Dwarven Treasure Hunt or Sanbolin Caves 2011
Dates - from 28.04 to 2.05 2011
The length of the active part is 14 km. forest glades, 5 caves
Adventure duration - 5 days
Route of movement: Komsomolsk-on-Amur - Sanboli - 77 km. - cave "Guarding Spear" - 77 km - Sanboli village - Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
Chief magician SHIP: Shcheglova Irina Pavlovna.
Tourist club: "Altair", Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
For the blue mountains, for the white fog
The caravan will go to caves and holes;
We'll leave for fast waters before sunrise
For an ancient treasure from fabulous countries.
Poems: J.R.R. Tolkien
Cave complex "Guarding spear" - to the north-east of the city of Khabarovsk in the middle course of the Kur river, 80 km. Guarding spear ". The caves are specially protected natural areas of local importance. When visiting these caves, gnomes will be able to admire the valley of the Kur River, the vast expanses of the left bank of this river, valley and mountain-taiga vegetation, almost untouched by man. In the rivers Kur and Ulsa you can go fishing, especially with a spinning rod and a float rod. The caves are available for visiting by novice gnomes without special training.
Dictionary of Middle-earth:
Hobbits- an inconspicuous people, but ancient. They are characterized by a desire for a peaceful life, and love for a well-groomed land. Their hearing is sensitive, their eyesight is sharp, and their movements are agile and dexterous, despite the tendency to be overweight and the desire for peace.
Gnomes- fabulous dwarfs from Germanic and Scandinavian folklore. According to legends, they are bearded, live underground and are famous for their wealth and skill.
Trolls(Swedish: Troll, pl. Trollen) are creatures from Scandinavian mythology that figure in many tales. Trolls are mountain spirits associated with stone, usually hostile to humans.
Goblins(fr. goubelin) - supernatural human-like creatures that live, according to Western European mythology, in underground caves and cannot stand sunlight.
Beorn(English Beorn) - a man, the leader of the northern clan of the Beorling. Beorn was a werewolf and could transform into a bear. He did not eat meat and intelligent animals lived in his house.
Ents(English Ents) - Shepherds of the Trees. Their purpose is to take care of the trees. They live in forests and do not interfere with the events of the outside world, except in exceptional cases or when the forests are threatened.
Skinner- decomp. narrow, cramped manhole (in a cave, etc.).
Grotto(French grotte from Italian grotta) is a karst form of relief, a shallow cave with a vaulted ceiling and a wide entrance, or an extension of the cave after a narrow passage.
Prehistory
Small stature, hairy legs
A curly-haired kid walks along the path.
Leads a spotted pony
He is to a kid that horses are a knight.
"The Hobbit"
Once upon a time there lived an ordinary hobbit. One fine spring day, our old hobbit by the name of the Leader (although he is small, he did not get his nickname in vain), his old friend, the gnome Sir Arthur, who was familiar from his studies at the Hobby School in the Shire, dropped in. Sir Arthur was a great and powerful ultra long distance teacher. He persuaded the hobbit to go on a hike for the treasures of the gnomes, captured by the dragon Smog and hidden somewhere in the caves, near the village. Sanboli. And since the hobbit is not able to undertake such a risky adventure alone, Sir Arthur called 72 dwarfs with him, you never know who can come in handy in the search for treasures, and one famous SHIPS magician, who gave Sir Arthur a secret treasure map.
As always, before any trip, it was necessary to thoroughly prepare and collect everything you need, so the magician gave the gnomes a list of things, and also held a conversation with everyone about the behavior in the cave:
1. Each gnome must have two reliable sources of light. If there is a malfunction, you must inform the senior gnome about it.
2. Each gnome must have a helmet that fits securely and comfortably on his head.
3. Visiting the cave alone or without the elder gnome is prohibited.
4. It is impossible to break a certain order of movement in the cave.
5. Care must be taken in the places indicated by the magician.
6. It is unacceptable to lag behind the group. If you are still behind the group, stay where you are, calmly wait until they return for you.
You will only open the door, beyond the threshold
Let me step on my foot
And hundreds, thousands of roads
Will appear before you.
The long-awaited day came and all the gnomes participating in the search and seeing off their relatives gathered at the railway station. At 8-40 they got into a steel cart, which was moving to the city of Khabarovsk. The most important thing for a hobbit, and for a gnome, of course, is not to miss lunch. On the way, many gnomes did important things - they accumulated energy, but otherwise they just slept. The rest used maps to find out which of them was smarter. Travel time flew by quickly and amounted to 5 hours.
