Chairman's Column I hope everyone had a good holiday season. As we start into a new year, I think its appropriate to reflect on all the hard work volunteers have done in the past year. At the last NSS Convention in Washington several Region mem- bers were recognized as Fellows of the Society and the Region received a Certificate of Merit for its mem- ber's efforts at Grand Caverns over the last several years. But there are also many people in the Region who have mapped, explored, opened up new caves, and, through their efforts with landowners, kept caves from being closed. Some of the ones that come to mind are the Highland County, Virginia, survey project; the Germany Valley project; the Hell Hole and School House groups; and the Monroe County Cavers. Then there are the grottos who take on and complete projects – Tri- State, Front Royal, Blue Ridge, RASS. All should be put in for the Certificate of Merit and many of the individuals should be put in for Fellows of the Society or the Bick- ing Award. Look at your fellow cavers, you know, "them that does the work," and nominate one or two. The people do the work out of their passion for caves, not for recognition. But it is a good feeling to know that your peers also think you do a good job. If you have put someone in once and they did not make the cut, resubmit their name. Get a few others who feel the same and, if they won't submit a letter of their own, have them sign your letter. Sometimes there are so many sub- missions that your nominee may be the next in line. Don't give up. Remember, there are so many projects going on in the Region that there is always need for more help. Think about joining one this year and help promote the study & conservation of caves. Craig Virginia Region Gets NSS Award by Carol Tiderman The Virginia Region has received the National Speleological Society's Certificate of Merit for the work done at Grand Caverns starting in 2003. The Certificate is awarded each year for “recent specific accomplishments in cave explo- ration, study, conservation, or for accomplishments which further other goals of the NSS.” Grand Caverns is the oldest com- mercial cave in the country and cel- ebrated its 200 th anniversary in 2006. It is operated by the Upper Valley Regional Park Authority. (continued on page 3) Vol. XX No. 1 Winter 2006-07
Transcript
Chairman's Column
I hope everyone had a good holiday season. As we start into a new year, I think its appropriate to reflect on all the hard work volunteers have done in the past year.
At the last NSS Convention in Washington several Region mem-bers were recognized as Fellows of the Society and the Region received a Certificate of Merit for its mem-ber's efforts at Grand Caverns over the last several years.
But there are also many people in the Region who have mapped, explored, opened up new caves, and, through their efforts with landowners, kept caves from being closed. Some of the ones that come to mind are the Highland County, Virginia, survey project; the Germany Valley project; the Hell Hole and School House groups; and the Monroe County Cavers.
Then there are the grottos who take on and complete projects – Tri-State, Front Royal, Blue Ridge, RASS. All should be put in for the Certificate of Merit and many of the individuals should be put in for Fellows of the Society or the Bick-ing Award. Look at your fellow cavers, you know, "them that does the work," and nominate one or two.
The people do the work out of their passion for caves, not for recognition. But it is a good feeling to know that your peers also think you do a good job.
If you have put someone in once and they did not make the cut, resubmit their name. Get a few others who feel the same and, if they won't submit a letter of their own, have them sign your letter. Sometimes there are so many sub-missions that your nominee may be the next in line. Don't give up.
Remember, there are so many projects going on in the Region that there is always need for more help. Think about joining one this year and help promote the study & conservation of caves.
Craig
Virginia Region Gets NSS Awardby Carol Tiderman
The Virginia Region has received the National Speleological Society's Certificate of Merit for the work done at Grand Caverns starting in 2003. The Certificate is awarded each year for “recent specific accomplishments in cave explo-ration, study, conservation, or for accomplishments which further other goals of the NSS.”
Grand Caverns is the oldest com-mercial cave in the country and cel-ebrated its 200th anniversary in 2006. It is operated by the Upper Valley Regional Park Authority.
(continued on page 3)
Vol. XX No. 1 Winter 2006-07
Volume XX Number 1 The Region Record Winter 2006-07
Regional CalendarMar. 1 Deadline for submitting material for the
Spring issue of the Region Record.
Apr. 6-8 Grand Caverns Easter Restoration Camp. See flier in the issue.
