More than 500 feet into the depth of the excavated Maribel New Hope Cave, Allan Schema began to feel water at his feet.

As it continued to pool below him, he and his group resolved to forge deeper into the cave, but the water began to flow — slowly at first, but then sweeping toward them.

With water up to their knees in the already cramped space, Schema says they resolved to evacuate and reevaluate.

Soaking wet and shivering outside of the cave, members of the Wisconsin Speleological Society had just dug to connect New Hope to Spring Cave, another cave at Cherney Maribel Caves County Park near Manitowoc in the northeast part of the state.

Though the connection between the two caves was small at the moment, over the next few years, there would be a concerted effort to safely continue digging while keeping the water at bay.

“There was a constant push, but [other members of the society’s] hope was kind of broken because we hit so much water,” Schema says. “But there were some of us, like me. I was like, we’re gonna figure this out, because I’m not letting this cave sit this way.”

Last September, that connection between the two caves was finalized, and just a month later in October, the water was stopped.

For cavers in Wisconsin, that thrill of discovery coupled with views of natural beauty has driven them to go deeper and deeper into the pastime. The Wisconsin Speleological Society has enabled many across Wisconsin to turn an interest into a hobby, allowing new cavers to try the activity out alongside more experienced ones and paying homage to the miners who gave Wisconsin the name “the Badger state” by living in tunnels burrowed into hillsides.

“I didn’t develop a passion for caving until I got that first opportunity to touch somewhere that has never been touched by a human being before,” says Wisconsin Speleological Society Chair Zach Falish. “As soon as I got in there, and realized that I’m the first person to touch this piece of earth, something flipped in my head, and I was like, I need to explore more.”

To cavers, the excitement of discovery and the potential to switch a light on and go farther into areas where few have ever been before, is exhilarating. And with the society, they can help excavate caves, clearing a path for other cave enthusiasts around Wisconsin.

Years after the society first discovered the connection between the two caves, but just miles away, Falish stood at the bottom of a 65-foot pit, staring up at the sun streaming through the cedar trees that lined the opening of the hole and seemed to shoot up into the sky.

“It is one of the prettiest views that I think I’ve ever seen in person,” he says, “and it’s burned into my memory forever.”

Allison Falish, Zach’s wife, had a similar moment in central Indiana, where she looked around her at cave walls covered in gypsum that had crystallized to become selenite, with light bouncing off of every surface.

“It was just like you were in a glitter room,” she says. “Everything was just so sparkly.”

The two memories stick out to the couple, despite being relatively new cavers. They began only a year and a half ago, while walking through Cherney Maribel Caves County Park and discovering a dig occurring.

Schema’s caving journey began in a similar way 20 years earlier.

Now the librarian of the society, Schema says his love of caving was sparked on a simple work day at the Manitowoc Public Works department 20 years ago, when his former boss bugged him to come and check out the local park, where he and the county were looking to excavate Maribel for caves.

After enough times being asked, Schema finally caved.

“I went to the park and crawled into New Hope cave, because that’s all you could do back then, was crawl into it on your hands and knees,” Schema says. “I thought that was the coolest thing. And it’s basically in my backyard.”

When Schema began, there were only seven known caves at Maribel New Hope, he says.

Today, there are 13.

Schema remembers being one of the first humans to ever set foot in one room of Spring Cave. There’s not too much on planet Earth, he says, where you can say you’ve been one of the first people to set foot in.

“That’s kind of the allure of digging the cave out,” Schema says.

These caves have lain under the surface for centuries now, but they vary in type across Wisconsin. Schema was able to dig out caves, mainly due to the difference in geological history between northeast and southwest Wisconsin.

“There’s kind of two factors in general [to cave formation],” says Melissa Reusche, communications and outreach specialist for the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey. “It’s mostly the type of bedrock you have, and then also how that bedrock is interacting with water mainly through time.”

Madison and the rest of southwestern Wisconsin lie in what is known as the Driftless Area, named for its lack of glaciers throughout history. But the area where Schema and the Falishes first discovered their passion has a far different history — and far different caves.

Reusche explains that in geology, the term “drift” typically refers to the sand and gravel carried and deposited by glaciers — the materials that force one to have to dig out the cave.

In the Driftless Area, the lack of glacial sediment has caused the bedrock and carbonate that are foundational to caves to be closer to the surface. This is one key difference between the Maribel New Hope caves and ones in the Driftless Area, like Dane County show cave Cave of the Mounds, which was accidentally discovered by limestone quarry workers conducting a surface blast in 1939.

Since it was discovered and made accessible to the public, Cave of the Mounds has been a staple destination for science tourism in Wisconsin. There, cave exploration comes in the form of a guided tour that points out cave formations preserved for generations to see.

With Maribel New Hope, the Wisconsin Speleological Society engages members in digging out the loose sediment to restore the cave to its preglacial appearance. Once dug out and made safe for public expeditions, society members give tours of the caves.

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But, Allison Falish says, she hasn’t always enjoyed all parts of caving. Often, to reach this presentable end, she has to endure digging, uncomfortable crawling and cave critters.

“We got through the door [of the cave],” she remembers of one experience, “and all of a sudden these humongous cave crickets, when the lights came on, they just started falling from the ceiling, and they were everywhere.”

Determined to continue, Allison Falish says she forced herself to put her hood up over her helmet and continue crawling forward.

But despite the many critters and hours spent crawling, caving is an experience like no other.

“This underground world, it’s not like anything that you’ll experience outside of a cave,” Zach Falish says. “It’s almost hard to believe that these things form right underneath our feet. So when you get to be one of the pioneers, to be able to step into a spot there, there is a dopamine dump into your brain unlike any that I can describe.”

Cover Photo: The pavilion outside of the entrance to the cave of the mounds features many family activities, such as a kid-friendly gemstone mine and a beer garden. Photo by Lauren Aguila.