Making the through trip between the Bone entrance and the Norman entrance of Bone-Norman cave has been a trip I’ve heard many members of both our grotto and other cavers speak about. Oddly, all I’d really ever heard about from people making the through trip was that there was a really long, nasty, super-dry, brutal crawl that connected Bone to Norman. Worse, it was recommended to bring a literal mask because of how dusty it was. A tad apprehensive over what I’d heard of this cave, I decided to brave it and go anyways.

But, lets start from the beginning. There were three of us on the trip. Myself, Jacob, and John. We left Friday a bit early so we could stop by the Low Moor Cave on the way up. There was a section of the quarry I wanted to investigate, as I noticed a rather substantial section of orphaned cave that had been bisected by the quarrying operation. We were able to find this section and spent a good couple hours exploring it. There was quite a lot back there! Tall canyon passages that created a maze of sorts. I also asked Jacob to investigate a crawlway that looked really unpleasant. He did so, and confirmed it was indeed terrible.

After a quick stop at Low Moor, we stayed the night at the WVACS cave research station. We woke up early the next day and began our adventure into Bone-Norman Cave. At first, it was dry. Very dry. So dry, in fact, I was glad I decided to actually bring a mask. I used it for most the Bone section of the cave, but as the crawling continued onwards, the cave got wetter. Eventually, I took the mask off.

We made quick progress through Bone Cave and then got to the crawlway. I was prepared for the worst, but, honestly, it really wasn’t that bad. We made quick time through the crawl as well, and finally came into Norman Cave proper.

Once we got to Norman Cave, however, I was in awe. This cave was absolutely amazing! Huge, Worley’s Cave’esque passageways with a stream going through the middle were there to greet us. We delved deeper into the cave, and were met with a mysterious noise that almost sounded like a loud engine or helicopter. Our group decided to investigate the source of this noise, which echoed down the mysterious passage before us. It got louder and louder until it was right around the corner. And then, we entered a large room with a stout, but remarkably beautiful waterfall falling into a large pool. It was the source of the noise.

We ventured further, guided by Jacob and his cave wayfinding. Sometimes we’d follow the stream. Other times, we’d pop up into a higher level and continue through sculpted canyons and winding passageways.

One of our goals on this trip was to reach the Great White Way, which is a particularly beautiful section of passage that is notorious for being hard to find. Thankfully, with some careful observation of the map, we managed to find what appeared to be the entrance to this section of the cave. After a quick peek around the corner, we jubilantly confirmed it did indeed look to be very grand, gypsum-covered, crystal-laden passageway that could very much be thought of as a “Great White Way.” Had we found the fabled area of this cave?

We pressed further. The passage continued for what felt like half a mile at least. It just kept going and going and going. Gypsum and white crystal encrusted the walls. The passage was large, and easy to walk in. The ground was flat. A very easy walk. As we pressed further, the passage branched and we found a wealth of beautiful helictites, soda straws, small columns, and gypsum flowers. This was indeed the Great White Way! We spent over three hours admiring this section of the cave. It was like a garden of stone with no end.

There was much more up here than just crystals and gypsum, however. We explored every corner of the Great White Way we could find, including crawling into every hole and investigating every passage we saw. One of these led to what I nicknamed the Guillotine Passage, for its tendency to require you to stick your head above a blade of rock in a rather remarkably narrow canyon passage. This passage, a tall, narrow canyon passage, winded back and forth and doubled back on itself. We pressed onwards as far as we could reach until we could no longer fit. The passage seemed to keep going, but we turned back after we had satisfied our curiosity.

Finally, realizing the time, we decide we must continue our journey to make the connection to the Norman entrance. The cave just kept surprising us around every corner. In some parts of the cave, the floor appeared to be a giant sponge, laden with holes and pot marked like a golf ball. In other places, we saw towering stacks of flowstone, donned with draperies and pools with sparkling crystals in them. The stream was an ever-present guide.

Finally, as the stream was becoming smaller and smaller, we heard another mysterious roar off in the distance. As we got closer, it became clear we had found a gigantic waterfall. This one dwarfed the one we saw earlier, and was no less quiet. It was roaring, sending out a cloud of mist towards us. Unfortunately, while we have a video of the waterfall, I do not have a photo to post. Even more unfortunately, it seemed that while we’d found this waterfall, it marked the end of our journey to follow the water. There was no way we were climbing up to the top of it.

So…. now what?

We figured we were probably pretty close to the Norman entrance, but we weren’t quite sure exactly where the entrance was, nor how to get to it. After a glance at the clock, our group turned to leave this room, destined to back-track to figure out how to connect up to the entrance so we could leave the cave. “Matthew!” Jacob yelled over the roar of the waterfall as we were walking back down the stream. “What?” I responded. The sound of the waterfall was too loud for complex speech to get through. Only simple words and gestures would do. Sure enough, Jacob pointed up into the ceiling of the room. I simply nodded. There was a hole up there, and it looked climbable. I found may way up the climb and began looking around. There was a large void up there, and then what appeared to be a breakdown crawl that went off towards the top of the waterfall. Furthermore, it sounded like you could hear the waterfall from in the breakdown. I investigated. I ended up popping out in the stream passage above the waterfall. Jacob and John were to see me standing atop the passageway that the waterfall came out of, and I merely gave them a thumbs up. Speech wouldn’t do.

Getting the message, they found their way up the climb and through the breakdown crawl, meeting up with me. Surely this must be the way out, right? Well… I’d only looked just around the corner before feeling confident this indeed did keep going. Around the corner after, however, we were met with the water flowing out of a crack in the rock which was absolutely not traversable. After a bit of confusion, we managed to find another breakdown crawl/climb that went upwards. I checked it out. After climbing up, I saw what I thought was a headlamp in the distance. A headlamp? No, it was not a headlamp. It was light. A large white spot. Upon closer inspection, it was the exit! We had found our way!