Apr. 27-29 Spring VAR meeting in Durbin, West Virginia. Hosted by Front Royal Grotto. See more infomation in this issue.
May 5 Spring meeting of the West Virginia Speleological Survey at the old CCC cabin on Shavers Mountain. Contact: George Dasher at 304-965-1361 or [email protected].
July 23-27, 2007 NSS convention in Marengo, Indiana.
The Region RecordThe Region Record is the quarterly publication of the Virginia Region of the National Speleological Society. Any articles, announcements, or other materials of general interest to cavers in the Region are welcome. Send all material to Bob Hoke (6304 Kaybro St., Laurel, MD 20707 (301) 725-5877, e-mail [email protected]). Electronic submissions (e-mail or disk) are encouraged, but any form of input is welcome. Non-copyrighted material contained in the Region Record may be reprinted by organizations that are affiliated with the VAR or the NSS, provided that proper credit is given to the Record and the author. The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, the VAR, the NSS, or their internal organizations.
Conservation: Andy Reeder, 840 Twin Lakes Rd., Green Bay, VA 23492, (434) 392-7452H, (434) [email protected]
Landowner Awards: Janet Tinkham, 360 Kings Dr., Fort Valley, VA 22652 [email protected]
Region Record Staff Editors: Bob Hoke ([email protected]), Pauline Apling, Barry ChuteProofreader Meredith Hall JohnsonCirculation Manager: Meredith Hall Johnson, 8061 Kittiwake Ct., Springfield, VA 22153
Region Record Subscriptions • New NSS members in the Region receive two complimentary copies of the Region Record.• Current NSS members moving into the Region from elsewhere receive two complimentary copies. Current NSS members
who move within the Region get no freebies.• When a subscription is going to expire the last issue will be stamped “Time to Renew.” No renewal notice is sent.• When a person attends a VAR meeting he/she is automatically added to the list to receive the next four issues. If he/she is
already on the list, four additional issues are added to the subscription.• When multiple people live at the same address only one copy of each issue will be sent to the address unless a box
requesting individual issues is checked on the VAR registration form or a request is sent to the Circulation Manager.
List Your Event HereIf you have a caving event that is of regional interest please send information to the Editors listed above so it can be included in the calendar.
Volume XX Number 1 The Region Record Winter 2006-07
NSS Award(continued from page 1)
Specific accomplishments leadingto the Certificate included:
• Resurveying the Grand Cavernsand producing a detailed newmap. During the survey thelength of the known cave wasextended from 3,800 feet to 3.82miles.
• Installing a new steel stairway atthe entrance after a large rockfell on the old stairs and theroute was declared unsafe byPark officials.
• Assisting the Park in improvingits tours by emphasizing cave de-velopment, conservation, andhistory instead of just mention-ing named features.
• Production of a video featuring atour of the spectacular new sec-tion of the cave that was discov-ered during the new survey. Thevideo is being sold in the Park'sgift shop.
• Work on inventorying and sur-veying the smaller caves on CaveHill. The Park originally saidthere were 12 other caves, but todate 21 have been found andridgewalking continues. An ac-curate surface survey connectingall the caves and related featuresis being done.
Perhaps most important, Park per-sonnel have come to consider theRegion's cavers as valuable re-sources who can be tapped to pro-vide valuable advice and assistance.
The Certificate of Merit was pre-sented to Craig Hindman, the VARChairman, at the 2006 NSS Con-vention in Bellingham, Washing-ton.
Steve SilverbergReceives VAR
LandownerRecognition Award
by John E. Pearson
On November 12th, the VirginiaRegion honored the owner andstaff of Lost World Caverns (inLewisburg, West Virginia) with itsprestigious Landowner RecognitionAward. Steve Silverberg and hisstaff were honored with a plaqueand a certificate of appreciation.The presentation was held at LostWorld Caverns and was attendedby the board of directors and mem-bers of the West Virginia CaveConservancy.
The VAR Landowner RecognitionAward was established in 1992 toformally recognize landowners whohave been particularly friendlyand/or supportive of cavers overthe years.
