0:00:12.790,0:00:13.416 So how many of you 0:00:13.416,0:00:15.584 have ever been in a cave before? 0:00:15.584,0:00:16.983 Okay, a few of you. 0:00:16.983,0:00:17.958 When you think of a cave, 0:00:17.958,0:00:19.028 most of you think of a tunnel 0:00:19.028,0:00:20.709 going through solid rock. 0:00:20.709,0:00:22.642 In fact, that's how most caves are. 0:00:22.642,0:00:24.160 Around this half of the country, 0:00:24.160,0:00:26.680 most of your caves are made of limestone. 0:00:26.680,0:00:26.984 Back where I'm from, 0:00:26.984,0:00:28.876 most of our caves are made from lava rock 0:00:28.876,0:00:31.105 because we have a lot of volcanoes out there. 0:00:31.105,0:00:32.516 But the caves I want to share with you today 0:00:32.516,0:00:34.234 are made completely of ice, 0:00:34.234,0:00:35.949 specifically glacier ice 0:00:35.949,0:00:37.777 as formed in the side of the tallest mountain 0:00:37.777,0:00:39.061 in the state of Oregon 0:00:39.061,0:00:40.932 called Mount Hood. 0:00:40.932,0:00:43.580 Now, Mount Hood's only one hour's drive 0:00:43.580,0:00:44.275 from Portland, 0:00:44.275,0:00:45.614 the largest city in Oregon 0:00:45.614,0:00:47.907 where over two million people live. 0:00:47.907,0:00:49.169 Now, the most exciting thing 0:00:49.169,0:00:50.268 for a cave explorer 0:00:50.268,0:00:51.640 is to find a new cave 0:00:51.640,0:00:54.137 and be the first human to ever go into it. 0:00:54.137,0:00:55.442 The second most exciting thing 0:00:55.442,0:00:56.209 for a cave explorer 0:00:56.209,0:00:58.486 is to be the first one to make a map of a cave. 0:00:58.486,0:00:59.224 Now, these days, 0:00:59.224,0:01:00.604 with so many people hiking around, 0:01:00.604,0:01:02.854 it's pretty hard to find a new cave, 0:01:02.854,0:01:03.986 so you can imagine how excited 0:01:03.986,0:01:05.801 we were to find three new caves 0:01:05.801,0:01:08.157 within sight of Oregon's largest city 0:01:08.157,0:01:10.061 and realize that they have never been explored 0:01:10.061,0:01:11.409 or mapped before. 0:01:11.409,0:01:12.756 It was kind of like being an astronaut 0:01:12.756,0:01:14.295 because we were getting to see things 0:01:14.295,0:01:15.720 and go places 0:01:15.720,0:01:17.736 that no one had ever seen or gone before. 0:01:18.505,0:01:20.181 So, what is a glacier? 0:01:20.181,0:01:21.422 Well, those of you that have ever seen 0:01:21.422,0:01:22.434 or touched snow, 0:01:22.434,0:01:23.488 you know that it's really light 0:01:23.488,0:01:24.843 because it's just a bunch of tiny ice crystals 0:01:24.843,0:01:25.876 clumped together 0:01:25.876,0:01:27.347 and it's mostly air. 0:01:27.347,0:01:28.713 If you squish a handful of snow 0:01:28.713,0:01:29.759 to make a snowball, 0:01:29.759,0:01:31.888 it gets really small, hard, and dense. 0:01:31.888,0:01:33.960 Well, in a mountain like Hood 0:01:33.960,0:01:35.139 where it snows over twenty feet a year, 0:01:35.139,0:01:37.450 it crushes the air out of it 0:01:37.450,0:01:40.348 and gradually forms it into hard, blue ice. 0:01:40.348,0:01:42.087 Now, each year more and more ice 0:01:42.087,0:01:43.305 stacks up on top of it 0:01:43.305,0:01:45.125 and eventually gets so heavy 0:01:45.125,0:01:47.180 that it starts to slide down the mountain 0:01:47.180,0:01:48.546 under its own weight, 0:01:48.546,0:01:50.805 forming a slow-moving river of ice. 0:01:50.805,0:01:53.136 When an ice pack like that starts to move, 0:01:53.136,0:01:54.390 we call it a glacier 0:01:54.390,0:01:55.462 and we give it a name. 0:01:55.462,0:01:57.016 The name of the glacier these caves were formed 0:01:57.016,0:01:58.831 is the Sandy Glacier. 