At 13-40 the cart arrived in the village. Sanboli. Three friendly aborigines were already waiting for them there on self-propelled freight carts of the ZIL type. All the hobbits loaded their backpacks into the carts and sat there themselves, except for the magician, of course, he went in the cabin, along with the aborigine.
The timber road passes by a sawmill and a local gas station, and then continues through a swamp. The carriages crossed many crystal clear mountain rivers. On the right side of the road, there was a wonderful view of the snow-capped peaks of the Dzhaki-Unakhta-Yakbyyan mountain range. A little more and they got over the r. Chur on the old bridge. Not far from the bridge, goblins were fishing with rods. The gnomes did not interfere with them, since it is bad jokes with the goblins, and continued on their way.
16-00 After 2.5 hours we drove the 70th km. We unloaded the shoulder bags. The active part of the hike begins here. After 3 km they came out to Beorn's hut. The owner of the forest was not at home, but the Komsomol gnomes settled on the wells behind the hut, they also wanted to find the treasures of the gnomes, probably one of ours let it slip, but decided to spend the night in the hut, as they were very tired, and continue their journey in the morning. An icy stream ran near the hut. The dwarfs made a halt and ate some homemade cakes.
The road runs between the hills
Under the forest canopy,
And there will be a ford across the river,
The bonfire is sometimes at night.
We continued to move along the timber road. Further, at the crossroads, we turned off the road to the left and moved down the stream. We crossed a mountain river through a fallen tree. After a while we went to the "Log". Then we moved towards the intended goal, guided by the red ties in the trees. The gnomes, who were the first to notice the huge trees, turned out to be sleeping Ents who had not yet woken up after hibernation. The dwarfs did not wake them up. Everything has its time. Huge sinkholes in the soil began to come across in the forest - karst sinkholes. It feels like a meteor shower has passed in this place.
20-00 Arrived at the base. Senior magicians made reconnaissance in the area, they did not find anyone suspicious. The magician summoned fire with the help of a magic staff, and the dwarves broke up into four camps, in each of which the elder dwarf was in charge, set up tents and cooked supper.
Far, far away, there is a beautiful forest,
It has stood for centuries under the cover of heaven.
A wonderful people lived and live in it,
Everyone lives in it for a long time.
And every resident here is friends with animals,
Communicates with them, lives and does not grieve.
But what is the name of this people?
A man will call them elves.
9-00 Breakfast first of all. This morning, waking up, the gnomes noticed that hobbits from Amursk and a group of elves from Khabarovsk were camped next to them, as well as Komsomol gnomes drove up on wells. Everyone wanted to find the missing treasures of the dwarves.
Near the camp, in the low grass, you come across small vampires (ticks), who strive to cling to the place where it is tastier and drink blood. Therefore, after moving through the forest, you need to periodically look around and check your clothes.
It was decided to start the search for artifacts from the "Chipmunk" cave. The cave lives up to its name. Its narrow, elongated, inclined passages, with their bends, resemble a chipmunk mink. At the very bottom of the cave, a large hall awaited us, where we could straighten up to our full height and take a short break, but there were no treasures there. It's a pity. Before descending into this cave, seasoned gnomes immediately put on knee pads and elbow pads to protect their legs and arms from the sharp edges of the rock.
Any gnome who has never been in a cave before must undergo initiation before descending into it. For this, horizontal and vertical railings, a butterfly were stretched, and an artificial skinner was built. After the dedication, a solemn part of the event took place, at which all dedicated gnome-cavers were presented with an irreplaceable thing, namely the map of the "Guarding Spear" cave.
They decided to continue their search for treasures in the Dalgiprotrans cave. It is located on the bank of the river at the bottom of the cliff and has several entrances. The entrance to the cave from the side of the river is a grotto. Behind the grotto there is a medium-sized hall with a low ceiling. On the left of the hall is a system of short-length passages. One of these corridors runs alongside the second exit. In this area, there is a small glacier in thickness, with a narrow tongue stretching along an inclined course into a small dead-end grotto. After examining this cave, the gnomes came to the conclusion that there are no treasures here either. We need to keep looking.
After lunch, in order to get to know each other better, the elder gnomes arranged dating games for everyone on the main glade.