In addition to operating LostWorld Caverns, Steve has been ex-ceptionally friendly to cavers formany years, including allowing theWVCC to hold their Board meet-ings in his offices and supportingthe activities of local cavers.
Pocahontas CountySewer Plant
Endangers Karstby George Phillips
To All Cavers With an Interest inWest Virginia Caves:
A bad situation has been develop-ing over the past year that threat-ens a favorite WV caving area –Pocahontas County. County com-missioners and developers want tobuild a 1.5M gallons per daysewage plant on a karst floodplainat Slatyfork, West Virginia. Theyplan to start condemnation/emi-nent domain of land located on theeight-generation Sharp Farm at thebottom of the valley.
The site is located in a floodplainand contains numerous sinkholes,springs, and “boilholes” – wherewater boils up out of the groundduring high flow conditions.
The Big Spring Fork, which is thestream that drains the local water-shed, sinks and rises at several loca-tions upstream. This stream is nor-mally dry during the summer/falldirectly adjacent to the site and fi-nally rises as a spring complex –several small feeder springs and alarge spring pool – just down-
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Steve Silverberg (front center, holding plaque) receiving the VA Landowner RecognitionAward. The other people are an employee of Lost Word Caverns and members of the WestVirginia Cave Conservancy. (Photo by John Pearson).
Volume XX Number 1 The Region Record Winter 2006-07
stream of the site. This is strongindication that the undergroundconduit is located directly underthe proposed facility! The effluentline from the plant is to be routeddirectly through the resurgencespring pool!
We believe there is a significantrisk of stream flooding, or worseyet, sinkhole/void collapse on thissite creating unnecessary risk ofphysical damage to the facility,caves, and springs, and the poten-tial contamination of the caves andgroundwater beneath the site andthe Elk River downstream with un-treated sewage.
In addition to the risks on site, theraw sewage supply line/collectionsystem to the plant is proposed tocome down the mountain fromSnowshoe/Silver Creek Ski Resorts(five miles away) and other existing/future housing developments. Apumping station is sited near a sig-nificant wild cave (Sharps Cave). Ifthere is ANY power outage or fail-ure of the PVC supply line, the rawsewage overflow/spill will flow di-rectly into the cave. This presentsa new and significant risk togroundwater/caves in the BigSpring Fork and Elk River valleyssuch as My Cave, Elk River Cave,Left Tit Pit and others. There arenumerous species of concern andcave-adapted species in these cavesand springs as well which will bethreatened by a sewage spill.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
An independent organization hasbeen established to fight this outra-geous development. It is called 8-RIVERS SAFE DEVELOP-MENT INC., and it is headed bycavers. The name comes fromPocahontas County as it is theheadwaters of eight significantrivers.
Eight Rivers Safe Development is anon-profit corporation organizedfor charitable and educational pur-poses to encourage the goal ofconserving and protecting karst,caves, and karst landscapes, and to
promote safe development on karstterrains.
We believe it is better to preventcollapse, contamination, and flood-ing upstream than to pay for ex-pensive cleanup downstream.
Eight Rivers Safe Developmentwill move forward to represent acoalition of organizations and indi-viduals everywhere who valuecaves and do not want to see un-safe development.
WE ARE MOUNTING A CHAL-LENGE IMMEDIATELY
Eight Rivers Safe Developmenttask force has retained an attorneyand authorized him to proceed toseek injunctive relief from theseizure, and a mandamus action torequire the county commissionersto obey the law.
We demand that a technically com-petent geotechnical investigation ofthe site be performed (non-karstconsultants OK’d the site, mostlyby windshield survey).
The county commissioners arerushing to make this a done deal.Why? Could they be accepting fi-nancial consideration from devel-opers? Is this a political move toget this unpopular decision signed,sealed, and delivered? We do notknow their motives, but they haverefused to listen to reasonable andexpert advice.
We must stop them!
WE NEED YOUR CONTRIBU-TION QUICKLY TO GETSTARTED
Our attorney recognizes the publicbenefit in this case, so has relaxedhis normal fee to assist. However,we will need to continue to raisesignificant funding through contri-butions from the caving communi-ty and other concerned citizens andgroups.