0:01:58.831,0:02:02.270 Now, each year as new snow lands on the glacier, 0:02:02.270,0:02:03.889 it melts in the summer sun, 0:02:03.889,0:02:05.691 and it forms little rivers of water 0:02:05.691,0:02:06.858 on the flow along the ice 0:02:06.858,0:02:07.981 and they start to melt 0:02:07.981,0:02:09.563 and bore their way down through the glacier, 0:02:09.563,0:02:11.779 forming big networks of caves, 0:02:11.779,0:02:13.115 sometimes going all the way down 0:02:13.115,0:02:14.973 to the underlying bedrock. 0:02:14.973,0:02:17.428 Now, the crazy thing about glacier caves 0:02:17.428,0:02:20.410 is that each year new tunnels form, 0:02:20.410,0:02:21.521 different waterfalls pop up 0:02:21.521,0:02:22.903 or move around from place to place 0:02:22.903,0:02:24.290 inside the cave. 0:02:24.290,0:02:25.790 Warm water from the top of the ice 0:02:25.790,0:02:27.269 is boring its way down, 0:02:27.269,0:02:29.319 and warm air from below the mountain 0:02:29.319,0:02:30.559 actually rises up, 0:02:30.559,0:02:31.710 gets into the cave, 0:02:31.710,0:02:34.597 and melts the ceilings back taller and taller. 0:02:34.597,0:02:36.388 But the weirdest thing about glacier caves 0:02:36.388,0:02:38.470 is that the entire cave is moving 0:02:38.470,0:02:40.431 because it's formed inside a block of ice 0:02:40.431,0:02:42.136 the size of a small city 0:02:42.136,0:02:45.021 that's slowly sliding down the mountain. 0:02:45.021,0:02:46.448 Now, this is Brent McGregor, 0:02:46.448,0:02:48.393 my cave exploration partner. 0:02:48.393,0:02:50.666 He and I have both been exploring caves a long time 0:02:50.666,0:02:53.970 and we've been climbing mountains a long time, 0:02:53.970,0:02:54.469 but neither of us have ever really explored 0:02:54.469,0:02:56.188 a glacier cave before. 0:02:56.188,0:02:59.265 Back in 2011, Brent saw a YouTube video 0:02:59.265,0:03:00.300 of a couple of hikers 0:03:00.300,0:03:01.641 that stumbled across the entrance 0:03:01.641,0:03:02.808 to one of these caves. 0:03:02.808,0:03:04.699 There were no GPS coordinates for it, 0:03:04.699,0:03:06.138 and all we knew was that it was somewhere 0:03:06.138,0:03:08.200 out on the Sandy Glacier. 0:03:08.200,0:03:09.106 So, in July of that year, 0:03:09.106,0:03:10.404 we went out on the glacier, 0:03:10.404,0:03:12.729 and we found a big crack in the ice. 0:03:12.729,0:03:14.861 We had to build snow and ice anchors, 0:03:14.861,0:03:16.105 so we could tie off ropes 0:03:16.105,0:03:18.148 and repel down into the hole. 0:03:18.148,0:03:20.610 This is me looking into the entrance crevasse. 0:03:20.610,0:03:21.727 At the end of this hole, 0:03:21.727,0:03:23.213 we found a huge tunnel 0:03:23.213,0:03:24.563 going right up the mountain 0:03:24.563,0:03:27.269 underneath thousands of tons of glacier ice. 0:03:27.269,0:03:28.523 We followed this cave back 0:03:28.523,0:03:31.274 for about a half mile until it came to an end. 0:03:31.274,0:03:33.326 And then with the help of our survey tools, 0:03:33.326,0:03:35.407 we made a three-dimensional map of the cave 0:03:35.407,0:03:37.108 on our way back out. 0:03:37.108,0:03:39.106 So, how do you map a cave? 0:03:39.106,0:03:41.731 Well, cave maps aren't like trail maps or road maps 0:03:41.731,0:03:43.280 because they have pits and holes 0:03:43.280,0:03:45.020 going to overlapping levels. 0:03:45.020,0:03:46.105 To make a cave map, 0:03:46.105,0:03:47.478 you have to set up survey stations 0:03:47.478,0:03:49.280 every few feet inside the cave, 0:03:49.280,0:03:51.397 and you use a laser to measure the distance 0:03:51.397,0:03:52.945 between those stations. 0:03:52.945,0:03:55.620 And you use a compass and an inclinometer 0:03:55.620,0:03:57.147 to measure the direction the cave is headed 0:03:57.147,0:03:59.897 and measure the slope of the floor and the ceilings. 