We can handle any trouble
After all, we are not afraid of the beast,
And the enemy is running from you and me,
As soon as we step out the door.
Today the senior gnomes arranged a rope-ascent and descent training in the Kvadrat cave, using speleo equipment. Sir Arthur was on the insurance.
The entrance to the Kvadrat cave is located 1.5 meters from the cliff. The whole cave is one relatively large hall with a stone - block debris. The floor of the hall is inclined with a depth of 7 to 13 meters. At the top of the hall there is a rhombic, almost square opening measuring 2 by 4 meters. The exit connects the Square with the entrance of the Guarding Spear.
The Guarding Spear cave has a passage depth of 32 meters, the total length of the passages is 1225 meters, difficulty category 2 B, type G. In this cave we had to explore the following halls: Main, Fairy Tale, Sleeping, Inclined, Steps (Tricky), Second. And also ride on an ice coil, visit Sanka Kondrashka, look at the stone guard, wander through the labyrinths, go through the stone forest, freeze in the freezer and explore the upper galleries. This cave strikes the imagination with a variety of interesting and wonderful things: blue frost on the walls, stunning ice and stone stalactites and stalagmites, cute bats, frozen rivers and waterfalls, legs in front of a crawling gnome.
And so the exploration of the largest cave began! The dwarves entered the cave through the Central Entrance. Further passed the Second Hall. From here there are two ways: to the right, having rolled merrily, along the ice coil, you can get to the Main Hall, and if you crawl straight along the passage, you will find yourself in the Fairy Tale hall. From the Main Hall you can enter the Sleeping Room, the stone forest and the freezer. From the Fairy Tale, descending the rope to the lower level (6 meters), you can get to the Ghost Hall. To get to the stone guard, you need to go through a small skinner from the Ghost Hall.
And so the dwarfs cautiously approached the place that leads to the stone guard. They decided to send a hobbit to reconnaissance, so they (hobbits) are born scouts, they have fluffy fur on their feet, which allows them to move almost silently. The leader doubted for a long time and did not immediately dare to look into the skinner. But then curiosity and thirst for treasure won, and he climbed inside. It turned out that the stone guard is the petrified dragon Smaug. This means that treasures must be hidden somewhere nearby. The gnomes for distillation, pushing each other, rushed to the stone guard, since there was no one to be afraid of, and carefully, centimeter by centimeter, explored the entire territory adjacent to the guard. But they found nothing. “Cheer up, the dragon must have hidden them,” said the cheerful hobbit.
After lights out, the hobbit and the company played crocodile (associations), mafia and just sang songs to the bagpipes around the fire.
This is for men -
Knives and axes
And there is no such reason
To avoid playing.
Today it became known that yesterday the magician, while exploring the caves, accidentally lost his magic ring. In order to find him faster, search work was organized in the form of a fun competition. Four teams of dwarfs volunteered to search for the ring. I had to again explore all the nearby caves, since the magician did not remember in which cave, he dropped his ring. The first team was the fastest to find the lost ring and return it to its owner, for a reward (gingerbread).
Dear the distance,
Under the sun or under the moon
And you come back home.
You are silent, you look, you look around,
And in the meadow you will see
Familiar childhood home,
Hills, trees and flowers.
We searched all known caves, climbed all passable passages, passages, dead-end areas, grottoes, halls, skins, but we never found the stolen treasures. One moonlit night, the magician accidentally glanced at the map, and at that time, moon runes appeared in the corner of the map. Deciphering the runes gave the following: "Warm me with the warmth of a candle, a terrible secret is hidden inside." Gently warmed up the map with a candle and the inscription "Pipe" appeared on the map. What does that mean?
Of course, the treasure must be sought in the Trumpet cave. The cave got its name from the shape of the entrance. The entrance to the cave is a 37 meter vertical shaft starting at the bottom of the funnel. It's not so easy to go down to the "Pipe", you need to use speleo equipment, but the gnomes were ready for such a turn of events.
The bravest gnomes descended into the "Pipe" in anticipation of the long-awaited treasures, but this year the cave was flooded with water and only a small island remained where a search could be carried out. Since the gnomes are unimportant swimmers, they did not dare to go further.
The secret of the treasures remained unsolved. Maybe next year, the "Pipe" will allow you to find the stolen treasures. But on the other hand, all the participants in this adventure received a positive charge of vivacity, a lot of impressions and many new experiences, as well as met interesting people and just had a great time.
