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terrain January/February 2021

field notes

REDISCOVERING ST. LOUIS' 'LOST' CAVE

Last May, St. Louis spelunking enthusiasts helped rediscover the legendary McHose and English Cave after 100 years of mystery as to its exact whereabouts. The "lost" cave was found about 50 feet below the surface of the English Cave Community Garden in the Benton Park neighborhood by a geological team drilling down from above. The effort was organized by the English Cave Steering Committee and financed in part by the Missouri Speleological Survey and Meramec Valley Grotto. According to St. Louis Construction News & Review , the S-shaped cave measures about 350-feet-long by 25- to 35-feet-wide. Brewer Ezra English used it as an underground beer garden and entertainment complex in the 1804s, and over the decades the cave was utilized for lagering beer, storing wine, farming mushrooms - even bowling. The last recorded use of the cave was in 1919, after which time the entrance was sealed and, eventually, lost. Efforts are underway to explore the cave, with one prospect being to link the underground space to the existing garden and possibly allow rappelling access from the surface. "We can only drill from October to March due to the gardening activities[and] we are in a holding pattern as regards to drilling due to the pandemic," said Bill Kranz of the Benton Park Neighborhood Association. Negotiations with the landowners are ongoing, with updates provided at bpnastl. org/community-garden, according to Kranz.

SCHITTY CANOE: NOT PRETTY AND PROUD

You won't have trouble finding your boat among the others on shore when you rent from this Springfield, Missouri, canoe livery. It's the dented one with orange- and-blue swirls and a Schitty logo on the side. The Schitty Canoe Company, which opened in 2019, specializes in rentals of refurbished canoes. Co- founders TJ Holman (Show Me SUP), Travis Miller, and Shane Perrin (SUP St. Louis) realized a need for an affordable canoe rental option in the Springfield area and have dedicated their efforts to restoring the glory of boats deemed past their "use by" date. Why go with old and, ahem, crappy canoes? Instead of purchasing thousands of dollars in shiny new ones, the Schitty crew decided to get creative and have some fun. "Pretty and new things have no stories. We want to provide our customers with goofy memories while having a unique paddling experience," Holman said. "With this concept, we decided to give the refurbished canoes loud paint jobs, add some humor, and point out all the flaws to make it fun for our customers." Do the canoes leak? "Only a little." Are they dented? "Yup." Do they hold beer (or soda)? "Definitely." Most importantly: they float. And you're sure to turn heads when plying Missouri's waterways in your canoe, be it Cake , The OG , or The Number Two . Kidding aside, the Schitty crew does take its paddling seriously, providing clients with quality paddles, USCG- approved PFDs, Pelican dry boxes, and SealLine dry bags. The company offers trips on waters including Springfield Lake, Finley River, and James River. Or you can set up a "take and play" date and have your own adventure, so long as your car, truck, or trailer can transport a canoe. "They say good things come to an end. Well, with us, they don't. They just get Schitty and provide more joy and laughter as they wander their way down new adventures," said Holman. -Nick Tilley

ABOVE

: Painting of English Cave showing the entrance and beer garden. (MISSOURI HISTORY MUSEUM)

INSET

: Brewer Ezra English. (MISSOURI HISTORY MUSEUM)