Caving in New Fern Cave Alabama
On May 15, 1971, John Van Swearinger IV introduced us to New Fern Cave. John Wallace, Bill Meier and I were excited to see what every spelunker in the country was talking about at the time. A huge cave system had been discovered in northern Alabama. Vertical cavers from all over North America were coming to drop the deepest shaft at the time in the eastern United States, Fern Cave.
The fern cave system it is located on the west side of Nat Mountain in northern Alabama. fern cave It was discovered on June 4, 1961 by Jim Johnston, Bill Torode, Louis Fox, Chris Kroger, and Butch Dill. It consists primarily of Surprise Pit, which is 437 feet deep and more than 200 feet long.
mortuary cellar It was discovered on June 9, 1968 by Bob Clark, John Cole, Jim Johnston, Don Myrick, Arch Swank, and Lynne Swank. It consists of several wells from 100 to 200 feet deep. The Morgue is a hibernation and nursery cave for approximately 50% of all gray bat species and perhaps 75% of the gray bat population in the southern United States.
On January 11, 1969, new fern cave it was discovered by Jim Johnston and is commonly known as Johnston’s Entrance to the Fern Cave System. New Fern Cave consists of over 15 miles of horizontal cave with three main levels connected by shafts and canyons.
New Fern Cave was connected to the morgue in January 1969 and in April of that same year the lower level of New Fern Cave was reached. Evidence of past visits to the cave by torch barriers and large animals, some now extinct, was found there. Searches were made for a lower entry, but none have been found. Caving in the Fern Cave system involves a long hike up Nat Mountain or, if you know the trails, a drive to the top and hike to the entrances. It seemed strange to climb the outside of the mountain, then go inside and back down the inside of the mountain.
Finally, on October 10, 1971, the lower stream passages of Fern Cave and New Fern Cave were connected by digging a stream into the cold water. This completed the fern cave system by connecting the three main caves and some smaller ones in the mountain. The map and most of the exploration of the Fern Cave System was completed by Bill Torode and members of the Huntsville Grotto.
Our group was made up of horizontal cavers, only getting involved in vertical work when there was no other possibility. We made several trips in 1971, 1972 and 1973, at a time when the latest discoveries were being made and mapping was being completed. I experimented with some film shots in the cave, but was not satisfied with the results, which can be seen on my website. One scene shows the elephant ears shortly after breaking and on the first trip and I have a picture of the elephant ears before breaking with John Van Swearingern IV and John Wallace.
On November 20, 1971, we made our second trip to New Fern Cave, parked by the river at the bottom of the mountain, and walked to the entrance to Johnston. Just inside the entrance there is a drop of about eight feet where a wooden staircase was installed.
We continued southeast to the Upper Formation Rooms filled with helectite growing in all directions. We also visited the Red Lilly Pad Room. The room had round formations that looked like Lilly Pads in a pool of water and some of them had stalagmites growing from the center.
Helectites are formed when the wind blows through the cave forcing water droplets to blow down the sides of the formations, leaving behind mineral deposits. At different times, the wind blows in different directions causing strange shapes.
After exploring many of the formation areas we continued south to Elephant Ears and Green Passage. The Green Passage is a smaller crawl and walk passage that leads to the Blow Hole. The Blowing Hole is a shortcut to the middle level of the cave. Bill Torode cleared the dirt around the hole, put a stud in the wall, and installed a cable ladder. The hole is about four feet in diameter and is an easy place to secure climbers as they descend the ladder. The last person to fall must be secured from below with the rope going up and through the carabiner on the latch.
At the bottom of the mid level we continue down the Golden Passage canyon to the Crystal Room with large five inch plaster crystals protruding from the wall. The wall is over ten feet high and almost as wide with these crystals side by side all the way down the wall. The crystals are pointy with smooth sides making for the most striking formation room I have ever seen. From the Crystal Room we continue to the Balcony Room. You can literally sit on the edge of a balcony and look into a huge round room about eighty feet high that contains a massive flowstone called the Myrick Monument that runs from the bottom to the top of the room.
On July 21, 1973, I returned with Jack Pace and we spent eight hours exploring upriver from the Johnston Inlet. We pass the second dome and climb up a ledge and enter the virgin cave. The room had plenty of soda straws and helectite and there was no trace or sign that anyone had been there. We left the formation room and re-entered the creek passage at survey mark #18, just to the left of a dry creek bed.
On October 20, 1973, John Wallace, Jack Pace, and I returned and went directly to Green Passage and the Blow Hole. We continued to the dining room, then went down the waterfall and rode a rope for the return climb. We notice the white stone from the glacier flow and the small pearls from the cave. We went down to the first Great Room and after exploring it, we made our way out of the cave after another eight hour journey.