Hans Bodenhamer was featured in a December 2023 Flathead Beacon article recognizing his four decades of expertise and mentorship in Montana caving. The piece highlights his discovery and mapping of over 100 caves across Montana—including Virgil the Turtle’s Great House Cave (1,500+ feet) and Tears of the Turtle (2,052 feet, the deepest limestone cave in the United States). Hans has taken approximately 400 students into caves through the Browning High School Outdoor Leadership Club and Bigfork High School Cave Club, several of whom have gone on to receive the President’s Environmental Youth Award and contribute to White-Nose Syndrome bat conservation research. Richard Menicke, Glacier National Park’s geographer, presented the honor, noting that Hans’s “visitor impact mapping” protocols have been adopted by resource managers nationwide. The “Mr. B Award” honors folks who show up, teach, and keep their community grounded—Hans earned it.
Here’s Great Expectations 2020, an earlier trip into the same project area.