CCaver Steve Millet, a partner on many expeditions, arranged permission for us to explore the sumps at Schoharie Cavern in NY. We all were busy, so it was not until the last week of access in 2022 that we made arrangements. Knowing we had to act quickly to avoid putting it off until spring of 2023, we made plans to get out to the cavern the night before our last available day.  We camped on site so we could get an early start and make the most of our limited time. We were excited about the expedition and had a wonderful evening filled with fantastic views of the Milky Way, and the sounds of a pack of wolfs who were curious about us. The next morning we got up early and headed into the long wet cavern. Not including a few necessary climbs, carrying the ROV through the 2000ft of the cavern was an enjoyable and easy walk. We admired the many beautiful formation hidden within the cave.

We setup our base of operation on a mud bank at the end of the cavern. Unsure of what challenges we might encounter, we were a bit apprehensive. Once we got the ROV in the water, it was the beginning of 45 minutes and 220ft of an incredible journey. We got much further into the sumps than we expected, and were amazed with the clarity of the water. We were excited to have gotten such crisp and beautiful images to not only further our knowledge of this wonderful cavern, but also for those who have always wondered what laid beyond the surface of the water at the end of Schoharie Cavern.

On our way out of Schoharie Cavern, we spent another hour or so getting incredible footage of the beautiful formation of the cavern for the documentary. We accomplished many of the things we needed too, but still will need to return in 2023. We want to do a second run through the sumps, along with other important tasks to better document the cavern.

Though the complete documentary is still in the works, Mike made a small teaser video, which I added the link for below. Hopefully we will have the complete documentary ready sometime next year. A full report of our first trip into the sumps of Schohaire Cavern will be published soon in the Northeaster Caver.