Perfect Arch

The entrance to Perfect Arch is actually an old mine. The mine itself is fairly extensive and there is a dangerous drop near the back that should be avoided. A few hundred feet back from the entrance is where the natural cave was encountered.

This is the main room. Not very big, but beautifully decorated with gypsum crystals.

This is the largest stalagmite and the only column we found in this cave.

One portion of the cave is covered in these yellowish mamalaries.

Many of the stalagmites have been broken off and are missing in this cave.

                       

After the main room an arched tunnel system begins that is covered with white gypsum crystals. Great care should be taken when crawling through these passages.  You can see that a lot of dirt is ending up on the walls from previous visitors.

This is looking down one of the passages. While climbing down it my brother suddenly yells "skunk!" I don't think I have seen everyone freeze that fast in a long time. And I didn't know that skunks lived inside of caves until now. So be careful if you visit this one!

These gypsum hairs are extremely delicate formations. Please do not touch or even breathe on these.

READMORE

Johnson Canyon Caves

These sandstone caves drew a lot of attention in the early 1900's as local Kanab residents believed the lost Montezuma's treasure could be found within the canyon. All of the caves ended up with some extensive mining done inside in the effort to recover the treasure. After several months with nothing found, the residents gave up their search. All that the explorers had found in the cliffs was a sandstone chamber housing a few Native-American artifacts and human remains. You can read more about the lost treasure and the exploration done in this canyon here.

Image courtesy of wildernessutah.com

Image courtesy of ajroadtrips.com

Image courtesy of ajroadtrips.com

Image courtesy of ajroadtrips.com

Image courtesy of ajroadtrips.com

Image courtesy of ajroadtrips.com

You can barely see the outline of Jeff Baird descending into another shaft below the old boards.

READMORE

Bat Cave

While this cave has been on our list for some time it is not actually a cave as it's only approximately 20' in length and does not achieve total darkenss. If you ask me it's not a very creative name either. It could have been called packrat cave, fly cave, guano cave or just plain Nasty Cave. This hole is filled with bat guano, flies, bees, mosquitos, rodent droppings and lots of other things that the rat dragged in; obviously storing up supplies for the coming winter. Despite the name, and all the guano in the ceiling, I did not see any bats.

I don't hesitate posting entrance pictures of this hole as it is plainly visable from the road with a steep hike up a loose rock slide and bushwacking thru thick oak brush to the entrance which is on the edge of a cliff face. At the back of the cave there is a very small opening that comes out on the cliff face to the right (referring to the entrance pic). I didn't get any decent pics at the back of the cave because, first of all there was nothing to see but guano, and second I just wanted to get out of that filthy fissure! I was 'in the area' so I figured that I should check this one off the list. Even if you happen to be up at Causey and have absoutely nothing to do I'd still pass on this one.
As you can see, the entrance passage pinches down to about 2' high but then it opens up to a small standing height room at the back.


The entrance and view from inside are pretty cool though.

READMORE

Green Eyed Monster

Green Eyed Monster is another cave that never would have been seen if some miners didn't happen to dig right into it. After a tight squeeze at the bottom of this corrugated tube, the mine drift continues for quite a ways until it broke into the cave. The features inside are very interesting and most have a strange green tint to them.

You can find plan and profile maps here:
http://www.jonjasper.com/MapGallery/GreenEyedMonster.jpg ,
http://www.jonjasper.com/MapGallery/GreenEyedMonsterProfile.jpg


The entrance. Permission must be obtained by the land owner before entering the mine.

Jeff and John in "The Big Room"

Cameron & Jeff in "The Big Room"

Cameron climbing into the "Hump Room".

Looking up into the "Attic".

A small rimstone pool in "The Loop".

Cameron in "The Phosphorescent Crack".

Spencer in "The Phosphorescent Crack".

The entire group in "The Column Room" (From left to right: John, Cameron, Sam, Scott, Jeff, Spencer, Shane [behind the camera])

Our guides Scott and Sam ( S & S Adventures) in "The Column Room".

Shane standing between two columns in the "Hump Room".

Spencer squeezing through the tight spot on "The Loop".

This cave easily makes our top 10 list because of the quantity and size of the formations, the large rooms and beautiful colors.

The following pictures were taken in the Medusa Room on the original discovery trip made back in 1973. Images are courtesy of Stephen Kendorski.

READMORE