MORE PLANETCAVER STORIES

Welcome to the Planetcaver blog, featuring stories from caves andunderground explorations around the world, from the point of view of a beginner caver.

More caving-related articles:

Gribbylundsfortet
The darkness falls early, before 4pm. Exit from the office then at 15:10, while having a conference call as you ride an Uber again; fortunately, the call ends by the time I am at the bunker.
Full story

October 2017, Gribbylundsfortet, Täby, Sweden
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

2nd Majvik Bunker
And now, with batteries in my flashlight... I stopped at another bunker in Majvik on the way home from the office.
Full story

October 2017, Majvikin bunkkeri 2, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

Arningefortet
On the way back to the airport and home, I stopped at the yet another place on the Korvlinjen, this time in Arninge, a village in Täby. There was supposed to be two fortresses or bunkers here. I found one fortress, but could not get in, and did not find the other one.
Full story

October 2017, Västra Arningefortet, Täby, Sweden; Östra Arningefortet, Täby, Sweden
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

The Sonnimäki Soviet Bunkers
Bunkers... where we were supposed to find a bunker was what seemed the remains of two regular houses, one with a basement. But a hundred meters away we found an almost intact Soviet bunker.
Full story

October 2017, Rauniotalo, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Rauniotalo ja kellari, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Bunkkeri 1, Sonnimäki, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Ruins, Vehicles); Caving (Man-Made)

Killinmäki Bunker
There's just a little bit of warning tape, but most of it is gone. And one danger sign in a tree, visible from one direction only. The bunker is gone though, or hiding underground, with no easy way to enter. Just some holes in the ground that one needs to be careful of not stepping into.
Full story

October 2017, Killinmäen bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made)

Majvik Bunker
It is getting dark very early in Finland, so today I stopped to see a possible bunker in Majvik on the way to the office. I found a bunker with clear entrances go inside, as well as a small roof cave on a cliff near the bunker.
Full story

October 2017, Majvikin bunkkeri, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Majvikin pieni lippaluola, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers); Caving (Man-Made); Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying)

Survey of all Kirkkonummi Caves
Project! Having done the survey work last year for Korkberget, the massive cave (in Finnish class, at least), this fall I've been trying to visit other underground places in Kirkkonummi. And I have now visited and surveyed all nine known/reachable caves in Kirkkonummi. There's three more but they are either on military area, their location is not known, or they have collapsed.
Full story
(TGR version)

October 2017, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland
Caving (Surveying, Research)

Jorvas Bunkers
How can one work somewhere for 25 years, and NEVER visit a lake just a few hundred meters away? I really don't know, but in my defence I went there today. And found trenches and flooded bunkers.
Full story
(TGR version)

October 2017, Jorvas bunkkeri 1, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas bunkkeritie, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas juoksuhauta, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 1, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 2, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 3, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Jorvas potero 4, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Bunkers, Trenches); Caving (Man-Made); Hiking

Kakarberget Cave in the Darkness
Apparently, we like caving so much that we're willing to search forests in darkness, with headlamps, to look for caves.
Full story

October 2017, Iso lippaluola, Kakarberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Pieni kulmaluola, Kakarberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland; Matala lippaluola, Kakarberget, Kirkkonummi, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Basic, Surveying)

Map of the Nepperi Cave
Nepperi is at the center of the big controversy: is the largest cave inside Ring III in Vantaa as currently believed, or perhaps in Espoo?
Full story
(Suomenkielinen versio)

September 2017, Nepperin luola, Espoo, Finland; Nepperin kulmalippaluola, Espoo, Finland; Nepperin sivukololuola, Espoo, Finland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Granite, Morphology-Crack, Basic, Surveying)

Österbacken II
In better daylight and with Jarmo's help we now found the quarry. I must have walked 20 meters from the quarry wall (a 10+ meter drop, btw) yesterday.
Full story

September 2017, Österbackenin päälouhos, Vantaa, Finland; Juvanmalmin louhos, Espoo, Finland; Juvanmalmin tuhottu louhos, Espoo, Finland; Österbackenin mahdollinen historiallinen louhos, Vantaa, Finland
Urban-Exploration (Quarries); Caving (Man-Made)

Dragon's Den - Smocza Jama
Smocza Jama. Or Dragon's Den, an ancient cave. Despite the puffing, fire-breathing dragon, there's nothing to be afraid of, as long the dragon is fed enough cattle every week. Either cattle .... or equivalent number of humans.
Full story
(TGR version)
(Suomenkielinen versio)

August 2017, Smocza Jama, Krakow, Poland
Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour)

The Mannerheim Bunker
A small announcement in the newspaper -- Mannerheim's bunker to open for visitors. Of course I had to go...
Full story

August 2017, Tamminiemi, Helsinki, Finland
Caving (Man-Made); Urban-Exploration (Bunkers)

Crystal Cave at Sequoia
Janne and I are on a trip through California (and few other states). We dropped by the Crystal Cave at the Sequoia National Park.
Full story

July 2017, Crystal Cave, Sequoia National Park, California, USA
Caving (Rock, Rock-Marble, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour)

Bozkovské Dolomitové Jeskynĕ
I had an opportunity for a brief visit to the Bozkovské Dolomitové Jeskynĕ or the Bozkov Dolomite caves. The cave system is 1060 meters long and hosts the largest underground lake in Czech Republic.
Full story
(TGR version)

July 2017, Bozkov Dolomit Caves, Bozkov, Czech Republic
Caving (Rock, Rock-Limestone, Morphology-Karst, Basic, Showtour)

Certificate!
Cool. Got a certificate in the mail from the caving course earlier in the summer :-) and clearly they were focused on things that needed improvement on my side, like responsibility and safety.
Full story

July 2017, House Arkko, Kauniainen, Finland
Caving (None)

This is the 18th set of articles. The previous sets were set 1, set 2, set 3, set 4, set 5, set 6, set 7, set 8, set 9, set 10, set 11, set 12, set 13, set 14, set 15, set 16, and set 17. The next sets are set 19, set 20, set 21, and set 22.

The Planetcaver articles appeared originally in the Blogspot Planetskier series, at TGR posts, or at the Relaa website. See also the articles about skiing, urban exploration, climbing, cycling, flying, swimming, and saunas.