Tag: Exploration

How do you take pictures in a cave?

Posted on 01-28-202501-28-2025 by admin

Especially a WILD cave?

Taking stunning photos inside a cave is usually as easy as taking out your cell phone. Most modern cell phones have strong enough low-light settings which make it easy to catch the cave’s good side. It can be a little tougher to include yourself in the photo since our formations are carefully and artfully lit, and you standing in front of them are not. It’s a problem we usually solve by encouraging guests to use their flash or a second phone with a flashlight on to add your own spotlight.

The Cathedral Room’s colors are significantly more visibile thanks to the new lighting on the Hidden Wonders tour at Natural Bridge Caverns

But when you go into the wild parts of the cavern system like our expedition team there are no multi-million dollar lighting systems showcasing the formations. Plus in our cave there is so much mud, it can be tough to get a clean shot (pun intended).

From a recent expedition to the Dome Pit. Note muddy boot in the foreground.

Fortunately we’ve worked with amazing professional cave photographers that have traveled the world capturing these incredible dark places and they’ve shared some tips and tricks for catching images deep in the dark underground.

WildCat Expedition – Descending into the Cave to recover ancient wildcat bones. photo by Chris Higgins

Chris Higgins (https://www.instagram.com/chrishigginsphoto/) has captured stunning images on several of our expeditions and we’ve noted several key techniques:

Stunning pool of blue water in the wild area of the cavern is in the foreground as a caver stands in the background. Photo by Chris Higgins

First you have to bring in lights. We carry in LED panel lights that are battery operated and capable of varying “warmths” which is rated on a Kelvin scale (fun article on that topic here). We also have smaller lights that can be placed under water which is critical to get a shot like the one above.

Travis Wuest jumps into the pool at the bottom of the northern passage.

Next you have to be an experienced caver to recognize cool moments that are there to be captured like this descent into a watery area. Having an artist’s eye for framing a shot helps too, with enough light to capture the splash, the dark cave and shadow drawing your eye to the action and another caver in the background for perspective.

Brad Wuest watches as T. Dexter Soechting descends from the entrance squeeze into the room.

Next you need patience all the way around. Setting up lights takes time and getting everyone in the perfect position isn’t always easy. When you can “see” what isn’t quite there, you still have to paint (and repaint) the scene with light. Having a deep understanding of your camera’s capabilities is critical.

Skill, experience, a patient crew, and a beautiful cave. That’s all it takes! Curious about the wild areas of the cave? We do lead adventure tours through parts of it – learn more on our website.

Here’s a few more of our favorite shots from the wild areas in our cavern.

Searching for cave critters in the upper passage in a wild cave section of Natural Bridge Caverns

Flowstone and pools at the end of the northern formation passage.

T. Dex Soechting among the sodastraws and stalactites in the northern passage.

J Morettie examining wildcat bones in Natural Bridge Caverns during Wildcat Expedition

Known Length of the Deepest Cave in the Western Hemisphere Surpasses 100 Kilometers

Posted on 06-06-202306-05-2023 by admin

The PESH Expedition survey of Sistema Huautla added length to the already record-breaking cave as well as preparing for more explorations in 2024.

Huautla de Jimenez, Oaxaca, Mexico (June 6, 2023) – Cave explorers from around the world hit a milestone during their exploration and survey of the deepest cave in the Western Hemisphere, Sistema Huautla, this Spring. The international team of 37 cavers and support staff added 222 meters to the known length of the cave system during the most recent Proyecto Espeleologico Sistema Huautla, or PESH expedition. The known length of Sistema Huautla is now just over 100 kilometers or 62.27 miles. Teams also added three kilometers to the Cueva Elysium, a nearby but currently unconnected cave system. The accomplishments were announced as part of the celebration of International Cave Week, June 4-10.

Brad Wuest makes his way over water on a taut line and slack line rigging in Sistema Huautla – photo credit Chris Higgins

In addition to continued exploration and surveying, the April 2023 PESH Expedition had several objectives including rigging 2,000 feet of rope in two other nearby caves. Both caves are far deeper than any cave in the United States. The rigging in these caves were left in place (although the ropes were pulled to prevent damage from seasonally rising waters) for next year’s expedition. The 2024 expedition will focus on these other two caves for exploration and surveying, which will enable the team to add these caves to the overall cavern system.

