Hailes Cave, Albany County, New York

February 2013

Gate style: BASIC

Hailes Cave was long-known as an important bat hibernaculum, including the Federally Endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis). Unfortunately, like many sensitive caves, is was receiving too much human disturbance. This project involved many volunteer cavers and state agency representatives. Steel had to be lowered down a fissure, carried along the base of a cliff where we spent a full day making a trail, and finally about 100 feet into the cave in passages where you could not stand up. All photos © Jim Kennedy.

Peter is setting up a bar splice for the really wide passage.
The crew tries desperately hard not to look at the arc from Mike’s welding.
Placing bar hangers in low spaces requires a certain amount of flexibility.
One more shot just to show how low the workspace was.
Here’s a really brief feel for the gating process.