MORE PLANETCAVER STORIES

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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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)

Cosy Bunker
For sale: cosy apartment with flower decorations, strongly built, safe and in the middle of nature. In good condition. Also largely underground and abandoned 100 years ago.
Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)

January 2018, Lugnetfortet trenches, Arninge, Stockholm, Sweden; Lugnetfortet, Arninge, Stockholm, Sweden
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

Skevabackgrotta Search for the Lost Cave
Jarmo and I have been looking for a lost cave. The Finnish Caves book notes a rumour of the "Skevabackgrotta" cave in Kirkkonummi, but does not give exact location. And notes that the cave entrance has collapsed.
Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)

January 2018, Peuramaan pieni vaakahalkeama, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Peuramaan pieni pystyhalkeama, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Peuramaan pikku halkeama ja juuttuneet kivet, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Peuramaan luola-hiidenkirnu, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Peuramaan iso vaakahalkeama, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Erosion, Basic)

EuroSpeleo!
After some prodding from friends in the Finnish Caving Society, I finally decided that I should travel to my first caving conference, the EuroSpeleo!
Full story

January 2018, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland
Caving (None)

Östersolberg II
While I was travelling for work and fun for the last couple of weeks, Jarmo had scouted several bunker sites. His visit to an incredibly large bunker in Siuntio's Östersolberg provoked our interest as well, and last Saturday Janne, Olli, and me went there as well.
Full story
(TGR version)

January 2018, Knapantien suuri bunkkeri, Östersolberg, Siuntio, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

Stubböle's Kasabergen Bunkers
Jarmo, Olli and me explored the Stubböle area on Sunday, and played around with drones. This area is in Siuntio, on the Soviet occupation area of Porkkala, and they seem to have had bunkers on every little hill around the fields.
Full story
(TGR version)

January 2018, Säiliön raunio, Stubböle, Inkoo, Finland; Pohjoinen bunkkeri, Kasabergen, Stubböle, Inkoo, Finland; Eteläinen bunkkeri, Kasabergen, Stubböle, Inkoo, Finland; Kellari, Sunnankärrsbergen, Stubböle, Inkoo, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

Näsbacken Bunker
This is a difficult bunker to get to. Not because being covered by dirt or blown up. But the whole area is guarded by, well, people who do not like other people to visit their part of the country. I have seen plenty of blocked roads, but the Sarvvik people have managed to block more than ten square kilometres of land.
Full story

December 2017, Näsbacken bunker, Sarvvik, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

Ingels Bunker
Jarmo and I visited the Ingels bunker. Unfortunately, it turned out that we could only find a concrete slab, and found no way to enter or peek inside, or even figure out if there was anything underneath.
Full story

December 2017, Bunkkeri, Ingels, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

Abandoned Soviet Bunker in Fagerkulla
I had a tough week, basically trying to survive on 4-5 hours of sleep for every night, due to travel and meetings. I had talked about possibly exploring something with my friend Jarmo on Saturday. But by the time I woke up, it was already afternoon...
Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)

December 2017, Fagerkullan bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

Faerly Hole in the Jenny Jump Forest
The "Shades of Death Road" address was odd, but the day and the nature was wonderful. I found the Faerly Hole cave easily on the shores of the Ghost Lake, and walked in. It wasn't before I had crawled through a small hole that I realised something the rock walls above me were covered in layers of spiders and crickets. Thick enough to form a dark mass. And that mass had now awakened and was dropping and jumping on me.
Full story

December 2017, Faerly Hole, Jenny Jump State Forest, New Jersey, USA
Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic); Hiking

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, and set 22.

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.