Discovered by Texas cavers in the 1960s, the caves in Huautla de Jimenex, Oaxaca, Mexico, have been the center of annual expeditions starting in 2014. PESH co-leaders and renowned cavers, Tommy Shifflett from Virginia and Bill Steele from Texas, have planned the April expeditions from the start.

PESH 2023 Matt Tomlinson – Multi-day stay at Camp Berta in Elysium Cave

“We plan the expeditions in April because it’s the driest month of the year in the mountains,” said Steele. “With teams camping deep underground with no way to contact the surface, we are always keeping an eye on water levels. This April it was wetter than normal; that hampered our exploration somewhat.”

PESH 2023 Jessica Pruitt – Tommy Shifflett descends into Elysium Cave

PESH expeditions are made possible by sponsorships of various organizations, and this year the foundation of the largest cavern in Texas, Natural Bridge Caverns, joined the effort. Natural Bridge Caverns is considered Texas’ most actively explored cavern system, an effort Steele has participated in with co-owners Brad and Travis Wuest.

“We were pleased to both support PESH and to journey to Huautla ourselves,” said Brad Wuest. “Discovery is at the heart of our work here at Natural Bridge Caverns and we appreciate the efforts of cavers around the world to further explore and understand these incredible natural wonders.”

The current surveyed depth of Sistema Huautla is 5,118 feet, equivalent to four Empire State buildings. Cave geologists estimate the vast natural underground labyrinth is as old as 15 million years. All data collected is shared with Mexican cave scientists including information on cave adapted lifeforms, paleontological remains of extinct animals (which are photographed but left in the cave), and ancient climate patterns through analysis of stalagmites. The 2023 expedition also achieved another significant milestone – it carried the flag of The Explorers Club, an award granted to the top expeditions in the world. With the system now over 100 kilometers, excitement for further exploration continues to grow.

“We are grateful to the people of Huautla and the international community of cavers who continue to encourage us to keep exploring,” said Steele. “It’s one of the most magnificent caves in the world and it’s a privilege to uncover more of its beauty and wonders.”

Photos and maps.

About PESH: PESH Expedition is a 501(c)3 non-profit created to support the exploration, survey, and comprehensive speoleological study of the Sistema Huautla area caves. Annual expeditions have been underway since 2014, and the results of each expedition supports the ongoing underground research of Mexican scientists. For more information about the PESH Expedition as well as updates on plans for 2024, visit http://www.peshcaving.org/

About the Natural Bridge Caverns Heidemann – Wuest Foundation: Established by Natural Bridge Caverns founder Clara Wuest Heidemann in 1997, Heidemann – Wuest Foundation (HWF) supports not-for-profit charities that focus on youth and agriculture, education, heritage, faith, wildlife, conservation, exploration, law enforcement, and veterans. Each year the HWF contributes more than $100,000 to charitable organizations in the San Antonio and New Braunfels area. For more information on the philanthropic work of both the HWF and Natural Bridge Caverns, visit https://naturalbridgenews.com/about-us/.

Connection to Wild Cave Remains Elusive but Exploration to Continue

Posted on 06-01-202202-01-2023 by admin

Natural Bridge Caverns to Share Recent Discoveries and Host Cave Demonstrations During International Day of Caves and Subterranean World Celebration on June 4-5

The Natural Bridge Caverns expedition team returned after a 16 and half hour trip attempting to make a connection between Natural Bridge Caverns’ Hope’s Mantel to the south and the Wild Cave to the north. Photos from the expedition will be shared at International Cave Day events at the Cavern on June 4^th and 5^th. It’s how Natural Bridge Caverns’ will join cave enthusiasts from around the world to celebrate the International Day of Caves and the Subterranean World (aka International Cave Day) on June 6th. The goal is to inspire greater appreciation and stewardship of cave and karst landscapes.