Film: "Underground Silence". Search for treasure in the cave. What can be found in the cave. Search with a metal detector in the Hunting Cave, near the village of Goloustnoye, Irkutsk region. What finds were made in the cave. Written by Rudolf Kavchik.
In the study of underground labyrinths, traces of human presence were found. At the beginning of the last century, the shores of Lake Baikal were densely populated. Buryat uluses and letniki were adjacent to Russian fishing villages. Now from many of them only the lower rims and the remains of the cellars remain. The study of these areas of metal detectors, as a rule, did not lead to significant finds.
Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the surrounding villages vied with each other about the exceptional wealth of those who once lived in this territory. Where has the wealth disappeared? On this score, the local population has its own version.
The dashing times of dispossession of hardworking men have come to distant Siberian corners on the shores of Lake Baikal. Without waiting for people in leather jackets and with Mauser to take away the good they had acquired, the man loaded two carts early in the morning and went into the forest. He returned in the evening with empty carts. The neighbors whispered, but they could only guess what the neighbor could take and where. The further fate of the man is unknown. Where he went is now a legend.
Where can you hide two carts, so much so that the good does not disappear in the damp earth? One logical answer suggests itself: in a cave. There are enough of them along the shores of Lake Baikal. One of these caves is located in the village of Maly Goloustnoye. According to the stories of local residents, the children periodically climbed into it and brought either a sword or a rifle. When they brought a combat grenade, they decided to blow up the cave.
The entrance is now closed. In the same area there is a cave in which peasants dissatisfied with the Soviet regime were hiding. Only the exact place where it is located has already been forgotten - the last witnesses have died.
The cave, which we decided to visit, was opened quite recently, in 2006. Before that, only a limited circle of local hunters knew about it. We decided to explore this cave in search of a treasure.
The cave is located between Maly Goloustnoye and Bolshoy Goloustnoye, about 8 kilometers from the road, three of which must be walked along a well-trodden path (you cannot drive to the cave by car).
The entrance to the cave is impressive in size - even if you call in by car. Upon entering the cave, you immediately find yourself in a huge hall. There is not enough light from the headlamps to illuminate the vaults of the hall. Only the powerful lamp of the on-camera light from our movie camera illuminated the cave with an even, all-filling light. We were amazed at the beauty and grandiose scale of the hall. It is truly large, the size of a basketball court.
The bottom of the cave is covered with a thick layer of fragments of stones. It is difficult to follow them. What is the depth of the rocks and where is the bottom of the cave? It is not difficult to make a cache in such a pile of stones. You can quickly and without a trace hide anything under them. There is no trace left on the bare stones: sprinkled with pebbles - and the treasure will be completely hidden from strangers. You can pass over it without even guessing about its existence.
We examine the bottom of the cave with a metal detector, poking the coil into the most accessible places between the stones in the hope that if there is a large volume of metal, we will find it. In such conditions, it is impossible to find a small box or a handful of coins - the depth between the stones is too great, even for a modern metal detector. Two corridors lead from the first large hall into the depths of the cave. You feel like a head of cheese. Galleries and vertical fireplaces intersect at different levels, making it easy to get lost here. The moves are beautiful and tempting, but hardly anyone would hide their treasures in such a dangerous place. Here you yourself would not get stuck and not get lost.
The stone floor began to alternate with dense clay, on which the clear prints of our shoes remained. Strikingly far from the entrance to the cave, a terrible hall opens - its floor is strewn with animal skeletons. Why did they get into this cave, into the dark hall of skeletons? Nobody killed these animals. They lie in the same positions in which death found them. The microorganisms of the cave destroyed the flesh alien to the underworld, leaving only bare bones.
Bats sleep peacefully on the high vault of the Skeleton Hall. All winter they will sleep upside down and wake up only with the appearance of the first insects. The temperature in the cave is constant all year round - about zero. So they are not afraid of severe Siberian frosts.
Moving through the cave, I tried to detect at least some kind of human presence: rock paintings, soot of torches on the arches of the corridors. The metal detector was silent. We did not find any rock paintings, except perhaps modern coins in one of the halls left by visitors to the cave (probably to return to this beauty, or this is an offering to the underground spirit of the cave).
