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Spirit mountian cave was discover in Nov. 1908 by Ned Frost. Known as frost cave until 1909, when President Taft dedicated it a national monument and it became known as Shoshone National Cave. It remained a National Monument until the early 40's. Sometime in 1955 Claude Brown opened and operated the cave as a commercial cave which eventually went out of business in the mid 60's due to drop of public interest. Bigger and better caves had been discovered and they were easier to get too. During the time that Claude had operated the cave, it became known as Spirit Mountian Cave. The name derived from an indian belief that the spirit of the mountian was escaping out of the cave when hot springs created steam clouds that belched from its entrance. As of about 100 years ago, the Cody area was active with hot springs geysers.
The cave system is mainly made up of three levels, although there are several layers above the main hall. It seems to have been formed by the water of a river, perhaps when the shoshone river carved the canyon. They main passages run north/south and vertical. Very few tunnels run east/west.
There are two known entrances to the cave. The main entrance (now gated and locked) is on the side of the canyon, and has walking access. It once was a large fissure, but was carved to an arch entrance when it became a tour cave. The second, upper entrance, is about 80' below the top of the mountain, and requires technical gear to reach.
Spirit Mountain cave seems to boast a great possibility to have much more passages. It seems that all the "known" passages are lofts of much bigger rooms that could be below it. During the carving of Buffalo Bill dams spillway, an access hole broke into some caverns. Two workers explored it, only to run into hydrogen sulfide gas, and never to return. The passage was plugged off, and a different spillway was built for the dam.
A lower section of the cave, known as "pigeon roost" has been permantly buried due to "histoplasmosis" spores found in the bat guano and dust in the area. There is a high possibility of more spores being in the cave. Histoplasmosis can cause a desease very similar to lung cancer, so it is advised to wear partical resporators if crawling in some dust areas, or visiting the guano room.
The key and permit can be obtained from the BLM office in Cody, WY.
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Spirit Mountian cave is one of my personal favorites. It could be because it is my first cave, but I still enjoy to visit it very often. I would definetly advise anybody who wants to "get there foot in the door" to start in this cave. It is very easy to navigate, yet still big enough to learn technique.
Because this cave is easily accessable, it atttracts many visiters, and a lot are careless. I often find garbage and fresh vandilism almost every time I visit. Please do not litter or urinate in this cave! (or ANY cave!) and please pack out any trash you find. Together everybody who visits can make tthis cave a better place, and hopefully our grandkids can enjoy it to.
Click here for more conservation tips.
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