Trip Report on 2007 Caving Expedition to Turtlehead Mountain By Jason Ballensky

The 2007 expedition to Turtlehead Mountain in the Bob Marshall Wilderness was organized as a trip of the Caves of Montana Project, an official project of the NSS. The Caves of Montana Project has an MOU with the Flathead National Forest so all data collected during the trip was also shared with them. Additionally all information collected was shared with members of the Caves of Montana Project. The expedition group consisted of cavers Doug Powell, Daryl Greaser, Thomas Coleman, Hans Bodenhamer, Philip Rydwalder, and Jason Ballensky. The main focus of this trip was the continued exploration and mapping of the caves around Turtlehead Mountain. Additionally another group of cavers joined the expedition part time to explore Virgil the Turtle’s Greathouse Cave. This group of cavers consisted of Ken Stahley, Landon Woodward, Clinton Ohlers, Richard Brown, Jim Chester, and Ron Zuber. Four major caves were mapped during the expedition and nearly a mile of virgin passage was surveyed. Mapping was continued in The Cave that Summer Forgot to bring the total depth to 412 feet and the length to 1763 feet. Tears of the Turtle Cave was mapped to a depth of 435 feet and length of 1246 feet. A series of caves will multiple openings in the cliff face were explored and collectively named the Tickle Me Turtle Caves. A total of 2750 feet of passage was mapped inside them.					Photo by Ken Stahley
					Photo by Clinton Ohlers
					Photo by Clinton Ohlers
Photo by Clinton Ohlers	Photo by Hans Bodenhamer	Photo by Hans Bodenhamer   Photo by Philip Rydwalder	Photo by Jason Ballensky	Photo by Jason Ballensky	Photo by Ken Stahley
Photo by Clinton Ohlers	Photo by Ken Stahley	Photo by Ken Stahley	Photo by Philip Rydwalder	Photo by Philip Rydwalder	Photo by Philip Rydwalder