“After about seven hours of hard caving we arrived at Hope’s Mantel excited to discover what lay below. After rigging the pit, we descended and surveyed a beautiful room, however the passage beyond that point was filled with flowstone formations and breakdown rubble,” said Brad Wuest, one of the expedition leaders and president of Natural Bridge Caverns. “We pushed every lead in the area but couldn’t make it through, although we could feel airflow indicating a small connection somewhere through all that breakdown. In all we were able to close the gap by 50 feet this time, so now the two caves are only 250 feet apart.”

The expedition teams are not giving up on finding a connection but are shifting focus to continued exploration of other areas of both the Wild Cave to the north and promising unexplored sections of Natural Bridge Caverns in an area around the room called The Dungeon. Every exploration has the potential to add to the known size of both caverns. Expeditions are in the planning stages, with the first scheduled for later this month.

Natural Bridge Caverns is unusual in comparison to other unexplored caves in Texas in that expedition teams have repeatedly discovered previously unknown massive chambers throughout the system. So, the potential to find additional “big cave” is strong. Several leads (leads are pits, crawlways, and passages that may be hidden or hard to get to and have not been explored yet) have been identified and are there, waiting for expedition teams to explore. The Wild Cave also continues north, and during the last expedition there the team had to limit the final part of their exploration that day to an upper passage – the lower passage was filled with water. Then Wild Cave exploration was stopped only by the clock – they had reached their “turnaround time,” a hard and fast rule followed by explorers to ensure safe returns during exploration. It’s possible, if the water in that area has receded, that there are additional lower-level leads there that are worthy of pursuit on future expeditions this year.

It’s both the unknown and incredible finds of the last two years that drives the desire for exploration for the Natural Bridge Caverns expedition team. More people have walked on the moon than have seen some of the remote areas known in Natural Bridge Caverns, not to mention the areas being discovered that no one has ever seen. “Caves are not always ready to reveal their wonders,” noted Brad. “But that doesn’t stop us from gearing up for more exploration to search for these hidden wonders.”

Travis Wuest, Natural Bridge Caverns vice president and expedition member, agreed. “We’ll never stop exploring, especially given there is still so much to learn and discover. Just in the last two years we’ve found large chambers filled with breathtaking speleothems, crystal clear travertine pools of water, pits that go down to the aquifer, and beauty never before seen by anyone in the world. We know there are more big discoveries waiting beneath our feet.”

For the team, it’s not just about finding unknown areas of the cavern system. Understanding the cavern, its history, and its eco-system are equally important. Archaeologists just finished a dig in the area, examining burn rock middens. Bio-diversity expeditions have begun an extensive study of the cave adapted species that call this subterranean world home. A future trip is planned to recover fossilized wild cat bones from the cave with the help of a paleontologist. The Wuest family just received the Lone Star Land Steward Award from Texas Parks and Wildlife for their efforts to preserve, restore, and protect the habitat all around Natural Bridge Caverns, all in an effort to be strong stewards for both the land and the Cavern.

Saturday and Sunday the public will have a chance to see the results of the latest exploration as well as take part in cave crawls and learn about rope techniques used in caving. Natural Bridge Caverns will also launch an Explorers blog this summer, giving fans an inside view of the efforts by our team to better understand this incredible natural wonder, sharing videos and photos of trips, and providing education on biodiversity, paleontology, and so much more. To stay up to date, visit the Natural Bridge Caverns website or connect on the Caverns social channels.

Photos and Assets HERE.

About Natural Bridge Caverns:

26495 Natural Bridge Caverns Rd, Natural Bridge Caverns, TX 78266

https://naturalbridgecaverns.com/ l 210-651-6101

Natural Bridge Caverns is one of the world’s premier show caverns. Discovered in 1960 by local cavers, this family owned and operated natural wonder is the largest cavern in Texas. In addition to multiple tour experiences through the caverns, the property features above-ground adventures of a different kind including a ropes course, zip rails, a 5,000 square foot outdoor maze, and even an interactive “gem panning” activity. More of the cavern system itself is still being discovered; the Wuest family along with their caving team are still actively exploring new areas in the massive cavern. Natural Bridge Caverns is a designated State Historical Site, National Natural Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

New Cave Discovered That Could Connect to Natural Bridge Caverns

Posted on 05-26-202202-01-2023 by admin

Currently the most active cave exploration effort in the state,
recent discovery of a new cave could increase the length of the cavern system substantially.

