Canada’s water story includes water that moves underground. Most Canadians will never get a chance to follow me through an underwater cave system, but at Bonnechere Cave in Ontario, you can have a similar experience. During the summer season, the underwater cave is pumped dry so that visitors can explore winding passages up close. In a virtual classroom inside Mother Earth, a tour guide will ensure your safety while teaching you about local folklore, 450 million-year-old fossils, glaciation, geology and the hibernation of bats. A 40-minute tour takes you along a boardwalk through the passages where you can find rare fossils and speleothems, and hear stories about the original explorer Tom Woodward. More adventurous participants can crouch through a small looped passage to meet up with the rest of the group. The moist walls offer a refreshing respite from the summer heat since the passages remain 10°C all year.
Since the last ice age, the Bonnechere River has carved large holes in the karst limestone escarpment, and funneled through the earth. In winter, the fissured passages are partly filled with water, leaving a narrow airspace in the ceiling. In these pockets, bats can hibernate in a constant and comfortable temperature. The winter flooding protects the cave from the stresses of freezing and thawing that can easily crack the infrastructure, making the cave unstable. Late each fall, owner Chris Hindsperger and a few helpers, remove the electrical lighting system and turn off the pumps. Soon after, the tunnels fill up with water from the river, insulating the space for winter.
Beginning at the age of 12, Hindsperger spent ten summers working for the original explorers of the cave Tom and Ruth Woodward. When he graduated from Sir Sanford Fleming College in Peterborough, the Woodwards made the three-hour drive to attend his ceremony. Thirteen years later, after Ruth had passed away, Hindsperger returned to help Tom Woodward retire as he had reached the age of 78. A couple of years later Hindsperger and his wife bought the property from Tom’s estate and continued the operation as their own. Today he carries on the tradition of mentoring young people who act as tour guides, as evidenced by a young 19-year-old employee who was studying to be a geologist.
Hindsperger is an avid community advocate for the town of Eganville. He sponsors events like the Tour de Bonnechere cycling event and a local Author Festival. Twice a year he hosts dinner events in the cave and the Cavestock Underground Musical Series that sells out fast.
Some hardcore cavers bristle at the thought of commercializing a natural cave, but this cave explorer thinks the educational opportunities make this destination a real gem. My husband Robert does not accompany me on my underwater exploits and for him, our Labour Day Weekend visit offered a chance to share my world.
