In August of 2005, five young adults decided to explore a little-known underwater cave on the side of Y Mountain in Provo, Utah. Nicknamed the “cave of death,” they had no idea of the deadly danger waiting inside. In the end, only one of them would return. This is the fatal breakdown of the Gollum Cave tragedy.
On Wednesday, August 17th, a group of five friends went out for dinner, and they ended up discussing a secret cave on the side of Y Mountain. This mountain is next to the BYU campus, so many local students were aware of the cave’s existence. Two young cavers had fully surveyed Gollum’s Cave just a year before. It doesn’t seem very hospitable at first glance, since it’s covered in a foot of water and is only four feet tall. It requires those who enter to crouch down to walk along the nearly 100-foot entrance tunnel in a shallow stream. For most hikers, this would not be a fun idea, but for those who know about the secret cave inside, the challenge could be alluring.
The secret part of this cavern requires you to lower yourself through an 18-by-24-inch water-filled hole in the ground. Even for those that know what lies on the other side, this daunting moment can halt even the boldest explorers. That night, the group decided to test themselves in this dark and uninviting cave. It was already two o’clock in the morning by the time they reached the cave area. They spent some time sitting outside before they ventured into the shallow cave.
Jennifer Galbraith had been through the watery tunnel before, so she had reassured the others that they would be able to hold their breath and swim the 15 feet to the other cave inside. Despite becoming hypothermic and passing out during her previous experience, she was still excited to show her friends this secret place. Blake Donner, Scott McDonald, and Ariel Singer all agreed to give it a try. A fifth friend, Joseph Ferguson, decided to wait outside the main cave until they returned.
With only a single flashlight, the four made their way to the small opening in the floor of the cave. It was now 4:30 in the morning and pitch black outside. One at a time, they worked up the courage to lower themselves into the narrow passage filled with cold water. Jennifer went first since she was the only one who had been there before. They watched her head disappear under the water and a small ripple when she moved through to the other end.
The water-filled tunnel was no bigger than a refrigerator door, just two feet wide and four feet high. One by one, Blake, Scott, and Ariel each dropped in and followed the direction that Jennifer had indicated. There was a rope that was attached to a rock in the main cave; it led through the underwater tunnel and was tied to a piece of wood in the inner cave. With such a small tunnel space, a rope wasn’t probably seen as necessary to lead back to the entrance hole. It would seem as if you couldn’t miss it. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Brian Lamprey, a previous caver, stated that on his return, he overshot the exit hole and hit a dead end about four feet past the hole. In a frantic moment, he realized that a wall of rock surrounded him. He desperately pushed backwards, grasping at the ceiling until he came to the hole. The extra time that this took made him certain that this would end in death. He was extremely lucky to find the hole just a split second before he gasped in a lung full of water.
On this day, all four had made the short swim to the small cave just 15 feet away. There was room for them to stand and move around just a little. The cave was basically six and a half feet tall with a peak in the center around nine feet. This left about three feet of air space above the water.
Joseph sat waiting for his friends to return. He wasn’t exactly sure how long they planned to stay in the cave. No clear plan had been established, so he just waited. After nearly an hour, he walked into the cave and looked at the watery hole, but there was no sign of the flashlight or movement of the group. It was now 5:30, and he wasn’t sure what to do. He called a few friends who were familiar with the cave and then eventually the police at 6:25 a.m.
When they swam into the inner cave, they were probably nervous and out of breath with hearts racing with adrenaline. As soon as their faces escaped the water, they would have taken a deep breath of relief. Unfortunately, the air in this small space was likely “bad air.” In caving, this term refers to any air that is not composed of the normal 21% oxygen and 79% mainly nitrogen, with a few other gases at more negligible percentages. Because this cave was stagnant and the water source was closed, the carbon dioxide buildup would be very likely due to several causes.
Little by little, as visitors spent time in the inner chamber, the oxygen would be depleted and carbon dioxide would build up. Carbon dioxide is also known to build up in limestone caves due to erosion and seepage from plant decay. There was also evidence that candles were left burning inside, which would have decreased the available oxygen. Having no airflow, carbon dioxide would have settled to a higher concentration at the water level. It would be a subtle evolution over time, and the friends visiting the secret cave would have had no idea about the air condition in the inner chamber.
Even if the cavers had only stayed for just a few minutes, their diminished capacity to think, move, and breathe would make the return swim a dangerous endeavor. Once they were in this cave, they may have quickly understood that they couldn’t breathe well and that they should return immediately. Because the entrance hole was so small, only one person at a time could traverse the narrow tunnel and pull themselves up the exit hole.
Jennifer exited first but was unable to find the exit hole before running out of breath. She likely had a diminished capacity for breath holding and critical thinking. If the oxygen level was near 10 to 12% in the cave, she would have only had 60 seconds of breath holding before she would pass out. If the rope wasn’t in her hand, then finding the opening would have been a frantic effort of feeling along the ceiling of the tunnel in the cave.
The other three would not have known that Jennifer was in a fight for her life. They were left in the dark, suffocating air of the inner cave. After counting for 30 or 60 seconds, Ariel would have been next to exit the secret cave. In a carbon dioxide level of just two or three percent, her respiration rate would have doubled. She would have been trying to take deep breaths before sliding her face under the water. Quickly swimming forward with her final burst of energy, she reached ahead to locate the opening.
It would have been completely unreal to feel the body of your friend in this narrow, dark tunnel. It was supposed to be a clear passage because there just wasn’t room for two people to push their heads through the tight opening. In a moment of panic, Ariel would have been desperate to get air and maybe not quite realize that her friend was unconscious and certainly close to death at this point.
Blake and Scott would have been breathing the bad air for several extra minutes in the dark. They each would have been feeling the effects of lower oxygen, higher carbon dioxide, and the panic associated with such an uncomfortable environment to breathe. After waiting a short time, the next friend entered the narrow, water-filled tunnel. Already in a diminished state, Blake would be eager to push through this swim as quickly as possible.
He would have been so unnerved to encounter the two girls still floating in the water in front of him. The instant alarm would leave you confused about which way to go. The hole should be just in front of the person in front of you. He may have realized that Ariel wasn’t moving and he needed to push her towards the hole to save her. In a tunnel that was only two feet wide and four feet deep, moving past anyone or pushing them forward would be nearly impossible.
The final caver waiting in the dark inner cave alone would have been suffering the longest. He was surely eager to get out of this place forever. His journey through the tunnel would be stopped short when he encountered his friends in such a deficient state. He may have fallen unconscious very quickly.
Once the authorities arrived, it was no simple task to try to rescue the friends who might be stuck in the inner cave. They immediately pumped air into the cave to attempt to restore any depleted oxygen levels. At the same time, they pumped out some of the water to create an airspace within the connecting tunnel for rescuers to enter.
As soon as the water levels dropped a little, they discovered the body of Jennifer Galbraith floating just inside the tunnel. After pumping for another hour, they found the other three friends, Ariel, Blake, and Scott, altogether facing towards the exit hole.
From the evidence found at the scene, the information provided by Joseph Ferguson, autopsies confirming drowning as the cause of death, and accounts from other explorers who have struggled in the tunnel, we can determine what likely happened. It would be hard to imagine four healthy young adults drowning if there weren’t some issues with the air. In a span of just 15 feet, four friends drowned. They were bold young people between 18 and 28 years old, in the prime of their lives. After the recovery of their bodies, the cave entrance was filled with concrete to prevent cavers from entering and possibly losing more lives.
