Hall City Cave Entrance
I stumbled upon this cave about 2 years ago and have been back three times. It is located in the Shasta Trinity Forest in Northern California. It is a small limestone cave, about 100 feet deep. I went in with a friend the first time. As we made our way down with flashlights the end of the cave came up quickly. There were about three additional chambers, two of which we explored, the third required a short swim so we did not make it.
The cave had some modest limestone formations but what was really spectacular was the pool of water at the left end of the cave. It was about 4' wide by 8' deep and long, but at the far end of it was a tube, about 6' in diameter, that went straight down as far as the eye can see in clear water.
When I went back home, I learned the history of the cave. Two natives robbed some gold prospectors in the late 1800's. A posse caught up to them and said they would spare their lives if they told them where the gold was. The natives said they stashed it in Hall City cave. The posse hung the natives and searched the cave finding nothing.
There aren't too many hiding places, save the bottomless pit. As it turns out, divers have attempted to get the gold before. This is an incredible account of one attempt (may have been in the 80's?). It is also a great story. Some of the equipment in that photo is still in the cave! I have read that divers are still interested in finding the gold, but it looks extremely difficult.
When I was there, I saw something strange beneath the water in the pool. It was a ring in stone, about 2 feet in diameter. Nearly perfectly round and quite natural looking. It sits just below the surface of the water and above the hole that goes down forever. One would almost have to swim through the ring to get to the third chamber of the cave. I did my best to capture the ring in the photos below. Another part of the legend was that Hall City Cave was a place of worship for the the Natives. I'm not sure if the ring had any influence in the selection of this location. One last interesting note is that there is a natural stone bridge nearby this cave.
In the first photo, the upper dark oval is a passage to the next chamber. It is the circle below it that is the ring. The ring is illuminated in the bottom photo.
The cave had some modest limestone formations but what was really spectacular was the pool of water at the left end of the cave. It was about 4' wide by 8' deep and long, but at the far end of it was a tube, about 6' in diameter, that went straight down as far as the eye can see in clear water.
When I went back home, I learned the history of the cave. Two natives robbed some gold prospectors in the late 1800's. A posse caught up to them and said they would spare their lives if they told them where the gold was. The natives said they stashed it in Hall City cave. The posse hung the natives and searched the cave finding nothing.
There aren't too many hiding places, save the bottomless pit. As it turns out, divers have attempted to get the gold before. This is an incredible account of one attempt (may have been in the 80's?). It is also a great story. Some of the equipment in that photo is still in the cave! I have read that divers are still interested in finding the gold, but it looks extremely difficult.
When I was there, I saw something strange beneath the water in the pool. It was a ring in stone, about 2 feet in diameter. Nearly perfectly round and quite natural looking. It sits just below the surface of the water and above the hole that goes down forever. One would almost have to swim through the ring to get to the third chamber of the cave. I did my best to capture the ring in the photos below. Another part of the legend was that Hall City Cave was a place of worship for the the Natives. I'm not sure if the ring had any influence in the selection of this location. One last interesting note is that there is a natural stone bridge nearby this cave.
In the first photo, the upper dark oval is a passage to the next chamber. It is the circle below it that is the ring. The ring is illuminated in the bottom photo.
Places like this will be thrashed by the uncaring masses until local government or environmentalists gate off the entrance. It is the way things are going, thanks to well-meaning OCD bloggers like yourself. Please consider whether sites like this should be publicized. The best protection is concealment, you know. Consider googling "BLM Volcanic Tablelands study" for a discussion of what the internet can do to a unique place.
ReplyDelete