A highly specialized caving team is embarking on a journey through unexplored cave passage at Natural Bridge Caverns in an attempt to find a connection between a newly discovered cave and the northern reaches of Natural Bridge Caverns. Led by brothers Brad and Travis Wuest, owners and operators of Natural Bridge Caverns, the next expedition is an epic push to try to discover connecting cave passage. The expedition is set for Friday, May 27th, 2022, and could take 24 hours to complete.

New Cave DISCOVERED – Wild Cave

The new cave was first hinted at in 2019 when steam was spotted rising from a narrow crack along a dry rocky creek bed surrounded by thick cedar. The warm air rising from the crack indicated the possibility of a large void somewhere below. The narrow crack proved to be the beginning of a deep pit that aligned with but was beyond the furthest reaches explored in Natural Bridge Caverns. In 2020, T. Dexter Soechting, great grandson of Natural Bridge Caverns founder Clara Wuest Heidemann, was the first explorer to enter the pit. At the bottom he found a small hole blowing air so forcefully it caused his shirt to flap. Early in January 2021, a team of Natural Bridge Caverns cavers descended what is now known as Simian’s Pit. After a day of hard digging the cavers were able to open the airway into a tight crawlway that led to the top of a giant room, Goliath’s Dome. “I was not old enough to remember my great-grandmother before her passing,” noted T. Dexter Soechting, the first explorer of Wild Cave.  “So, to be part of the exploration team is not only exciting but a connection with my heritage.”

Exploration of what is now called the Wild Cave has turned out to be a stunning discovery in and of itself. The team uncovered virgin passage – areas where no human had ever set foot – breathtaking chambers filled with incredible formations (never before released Wild Cave 2021-2022 exploration photos and video are available here).

Natural Bridge Caverns’ cavers spearheaded exploration of the Wild Cave in 2021 with hopes for more than discovery of a new cave. In the southernmost reaches of the Wild Cave, a room called the House of Cards is within a tantalizing 300 feet from the end of Natural Bridge Caverns northern most surveyed location, Hope’s Mantel.

Today the caving team is gearing up for an incredible expedition. The team is planning to push through from the Natural Bridge Caverns side in one of the longest expeditions yet. If the team does find a connection from Natural Bridge Caverns’ Hope’s Mantel area to the Wild Cave’s House of Cards room, the Natural Bridge Caverns system could add another 1,398 feet, bringing the total to 20,475 feet or 3.88 miles. This would make Natural Bridge Caverns the 6th longest cave in the state.

Exploration Restarted in 2019

A new era of exploration began in 2019 resulting in major discoveries of new, unexplored chambers. By February 2020 the caving teams had ventured to the northern most surveyed location of the cavern at Hope’s Mantel, a ledge overlooking a four-story tall room filled with beautiful formations and cavern passage extending beyond and out of sight. Unfortunately, at the time the team had no more rope to continue exploration. It had been a grueling effort to get to this area of the cave (some trips took 23 hours). Up to that point all combined they’d added 1.13 miles of cave passage to Natural Bridge Caverns. Then exploration paused in March 2020 when COVID required the team to focus their energies on navigating the pandemic for their families, business, and employees instead of exploration (a release covering exploration along with photos of exploration prior to 2020 is here. Animated map showing timeline of exploration is here).

Currently the explored and mapped area of Natural Bridge Caverns (without the Wild Cave) is 3.61 miles long, making it the 8th longest cave in the state, moving up from 13th on the list due to recent discoveries. Natural Bridge Caverns remains the largest cave (in terms of volume) in Texas and the cave with the most active exploration in the state.

“No other cave in Texas is being explored to the degree that’s happening at Natural Bridge Caverns,” said world renown cave explorer Bill Steele. “The discoveries have been nothing short of incredible.”

For more information about the expedition and future explorations, please refer to NaturalBridgeCaverns.com and social channels. Interviews with expedition leaders Brad Wuest and Travis Wuest are available upon request.

