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Warsaw Caves,
Ontario
By
Mady MacDonald
With Caving Locations Across Canada |
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| Heaving myself
out of the dark crag, I crawl onto a large, flat
rock and lay back into the hot summer's day. Two
minutes ago I was whizzing down glacial ice on my
butt. I am wet, wet to the skin. Precipitation
has seeped through my two layers of gloves, long
johns, headscarf, jeans, t-shirt, sweater and
hiking boots. I sigh and begin to peel off
clothes under the 80-degree sun. My partner peers
out of the hole and crawls up beside me.
"Pretty neat, eh?" "Yeah."
Nap time. |
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| Caving is a
fascinating and challenging activity for
all ages. |
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By now you
must be wondering where I am spending such an illustrious
day. And how I got so wet. And why I have so many layers
of clothes on if it's 80-degrees. Well, to answer your
queries, I'm caving - underground. If you are interested in caving but
have never tried it, the Warsaw Caves are an excellent
place to start. There is a series of seven caves, one of
which has a year-round glacier in its depths.
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| You have to expect
some tight squeezes when you're wandering
through the cave systems at Warsaw. |
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The
underground caves are actually old river systems
from the days of behemoth glaciers and
melt-water. The Peterborough area is full of
glacial topography; you may notice the drumlins
(wedge-shaped hills) and the moraine deposits as
you drive through the landscape. Another effect
from the glacier age that you may notice at
Warsaw is the "kettles" in the rock.
These vertical, cylinder-shaped holes in the rock
are usually a meter and a half in diameter. |
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The kettles
are caused by hard granite rocks being caught in eddies
and whirlpools during the glacial run-off period; these
rocks scour out kettles in the soft limestone base. |
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| There is an easy
hiking trail in the park called Kettle/Lookout (4
km) that allows an excellent view of these
formations as well as the nearby Indian River
Valley. One of the most convenient aspects of the
Warsaw Caves is its proximity to Toronto. Located
just outside of Peterborough, you can easily make
a day or overnight trip. There is a camp ground
in the park but note that it is technically not
open until the July 1st weekend (the rest of the
park opens in May). Another thing you might want
to remember if you do camp there is to hang your
food. Mistakenly, I figured the area was too
populated do more than to tightly cover and tie
down my food. Around 3:00 am we were woken up by
the snarling, sucking sounds of something(s)
having a late night snack. If I may quote the oh,
so very brave male who accompanied me, "Do
you think it's ferocious?" We let the animal
finish its feast (I mean, really, if it likes
tofu dogs…). |
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| Here is an example
of a stalactite found in some of the
caves in south America |
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| Good lighting
helps the phosphorescent moss, glow. |
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These caves are
quite wonderful and at a novice level while
remaining physically challenging. Despite the
fact that they are relatively good to start on,
you should go prepared. In the deepest of the
caves (the best part) the temperature never goes
above zero degrees; the other caves hover around
15 degrees. The best way to deal with the warmth
outside and the cold inside is to wear layers. It
is also wet inside, so waterproof outer layers
are recommended. You can get by with a
flashlight, but I would strongly recommend a
headlamp. Cheap headlamps are available at
Canadian Tire for around $10 Canadian and
good-quality headlamps can be bought at most
outfitters (don't forget extra batteries and some
sort of backup lamp). The precipitation in the
caves constantly drips, so if you don't have
something on your head - like a headscarf - it'll
give you the willies right through to your toes. |
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A headscarf
also keeps the bats from getting caught in your hair
(they don't want to be there any more than you want them
there). Also, make sure you have reasonably good
shoes/boots. You are climbing up and down and
side-to-side in a way that is not dissimilar to rock
climbing. Slipping is a bad thing since there is often a
good drop under you. While we're taking a moment to note
safety precautions, don't go caving alone. It's just
stupid, no matter how novice the caves are. |
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| Now that I have
the technicalities out of the way, let me give
you a few details on what you will see. Bats.
Yes, there are bats down there. They are cute and
fuzzy and brown. They do not have big teeth nor
do they shape-shift into wolves or prey one
people in the depths of the evening. They are
just bats. They eat mosquitoes and that is enough
for me to consider them good. You won't even
notice them unless you look closely at the
ceiling. Mind you, if you don't look closely at
the ceiling you won't see the fossils of
shellfish, plants, snails and even a giant
dragonfly in the limestone. There's also a
beautiful phosphorescent moss on the moist
ceiling. The best site, however, is the glacier.
It has the most spectacular luminescent effect
when you shine your headlight into the chamber.
Because of the ice, the light from your lamp and
the fog from your breath suspends light
everywhere. Then you sit on your butt and whiz
down the slope (watch the big rock in the
middle!). |
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| Another
interesting example of a stalactite
formation found in caves. |
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To arrive at Warsaw, take out a map and look
approximately 25 km north-east of Peterborough. The
little green park symbol (check your legend) will
indicate the park section. There is also a town called
Warsaw a few kilometres from the caves. For more
information, contact the Otonabee Region Conservation
Authority, 380 Armour Road, Suite 200, Time Square,
Peterborough, ON K9H 7L7. |
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About the
author |
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