Last week I went with Jarmo Ruuth and Duncan Simey to look at Njiellalajävri lake and surroundings in the Käsivarsi wilderness area. This is a far-away area almost at the Norwegian border. We saw no one in the area except for a few reindeer. There are not even common hiking paths. The Internet knows very little about this lake, not even a picture. Despite the incredible beauty of the lakes and the rock! We knew the area only through satellite images, geological surveys and maps.
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August 2023, Njiellalanjávri, Enontekiö, Finland; Toskaljärven maanalainen joki, Enontekiö, Finland
Caving (None, Research); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Researching); Hiking; Flying
I had only heard about the Postojna Cave before coming to Slovenia. But it turns out that there are many caves (of course) as well as many very interesting or famous cave sites. Right next to the Postojna cave, a 10 minute car ride away for instance is the Predjama Castle, which is world's largest castle built in a cave.
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July 2023, Predjama Castle, Postojna, Slovenia
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst); Urban-Exploration (Military, Castles, Historic-Sites)
Took some dogs and kids to a cave today, the Högberget cave in Kirkkonummi (near Peuramaa). Amazingly, none of them were particularly impressed or interested. Just another place, moving on to picnics and computer gaming or peeing on plants and light poles... which is ok and natural.
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July 2023, Högberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (Basic, , Rock, Equipment, Morphology-Erosion)
We were driving back from the technical museum of Slovenia - a massive museum, by the way, well worth visiting. Then there was a hole in a cliff we drove by. I had to stop. The cliff was next to a parking lot and a bus stop, in town of Notranje Gorice near Ljubljana. No one was paying any attention... too many nice caves in this country, I guess. I decided to call the cave the Forgotten Cave. And I did go in.
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July 2023, Forgotten Cave, Notranje Gorice, Slovenia
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Unknown)
Riding the train to the inside of the Postojna cave in Slovenia. The ride takes eight minutes through wonderful cave scenery. And then the actual cave tour starts, lasting an hour and a half. Is this the best show cave in the world???
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July 2023, Postojna Cave, Postojna, Slovenia
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Showtour)
Petnička pećina is an old but abandoned show cave in the limestone rock hills near the town Ваљево (Valjevo), Serbia. While only 600 meters long, the cave feels massive due to its vertical differences and the high halls. Just look the two people in the above picture for scale. And the "eyes" in the ceiling! The cave is also Europe's largest cave tomb.
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June 2023, Petnička pećina, Ваљево, Serbia
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst)
Bärenhöhle: small cave by Central European standards, but a wonderful place to visit. And easy. A nice hike to a lush valley on a path and there you are. Water is flowing from the cave, dropping through the steps of rocks... moss has painted the cave green... there's a bit of climbing if you want to get to the end of the cave. Very nice!
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May 2023, Bärenhöhle, Rodalben, Germany; Bärenhöhle side cavelet 1, Rodalben, Germany; Bärenhöhle side cavelet 2, Rodalben, Germany
Caving (Basic, Rock-Limestone, Surveying); Caving (Basic, Rock-Limestone)
The Finnish Caving Association had a nice meet-up in May ... we went to the Rokokallio, a high cliff in Vihti. High for Finland at least :-) Everybody joined... men, women, and dogs... and I worked with Ralf to systematically go through the cliff area and take positions and photos of all the caves. There's a total of 21 underground holes in the cliff and under boulders, though a few the holes are perhaps too small to be proper caves. We used Ralf's addition to the association's cave database user interface (Psgeo) to make the getting of the positions easy.
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May 2023, Ahdas luolanen, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Halkeamaluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Hiotun kiven luola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Jakoluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kahden kolon luola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kallionkololuola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kivenalusluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Kivikasan luola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Käytäväluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Lippaluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Lohkareenalusluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Pikkuhalkeamaluolanen, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Pikkukiven alusluolanen, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Pikkulippaluolanen, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Päällysluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Pääluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Päänuotiopaikan luola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Syvä halkeamaluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Terävän kiven alusluola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Toinen nuotiopaikan luola, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland; Yläkolon luolanen, Rokokallio, Vihti, Finland
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Boulders); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Boulders); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Crack, Morphology-Erosion); Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Gneiss, Morphology-Crack)
Kamenice beach is an out-of-the-way for most people visiting the Komiza village. Komiza is a picturesque fishing village on the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea archipelago in Croatia.
