Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Group wants light to shine in mountain cave

Some of Barbara Orcutt's earliest summer memories are of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, being awed by the natural underground beauty.

"I was raised in and out of caves as a vacation thing that children did in the summertime," she said. In addition to the annual treks to Mammoth Cave, the family made a pilgrimage to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico when she was 13. "And Carlsbad Cavern isn't on the way to anything," she said.

Now 60 and owner of the Mount Charleston Lodge, Orcutt wants to open a local cave to make that same experience available to Las Vegas residents and their visitors.

"Not only for children, but as an adult it's a thrilling experience," she said.

But the proposal to open Soda Straw Cave, a stone's throw from State Route 157 at Mount Charleston, has stirred controversy in the U.S. Forest Service and among some cave enthusiasts who want the cavern, which was sealed shut in 1962 when the road was paved, to stay off limits to the general public.

The cave contains crystal formations that look like soda straws or icicles, according to old photographs and a survey done before the cave was closed. It is known as Soda Straw Cave because of the formations.

The survey shows about 700 feet of bare rooms and tunnels before a visitor reaches the room with the formations, as well as two steep drops, one about 50 feet, the other 15 to 20 feet, according to Jerry Trout, national cave coordinator for the Forest Service.

"It is not most certainly a cave you can just walk into," Trout said.

Local Forest officials say the cave could be too fragile for foot traffic. In addition, they point out, it's not safe.

"Our overarching concern is public safety and protecting the cave," Steve Holdsambeck, the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area district ranger.

Steve Deveny, chairman of the Southern Nevada grotto of the National Speleological Society, agreed that too many visitors could ruin the cave's natural beauty.

"A lot of traffic within the cave will destroy current conditions," Deveny said. "Caves are not a renewable resource. Once it is destroyed, it can never return to its natural state."

What's not clear yet, Trout said, is whether Soda Straw is a "live" cave still being formed.

Trout, who is based, plans to travel to Las Vegas to explore the cave and see for himself. He will check out information in the 1962 survey, evaluate the best use for the cave and make his recommendation to local Forest Service officials.

"We're really interested in finding out what's there," he said. "It is a cave, and that's what cavers are interested in."

When the cave was discovered in December 1961, State Route 157, from Kyle Canyon to Lee Canyon, was being turned from a dirt road into a two-lane highway. Reports from that time showed excessive vandalism and litter in the cave, which drops 25 feet from a narrow ledge, followed by another 50-foot drop.

In one incident in 1961 two children had to be rescued from inside the mouth of the cave, Forest Service public affairs officer Beth Short said.

Explorers in 1961 and 1962 also found that the cave's ceiling was fractured and unstable, creating a safety hazard. The group unanimously decided to construct a concrete plug to close the cave.

Thalia Dondero, a University of Nevada regent and former Clark County commissioner, was one of the early explorers of the cave. She checked out the cave as a possible site for storing food and supplies for the county's Civil Defense program.

"It's a dangerous cave," Dondero said, recalling almost falling the first 25 feet on her visit to the cavern after climbing 10 feet down a rope ladder.

"People could get in there and lose their lives," Dondero said.

Trout says with enough money, those obstacles could be overcome, if the cave is found to be appropriate for tourism.

"Any cave that's that short, you might have to put in stairways. As long as there's enough dollars to do it, that would be possible," he said.

Orcutt says part of the Mount Charleston Cave Association's plan is to seek federal money from Bureau of Land Management public land sales to develop the cave, so money should not be a problem.

Soda Straw may also be appropriate for "spelunker" tours, Trout said, where a group of eight or so "put on helmets, lights and old scrubby clothes" and use ropes and other equipment to get down the drops.

That would suit Deveny, who said turning Soda Straw into a tourist-friendly cave would require concrete ledges and accommodations for the disabled.

"That cave is not big enough to put in a concrete walkway," he said. "They can keep it as a wild cave. It would be a cool wild cave cavern."

A wild cave is one for which people have to go through special training before they explore it. Deveny said it would take four to six hours of training and a guide for a neophyte to be able to explore Soda Straw Cave.

"You just can't throw somebody on a rope and expect them to be able to get up and down," he said.

Once Trout does his survey, the decision will be up to local Forest Service officials. They plan to talk with members of the National Speleological Society and local cave experts to review past exploration reports and discuss whether to conduct additional research in the cave, Holdsambeck said.

Orcutt would like to see the cave opened and available to visitors spending a day on the mountain.

"People would like to visit someplace besides the lodge," Orcutt said.

One critical issue is parking, and by widening State Highway 157 the state and the Forest Service could provide spaces for people to pull over, she said.

Trout said if the survey described the cave accurately, it could end up being a disappointment.

"If it is just the last room that's decorated, people probably are not going to want to pay a lot to climb down a lot of stairs to see one room of soda straws," he said.

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