Nutty Putty Cave – an intricate and challenging underground passage for cavers.
Nutty Putty Cave is a natural limestone cave located in Utah County, Utah, in the United States. It’s known for its intricate and challenging underground passages, and is accessed by a hole on top of a hill about seven miles west of State Road 68. While it’s not a large cave in terms of its overall size, it gained notoriety in the spelunking community due to its difficult and narrow passages. Spelunking refers to the exploration of caves, especially as a hobby, and for years, Nutty Putty Cave was a favourite, with around 5,000 visitors per year.The cave was formed through the process of dissolution, where acidic groundwater gradually dissolved the limestone bedrock over the course of millions of years, creating a network of tunnels and chambers underground. One of the most notable features of Nutty Putty Cave is the “Birth Canal,” a particularly tight passage that challenges even experienced cavers. This narrow passage earned its name due to the contorted shape that resembles a birth canal.
Navigating through it requires careful maneuvering and can be physically demanding.On November 24, 2009, 26-years-old John Jones embarked on an expedition to Nutty Putty Cave with a group of 11 friends, including his brothers. Hailing from a large family deeply rooted in outdoor adventures, John had spent his formative years camping across Utah alongside his father, Leon, and his brothers. Raised in St. George, he had explored numerous caves in the area, honing his skills in navigating through tight spaces.
Despite his expertise in cave exploration, John’s primary pursuit was in medicine; he was a medical student at the University of Virginia with aspirations of specializing in paediatric cardiology. Known for his remarkable ability to connect with children, John was well-suited for the role.Before pursuing his medical career, John attended Dixie High School, where he excelled in basketball and served as the senior class president. It was during his time at Brigham Young University that he met his wife, Emily. They exchanged vows in 2006, and their family expanded with the arrival of their daughter, Lizzie, who was 14 months old at the time of the cave expedition. The couple had recently received the news of Emily’s pregnancy and were eagerly anticipating the birth of their second child the following June.Around 8PM, John and the group arrived at Nutty Putty Cave.
Although John had not previously explored this particular cave, his past experience and confidence in his abilities reassured him, despite not having spelunked for several years. Despite Nutty Putty Cave having been the site of rescues in the past, including incidents involving stranded Boy Scouts in 2009, these tales did little to dissuade John and his companions. As they navigated through the narrow passages of the cave, roughly an hour into their exploration, John expressed a desire to locate one of the tightest passages known as “The Birth Canal.”
Despite already being approximately 700 feet into the cave and 150 feet below ground level, John, standing at six feet tall and weighing around 200 pounds, carefully maneuvered himself through the cave. Eventually, he found himself squeezing head-first into a passage measuring a mere 18 inches in width and 8 to 10 inches in height. Believing he had located The Birth Canal, John soon realized his error, that he had ventured in the wrong direction.John found himself wedged upside down in a notorious section of the cave known as “Bob’s Push,” a tunnel even more restrictive than The Birth Canal. Despite his hopes that the tight space would lead to a larger opening, he had inadvertently entered a dead-end section.