According to the reports of archaeologists conducting excavations in caves, they find convincing evidence of human life in caves: stone tools of work and life, animal bones. But there is a main difference between the work of archaeologists and treasure hunting. Treasure hunters with a metal detector are not interested in such small household finds, and it is impossible to find such small household items in the age-old layers of the cave bottom with a metal detector. And the metal detector does not react at all to the monuments of the Stone Age, and the treasure hunter will pass by them. This circumstance excludes the destruction of archaeological monuments, and if treasure hunters inform scientists about their accidental finds, science will be of great benefit.
A narrow manhole, through which we squeezed with difficulty, led into a small room that connected with a huge hall. We looked at this hall from the upper gallery. The headlamps were barely enough to illuminate him. Looking at all this splendor, we remembered the heroes of Mark Twain - Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, who, like us, explored a mysterious cave in search of treasure.
After some time, our path was blocked by a small, 5-meter ledge with a negative angle of inclination, which descended into the next hall. It was impossible to descend into it without a rope. After overcoming this obstacle and going into the next hall, we heard a lingering signal from the metal detector, which made everyone flinch with surprise. The signal is long and inconsistent. Looks like something long underground. A gun or a knife? I cannot find the object with the pinpointer. And I can't figure out why. There is not enough pinpointer sensitivity. But he can detect a target at a depth of 10-15 centimeters. What is this? I am lost in conjecture. I hope this is at least a flintlock left by the hunters. Unfortunately, we were disappointed: someone scattered a handful of aluminum rivets in this place, so the signal was unstable and over a large area.
Moving further through the underworld, we found ourselves in a small hall, which was given a tasty name - Condensed. Not otherwise, once upon a time there flowed rivers of milk with jelly banks. It is impossible to resist not to taste and make sure that this is really not condensed milk. After walking a little more along the high corridor, we found ourselves on the threshold of a huge hall, the size of a small football field. Even the powerful on-camera light could not illuminate this entire hall.
A small lake in the recess of the hall was filled with clean, transparent water. And the water is not ice cold at all, but quite normal, 25 degrees. So it seemed. Examining this room with a rocky floor, I did not even expect any finds - it was too far from the entrance, at least 40 minutes walk, if you know the way.
The loud signal of the metal detector echoed in this stately hall. Rather, curiosity guided me than the hope of finding treasures. Rather, it is a bank or batteries left by cavers. But the find amazed not only my companions, but also me. It turned out to be a silver coin the size of a small coffee spoon, at the end of which was attached a silver dozen of the 19th century; it was not possible to make out exactly the year. How did she get here? Maybe these are the remains of that same man's treasure? Who knows…
Our expedition is coming to an end. What other secrets will the hunting cave reveal to future explorers? Perhaps someone will find the peasant's treasure in one of the well-disguised secret rooms or open another cave, hitherto hidden from human eyes.
Rudolf Kavchik,
Newspaper "Treasure hunter. Gold. Treasures. Treasures", November, 2013
On Sunday we went with the guys to Diyevka - a remote residential area of Dnepropetrovsk, built up with private houses.
This village has been known since the Cossack times. Among the locals, there are even legends about underground passages, in which ancient treasures are hidden.
Here we went to the Dieva dungeons on Sunday. True, we were not looking for treasures, but an ice cave, discovered there during one of the night car quests a couple of winters ago.
The entrance to the dungeons is located near the railway embankment, among the trees and bushes that grow on the sides of a large wasteland, used in the warmer months as a football field.
A small hole in the ground, lined with granite stones on the sides.
Right next to the entrance, there is a pile of rubbish lying at the bottom - traces of the life activity of the Diy population. But, as soon as you overcome this barricade, you find yourself in an underground passage.
It is also lined with granite stones and slopes downward.
Back view
Its length is about a hundred meters, and it goes into a large underground room, part of the city's hydraulic communications.
Here is the ice cave with a waterfall!
True, despite the fierce winter weather that has been in Dnepropetrovsk for the last month, the ice there is very thin, fragile, you cannot stand on it. There, of course, it is shallow, but all the same it would not be pleasant to have wet knee-deep legs in mid-February.
So I had to admire the frozen artificial waterfall only from a distance.
However, our friend, who lives not far from these places, offered to approach him from the other side. He knew the approaches there. So we moved to the other side of the railroad and ended up on the edge of a beam.
View of Diyevka
We went down and found ourselves at the entrance to the tunnel.
The ice on this side was thick enough.
