The Horne Lake Caves

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During the night I spent at Qualicum Bay, I was online and showing my photo of the bald eagle from Pacific Rim area. I ended up being contacted by someone I used to work with in the casino. She invited me to come and visit, but I didn't have any contact information for them. I left her a message to let me know. By the morning, I hadn't heard anything, but I decided to give her some time to get in touch. That meant I was going to need something to keep me occupied for a while as I waited. Nearby Qualicum Bay is a place called Horne Lake Provincial Park. There are caves there and so I decided to go and have a look.



When I arrived, I found there were three caves in the area. Two are open to the public. Anyone can go in and have a look around. The third one is only accessible with a tour guide. But the tour for that one wasn't going until 1:30 in the afternoon. I wanted to go, but that meant being around much longer than I had planned. Well, it's my trip...



I decided to investigate the two public caves on my own and then hang around for the tour. I rented a helmet and light from the tour office and headed out. I wondered at first if I really, REALLY, needed the helmet and whether the 10 bucks was going to be worth it. That wonder was answered very quickly as one of the first things I did on entering the first cave was to whack the helmet a good one on a low rock. If it hadn't been the helmet, it would have been my head. The rental was paid for.



The caves were quite interesting, if a bit cramped. I do enjoy doing things like that and it was great fun, but for anyone with even a hint of not liking small, dark spaces, it wouldn't be for them. I got to the end of the first tunnel, the Main Cave, and was heading back when I ran into some German fellows. They were visiting the area and are doing some kind of tourist loop that involves going to Prince Rupert on the ferry and then driving back to Vancouver. It's a lot like what I'm doing, except that I won't be returning to Vancouver.



I also ran into one of the park interpreters. His name was Andrew and it turned out that he was going to be the guide for the tour of the third cave. We chatted for a bit and then he went off to do some other stuff and I went in to check out the Lower Cave. While I was in there the German fellows came in behind me and we started exploring together. They had also run into Andrew and he had told them that there was more to the first cave and it was possible to climb up the waterfall that was a ways in the cave. There were a couple more levels to the cave above the entry level. So the four of us headed back into the main cave and had at it. We went almost as far as it was possible to go, although there was some kind of rope that led up another waterfall into other reaches of the cave. It required getting quite wet though and we decided not to bother. Besides, by then I was needing to return to be in time for my tour. The Germans and I said farewell, and I headed back to the park office.



The tour was really good, and that was mostly due to Andrew being a top-notch guide. He was funny and extremely knowledgeable. He was also very adaptable with his humour to what was happening. I really enjoyed watching him work. And I learned a lot. At one point he stopped and picked a caterpillar off a tree. It was black. He shook it in his cupped hands and then had us all have a smell. It smelled of burnt almonds. He told us that was arsenic. The caterpillar gives off arsenic when it is disturbed. How would anyone even discover that and then be able to pass it on?



We stopped in a number of spots on the way to the Riverbend Cave. We learned a bit more, as well getting a bit of a breather, at each spot. It was a really good tour. And then we saw a bunch of stuff in the cave. The difference between the Riverbend Cave and the other two caves was quite dramatic. With public access, the other two caves are badly damages. And the active areas of the caves are almost non-existent because of hands touching the stalactites and stalagmites. Once that happens, the crystal lattices that allow them to grow and be “active” are destroyed and they “die.” In the Riverbend Cave, that kind of damage hasn't happened, mostly because they have been protected by limited access to the cave. In the other two caves, the mud tracked in over the years has been left on the crystals and has turned them a dull and dirty brown. In the Riverbend Cave, the features are still creamy white and clean. If you ever go into a cave and see limestones features that are glistening and clean, don't touch them. They will continue to grow and others can enjoy them. Don't “kill” them.



And while things were pointed out to us, a crocodile shape here, a jellyfish shape there, it was all by the light of our helmet lights. It was not at all like the desecration of Chinese or Vietnamese caves where they pipe in light of music to “enhance” the experience. Much nicer. We even experienced absolute darkness at one point as we all turned off our lights for a few minutes. Again, not for anyone with a fear of such things.



Back on top, we headed back down. Andrew took three of our number off to do a longer tour, taking them into the other two caves. The rest of us headed back down to the parking lot and off to the rest of our day.



By this time, I had still not heard from my friend, so I continued on my way up the island. I got to Campbell River where I found a nice campground, waited for the rain to stop and set up my tent for a good night's sleep.

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Photos

Public Cave
At Horne Lake Caves, there are 2 public caves that people can explore at their leisure. As you can imagine, with the number of buffoons that exist in the world, there has been a lot of damage to the caves as a result.

Public Cave
But it is still quite exciting to go into them and explore.

Public Cave
There was a waterfall in the first cave. I didn't know there was more to cave at the top of the waterfall until my German companions told me so.

Into the Protected Cave
In addition to the two public caves, there is one cave that is protected and can only be entered on a tour, with a guide. Consequently, there is far less damage to the cave and the fantastic shapes of the stalactites and stalagmites are intact.

Exposition Piece
There is one piece of the interior of the protected cave that can be touched. This is a broken piece, and no longer active. We were encouraged to feel it, as much as we were discouraged from touching anything else.

Jellyfish?
That was the correct answer according to the guide. There was another answer, but it was completely discounted by the guide. (Mostly because it didn't agree with his answer.)