From cragging to caving: Box Canyon connections

A Sunday morning out rock climbing at Box Canyon ended with conversations and reminiscing about caving.

We started out nice and early on a recent Sunday morning and enjoyed watching the sunrise during the drive. Hidden Wall was our destination. This wall in the southern Box area has been called other names in the past, including Getaway Wall and Scarry Wall, but locals know it as Hidden Wall. There is now even a sign put up at the parking area and trailhead by the Bureau of Land Management solidifying the local name. Hidden Wall stays shady until about noon and it has 29 routes from easy to somewhat difficult. Nonclimbers can simply enjoy these pleasant, short hikes with great views, especially west to the Maggies.

It started out with just two of us, plus Stella the dog, then another friend rolled in, then another friend strolled in. In the time between their arrivals, we could hear voices from another group climbing at the wall. New Mexico Tech had just started up classes this past week, but still it was a surprise after a long summer break of hardly encountering anyone local actually climbing at the Box. Proper climbing season is approaching! We climbed until the sun was encroaching on our shady space, then we packed up to head out.

The caving talk started up on the hike out. The other group was right behind us as we were departing, and chatting soon revealed that one guy in the group was an officer of the New Mexico Tech Caving Club. Most if not all of the others in the group of five were involved in the club as well. The NMT Caving Club was thriving when I first started at Tech in 1997. My first weekend after my freshman classes started was spent exploring Fort Stanton Cave in Lincoln County. My second weekend included one day at the dinky Riley Cave and the next at Box Canyon for a ropes practice. So caving actually introduced me to Box Canyon, and Box became my focal point for outdoor recreation.

The club kept going strong for a couple of years. New Mexico is perhaps the best state for caving, even if Socorro County doesn’t have many caves. Riley Cave, near tiny Riley north of Magdalena, is one of the few caves in the county, and it’s not much. The NMT Caving Club went on frequent trips all over the state: Black Range of the Gila, lava flows by Carrizozo, the Guadalupe Mountains near Carlsbad, and so on. It was a great way to see the beauty of New Mexico, above and below ground. It was also my gateway to rock climbing through the ropes practices. The club would go out to Box to set up ropes for rappelling and ascending. Some caves are vertical, meaning you need ropes and gear to explore them safely because there are vertical drops. Prior to our trips we’d practice rappelling and ascending, because for most caves you go back out the way you came in. Pretty soon a few of us were rock climbing in addition to the ropes practice skills.

NMT clubs all seem to go through highs and lows throughout the years. Caving club membership numbers dropped, white-nose syndrome led to the closing of many caves for years to protect bats from the fungal infection, and the club had its ups and downs. It was good to find out that the club is active currently. If you want a different kind of adventure, check with the NMT Gym and you can hopefully find some information about meetings and trips. I hear that they hope to have one meeting a month, and that they will start out the semester with a trip this weekend.