http://www.fieldandstream.com/taxonomy/term/56512 The taxonomy view with a depth of 0. en http://www.fieldandstream.com/taxonomy/term/56512 http://www.fieldandstream.com/sites/all/themes/fs/images/fsLogo_mini.gif 254 123 The taxonomy view with a depth of 0. http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/untitled-image-2937 <img src="/files/imagecache/photo-carousel/legacy/1000238077.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-photo-carousel" /><!--paging_filter--> Ralph Cutter http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/untitled-image-2937#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:44:54 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000238077 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classreadheadeightspan-hr-target_blank-classxlink-hrefht <img src="/files/imagecache/photo-carousel/legacy/1000234768.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-photo-carousel" /><!--paging_filter--><p>Eight <a target="_blank" class="xlink" href="http://www.fieldandstream.com/fieldstream/fishing/photogallery/article/0,13355,1532539,00.html" rel="nofollow">Photo Gallery: Fly Fishing 3,000 Feet Under The Earth</a> (13-September-2006)<br /> The jungles of Borneo, one of the most remote places on the planet. Herpetologist and fly fisherman Ralph Cutter risks his life deep underground to catch blind catfish on a fly rod for science. Here are the photos from his trip.</p> Ralph Cutter http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classreadheadeightspan-hr-target_blank-classxlink-hrefht#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:48 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234768 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/untitled-image-2507 <img src="/files/imagecache/photo-carousel/legacy/1000234254.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-photo-carousel" /><!--paging_filter--> Ralph Cutter http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/untitled-image-2507#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:45 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234254 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditanother-view-jungle-taken-cave-opening-h <img src="/files/imagecache/photo-carousel/legacy/1000234253.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-photo-carousel" /><!--paging_filter--><p>Another view of the jungle, taken from a cave opening high on the Gunung Buda massif. </p><p>"I'm happy to report that the work from our expedition resulted in the creation of a large national park to protect and preserve the Gunung Buda mountains of Sarawak, Borneo.-¿</p> Ralph Cutter http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditanother-view-jungle-taken-cave-opening-h#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:45 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234253 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocredita-view-borneos-gunung-buda-limestone-mas <div class="protected-image"><div style="position: absolute; width: 125px; height: 125px;"></div><img src="/files/imagecache/photo-carousel/legacy/1000234252.jpg" alt="" title="" width="125" height="125" class="imagecache imagecache-photo-carousel" /></div><!--paging_filter--><p>A view of Borneo's Gunung Buda limestone massif, in Gunung Buda National Park. </p><p>Fly Fishing 3,000 Feet Under The Earth<br /> By: Ralph Cutter, as told to Chris Santella </p><p>"I was part of an expedition that went to Borneo to explore Gunung Buda, a massive block of jungle-cloaked limestone that rises more than three thousand feet into a ceiling of clouds that drench the area in 300 inches of rain each year. Known by geologists as a karst formation, Buda has been assaulted by hundreds of thousands of years worth of rain that has carved deep fissures into its limestone flanks. From a caver's perspective Gunung Buda may hold the crown jewels of Borneo; and on the global level, Borneo's caves are on a scale unto themselves. As an example: two ranges south of Gunung Buda at Gunung Mulu there is the Sarawak Chamber, a staggering cavern three times larger than the Superdome where a 747 could fly laps between its stalactites. </p><p>"This expedition was going to be the third try at cracking Buda's secrets. The first was a brief scouting foray by John Lane and George Prest. With a minimum of time and equipment they found tantalizing leads hidden behind the massive piles of rockfall at Buda's northern base. Lane and Prest returned two years later with a team of hard-core cavers and discovered an astounding three dozen world class caves almost immediately. Unfortunately the close quarters, miserable tropical conditions, and driven personalities of the team combined to cause the expedition to implode in less than a month. Despite the social fallout, valuable data was logged and the discoveries set the stage for our expedition. For this expedition, John scoured the world for cavers with specialties outside of the strictly subterranean realm. I joined the team as its paramedic, herpetologist and fish biologist.</p> Ralph Cutter http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocredita-view-borneos-gunung-buda-limestone-mas#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:45 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234252 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditcutter-prepares-descend-recently-discove <img src="/files/imagecache/photo-carousel/legacy/1000234251.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-photo-carousel" /><!--paging_filter--><p>Cutter prepares to descend into the recently discovered cave. </p><p>"One day early in our expedition, one of the team, Chris Andrews (our cave cartographer) stumbled into camp caked with mud and guano. He described a cave that twisted and corkscrewed downward until it ran out of limestone and collided with the sandstone roots of Gunung Buda. Water flowing down the passage formed a lake, and in the lake something was moving. Though Chris felt it was a snake or maybe a big fish, the natives said it was probably a crocodile. Being the fish, snake, and crocodile guy, it was my job to catch it. We quickly bundled up a snake hook and a flyrod and clanging with climbing gear we left camp for Chris' cave."