Waypoint :: Peppersauce

Want to go to Arizona and go caving?…

This was my question to Vicki when I first learned about the next Triple Aught Design waypoint event. This Waypoint event would be special. Neither of us had properly been caving before, and the Peppersauce cave in Arizona is a good first time experience. No rapelling is necessary, and it is well marked for exit. Also, we would once again get to spend time and adventure with some of our favorite people.

This event was held in early April 2019, and Arizona should be quite nice….

We loaded up for a long weekend camping and made the trek south. Salt River Canyon was gorgeous, and the weather was cool for the weekend. We stopped several times during the trip to admire the scenery. We actually stopped in the Salt River Canyon going both ways. There were wildflowers blooming in areas of the canyon, and this was also the first time Vicki got to meet saguaro cactus. She thinks they look happy.

We arrived to the area and joined some wonderful friends camping on a hilltop near the cave. Folks travelled from as far away as Texas, California, and Colorado for this event. It may have been a lot of the usual suspects, but some new folks joined as well. We came for the friends as much as the adventure. David had his remarkably built adventure Tacoma, Zach and Cathy brought both their Tacoma and Rubicon JK and set up a newly acquired Turtleback trailer. We tent camped with the rest of the crew, but we brought the Pioneer trailer with the field kitchen for some good food.The wind ended up being an issue at night. David was even experiencing his rooftop tent attempting to fold up on him. He was camped near the edge of the hill that happened to get the worst of the cold winds during the nights. Once the TAD crew arrived, we did a quick recon of the cave in preparation for the next day’s adventures.

Peppersauce is relatively well known and is well-marked and maintained. A very nice kiosk is right off the road to explain the area. There are signs inside the cave to guide you out to the entrance and even a ladder at one point. The initial entry requires some crawling through a small opening, after which the cave opens up dramatically. There are many opportunities to hone your caving skills crawling through many tight optional obstacles throughout. There are a few water features in the cave, but it is mostly dry- at least it was when we were there. Everyone had an amazing time, and even overcame some fears in the process. At one point, I dropped a cheap action camera into one of the interior lakes. I wrote it off, but the crew decided a camera rescue was in order. It was recovered in a show of cooperation and daring over the cave lake. Surprisingly, it still worked after drying out. It wasn’t in its weather case when it fell, but it was turned off.

As an added bonus, we had the privilege of watching a volunteer cave rescue group doing some recovery training. It was impressive to see them pull a “victim” up and through the cave features.

All in all, another unequivocal time of adventure with some amazing people. Leaving was bittersweet, but filled with anticipation of the next Waypoint together.