But, as ominous as it sounds, it's actually an amazing local natural attraction. From their handout that you receive when you go:
"The Hell Holes Site with all it's natural and mystical wonder relates back to the glacial period for it's unique geological formation. Millions of years ago, this was the route of the Salmon River, now situated north of here. The constant movement of water wore the limestone into a "Karsts feature" giving an itricate pattern of rocky ground with overhanging ledges, mushrooom shaped rocks, caves, gullies, potholes and sinkholes."
We took our last trip of the summer there a few days ago and I thought I would share our photo's as well as some information about the area.
My son, very helpfully pointing the way we need to go. :)
One of the problems with being the one who takes the photo's is you're always in the back. My husband and my daughter, not waiting for me. LOL!
Although the beginning of the trail is filled with neat little crevices in the rock and huge holes that invite exploration, this is the first actual site that is marked. The Devil's Horse Stable Cave
"The Devil's Horse Stable Cave which once reached far underground was dynamited shut for safety reasons whne it collapsed in the early 1900's. Legends tell us that Satan visited this area frequently and stabled his horses here! One strange legend was told of a headless horseman seen in this area on moonless ights in November looking for a new head to replace the one he lost to the Devil!"
This is my daughter exploring the Devil's Horse Stable Cave
My husband and son taking an even closer look
Right outside this cave was the most interesting rock formation. It looks like two slabs were dropped from the sky and landed standing straight up. If you've ever read The Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, we called this one The Narrows. :)
The Hell Hole Cave is the main attraction of the site.
"The one well known Hell Hole Cave appears to be a large crevice in the limestone, but is a narrow shaft dropping down approx. 7.5 meters and widening into a cavern that wold hold 20 people (approx. 2x5x3.5 meters).
My husband taking the first descent. He was followed by the kids, with me bringing up the rear.
At this point, I need to tell you that not only am I afraid of heights, but I'm also very claustrophobic. The only reason I went down into this cave was to get photo's. I will never, ever do this again.
Here is what the cave looks like from the top, with someone going down the ladder
And the view from the bottom
The trip down is in complete darkness once the sunlight can't reach, with the rock wall brushing against your back the entire way.
I sat at the bottom of the ladder and gave the camera to my hubby to take some photo's of the interior. It branched off to the right and to the left. To the left (when you're facing the ladder) it extended quite a ways and reopened into a bit of a cavern.
I was never so glad to be out of a place in my life! Right out of the cave, the trail turns into the yellow brick road!
Next was The Natural Stone Bridge
And then on to the Valley Floor
And the Grumpy Old Man rock. It's not a marked part of the trail, we just found it highly amusing!
If you look very closely, you can see my husband in the bottom left corner of the above photo. It gives you an idea of how far down we are.
And some toadstools that we found growing out of a log
The last point of interest on the walk was Pillar Rock
"Various shapes of rocks and boulders can be found throughout the valley with The Pillar Rock, showing distince features of glacial effects. During the Ice Age, rapid action of movig water under thick layers of melting ice broke down the softer layers of limestone at the base of the rock creating a pedestal pattern."
And last, but certainly never least, a photo of my family at the end of the walk.
It was such a fun trip. A nice 3.5 kilomter walk through gorgeous natural wonders. Who could ask for anything better?
Have a fantastic day!
great pics, but would have been better with YOU in at least one of them!
ReplyDeleteThanks! That's the problem being the one who carries the camera. :)
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