Black Crystal Cave, Sodom
- Location
- South of Mount Sodom - the cave opening is on its northern bank
Cave mapView the map (PDF)The Cave:
Black Crystal Cave consists of an elongated chamber that developed in caprock, and of several shallow shafts penetrating into the salt layers.
The cave opening looks like a narrow, elongated slit cut in the middle of a channel descending west from the mountain plateau.
At the entrance there is a rock step about 8 m high leading to the central chamber of the cave. The chamber is built among caprock and is elongated in a general north-south direction. On the northern side of the chamber there is a small outcrop with dark, non-salty deposits after which the cave is named - black crystal. At this point one can descend a few meters along a fracture between the caprock.
On the southern side of the chamber, below the entrance, there is a steep scree at the bottom of which there is a wide chimney descending several meters and penetrating into the salt layer. Similar chimneys are also found on the eastern side of the scree, where there is a high, narrow passage leading to chimneys descending to the salt layer.
Access and Hiking:
Access to the cave opening requires descending the channel in which the cave is located. In this channel there are low small waterfalls that can be descended without a rope. It is worth checking that they can also be climbed back up the same way, since the waterfalls are very crumbly.
The descent into the cave requires the help of a rope. One can anchor on a prominent pole painted red and white located about 30 m from the cave opening.
* At the time of the visit to the cave (early winter 2008) there were a large number of bats of the mouse-tailed bat species in the cave.
Equipment:
- A 10 m rope for descending into the cave.
- A 30 m rope for anchoring.
Written by: Boaz Langford
of a channel flowing west from the mountain plateau