But we managed to walk along it just under a hundred meters. Only a little bit remained to the waterfall, but it was impossible to go further - the ice became thin again.
We returned to the air, got up, got into the car and went to warm up at McDonald's.
We will return to Diyevka in the spring. There is something to see and something to show!
E.V. Kovrizhnykh
CAVE SEARCH METHODOLOGY
(work experience of Leningrad cavers)
Of the 20 expeditions conducted in the Arkhangelsk region by the Leningrad section of speleology (LSS) from 1966 to 1974, 12 expeditions were exploratory, i.e. such, the main task of which was to search for previously unknown cavities and to draw on a topographic map of the discovered entrances to the caves.
Summarizing the experience of the LSS search expeditions in the Pinega Territory, a number of useful conclusions can be drawn about the peculiarities of these expeditions, about the most probable locations of the entrances to the Pinega caves, about signs indicating the possibility of an entrance to the underground cavity in this place.
The main karst rocks of the Pinega region are gypsum and anhydrite, they contain all the caves found in this area. Therefore, it is natural that the first condition for planning an active search for underground cavities in a particular area of the surface was the presence in this place of a more or less thick gypsum-anhydrite strata. The greatest probability to penetrate into underground cavities is in those places where a stratum of karst rocks is exposed, comes to the surface, opening underground passages.
Outcrops of gypsum-anhydrite strata can be found along the banks of the Pinega River and its tributaries (Sotka, Belaya, Sia, Letniy Gbach, Portyuga). Outcrops of 43% of the caves known in Pinega were found in the coastal outcrops. These include the caves of the Pinega rivers (B. Golubinskaya, M. Golubinskaya, 23 caves of the Bereznikovsky district), Sotki (S-1-S-15), the Pinega-Kuloi canal (K-1-K-10), etc.
Very often, Karst rocks are exposed in the sides of the ravines that go out to the river and interrupt the line of coastal cliffs (Tarakaniy, Pershkovsky, Karjala, etc.) or in the sides of blind logs that do not have direct access to the river, located in the interfluve of the Pinega and its tributaries (Gorodische ravine , Iron Gates, Sukhoi, Svyatoy brook, etc.), in which 54% of the caves were found.
Coastal cliffs of lakes, which are scattered in large numbers around the edge, can also give a number of outcrops and be the location of the entrances to the caves. So, in the southwestern part of Lake Shchelennoye, at the base of a 20-meter plaster outcrop, an almost completely filled up entrance to a cave was found, in which a stream flowing from the lake disappears. Sometimes gypsum outcrops are observed in the sides or at the bottom of numerous karst funnels, which in some cases open underground cavities (Leningradskaya, Pinezhskaya named after A. Tereshchenko, GB-2, etc.).
Most often, entrances to underground cavities are located at the base of plaster outcrops. For watered caves, the inlet is usually the place where the water flow directly goes underground or appears on the surface. Cave entrances found at the base of gypsum outcrops along river banks and ravine sides are usually covered with scree from gypsum boulders and rubble. In such cases, the entrances to the caves (their number is 58%) are located at the contact between the talus and the root wall, as a result of which the entrance to the caves has a slit-like shape and is hidden behind the talus ridge. In such cases, the boundary between the talus and the main wall of the outcrop was examined in the most careful way, since most often it was there that a passage into the cavity could be found. In the case of a powerful stream flowing out of the underground cavity or undermining of the bedrock by the river, the gypsum talus is washed away by water and the entrances open directly at the base of the outcrop. The same arrangement of inlets is found in caves formed by flood waters coming from the river (an example of such caves can serve as 23 underground cavities of the Bereznikovsky outcrop) or when the log is flooded with spring waters (Gorodishche log).
The streams flowing in the logs, as shown by a large number of observations (the logs of the Holy Brook, Gorodische, Tarakaniy, Golubinsky, etc.), repeatedly change the direction of the current, moving from one wall of the log to another, going deep under the outcrop wall and leaving the previous channel, shifting to the side by 10-50 m. Therefore, observing the channel of the stream passing in the center of the ravine, one must always take into account that in the past the stream could flow at the sides and form underground passages at the base of the outcrops. An example of underground cavities, worked out by a stream, which later left these passages and moved to another place, are the caves found in the logs listed above.
