Frequently Asked Questions about caving in Lilburn
These are a few comments for those who have never been to Lilburn cave, to know what to expect and what to bring (or not).
Need some directions for getting to the old cabin site? You can find them here.
• How far away is the old cabin site?
It depends on where you live. To the trailhead from Fresno, it’s about an hour’s drive. From the Bay area, a 3.5-4 hour drive. From Southern California, about a 5-6 hour drive. From the trailhead to the old cabin site it’s about a two hour walk (roughly five miles).
• How is the hike?
It’s about a five mile hike, of a well-marked trail (UPDATE: Since Redwood Canyon is currently closed to the public, the trail crew hasn't worked on maintaining the trail. With the tree canopy gone, the section after the creek crossing is severely overgrown with bushes, some sections are really hard to follow. It's a good idea to download that area of the trail on your phone for offline use, just to double-check that you're more or less in the correct direction. We expect this to be the case until the canyon reopens to the public). Takes between 1.5 and 2 hours. The first mile is a gentle downhill slope, then it goes at the bottom of the canyon, relatively flat. The crossing of Redwood Creek is roughly halfway to the old cabin site. In the spring the flow may be very high, some people just take their boots off and walk on the bottom of the creek (some people barefoot, others with sandals or neoprene socks), but for the rest of the year you can easily cross by stepping on stones. From the crossing to the old cabin site it’s easier to think about it in thirds: the first one is mostly uphill, and the second two mostly downhill, with a small uphill right before the cabin. On a park brochure my guess is that it would be marked as “moderate-strenous. 2.5-3 hrs” (they always seem to plan the times for someone walking slow and taking pictures). It’s not bad, but it’s not completely flat.
• How much water do I need to bring?
This really depends on the time of the year and how the precipitation has been in that year and over winter. Some years there's active flow in the streams all year long, others surface water dries out in the summer. The good news is that there's always active water flow in the cave. The bad news is that the active water flow is in the cave, so when the surface water is gone, a water supply trip is necessary, to get water from the cave or from Big Springs.
A water filter is a great idea, especially a gravity based one for larger groups.
• What kind of wildlife is there in the canyon? Will I see any?
Lots of it! You’ll most likely see signs of it rather that actually seeing it, but you could see (or hear) spotted owls, squirrels, woodpeckers, crows, deer, mountain lion and bears. About these last two, we have seen signs of mountain lions, but we have never actually seen one in the canyon. And bears tend to be shy and move away from humans. Of course, the normal precautions apply (so please, no putting honey in your hand thinking that they’ll lick it and it would be an awesome picture for Instagram -- those often end up as a Darwin Award). There are people that have gone to Lilburn for years and have yet to see a bear in person. Most of us have seen them, though, but almost always from a distance, and bears try to stay away from people. We don’t worry about them while hiking or while in the area, but it is active bear territory. You can learn a little bit more about them here.
• Huh. So... are there bear boxes in the parking lot?
Yes, please move all your food and smelly items (toiletries, for example) from your car into the bear boxes at the trailhead. For winter trips there are no bear boxes at the alternate parking lot, so don’t bring smelly items that will have to stay in the car.
While in the canyon, the only park-approved methods for storing your food are bear canisters and counterbalance, so please take this into account when preparing for your trip.
• And what should I wear for caving?
The cave is in the low 40s °F (around 6 °C) year-long. Only some sections have water deep enough to get you very wet, but most sections have mud and some wetness. Most regular cavers in Lilburn wear a Cordura (Nylon) or PVC suit with fleece undergarments. How thick the undergarments depends on personal taste, but a good starting point is medium-weight pants, a lighter top since you'll be hot when moving around, and a heavier top in the pack in case you get cold when stopping. And for years and years people caved in jeans and denim jackets in Lilburn. So, pretty much whatever makes you feel comfortable and warm works. For footgear, there may be some wading, so often people wear rubber boots (“Wellies”) and they work great, but anything with a good tread (for traction in mud) and sticky rubber (for climbs) will work.