0:03:59.897,0:04:01.613 Now, those of you taking trigonometry, 0:04:01.613,0:04:03.142 that particular type of math 0:04:03.142,0:04:05.269 is very useful for making maps like this 0:04:05.269,0:04:06.432 because it allows you to measure 0:04:06.432,0:04:07.599 heights and distances 0:04:07.599,0:04:09.682 without actually having to go there. 0:04:09.682,0:04:12.028 In fact, the more I mapped and studied caves, 0:04:12.028,0:04:13.861 the more useful I found all that math 0:04:13.861,0:04:16.105 that I originally hated in school to be. 0:04:16.105,0:04:17.826 So, when you're done surveying, 0:04:17.826,0:04:18.974 you take all this data, 0:04:18.974,0:04:20.570 you punch it into the computer, 0:04:20.570,0:04:21.140 and you find someone 0:04:21.140,0:04:22.810 that can draw really well, 0:04:22.810,0:04:24.452 and you have them draft up a map 0:04:24.452,0:04:26.366 that looks something like this. 0:04:26.366,0:04:27.401 And it will show you both 0:04:27.401,0:04:29.224 a bird's eye view of the passage 0:04:29.224,0:04:31.950 as well as a profile view of the passage, 0:04:31.950,0:04:33.611 kind of like an ant farm view. 0:04:33.611,0:04:35.534 We named this cave Snow Dragon Cave 0:04:35.534,0:04:36.983 because it was like a big dragon 0:04:36.983,0:04:38.642 sleeping under the snow. 0:04:38.642,0:04:39.651 Now, later this summer 0:04:39.651,0:04:41.309 as more snow melted off the glacier, 0:04:41.309,0:04:42.433 we found more caves, 0:04:42.433,0:04:44.913 and we realized they were all connected. 0:04:44.913,0:04:46.861 Not long after we mapped Snow Dragon, 0:04:46.861,0:04:48.560 Brent discovered this new cave 0:04:48.560,0:04:49.901 not very far away. 0:04:49.901,0:04:52.102 The inside of it was coated with ice 0:04:52.102,0:04:53.567 so we had to wear big spikes 0:04:53.567,0:04:55.233 in our feet called crampons, 0:04:55.233,0:04:57.451 so we could walk around without slipping. 0:04:57.451,0:04:59.311 This cave was amazing! 0:04:59.311,0:05:01.784 The ice in the ceiling was glowing blue and green 0:05:01.784,0:05:03.282 because the sunlight from far above 0:05:03.282,0:05:04.738 was shining through the ice 0:05:04.738,0:05:06.434 and lighting it all up. 0:05:06.434,0:05:07.700 Now, we couldn't understand why this cave 0:05:07.700,0:05:09.937 was so much colder than Snow Dragon 0:05:09.937,0:05:11.227 until we got to the end, 0:05:11.227,0:05:12.786 and we found out why. 0:05:12.786,0:05:15.731 There was a huge pit or shaft called a moulin 0:05:15.731,0:05:17.737 going a 130 feet straight up 0:05:17.737,0:05:19.397 to the surface of the glacier. 0:05:19.397,0:05:20.943 Cold air from the top of the mountain 0:05:20.943,0:05:22.527 was flowing down this hole, 0:05:22.527,0:05:23.930 blasting through the cave, 0:05:23.930,0:05:26.147 freezing everything inside of it. 0:05:26.147,0:05:28.203 And we were so excited about finding this new pit, 0:05:28.203,0:05:30.606 we actually came back in January the following year 0:05:30.606,0:05:33.149 so we could be the first ones to explore it. 0:05:33.149,0:05:34.601 It was so cold outside, 0:05:34.601,0:05:37.111 we actually had to sleep inside the cave. 0:05:37.111,0:05:38.935 Here's our camp on the left side 0:05:38.935,0:05:40.781 of this entrance room. 0:05:40.781,0:05:42.817 The next morning we climbed out of the cave 0:05:42.817,0:05:44.027 and hiked all the way 0:05:44.027,0:05:45.325 to the top of the glacier 0:05:45.325,0:05:47.604 where we finally rigged and repelled this pit 0:05:47.604,0:05:49.333 for the very first time. 0:05:49.333,0:05:51.684 Brent named this cave Pure Imagination, I think, 0:05:51.684,0:05:53.305 because the beautiful sights we saw in there 0:05:53.305,0:05:55.885 were beyond what we could have ever imagined. 