Penny Dreadful and I went out to find Leete’s Caves. We had previously tried few Saturdays ago. We were using direction and maps from a 1963 Yale publication, but due to development in the area the old access point was now private property. Fortunately we had already prepared for this and had plotted an alternate way to access the area. Unfortunately this required a longer hike through unbeaten forest, and crossing over a series of ridges. The incredible amount of large downed trees littering the forest made our hike to the caves like an obstacle course.
Eventually we made it to the correct area, but when we didn’t see the caves we foolishly thought we were too far north along the ridge. Following the ridge south for about 1500′, we found several interesting talus caves. Though one of the caves was impressive in size, none of them fit the description of Leete’s Caves. Short on time we called it a day. When we got home though, we found that our original starting point along the ridge was only 300 feet south of the caves.
Entrance to one of the pits
This Saturday we returned to the area for a second try and were successful. North of our original starting point along the ridge, we found a section of the granite where large portions had separated from the ridge to create the caves. Pits, crawls and tall chambers were riddled in the slopes of the talus. Some parts of them had 15′ to 22′ drops and ceilings. On the walls of some of the caves you could see arrows painted to guide the brave kids of the area through the 200′ plus maze of caves.
We hope to return soon to find a few more known caves in the area. Also, there are a few more ridges hidden deep in the forest in which we suspect some undiscovered caves might be hidden.
~Michael
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