• Do I need to bring my vertical gear?
Yes. With a caveat. For most trips you don’t need any vertical gear once you are in the cave. The cave has an important vertical development, but most of it is free-climbable. Some trips do require full vertical gear at the survey objective, but usually people who go for those know it well in advance. However, one of the entrances is through a pit, and it is the standard practice to rig a rope, SRT (Single Rope Technique) style.
The standard rope climbing method used is Frog. If it is the first time you join one of the trips, and especially if no one in the trip has been with you in vertical caves you may be asked about your vertical caving background and you may be asked to demonstrate your basic technique prior to going to the cave, this in the interest of safety.
The caveat mentioned earlier is that if for any reason you prefer to not bring your vertical gear, you will only be able to join trips that use the Historic entrance, which doesn't require vertical gear.
• Is there cellphone signal at the old cabin site?
No, there's no cellphone signal at the old cabin area, although some people do get a little bit of signal along the trail, or at the trailhead parking lot. The last reliable spot with cellphone coverage is at Yokuts Valley (ex Squaw Valley), and there's Wi-Fi at the Grant Grove visitor's center.
• What kind of food do people bring?
Freeze dried food is great in these trips, to save on weight and preparation, since all you need is boiling water.
• I love wine (or beer). Can I bring some or will you guys think that I’m an alcoholic?
We will only think awful things of you if you don’t share! A glass of wine at the end of a hard day of work feels very nice.
• How does a typical weekend routine go? (Like, do y’all wake up at 6 am and go into the cave at 6:15 am?)
Of course! We start a little earlier than that actually with a cold shower and morning yoga. Well, no. The new routine after the event that turned "cabin" into "old cabin site" in this FAQ (and made us delete entire sections about how cool the cabin was, the stoves, charging stations, sleeping quarters, etc), is that we hike together on Friday, unless someone is really sure that they know the trail well enough to make it there on their own. On Saturday morning, after breakfast, go caving, then come back, make dinner, have a good time, go to sleep. On Sunday, get up at a reasonable time, break camp, pack and hike back, so depending on how the hike out goes, we could be back at the trailhead around noon or in the early afternoon.
Please bear in mind that this is not a grotto trip. People are expected to be self-sufficient, both above and below ground. Of course, we all have good days and bad days, and anyone can call off a trip at any moment for any reason (and the only acceptable response to this is "OK"), and anyone who requests a handline to help with a climb, or assistance with extra food or with sharing some of their pack weight will absolutely be helped. But please be aware of your abilities, and monitor your energy reserves. It's better to be conservative, especially in a remote and challenging cave like Lilburn.
• After the trip, can I upload my photos so that I can show my 10,000 followers what I did this past weekend? #cavinglife #extremeoutdoors #skincaretips
Sure! Please do so! Just a couple of things (and these are based on the National Cave Protection Act and also in consultation with the park's legal department, media department and branch lead of physical sciences):
- Using the cave name in the name of the photo is OK, but disclosing its location is not OK, for example "Lilburn Cave in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park" is OK, but "Lilburn Cave in such and such area in Kings Canyon National Park" is not OK.
- It is our policy to strip the metadata from pictures before posting them. Most phones and some cameras store the GPS location as embedded data in the picture, along with other information like focal length, shutter speed, etc. Removing this information is quick and easy and it prevents accidental posting of cave locations if someone were to extract the information from the picture. Sites like Facebook strip the metadata from the posted picture, but we prefer the added layer of security of not having an embedded GPS location from the beginning. You can ask us for guidance if you need help with this.
- Photos taken in special access areas (like Lilburn Cave, where a permit is needed to go into the cave) can not be made available for sale without a photography permit. The permit is about $150, and as a special dispensation for our group it will cover a whole calendar year, with the caveat that the photos have to be taken during trips that were included in the original schedule (that is, there can't be special photography trips added later to the calendar).