Devils Hole #2, Death Valley National Park, Nevada

Devils Hole #2 is a cave system located roughly 300 meters northwest of Devils Hole proper. This adjacent system is only accessible through two small openings in the side of the mountain surrounded by a welded metal cage and bat gate allowing for restricted human access while permitting passage of bats and other small wildlife. Exploration of this system is ultimately aimed at mapping the system and determining if Devils Hole #2 is connected to Devils Hole given the close proximity of the two systems.

The Devils Hole Dive Team met with members of the Nevada Grotto cave group, members and producers of the National Geographic film group, and stewards from Death Valley National Park on October 5th, 2008 to begin the process of lowering equipment into the cave for the following day’s scheduled dives. The non-inundated portion of the cave is broken up into three areas. Area 1 is the main chamber, roughly 70 feet in height, into which all gear and divers descend from the surface entrance. Area 2 is a 20 foot restriction between the main chamber and the lower level, and Area 3 is the lower level, water surface, and diver staging area. Below the water’s surface, most of this system is yet to be explored.

Volunteer divers and members of the Nevada Grotto cave group prepare to enter the system from the topside entrance

Over the course of the next three days, five dives were made in the Devils Hole #2 system for exploration and filming purposes. Filming conducted by National Geographic should air sometime in 2009. On the exploratory dives, team members followed the main line that had been set on a previous dive in April to a reference point known as Palm Rock. From there team members laid line through a major restriction to an air chamber with a ceiling of about 20 feet above the water surface. Dive team members did not breathe the air as they did not know what gasses were in the chamber. However they did yell and use whistles to see if anyone on the surface could hear them. The sounds they made were not heard on the surface but they were heard clearly by supporting dive team members in areas 2 and 3 of the cave indicating that this air pocket is in close proximity to the lower levels of the Devils Hole #2 Cave system. On subsequent dives, after tying off at Palm Rock, divers descended to 80ft and headed south towards Devils Hole. Divers continued in that direction and descended again to 130 feet where they could see that there was another passage way heading south at about 150 ft. Divers did not go to that depth because they were on 32% Nitrox so they retreated, returned to 15 feet for a safety stop, and then exited the system.

Just above the water surface in a newly discovered room

In the future, dive operation goals include conducting further exploration to the south towards Devils Hole, switching to sidemount equipment with dual 85 cu/ft cylinders filled with air extending both depth and range, and mapping the system to make a record of areas that have been explored. For now the depths of this system and its suspected connection to Devils Hole remain a mystery.

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