the area plastered with no trespassing signs. We circled around the area and found a few other possible ways to get to the cave, each with their own obstacles. I choose to approach along the river bank up river from the cave. Due to the difficulty of the terrain, Penelope stayed behind in the Forester while I made my way to the cave.
I was able to quickly work my way down river to where the edge of the river was easier to traverse. After navigating my way through a patch of thorns, I soon found myself at the rock outcropping along the river bank. The cliff was a banded metamorphic schist that sloped at a 45 degree angle. The tilt was probably due to tectonic activity long ago. Splitting in the bands in the schist could be seen all over. I could also see many fissures that penetrated into the bedrock.
I immediately knew the cave was nearby, so I called Penelope to give her an update. I hung up the phone and proceeded two steps forward, and spotted the cave. Amazingly the water level in the cave was much lower than I expected. This was most likely due to the lack of snowfall this winter.
The Cliff
I had not expected to be able to gain access so I did not come prepared to crawl in the chilly water and mud. After pinning myself between the walls at the mouth of the cave for a few pictures, I decide I couldn’t go until I at least crawled into the first 8 feet of the cave for a few photos. I climbed to the land above the cave and removed my shoes and socks, and rolled up my pants. Returning to the cave, I stepped into the chilly waters and began to shuffle in. It wasn’t long before I was forced to a hands and knees crawl. I snapped some photos and decide that I would return better prepared before I would venture any deeper into the cave.
The cave did not go straight back as my source implied, so I cannot visually confirm the size it claimed. I would say that it appeared greater than 15 feet, and gave no reason to believe it could not be close to 25 feet. This was a surprise to me since I expected it to be a fraction of the size described.
I was lucky enough to find a fallen tree that the locals had used as a bridge. This enabled me to get some nice pictures of the cave from the opposite side of the river. After reviewing my maps, it appeared that the bridge would allow a much easier access point for my return visit.
Fallen Tree Bridge
In a few weeks I’ll be going back out to the cave to follow it to its conclusion and do a quick survey. The floor of the cave appeared to be mud so I may take the time to do a little bit of digging at the far end to see if it might have some hidden potential to continue. I’ll also explore the area for any other possible signs of caves in the bedrock. I don’t have my hopes up to find another cave nearby, but since I already have been pleasantly surprised by this location, maybe my luck will continue.
~Michael
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