Welcome to the Planetcaver blog, featuring stories from caves andunderground explorations around the world, from the point of view of a beginner caver.
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![]() | Pihlajasaari Bunker Helsinki's recreation islands are interesting, also from the point of view abandoned military structures and ruins. Today's excursion was to Sirpalesaari. Full story June 2018, Pihlajasaaren öljysäiliön rauniot, Helsinki, Finland; Pihlajasaaren bunkkeri, Helsinki, Finland Urban-Exploration (Ruins, Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made) | |
![]() | Stasi Bunker While on my way to a conference, I wanted to do a small detour to visit a bunker that I had read about. A Stasi bunker. Full story June 2018, Stasi bunker, Machern, Germany Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made) | |
![]() | Lummelunda Caver's Camp I spent the last five days on the beach in Gotland, camping with Swedish cavers in their yearly meet-up. A lot of fun, sunshine, grilling and old and new friends. And caving... more about that later. Heading home now. Full story June 2018, Lummelunda, Gotland, Sweden Caving (None, Social) | |
![]() | Training for Vertical Caving For the last two days, I've had the opportunity to be trained for techniques that are needed to traverse vertical cave shafts. Full story June 2018, Myllypuron Urheiluhalli, Helsinki, Finland Caving (Man-Made); Climbing (Mountain) | |
![]() | Replica Cave While in France, I happened to get a number of brochures for tourist caves. One of these brochures was about the Chauvet Cave, the cave with earliest known paintings from 30 000+ years ago. But, that cave is off limits to visitors, so they built a replica of the cave nearby! Full story May 2018, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland Caving (None); Travel | |
![]() | Karby Batteri More after-work bunker scouting. I thought I had already explored all the underground structures in the northern Korvlinjen, but apparently not. This "batteri" as they called it is a set of defence structures for guns, with small tunnels going from one structure to the next. Full story May 2018, Karby batteri 1, Täby, Sweden; Karby batteri 2, Täby, Sweden; Karby batteri 3, Täby, Sweden Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made) | |
![]() | Baume Obscure Cave I was on my way to Marseille for a conference. And on the way observing other interesting things... like caves. Full story (TGR version) May 2018, Baume Obscure Cave, Cote d'Azur, France Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour) | |
![]() | Grotte de Saint Cézaire Wow, that was a nice tour. Another brief cave visit while driving to my conference, but this time with a specialist guide, Eric, who has been exploring the depths of this cave. Full story (TGR version) May 2018, Grotte de Saint Cézaire, Cote d'Azur, France Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour) | |
![]() | Deadly bunker trap Well, that was dangerous. We're very careful when we visit blown-up bunkers. But, we did not expect intentional traps, at least not recent ones. Next to a bunker in Siuntio, Jarmo almost fell into a 5-meter deep well that was covered with fresh tree branches. Would he have hurt himself if he fell in, or even if not, would he have been able to get out if he was alone? Who does this sort of thing?! Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) April 2018, Ansabunkkeri, Siuntio, Finland; Kallionreunan bunkkeri, Siuntio, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made); Hiking | |
![]() | More Sepänkylä Bunkers Olli and I went to Sepänkylä to visit more bunkers, and to fly our drones. We found a standard Soviet Porkkala bunker model, relatively intact except for the room under the gun hole. But what wonderful flowstone! Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) April 2018, Sepänkylän metsäbunkkeri, Sepänkylä, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers) | |
![]() | Tivoliberget Forts I had a long day at my Kista office today, but on the way back to the airport I managed to scout ruins of fortifications and bunkers at Tivoliberget in Bergshamra, Solna, near Stockholm. Full story April 2018, Bunker, Bergshamra, Solna, Sweden; Ruins, Bergshamra, Solna, Sweden; Fortifications, Bergshamra, Solna, Sweden Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Ruins) | |
![]() | Petite Ceinture I'm feeling a bit alone here. The tunnel ends are too far to see even that pinhole of light. I'm in a long railway tunnel on the Petite Ceinture, the "little belt", an abandoned (I think) rail system under Paris. Full story (Suomenkielinen versio) April 2018, Old Charonne Station, Paris, France Urban-Exploration (Tunnels); Caving (Man-Made) | |
![]() | LA Caving Cave of Munits is a wonderful cave and a sacred site on Simi Hills in San Fernando Valley, half an hour from Los Angeles downtown. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) March 2018, Cave of Munits, Los Angeles, California, USA; Bronson Caves, Los Angeles, California, USA Caving (Rock, Rock-Sandstone, Morphology-Other, Basic); Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Tunnels, Quarries) | |
![]() | Kiven kivi? Looking for the rock that inspired Aleksis Kivi Kiven kivi? Today's trip to look for cave underneath the large boulder in Nurmijärvi that may have inspired Aleksis Kivi in the writing of a the first significant Finnish language novel, "Seitsemän veljestä" (seven brothers). And there was a nice, 10m meter cave under the rock. Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) February 2018, Hiidenkiven luola, Nurmijärvi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Boulders, Basic, Surveying); History | |
![]() | Will a bunker eventually turn into a cave? I wonder what happens to human-made underground structures, when enough time passes by? Will they turn into caves. or cave-like environments, eventually? Full story (TGR version) (Suomenkielinen versio) February 2018, Solbackan bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made) | |
![]() | Life, Universe, and Everything Hiking in the woods of Kirkkonummi, thinking about life, universe, and everything. And keeping an eye open for that rumored cave somewhere. Full story January 2018, Peuramaan luola-hiidenkirnu, Kirkkonummi, Finland Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Erosion) | |
This is the 16th set of articles. The previous sets were set 1, set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, set 6, set 7, set 8, set 9, set 10, set 11, set 12, set 13, set 14, and set 15. The next sets are set 17, set 18, set 19, set 20, set 21, set 22, and set 23.
The Planetcaver articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, flying, swimming, and saunas.