A number of caves were discovered while trying to trace the path of a stream flowing along the bottom of a log and then appearing on the surface, then disappearing underground. A section of a dry channel on the surface leading to the side of a valley or ravine indicates an underground channel developed by water. Caves, which are underground sections of streams or rivers flowing on the surface, were found on Pinega about 60 (caves of the Karjala logs, the Iron Gate, the Holy Stream, etc.). It was possible to penetrate into them directly at the place where the stream left the ground or when the watercourse exits from the ground, as well as through the holes in the ceiling of the underground channel.
If the entrances to the caves were blocked up, covered with sand and clay and it was difficult to notice them even close, then a number of additional factors could serve as indirect signs indicating the possible presence of an entrance to the underground cavity.
A large number of entrances to the caves (35%) were found in outcrops that looked like a semicircular fresh "circus" formed as a result of the collapse of the arches of the large entrance halls of the cave and interrupting the older and overgrown with grass and forest coastal cliffs or ravine sides. The lower part of such outcrops is usually covered with talus of collapsed boulders of various shapes and sizes, from the smallest to significant, reaching 10 m in diameter. At the bases of such circus outcrops are the entrances of the Bolshaya Golubinskaya caves, GB-2, GB-1, Refrigerator, etc.
The outcrops with streams flowing out from under them or disappearing at the base, always leaving the hope of penetrating the underground passage along which the stream flows, deserve special attention of the search groups. By the size of the stream and the flow rate of water in it, one can indirectly, although very approximately, judge the scale of the cavity in which the given stream flows. So, a stream with a flow rate of 0.12 m 3 / sec. (summer 1967) flows from the largest cave Pinezhya Leningradskaya (3400 m), the flow rates of the streams of the caves GB-1 and GB-2, each about 500 m long, is 0.04 m from under an outcrop on the Portuga River, although it indicated the presence of an underground passage, the size of the entrance hole did not allow a person to penetrate it.
In the warm season, when approaching the location of the entrance to the cave, zones of sharp cooling and a strong current of cold air from the caves were almost always observed. By the size of such a zone and the force of the air flow, it was possible to judge the size of the cavity. For example, in the Mal cave. Golubinskaya, the total length of the passages of which reaches 800 m, a wind blows from the inlet at a speed of 2 m / s in summer. and temperature - 2 ° С; its influence is felt at a distance of up to 50 m. Similar conditions have been recorded at the entrances of many large caves (Leningradskaya, GB-2, Zimnyaya Skazka, Severyanka, etc.). Often, near the inlet and even at some distance from the entrance to the cavity, negative temperatures persist in summer, as evidenced by the presence of ice (Severyanka, Mal. Golubinskaya caves, etc.). Very often, in summer and winter, a slight haze (fog) can be observed in the area of the cave entrance. In addition, the presence of an entrance to the cave in winter is indicated by a frost-covered group of trees and shrubs located nearby, characterized by an abundance of frost.
The karst nature of the streams and the presence of an underground channel is evidenced by the low, even in the hottest season, the water temperature in the streams flowing from under the outcrops. For example, the water temperature in the stream of the Leningradskaya Cave in the summer is 2-3 ° C, while in the Sotka River, where the stream flows into, the water temperature is 10-12 ° C. The low water temperature in them testifies to the karst feeding of the small rivers of the region. So, in the summer, at an air temperature of 20-28 ° C, the water temperature in the river was measured. White - 6 ° C, Si - 10 ° C, Sotke - 12 ° C. For comparison, you can indicate that for p. Pinega is characterized by a water temperature of 16-20 ° C. Similar data, linking them with the arctic nature of the relict flora of the Pinega region, are cited by florists Al. and Andr. Fedorovs (1929).
In winter, the air flows of underground cavities have a temperature that is much (20-40 ° C) higher than the outside air temperature. Therefore, coastal openings and non-freezing even in the most severe frosts sections of rivers (near the caves of Leningradskaya, Bol. Golubinskaya, Pekhorovskaya and many others) clearly indicate the location of the entrances to the caves, through which powerful underground streams flow.
Always and not without reason, cavers have paid attention to places with names that indirectly indicate the presence of gypsum outcrops on the surface or mention caves ("cracks"). In particular, on the river. White (with white gypsum outcrops along the banks) was found Severyanka cave, in the village. Shchelya is a small landslide cave on the lake. Shchelenny - the entrance to the cave, to the Gorodische ravine - six underground cavities and a large number of grottoes.