0:05:55.885,0:05:57.299 So, besides really cool ice, 0:05:57.299,0:05:59.130 what else is inside these caves? 0:05:59.130,0:06:00.966 Well, not too much lives in them 0:06:00.966,0:06:01.932 because they're so cold, 0:06:01.932,0:06:03.679 and the entrance is actually covered up with snow 0:06:03.679,0:06:05.606 for about eight months of the year, 0:06:05.606,0:06:07.631 but there are some really cool things in there. 0:06:07.631,0:06:09.898 There's weird bacteria living in the water 0:06:09.898,0:06:11.942 that actually eat and digest rocks 0:06:11.942,0:06:13.335 to make their own food 0:06:13.335,0:06:15.099 to live under this ice. 0:06:15.099,0:06:16.352 In fact, this past summer 0:06:16.352,0:06:18.996 scientists collected samples of water and ice 0:06:18.996,0:06:21.928 specifically to see if things called extremophiles, 0:06:21.928,0:06:23.685 tiny lifeforms that have evolved 0:06:23.685,0:06:25.766 to live in a completely hostile conditions, 0:06:25.766,0:06:27.624 might be living under the ice, 0:06:27.624,0:06:28.794 kind of like what they hope to find 0:06:28.794,0:06:31.180 in the polar ice caps of Mars some day. 0:06:31.180,0:06:32.279 Another really cool thing 0:06:32.279,0:06:33.826 is that as seeds and birds land 0:06:33.826,0:06:35.727 on the surface of the glacier and die, 0:06:35.727,0:06:37.139 they get buried in the snow 0:06:37.139,0:06:39.191 and gradually become part of the glacier, 0:06:39.191,0:06:41.467 sinking deeper and deeper into the ice. 0:06:41.467,0:06:42.691 As these caves form 0:06:42.691,0:06:44.379 and melt their way up into the ice, 0:06:44.379,0:06:46.895 they make these artifacts rain down from the ceiling 0:06:46.895,0:06:48.436 and fall into the cave floor 0:06:48.436,0:06:49.882 where we end up finding them. 0:06:49.882,0:06:52.883 For example, this is a nodal first seed we found. 0:06:52.883,0:06:55.299 It's been frozen in ice for over a hundred years, 0:06:55.299,0:06:57.643 and it's just now starting to sprout. 0:06:57.643,0:07:01.180 This mallard duck feather was found over 1800 feet 0:07:01.180,0:07:03.097 in the back of Snow Dragon Cave. 0:07:03.097,0:07:04.332 This duck died on the surface 0:07:04.332,0:07:05.865 of the glacier long, long ago, 0:07:05.865,0:07:07.564 and its feathers have finally made it down 0:07:07.564,0:07:09.282 through over a hundred feet of ice 0:07:09.282,0:07:11.567 before falling inside the cave. 0:07:11.567,0:07:12.864 And this beautiful quartz crystal 0:07:12.864,0:07:15.093 was also found in the back of Snow Dragon. 0:07:15.093,0:07:17.431 Even now Brent and I find it hard to believe 0:07:17.431,0:07:18.588 that all these discoveries 0:07:18.588,0:07:20.649 were essentially in our own backyard, 0:07:20.649,0:07:23.168 hidden away just waiting to be found. 0:07:23.168,0:07:24.430 Like I said earlier, 0:07:24.430,0:07:25.446 the idea of discovery 0:07:25.446,0:07:26.929 in this busy world we live in 0:07:26.929,0:07:27.905 kind of seems like something 0:07:27.905,0:07:30.165 you can only do with space travel now, 0:07:30.165,0:07:31.427 but that's not true. 0:07:31.427,0:07:33.660 Every year new caves get discovered 0:07:33.660,0:07:35.718 that no one has ever been in before. 0:07:35.718,0:07:36.707 So, it's actually not too late 0:07:36.707,0:07:39.849 for one of you to become a discoverer yourself. 0:07:39.849,0:07:41.352 You just have to be willing to look 0:07:41.352,0:07:43.894 and go where people don't often go 0:07:43.894,0:07:46.320 and focus your eyes and your mind 0:07:46.320,0:07:48.432 to recognize the discovery when you see it 0:07:48.432,0:07:50.828 because it might be in your own backyard. 0:07:50.828,0:07:52.338 Thank you very much.