About Natural Bridge Caverns:

26495 Natural Bridge Caverns Rd, Natural Bridge Caverns, TX 78266

https://naturalbridgecaverns.com/  l 210-651-6101 

NATURAL BRIDGE CAVERNS DOME PIT EXPEDITION LEADS TO BIGGEST DISCOVERY IN MORE THAN 50 YEARS

Posted on 05-10-201903-09-2023 by admin

SAN ANTONIO – May 10, 2019 – Long after the trail of the easily-navigated Discovery Tour ends, there lies a much more difficult-to-reach extension of the cavern system. Known as “The Lake Passage,” this vast stretch includes the “Dome Pit,” a spectacularly large chamber with a ceiling height of more than 120-feet and what appeared to be a significant, yet due to the wall height, inaccessible passageway at the top of the wall.

A team of cave explorers led by Natural Bridge Caverns owner/operators Brad and Travis Wuest, ascended the wall and discovered more than 600-feet of new passage in Natural Bridge Caverns – the largest discovery at Natural Bridge since 1967 in a journey to the center of the earth that took them approximately 13-hours to complete.

The expedition team also included internationally renowned speleologist Bill Steele, one of the most experienced cave dome climbers in North America, Lee White, and one of four original Natural Bridge Caverns discoverers, Orion Knox, now 78-years-old. After crawling through an extremely tight passage called the “Birth Canal,” and trekking through deep, sticky mud, Knox lost the sole of his boot and made the difficult decision to withdraw one-hour into the expedition. While he was disappointed to miss seeing the ascent to the upper level lead, he is thrilled to know that his original suspicions were spot-on.

To put this incredible discovery into perspective, the length of this new passage is the equivalent of finding a 60-story building laying on its side. In addition to passages, the team discovered several significant finds. Several long-abandoned bat roosts with underlying guano piles were found in areas of the new 600-foot passage. Guano samples were collected from two areas and will be sent to a laboratory for carbon dating to determine approximately how old the roosts may be. Individual bat bones were also collected and will be carbon-dated too. “Locating these roosts so far back from the sinkhole entrance begs the question of the possible existence of another entrance to the cavern, somewhere closer to the Dome Pit or further North in the new passage,” said Natural Bridge Caverns’ staff geologist, Brian Vauter.

After collecting guano samples at the first bat roost, the exploration team found a breathtaking pond of pristine water, surrounded by a crystalline formation known as “cave ice.” These hyper-delicate phenomena are formed from mineral-rich drops of water that attach to each other and grow at the rate of approximately one cubic inch per 100 years, giving the visual impression of frosty “ice” around the surface edge of the pools.

Owner/operators Brad and Travis Wuest consider this a significant moment in history for Natural Bridge Caverns. “For almost 60-years, we thought the passage at the top of the Dome Pit was inaccessible and that we would never know what was beyond that looming, dark opening. Ascending it was an incredibly thrilling experience and knowing that we were about to see and gently place our feet where no human had ever stepped is stuff explorers dream of,” said President/CEO Brad Wuest.

Brad and Travis took turns leading the team and placing those first footsteps. “It was incredibly meaningful for me to share this moment with my brother. As we arrived at a T intersection, we gazed into a crawl passage that extended in either direction, one covered with beautiful “soda straw” stalactites. Of course, we wanted to see more, but we were past due to return to the rest of the team and decided it was a perfect point to end with the knowledge of more cavern passages to lure us back,” finished Brad Wuest.

“Our family is incredibly thankful for the entire team’s support on this journey into a new era of discovery at Natural Bridge Caverns. Without their skill and experience, this trip would not have been possible,” said Travis Wuest, Vice President, Natural Bridge Caverns.

Another landmark achievement on this exploration was the use of drones and drone videography. In what may be the first use of a drone to aid a cavern ascent, the upper level passage lead was scouted and assessed with drone video. Drones were also used to assist with the documentation of the ascent and offer a proper perspective of the actual intensity of the climb.

Photography and video are available:

Video was shot and edited by Passmore VR.

Still photography should be credited to Bennett Lee Photography.