104 Feet Below

There is an intimate connection with the earth found in Upstate New York that is evident by the soil soaked hands of farmers producing food, the countless cows giving milk, and the fascination with the limestone caves dotting the limestone bedrock. Monday I was able to go to such a cave, and feel what it is like to be below the feet of the world's dwellers above.

Schoharie county is full of brilliantly dumb cows who have a knack for finding caves...and falling in them. Now, don't get me wrong, I have a high respect for cows as a milk drinker, but they aren't always the most intelligent. As such, on a quite warm day, a couple of cows found a cool breeze flowing from behind some bushes, went closer, and well, you can imagine the rest. Such is the legend for Secret Caverns as told by Brown for the Boston Globe. Howe Caverns had cows merely gathered by the cave entrance, but still, the cows found the cave first.

For Howe Caverns, the history starts before the remembered discovery by Lester Howe and the cows of the neighboring farm. The Native Americans called it "Otsgaragee", which translates to "Cave of the Great Galleries" or "Great Valley Cave" as there is disagreement about the translation. It may have served as refuge for people at the end of the American Revolution, however it fell off the map when the Schoharie Indians fled. You can read more about the history (and Howe Caverns) on the Howe Caverns website here: http://howecaverns.com/history.php

I've been to Howe Caverns before a couple of times...however they are back in the reaches of my memory since they were many years ago. All caves are impressive to me, so I can't say that cave was less than great.

Secret Caverns is much less known and holds the charm of a local site with personal involvement and care given to the place. The huge billboards pointing you along the winding, hilly roads are hand painted with detail, and so is much of the main building.

A sign with some great humor that is carried through much of
Secret Caverns.

There is a certain charm to the place that I feel Howe Caverns lacks because of its extreme popularity. It is personal, historical, and touches base with its roots as well as connects with the people who visit. Who doesn't like brightly colored dinosaurs painted on the walls with noticeable freehand strokes?

To be clear, I went with my mother, grandmother, and brother, so I may drift into the plural "we" from time to time. We had to wait about fifteen minutes for the tour, which was alright because I got to check out some of the history of the place, photograph the ice cave, and notice the "fallout shelter" sign above the cave entrance.

Ice Cave

Naturally I noticed the sign because one, I play quite a bit of Fallout 3, and two, I didn't know how well a limestone cave would act as a fallout shelter. Limestone caves are quite porous, allowing water to seep down through the stones which could (and would) carry down radiation to those hiding beneath. A point the tour guide brushed on as well.

Unlike Howe Caverns which has a nifty elevator to descend into the depths with, in Secret Caverns you climb down 103 slightly wet stairs in a rather narrow passageway and the temperature drops. The weather was about 20C (70ish F) outside and was at one point 10C (50ish F) underground, which for me who was suffering from a mild cold (which is now a rather large cold) wasn't great, but that is how it is under the earth.

The interactive nature of the tour was nice-there wasn't the feeling that my hands would be cut off if I accidentally brushed against a formation.

Naturally, we were encouraged to be careful, but the tour guide's witty and somewhat sarcastic humor gave a very light feeling to the tour and it seemed more important that we enjoy ourselves, learn about the womb of rock we were in, and have experiences than treat the earth as a sterile thing that is not to be touched. 

One of the last stops on the tour was the 104 foot waterfall running from the swamp above to a pool in the cave. It was thunderous, and my sinuses finally decided to clear themselves as I drank in the scent of beautiful, pure water as one can only smell it cascading down and pounding against rocks. 

Some strange person my mother found in the
cave... (photo credit Nancy Bukovsky)

Afterwards we experienced total darkness, which was powerful in and of itself. The removal of a sense is extremely bizarre, especially one that I use frequently as an artist. I could imagine myself going insane if I were stuck in a cave, with its silence except for running water, and that darkness.

Anyway, we hauled ourselves up the 103 stairs and completed the tour. It was a neat experience, one I would do again, and brought myself to contemplating about just how much New York is connected to the earth.