We were on the road to Colorado Springs by 6:30am and met up with 3 more people along the way. Once there, we stopped at Cave of the Winds to get the keys to the cave (it’s gated!!) and sign permission waivers.

After a little off road driving and a steep hike, we found the entrance. It was nothing more than a metal tube in the ground. This was the first gate of the cave needing to be unlocked…

Why are caves gated?
It is a means of cave and landowner protection by controlling access (and in some cases no access) visitation of the cave. Reasons such as liability issues, vandalism and theft of precious cave decor (cave bacon, stalagmites etc.) have prompted the insertion of gates.

In order for us to have access to this cave we have attended Grotto meetings once a month. Grotto meetings are basically groups of cavers who meet to discuss and share caving trips and safety…. and they also have the keys to many gated caves Luckily enough we were finally invited to explore with them….

The cave was amazing. This was our first “real cave” experience….. Fault Cave is not much of a cave. There were plenty of hugeeee rooms, lots and lots of crawling and squeezing through narrow passages (calling for some awkward movements!) We spent about 5.5 hours in the cave… not kidding!

Here we are pictured by some cave bacon…. I believe it is just a formation made of calcite but don’t quote me on that. Here are few more pictures of the awesome cave sights:

bacon

stalagtites

Luckily, I had knee pads.. but no elbow pads. Halfway through the trip I already had bruises forming on my arms and elbows… and today I woke up with more bruises all over than ever before! Would I do it again…?

HECK YES! Dirty + Muddy + Bruised + Tired and I would still do it again. It was quite the workout and once home I was exhausted and bed time came very early. Since we had a pretty epic day we decided to stay in Boulder for the Fourth instead of caving more.

HAPPY 4th Everyone!