Nearly Famous Homestead Caverns

Another attraction of the area around the Homestead is the ever mysterious Harris Cave. Who the cave was named for is not common knowledge. The entrance is about 5 miles from the Homestead property and is obscurely located along a rough primitive road which is frequently plagued with muddy bogs large enough to swallow a small vehicle and put a larger vehicle in a firmly stuck situation. The cave entrance leads to an extensive underground cavern which extends under the area of the Homestead. Sometime in the history of the Homestead some of the grandfathers decided to drill for water, but drilled into the underground cavity. They had to put something in the hole, a metal cylinder with a vent in it which can be seen center left in the first photograph, a short rusted landmark in the meadow. The blow pipe has been a wondrous thing for children in that meadow. Cool air blows out often and the cavity underneath has to be quite deep for all of the sticks, stones and pine cones which have been dropped down its receptive throat. Many theories have been thrown about over the years without a solution. Inventive souls have used string and a weight to assertain something about the seemingly bottomless depths but the mystery still remains.

Our grandson, Sheridan wanted to give the cave entrance a try and he was hale and hardy. Without a flashlight and a willing companion (not me, fer shure) he ventured as far the light barrier. The entrance has a narrow area at the beginning which discourages many who are nervous about tight spaces. When there hasn't any rain, the ground inside is passable if one is willing to squeeze through the first narrow places and a cluster of flying insects for about 12 feet when the cave opens up into larger parts of the cavern. When there has been a rainfall, water collects in the opening making it muddy going in and coming out. Brave adventurous loonies come out good-naturedly gross, covered with yuck, telling their tales of how many rooms they made it into, and guessing how far they went. Reunion moms have ranted and raved for years about the mess being perpetrated on vehicles, clothes and floors as returning cave spelunkers want to get cleaned up. "Go wash with the hose!" "Stay out of the house!" Part of the drama of returning adventurers has been relief that they came back from the maw of a dark hole and possibility of disaster. There have been many attempts to go farther and farther into the inner recesses hoping to find a huge pile of pine cone debris dropped from above.

It would be marvelous if another cavern to rival Carlsbad, New Mexico's gem could be plumbed into. On the other hand, it would rob future generation non-claustrophobic cave crazies of the thrill of that large and vast unknown.