WV Speleo Log: 2005 Caving Review

Oh 2005, you came and went so quickly. So many caves, so few weekends. It's hard to believe that just 12 months ago, I'd never been in a cave; in just a year I've gotten 16 different ones under my belt, hundreds of feet of rappelling experience, surveyed on several projects, and helped dig open a new cave. I hope to do at least twice as much next year. Here's all the caves I visited this year...

Beaverhole Upper

Entrance to Beaverhole Upper

Llew Williams took me and a few other newbie cavers to see this close-to-home cave in early February. The entrance room was full of huge ice stalactites and stalagmites, and the stream was high and icy cold. We took our time and I got to do lots of exploring. It was my first time in a cave, and I was instantly hooked. Thanks Llew!

Rich Finley initiates a new caver

I made it back into Beaverhole Upper a few other times this year... Once with Rich Finley, who took a group of people from his church. Since I'd been in the cave once before and had a good sense of direction in it, I got to help him lead the trip - an honor considering my relatively small experience. I also visited this cave one weekday evening with the WVU Student Grotto, another very fun trip.

Acorn Cave
Wilfong's Pit

Me on rope at Wilfong's Pit

My trial-by-fire first vertical trip, I got to drop Acorn Cave having never been on rope before. The 6-bar rack was way too much friction for me, and I had to feed it on the way down. I did a pretty good job frogging back out (IMHO), and even managed to recover from my ascender eating the rope pad. Wilfong's Pit was a beautiful 65' open-air pit - I used a microrack and rappelled much more gracefully this time. Thanks to everyone on this trip who helped coach me!

Sharp's Cave
Pinnacle Cave

As Bob Griffith and I waited on the side of the road for Llew and company to arrive, a 4-wheeler approached. The driver recognized by the bat sticker on our bumper that we were cavers, and informed us that he had a cave on his property that he'd like us to come see. What luck! We followed, and found what we believe to be Pinnacle Cave, a tall and narrow cave with sharp sword-like vertical flutes along the walls. Justin Williams and I were the only two agile enough (read: skinny enough) to make it through a squeeze above an 8' drop, and we followed the cave back and around to a connecting stream. We turned back at a particularly low spot which had a permenant survey station placed, but it's obvious this is a cave that very few people have ever seen.

After that lucky break, we went across the road to Sharp's Cave for an enjoyable trip - another cave I'd like to go explore more.

Bob Griffith tries to get his manly chest through one of the squeezes in Pinnacle Cave

New Years Day Cave

This newly-discovered cave interested me because it's located so close to home, here in Monongalia County. My first trip in was spent in a small stream lead with Bob Griffith. We spent the entire time on our bellies, digging sand and gravel out of the way so we could crawl upstream towards an interesting opening beyond. We eventually dug enough of a trench that I could make it to the tiny stoop-sized room, which I believe I'm the only person to ever visit. Unfortunately, some large rock blocks the passage beyond, meaning we dug to a dead end. The low ceilings, crumbly sandy limestone, endless mud, and bitch of a hike up the canyon weren't enough to keep me from coming back however; I've gone back to NYDC to assist in some passage enlargement and to survey, but have decided that I'm not going to do it again until Winter is over.

Devil's Den

This was my first real outing with the Tucker County Survey. We received very "general" directions to two caves. The first, A Pretty Little Cave, turned out to be a tiny little rabbit-hole infested with spiders - it wasn't surveyed, and I didn't hop down. We did a few hours of ridgewalking, hacking through some incredibly thick jungle forest, and eventually came to a huge limestone outcropping - with no cave. We followed the trail further and amazingly found the Devil's Den, a rather boring joint-formed cave that pinches out before long. Unfortunately, it turns out to be just a few-hundred feet into Preston County - oh well.

This is unfortunately the only thing you'll see in Devil's Den

Bowden Cave

Rich Finley took me in the Bear Haven entrance, and out through the Third Entrance. This through trip was really enjoyable. We went in the main entrance aftewards, since I'd never actually been into Bowden before. Somehow I got convinced to crawl the connector between the water course and the breakdown room past the shower room...by myself. It was pretty frightening, but I don't think I'll ever forget the joy I felt when I finally heard voices from the room outside and knew I'd made it. I've been back in the main entrance a few times since.

My Cave

I met Justin and Llew, who spent the weekend camping on the Elk River, and we checked out My Cave. I got to see the cool limestone pavement on the Dry Branch, and poked my head into the Black Hole, which sucks down part of the Elk when the water level is up. *finish me*

OTR
Cass Cave

Ryan Ellers and I pose next to an incredible alian-looking formation in Cass Cave

M*ll Run Cave

For several months, this cave has been the focus of the Tucker County Survey. Early on, Josh Keplinger and I pushed the cave as far as we could go to look for another entrance. The survey has finally caught up with most of the ground we covered, but no end is in sight yet.

Me on station in a side branch of Mill Run

Bradshaw Run Cave
Dreen Cave

I almost missed this awesome trip, failing to make a critical turn and winding around the wrong mountain and way off course. I sped along past the Greenbank Observatory and up the twisty Route 66, to the tiny town of Mace, and raced down the Dry Fork of the Elk River, past the meeting place and by sheer luck came across Llew, Doug, and Justin, suited up and ready to go caving.

Bradshaw run was a very cool cave; we rigged to a fallen tree outside the cave, and rappelled down the short entrance drop. The limestone here is a beautiful, pure white color. After a bit of crawling, the cave opens into a large phreatic tube, in some places the size of a subway tunnel. There's a large fault in the middle, where the tube changes direction. We spent some time here shouting and listening to the incredible echos bouncing back and forth from both directions - Doug even sang a melody with himself. We didn't go past the second vertical drop, though it looks like lots more cave is beyond. Left Tit Pit is just next door, but we weren't up for doing it that afternoon.

Afterwards, we visited Dreen Cave, very easy to get to and a very easy walking cave. From the entrance, it's split into two arms; the left an easy horizontal passage, the right a horizontal passage with a deep vertical crack in the floor that goes the entire length. Apparently the cave has at least two lower levels along this arm, I'd like to check them out some day.

Doug McCarty, surrounded by white limestone, going over the lip in Bradshaw Run

Maiden Run

The WVUSG hit this cave on a Friday night, and it was a lot of fun. It's so close, I'd like to go back and poke around the other holes in this area.