</p> Ralph Cutter http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditcutter-prepares-descend-recently-discove#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:45 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234251 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditipoi-local-guide-takes-view-atop-formati <img src="/files/imagecache/photo-carousel/legacy/1000234250.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-photo-carousel" /><!--paging_filter--><p>Ipoi, a local guide, takes in the view from atop a formation the cavers called "the showerhead." </p><p>"Chris, Scott Bauman (a gastropod expert from Guam) and I navigated the twisting passage into the bowels of the mountain. Guided by flickering cap lamps we rapped from drop to drop, downclimbed on slimy limestone knobs, and belly crawled through greasy chutes, all the while descending deeper and deeper into the earth. Flickering in our lamps, dazzling white forests of stalactites were revealed; some as tiny as sewing needles and others as large as trees hang from the ceilings. Each had its own life-giving drop of water suspended from its tip. As the drips drop, a corresponding stalagmite grows from the floor. Where the mites meet, columns are created and the forest metaphor is complete. Helectites, bizarre twisted calcite formations, looked like the bones of something dead reaching out to us from the cave walls.</p> Ralph Cutter http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditipoi-local-guide-takes-view-atop-formati#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:45 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234250 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditchris-andrews-left-and-scott-bauman-righ <img src="/files/imagecache/photo-carousel/legacy/1000234249.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-photo-carousel" /><!--paging_filter--><p>Chris Andrews (left) and Scott Bauman (right) in a tunnel they called "the snailshell." </p><p>"Differences in air pressure throughout the cave system created puffs and streams of wind. As the winds passes the decorations and chambers, a music is made. It sounds for all the world like Gollum, in some hall hidden far below, is playing the pan flute. We were the first humans to ever enter this realm and he is playing just for us, beckoning us ever deeper.</p> Ralph Cutter http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditchris-andrews-left-and-scott-bauman-righ#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:45 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234249 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditchris-andrews-goes-down-mouse-holespan-p <img src="/files/imagecache/photo-carousel/legacy/1000234248.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-photo-carousel" /><!--paging_filter--><p>Chris Andrews goes down the "mouse hole." </p><p>"Thousands of feet beneath the summit of Buda the cave sumps at a lake. The water had receded a few feet to reveal a mouse-hole-shaped opening just at the waterline. Deep claw marks in the mud indicated that perhaps a crocodile really did live there. We swam across the cold black water and ducked into the mouse hole. We found ourselves inside a passage where the water was chin deep, and often the ceiling was so low we were forced to duck beneath the water to continue onward. The roof was covered with dripping muddy slime that told of frequent and recent flooding. A quarter of a mile inside the passage Chris stopped suddenly and hissed, -¿I hear moving water.' Chris is a wonderful guy, one of my dearest friends and an extraordinarily talented caver but at his mellowest looks like Kevin Bacon on nitroglycerin. When he gets excited you get the distinct impression he might explode; right now his fuse was lit.</p> Ralph Cutter http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditchris-andrews-goes-down-mouse-holespan-p#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:45 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234248 at http://www.fieldandstream.com http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditbats-roosted-roof-and-walls-cavern-their <img src="/files/imagecache/photo-carousel/legacy/1000234247.jpg" alt="" title="" class="imagecache imagecache-photo-carousel" /><!--paging_filter--><p>Bats roosted on the roof and walls of the cavern, their guano fertilzing the rich ecosystem below. </p><p>"Fears of being eaten by subterranean crocs are replaced by the more immediate possibility of being trapped by rising water. More cavers die by drowning than any other cause. Knowing there were no air chambers behind us, we rapidly pushed forward hoping to find refuge. We abruptly broke out into a massive subway cave with a crystal clear river flowing through it. This was our sound of moving water. The cave was seething with life. Thick mounds of guano nourish centipedes, crabs, and thousands of mole crickets. Menacing huntsman spiders the size of Frisbees scuttled along the walls searching for bats to eat. Cave racer snakes slithered along the floor looking for baby bats or swiftlets fallen from the ceiling. The river was teeming with pale shrimp, crayfish, and some unknown type of isopod. Fish finned in the current and held in seams, just like they would in a trout stream. I rigged my fly rod with a 5-weight line and tied on a grasshopper pattern, figuring it would be close enough to a mole cricket.</p> Ralph Cutter http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/fieldandstream/kentucky/2008/02/span-classphotocreditbats-roosted-roof-and-walls-cavern-their#comments Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:39:45 -0500 fieldandstream-editor 1000234247 at http://www.fieldandstream.com