The Gaia Exploration Club early explorations in the Puerto Princesa Underground River
Written by: Mark Dia, President, Gaia Exploration Club
In 1997 the park management of the St Paul Underground River National Park reached out to us to ask if we would help them with a survey of caves within the park and to conduct a safety training and guide training for the boat men. We agreed and a team was organized to take on the project funded by the Palawan Tropical Forestry Project funded by the EU.
After the guide training and water safety training was conducted, the GEC team surveyed and explored Lion Cave, Ugong Rock and a few others and turned over the information to PTFPP and the park management. Discussions were made on doing an exploration trip in the coming years to follow up on the Italian and Australian expeditions the previous years. A plan was also created to do a first ascent of Mt Saint Paul in the future.
Hence, preparations were made in the next year to bring a GEC team for exploration in the Underground River. The agreement was to do this at the end of 2001.
December 2001
A 16 member team from the Gaia Exploration Club took the overnight ferry boat from Manila to Puerto Princesa to do an exploration of new passages in the Underground River. This was a promise made to the park management upon the completion of a survey project for caves in the protected area a year before.
The team had quite a lot of gear, as we did not know what to expect. We even brought our own outboard motor but unfortunately we were not able to secure an inflatable boat for it onsite.
The following day after arrival in Puerto Princesa we transferred our team and equipment to the port of Sabang.
One of the boats ferrying some of the equipment overturned due to the waves. Fortunately no one was hurt but a lot of the equipment was lost or damaged. We lost most of the SRT gear to the bottom of the sea. This will hamper our efforts but we need to continue with the expedition.
We progressed with several incursions into the river and found a few promising leads both left and right of the main river. The best lead was about 200 meters from the cave entrance via a wet swimming passage. We come back for it the next day using the inflatable canoe and explore where it goes.
The passage entails a short swim and some muddy crawling. After the team reaches the dry portion, they double back and inspect some of the branches. We call this the Cheech and Chong passage for now.
Several other passages were discovered. The most promising one ends after a few hundred meters to a wall with some strong wind coming out from an upper passage that we could not reach safely without equipment.
By this time our time for exploration has ended, and we will have to come back to the cave in the near future to survey and take photographs.
December 2002
The GEC team returns to Palawan after 11 months with new goals: Survey the Cheech and Chong swimming passage and train the Cabayugan Guides Association and park staff on cave safety and mapping.
The first part of the trip was dedicated to giving a training to the local groups and to take a TV network crew on some of the exploration.
An exploratory trip was also made to the daylight hole. We surveyed a passage on the other side of the daylight hole entrance just in case this was not done before.
After the new years days celebrations, the team proceeded to survey the swimming passage that was found early in the year. This involved multiple trips using the park board and the inflatable canoe.
A mishap happened with the camera, as the waterproof container flooded and destroyed the equipment. Nevertheless, the team was able to survey all the way into the point where there was strong wind coming out from the upper passage.
An attempt was made to free climb this section, but unfortunately the team member slipped and had a minor accident in the attempt. The team decided to pull back at this point to finish the mapping as we got news from the park management that the Mayor wanted to meet with us in the city as soon as possible.
After the new years days celebrations, the team proceeded to survey the swimming passage that was found early in the year. This involved multiple trips using the park board and the inflatable canoe.
So it was again time to pack up and head back to the city.
Right before the map additions was presented to Mayor Edward Hagedorn, the team decided to rename the new surveyed passage the Gaia Passage.
Thus, with a promise to the park superintendent and the Mayor that GEC shall return to finish the work one day, the team left for Manila the following day. The next GEC trips will commence in 2006 in preparation for the GEC hosting of the 7th National Caving Congress in the Puerto Princesa Underground River National Park in 2007.
St. Paul Cave – Cheech & Chong Passages Map
