cave diving in Oregon

narcosis Junky · Post by **narcosis Junky** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 9:49 am

Cave diving in Oregon

http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/segment ... ave+diving

Does any one know the location of this. It's interesting.

yann

guitarmaker · Post by **guitarmaker** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 10:21 am

It could be Malheur cave near Burns Oregon, the cave mouth shown at the beginning of the video looks like it. Malheur cave however, is certainly no secret (growing up in Burns I've been there several times), it actually has a masonic lodge in it even tho it's just a bunch of bleachers. I've spent a lot of time in the Eastern Oregon back country, the Owyhees, Trout Creek Mtns, etc. and I don't know of another cave this size that has water in it.

http://www.burnslodge.org/malheur.html

Mattleycrue76 · Post by **Mattleycrue76** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 10:39 am

Lol in the video the divers compare themselves to "special forces teams in wartime" and claim that cave diving has killed more people than any other type of diving due to "lack of training and proper equipment" and then they don single tanks with yoke valves and go exploring.

Nwbrewer · Post by **Nwbrewer** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:39 am

Don't forget the snorkels. Those are really helpful in a cave I'm sure. I also liked towards the end, the "expert cave diver" finning vertically for the surface, with fin tips covered in mud, the silt dripping off them.

It was hard to take a grown man seriously when he's wearing dual bright pink flashlights strapped to his head.

The mentioned several times that these were all certified cave divers. I'm hoping most of them (single al80 yoke tanks) were in the entry air pocket zone, (no overhead) not really in the cave.

Grateful Diver · Post by **Grateful Diver** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 7:22 pm

I couldn't help wondering about all that ... and if any of these folks have actually been trained to dive in caves.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

psydiver · Post by **psydiver** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 8:41 pm

looked to me like they were underneath the kayaks for most of it....only overhead at the last part
maybe within 200' of air?

narcosis Junky · Post by **narcosis Junky** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:06 am

To me, it looked like a bunch of college certified divers that got lucky. Between the yokes, aluminum tanks, duel pink head lights strapped to the head, single tanks, kids helping to carry the kayaks. It don't look like military trained experts. I would have expected duel tanks, din valves, how about some frog kick, at least a little frog kick. And how about some helmets. No helmets? But yet they are some of the most trained divers in the world with typical open water equipment! hum m. And then they could continue because of silt and they didn't have any lines to lay out. Yup! they are pros all right.

guitarmaker · Post by **guitarmaker** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:48 pm

I had asked a question about Malhuer Cave in an earlier post in the tech section and below is the reply I got from CaptnJack. ... and I'm pretty sure this is the cave in the video, hardly some remote and scarcely visited site. I remember as a kid in High school hearing camp fire stories of divers entering and never being seen again - makes you want more than pink flashlights and snorkels doesn't it?

Anyway, doesn't sound like much of a dive but if your interested I can probably scope out more access info on Malhuer cave as I still have relatives in Burns. Just send me a PM.

Ron

CaptnJack wrote:Its privately owned by the Lodge according to my Tricities friend. Its been dove historically, but not allowed without permission, the tube is about 4-500ft long underwater, no side tunnels.

Nwcid · Post by **Nwcid** » Tue Jul 22, 2014 6:23 pm

I know this is an older post, but I was just in this location today. I found this link looking for the video I heard existed. Sadly there is very little info about the system, yet lots of questionable diving.

We hiked in and made me wish I had my dive gear. I know we are not cave certified yet, but makes me want to get it.

The location IS the Malhuer Cave. I can post the pics if needed.

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 8:05 am

Don't bother. Its privately owned and diving is not allowed.

Nwcid · Post by **Nwcid** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 9:15 am

Like I said, I know it was an older post. People were trying to verify the location so I was just confirming. We were in it yesterday and hiked back to the water. It was pretty cool.

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 9:30 am

I bet it was comfy inside compared to the desert.

Its a shame its closed to diving, seems like a nice cave.

Nwcid · Post by **Nwcid** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 9:35 am

It reminded me a lot of the lava tube by Bend that runs under Hwy 97. This seemed cooler though since it ended in water and is not run by a park service. Just a random hole out in middle of a huge field. I wonder how many more of these kind of things are out there that have not been found.

LowDrag · Post by **LowDrag** » Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:57 pm

I talked to Karl on Facebook last night. He said that the exploration was conducted in 2001/2002. I have no idea what cave diving or dive gear was like 14 years ago but it seems to me that there would be at least some difference from then to now. Anybody know?

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:02 pm

Almost zero difference among the dir types.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:06 pm

CaptnJack wrote: Its a shame its closed to diving, seems like a nice cave.

Any background on this?

LowDrag · Post by **LowDrag** » Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:15 pm

Jeremy wrote:Almost zero difference among the dir types.

Maybe it is the DIR types that are bashing my friend without knowing him?

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:23 pm

LowDrag wrote:
Jeremy wrote:Almost zero difference among the dir types.
Maybe it is the DIR types that are bashing my friend without knowing him?

Not sure - were these friends of yours in the video? I can't see the video from my iPad.

spatman · Post by **spatman** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:00 am

Good write up on an underwater survey of the cave on page 6:

https://caves.org/committee/membership/ ... 20news.pdf

LowDrag · Post by **LowDrag** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:56 am

Jeremy wrote:
LowDrag wrote:
Jeremy wrote:Almost zero difference among the dir types.
Maybe it is the DIR types that are bashing my friend without knowing him?
Not sure - were these friends of yours in the video? I can't see the video from my iPad.

The only person I know in that production is Karl Anderson. I have never had the opportunity to dive with him though. We worked together years ago and were just reunited about 2 years ago when he found me on Facebook. I know he is a certified NAUI instructor but I do not know if he is instructing currently. I do know from conversations we have had recently, since meeting up again, that he is very safety oriented. He also tells a very animated story about his life's adventures. I feel fairly safe in saying that he was not saying the group was trained like a military unit but rather that they worked together very much like a military unit does. Meaning that they were working together in unison and not stumbling all over each other. As for the college students, Karl did mention in the video that they were from a local college and there to help out.

P.S.: I have nothing against the "DIR" folks. I actually like the way DIR divers set up their gear and have tried to emulate their gear configuration and diving style minus the some of the uh, uh, uh thoughts/comments about non-DIR divers. If you know what I mean.

CaptnJack · Post by **CaptnJack** » Fri Jul 25, 2014 1:58 pm

LowDrag wrote:
Jeremy wrote:Almost zero difference among the dir types.
Maybe it is the DIR types that are bashing my friend without knowing him?

As I understood there was some "competition" over this site about a decade+ ago. The closure by the landowner is in part related to that conflict. I don't think there were any "DIR-types" involved in that at all. At least I have never heard of their involvement. I do believe their was considerable concern that non-certified cave divers were accessing the site. At that time cave training was still developing and non-certified divers were often dying in (Florida) caves and causing a lot of paranoia with land owners about liability.

Rusty Bachmann is a cave diver who lives in the tri-cities and I have spoke with him about the cave. Its permanently closed. A good testimony to not being assholes and pissing off landowners in dick swinging contests over training.

Northwest Dive Club