Peter's passion for caving
started at a very young age, when he was just a kid exploring
the maze of rooms and bunkers in Fort
Knox, a granite fortress, in Maine. He was fascinated with
the concept of exploring an underground labyrinth of rooms.
He 'got the bug' that separates the non-claustrophobic cave
seekers from the rest of us when he visited his first cave in
California, called "Crystal
Cave" in Sequoia National Park.
Then when Peter was a freshman
attending the University of Denver in 1967, he found out about
a really fascinating group on campus called the 'Alpine Club'
and they offered caving experiences to their members, so he
naturally had to join. Later that spring he went on his first
'wild' (undeveloped) cave trip and was hooked for life. He later
joined the National
Speleological Society (NSS) in 1968 to network with other
cavers who shared his passion and get more opportunities to
go exploring in other 'wild' caves. The NSS is an important
organization that works to preserve caves and properly trains
people in the best and safest of caving techniques.
Lechuguilla Caver
In 1971 Peter had an opportunity
with the National Park Service to visit Lechuguilla Cave. At
the time, there was nothing more to the cave than the entry
room at the bottom of the pit and a side alcove. Looking back
with amusement Peter recalls the Assistant Supervisor of Carlsbad
Cavern National Park saying it was a "small & disappointing
cave". It wasn't until 1986 that the opening to the rest
of the cave was dug open. It turned out, of course, later on
that Lechuguilla was a phenomenal cave, destined to be the deepest
cave system in the United States. New sections of cave are continually
being discovered and Lechuguilla officially logs in at over
110 miles in length and 1632ft/497m deep.
After his first uneventful
trip into Lechuguilla in 1971 Peter began to hear more about
the cave system, which had been dug open in 1986, through his
network of fellow cavers and some published stories. It wasn't
until 18 years after his first descent into the cave that he
went back into Lechuguilla to explore it in depth. Along with
hundreds of other well-qualified cavers, Peter joined in the
effort to explore, map and study this unique and beautiful cave
system (in March of 1989). He's logged a number of trips into
the cave since then, with his most recent trip in January of
2004.
For Peter, exploring caves
allows him to engage in his passion for cave photography - to
preserve and to artistically present the incredibly beautiful
and unique crystal formations found only underground. You will
see several of his photographs on Extreme Science in the Lechuguilla
Cave Tour. He also participates in cave mapping, a requirement
by the National Park Service of cavers who enter Lechuguilla
and find new territory. It is explorers like Peter Jones who
have carefully measured and mapped Lechuguilla that have yielded
the picture of this amazing cave system and how it was formed.
Peter's photographs have been
exhibited in numerous museums around the world and appeared
in various publications including: numerous covers of the NSS
News, monthly publication of the NSS; Deep Secrets, the exploration
of Lechuguilla Cave; On Rope II; Lechuguilla, Jewel of the Underground;
Cigar Aficionado Magazine; numerous cards and posters for the
Carlsbad Cavern/Guadalupe Mountain Association, a private fundraising
organization.
Peter is the owner of Shot
in the Dark Cave Photography, offering
his professional-quality photographs of astounding cave crystals
and formations. You may contact him at:
E-mail: pjcaver@gwi.net
Phone:(207) 236-6112
Website: www.pjcaver.com
Mail:
Peter Jones
Shot in the Dark Cave Photography
80 Mountain St.
Camden, Maine
04843 USA
