Spirit Cave (Churchill County, Nevada)

 

I have visited Grimes Point, the ancient petroglyph site east of Fallon, NV, a few times over the years, even touring Hidden Cave early this spring, but I only recently discovered a map online indicating the location of Spirit Cave. In 1940, a mummy was discovered in Spirit Cave during a survey of possible archaeological sites. Fifty years later, after numerous tests, it was discovered that the mummy was approximately 9,400 years old, making it the oldest mummy ever discovered in North America. With my love of history and adventure, how could I not visit this site?

As Brent and I were in the area anyway to see Soda Lake, we made this our next destination. Driving past the Grimes Point parking lot and the Hidden Cave trail head, we head out onto the dirt roads just to the north. We head for the area where I believe the cave is located based on the hand-drawn map I stumbled across a few weeks ago. We leave the jeep and head up into the hills on foot. There is not trail, but the going is pretty easy.

Along the way, we note the amount of calcium carbonate that had encrusted the smooth black rocks in eons past when this area was under the waters of the gigantic and now-extinct Lake Lahontan. In some places, we can see 4-6 inches of mineral crust that has formed around the inner boulders and now after many millennia exposed to the dry desert conditions has started falling off in places.

As we reach the summit of the hill we are climbing, I re-examine the map and discover that we are actually in the wrong area. It still made for a good hike though and some great views. As we look around to get our bearings, Brent discovers a rusted out, but sealed food can at his feet. We bring it with us and decide we'll open it back at the jeep just out of morbid curiosity. 

Arriving back at the jeep, we open the old can to discover (drum roll please . . . ) nothing truly identifiable. Whatever it once was is now dried and resembles dirt. I break one piece open and find that it has what might be a root vegetable-like texture. Maybe it was once potatoes or carrots, but who knows how many years have transformed it into what we now hold in our hands. 

Hopping back into the jeep, we drive around to the other side of the hills and spot what might be the cave above us in an area that looks very much like where the map indicates the cave is. We park and make our way up the hill to the entrance of the cave. When we arrive at the overhang that is the entrance, there is no doubt that we have found what we were looking for. 

The cave itself is essentially two chambers. The outer chamber, which is mainly just the area underneath an overhang is approximately 25 feet wide, 6-8 feet deep, with a ceiling 3-4 feet high. Looking into the cave, another smaller chamber opens up on the left side. This area is only a few feet deep and I have to almost crawl into it. According to the reports I have read, this is where the remains were found. I try to be as gentle as possible, as I have no desire to desecrate this resting place. I snap a couple of pictures and then crawl back out being cautious to not bump my head on the jagged ceiling.

We make our way back down to the jeep and head for home. I didn't track our hike, but I suspect we covered about two miles in our search for the hike, but today, the destination was more important that the journey and having seen this ancient Native American site was well worth the effort.