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April 2023, Kamenice Beach Cave, Komiza, Croatia; Kamenice Beach, Komiza, Croatia; Dog Beach, Komiza, Croatia
Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (None, Waterbody-Sea, Beach)
Only in Japan: They have a "candle lending service" at cave. And it is not like it is a dark, lightless place even without the candles - the Enoshima cave has lighting, but obviously the candles are a remarkable addition to the experience. On the other hand, since the candles are actual candles with actual fire, there is now a need to have a fire alarm system, if somebody accidentally sets the cave on fire...
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March 2023, Enoshima Island, Fujisawa, Japan; Enoshima Iwaya Cave, Fujisawa, Japan; Enoshima Iwaya Cave 2, Fujisawa, Japan; Enoshima Iwaya mini cavelet 1, Fujisawa, Japan; Enoshima Iwaya mini cavelet 2, Fujisawa, Japan; Shinto Shrine, Fujisawa, Japan
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Erosion, Showtour); Caving (None, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Erosion); Hiking; Travel; Urban-Exploration (Historic-Sites)
Imagine summer. Imagine a nice beach in a southern country, like Greece. Way too hot! How about a beach in a cave, so that you don't have to get sun cream out? This, and so much more you can get in the Cave of the Seals, north of Corinth and Loutraki and on the Perachora peninsula. An hour from Athens.
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(TGR version)
February 2023, Cave of the Seals, Perachora, Greece
Hiking; Caving (Basic, Rock, Morphology-Erosion); Swimming (None, Waterbody-Sea, Beach)
A loved child has many names: Kastria Cave, Cave Lakes, Troupisio, and, of course, Σπήλαιο των Λιμνών. I'm in Peloponnese, few hours west of Athens. And in the village of Kastria, in the municipal region of Klitoria.
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February 2023, Cave Lakes, Klitoria, Greece
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Showtour)
Can we copy a cave, by scanning it with an iPhone lidar, then printing a model of the cave using a 3D printer? The short answers is yes, but there's a lot of complexities, and it is not as easy as one might initially think.
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February 2023, Lukupuro, Espoo, Finland
Caving (None, Surveying, Research)
Greetings from your sewer inspectors! This adventure in Ancient Corinth, Greece, started in a very promising way: why not visit a cave whose name is Σπηλιά «αιδοίο» της Αφροδίτης, or, Aphrodite's you-know-what? And I have to say, it does look very familiar, in fact it looks exactly like the Finnish Högberget cave. See below:
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February 2023, Σπηλιά «αιδοίο» της Αφροδίτης, Archea Corinthos, Greece
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Unknown, Surveying)
Wiesliczka is a suburb of Krakow. Under it is a massive salt mine, extending to a depth of approximately over 300 meters, with the total length of labyrinth passages spanning over 287 kilometers. The use of the site dates back to the 13th century, where the locals would harvest salt from brine (salt concentrate) wells dug on the wetlands. Later in the same century the wells started to be extended as deeper mine shafts and tunnels. Wiesliczka is not just a mine, it is a massive underground world and site of art and history. It is also a well-deserved UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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January 2023, Wieliczka Kopalnia Soli, Wieliczka, Poland
Urban-Exploration (Mines); Caving (Man-Made, Basic, Rock-Other, Showtour)
Wow, another cave country! Slovakia is I think my 28th country where I've been underground. Belianska Jaskyňa is the largest cave open to the public in the Tatra Mountain region in Slovakia. At the length of 3681 meters it is quite big. And, remarkably the tour actually is quite long, rising over a hundred meters in vertical as well inside the cave. And almost two kilometers long! One of the best walking cave tours I've been on.
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January 2023, Belianska jaskyňa, Vysoké Tatry-Tatranská Kotlina, Slovakia
Caving (Basic, Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Showtour)