When examining the karst funnels, special attention was paid to funnels, on the sides of which traces of water and mud flows are clearly visible. This indicates that the funnel served as an absorbing ponor through which one can penetrate into the underground cavity (this is how the GB-5 cave was discovered).
An important exploratory feature in many cases was the discovery of zones of "shallopnyak" (blocky karst), fields of karst sinkholes, confined to the sides of ravines and coastal outcrops. Chains of sinkholes on the surface generally indicate the probable existence of a large underground cavity to which these surface karst forms correspond. In particular, many caves of the Golubinsky cave region, Leningradskaya cave and others are very clearly traced along the chains of craters above the passages of the caves.
A number of cavities found in the Pinega region were laid along the cracks of the onboard resistance (for example, many caves in the Kulogorsky and Golubinsky regions). Therefore, when examining coastal outcrops, such cracks and the entire zone along the edge of the outcrops were carefully examined.
The experience of search expeditions shows that the expedient number of a separately working detachment should not exceed 6 people when conducting route trips in groups of 2-3 people. The trip to the expedition is preceded by an acquaintance with the literature, maps, aerial photographs of the future search area in order to clarify its geological features, the most probable locations of caves and ways of approaching the area under study.
It is very important to determine the correct tactics for the group's actions, depending on the characteristics of the task assigned to it. When examining the coastal outcrops along the rivers, first of all, the most convenient and shortest way of transferring the group to the distant point of the route (the upper reaches of the river) is outlined. The transfer is carried out on foot or by helicopter, then the group descends down the river to inspect the outcrops and search for caves. River banks are usually difficult to pass, you have to walk along steep scree or through dense thickets and windbreaks, so a search with a backpack on your shoulders is practically impossible. As they move along the river, the group arranges 2-3 base camps with radial exits to search in small groups.
A similar scheme of prospecting works is also used when examining vast blind logs located in the interfluve of the main rivers of the region and having no access to these rivers (Karjala logs, Iron Gate).
If the length of the route along the river is long enough, and the nature of the river allows this, then the most convenient rafting is with a visual inspection and a thorough examination of the coastal outcrops in the presence of the indicated search signs. The rivers of the Pinego-Kuloi region are most often shallow, with a large number of rifts, shoals, rubble, therefore, rafting along them can be carried out only on small rafts designed for 2-3 people with a load. Often this method of organizing the search fully justifies itself, since the presence of coastal silkworm zones and the sheer nature of coastal outcrops with steep talus falling right into the water makes the search option on foot unacceptable. All the caves on the Sotka and Siya rivers were discovered by rafting from the upper reaches of the river.
In some cases, boats with an outboard motor turned out to be an indispensable transport. They significantly speed up the travel time of the route, but, unfortunately, where the boats could pass, there were not always outcrops, and where there were outcrops, most often boats could not pass. Undoubtedly, the use of motor boats is most effective during the work of an expedition of significant numbers in a vast area with a single main river, since it allows for the coordination of work and for the operational transfer of small groups as work is completed in certain areas.
When examining the fields of karst funnels, first of all, it is necessary to limit the area under study to find out the full scope of work, and then, if possible, carefully comb the limited area, trying to identify patterns in the location of the funnels. Particular attention should be paid to the elongated chains of funnels extending from the outcrops into the depths of the massif.
Local residents who know the area well can be of great help in finding the caves. Especially valuable is the information of hunters, foresters, fish protection workers, who are well aware of the largest outcrops, disappearing rivers and streams, large caves. The locals, who had actively assisted the cavers in the search for caves, indicated the entrances to such cavities as the Golubinsky Proval, Mal. Golubinskaya, Pinezhskaya them. A. Tereshchenko, Ozerkovskaya, Sompolskaya, caves on the Holy Stream, etc.
Of the 12 exploratory expeditions organized by Leningrad cavers, 6 were carried out in the summer, since it is the summer that is the most favorable time of the year for searching for caves due to the availability of convenient modes of movement, the most suitable conditions for examining outcrops and highly rugged karst terrain.
Despite the harsh field conditions in winter and the presence of a deep snow cover hiding the inlets of a number of cavities, in winter, the possibilities of penetrating into caves significantly increase due to a decrease in the water level and freezing of stagnant bodies of water. In addition, in winter it becomes possible to use skis and horse-drawn vehicles when moving along rivers and roads, as well as winter roads that operate only in the cold season.
| Chronicle of the study | Features of the passage |
