May 8. 2011
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| Pittsford Ice Cave trail |
This was a scheduled
FB group event. The weather was mild in the mid 50's with overcast skies.
This hike starts out as a fairly steady and mildly steep ascent through a mixed wood forest. The trail was fairly dry with the exception of the known year-round wet areas in which were wetter than usual. It was a long winter in Vermont. There were a few trees down blocking the trail. After the trail levels out and approaching a small lea with a view to the west the trail continues on to a small quarry at the base of a boulder filled ravine. A couple of male mallards greeted us. The trail then turns from a classic wooded trail into an ascent up through a dark, cold ravine, scrambling fern covered boulders along the way. Massive cliff walls on both sides guides the trail through onward to the cave system. Soon we were at the cave entrance.
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| The ravine |
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| The climb up towards the upper cave |
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| In the upper room |
These are called the Ice Caves for a reason. They hold ice for a long time. The system comprises of an upper cave with one decent sized room with two entrances which isn't totally underground so it isn't completely dark and a lower cave which is totally underground and descends somewhat deep. It has a great room on the bottom which holds ice as late as August. The floor of the upper cave has a hole in it leading to the great room of the lower cave. This hole drops approximately 25 feet to a ledge and then a final drop to the floor.
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| To the great room of the lower cave |
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| Striated ice |
The cave entrance is simply a rock over hang; a big boulder wedged in this rocky valley covering a sloped foyer that directs to a hole in a cavern. To access the lower cave, we had to slide across a log beam that crossed the hole to get to a ladder. With a peek down and without pause Deb said "Hell yeah! I'm goin' down!" We all soon followed. The lower room on this particular hike was still too ice laden to explore without the proper gear so we didn't get the chance to get to the bottom where the great room exists. We did however explore an alternative entrance which ended up being too tight for our group. We could see the end though. We then climbed out of the lower cave and hiked up just a few yards to find the entrance to the upper cave. We passed it but had the chance to climb a few rocks. With all of us looking in all the boulders, We found the main entrance while Andrea explored higher and found the other. After a group photo, we took her way out. We then reversed our trek back to the trailhead. Another great day hiking in Rutland County. Total distance was 2.8 miles with a total elevation gain of approximately 700 feet....and a few feet underground.
Very cool...ur cold! Ice as late as august? That's crazy. We have a lot of caves around Carlsbad...but they stay At 56 degrees year round.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response...Yep, there are a few places around here that are similar. The Ice Beds at Whiterocks is another place that can hold ice as late as August. The thing is that they are low in altitude; they simply just lie in a deep crevice that doesn't get a lot of sunlight. Nice cool summer hikes. There are many other local caves that are deeper thus maintaining a consistent temperature.
ReplyDeleteThis brings back great memories for me. I used to go up there a lot when my legs were younger. The first time I went to the Caves I was 14 or 15, in Pittsford helping to paint a house & the boss heard about the caves at a local store. That ended our day of painting & I followed these guys up that same trail you described. We literally spent hours crawling around under any holes we could squeeze through - we got covered from head to toe with what probably wasn't 'mud'. Besides the main cave, there are tons of little tunnels up there between those big boulders.
ReplyDeletelots of fun!