If you are in a position to be aguarantor (lender), we would nameyou Caver of the Year! If you can
send $1000, $100, or any amountwe will name you Caver of theHour!
PLEASE HELP!!
Send your contributions to: Eight Rivers Safe Development,
Inc. PO Box 1037 Scott Depot, WV 25560
Look for updates on Eight RiversSafe Development at:
www.SaveTheSharpFarm.comA partial list of Eight Rivers SafeDevelopment organizers include:George Phillips, Bob Handley, CarlPierce, George Deike, Bill Lieb-man, Barry Baumgardner, RogerBrucker, and Hilary Lambert.
[reprinted with minor alterations from theWest Virginia Caver, December2006]
Help Gate RappsCave on January 20
by Bob Handley
Rapps Cave is a small cave inGreenbrier County, West Virginia,but it contains some significant evi-dence of Indian use and it requiresmore protection. The West Vir-ginia Cave Conservancy currentlyleases the entrance and managesthe cave. Our new Lease is morestrict than the original one.
A steel bat-safe gate is needed toprotect the cave and its contents.The gate will be constructed onSaturday, January 20, 2007, andcaver help is needed. It will beabout 20 feet long, 5 feet high, andwill contain about 2,800 pounds ofsteel.
We will be hauling steel about 200feet across a field (a little down hilland short up hill) to the cave en-
4
Volume XX Number 1 The Region Record Winter 2006-07
trance. We hope to have a trailer sosteel will only have to be loadedand unloaded – not carried. Park-ing will be along Buckeye Roadwith a 500-foot walk over the hillto the steel staging area (workingtrucks can drive to the cave en-trance). Work will start at 9 AMand we hope to finish by dark orsoon after. Warm lunch and awarming tent will be available atthe work site. The cave entrancewill have lots of warm air blowingout. Craig Hindman will be incharge of construction. Peoplewith welding or cutting torch expe-rience are especially welcome, butanyone capable of doing expertgrunt work and handling steel isbadly needed.
One cave trip will be offered whenthose wanting to go are no longerneeded on the surface. The limitwill be 10 and those who have nev-er been in the cave will be givenfirst choice. All who want to seethe petroglyphs will be given thatopportunity. All who enter thecave must sign a waiver.
Warm dormitory-style accommo-dations will be available on Fridayand Saturday nights at the WVACSfield station, which is a quarter milewalk to the cave (or drive and parkon Buckeye Road). The cost tostay at WVACS is $3/night, plus $1extra if you want a hot shower.
If you are interested helping withthis worthwhile project please con-tact Bob Handley at [email protected]. We need to know who iscoming to plan for food and workassignments. Directions to thefield station and the cave will besent to volunteers who request it.
Mt. Aetna CaveGated
by Carol Tiderman
Since February 2005, Jerry Bowenof Tri-State Grotto has been work-ing with the officials at the MellottQuarry near Hagerstown Maryland,arranging for the installation of agate on Mt. Aetna Cave.
Mt. Aetna was a commercial cavefor a brief period of time in the1930s. The owners had big plansfor the property, including creatinga water park and other attractions.This never came about due to fi-nancial issues and, after about 6months of operation, the commer-cial cave closed. At some point,due to vandalism, the owner ce-
mented both entrances shut and itremained so until around 2000.
On October 28, 2006, Bob Ben-nett, Judy and JC Fisher, CraigHindman, Bob Hoke, MeredithHall Johnson, Jim McConkey, JohnRollhauser and I met up with RobWeiland, the environmental man-ager at the quarry, and proceededto follow him to the cave. After theprevious day’s heavy rains the 4-wheel drive roads were in very slickshape. Craig’s vehicle, encumberedwith the trailer transporting thewelder, tanks, generator and othertools, needed an assist on the tripgetting to and from the cave site.
The quarry provided the steel forthe gate and the cavers providedthe manpower and expertise incave gating. The entire process ofgetting to the cave, setting up, cut-
5
Scenes from the gating at Mt. Aetna Cave. (Photos by Jim McConkey).
Volume XX Number 1 The Region Record Winter 2006-07
ting steel, welding the gate, break-ing everything down, reloading thetrailer and getting back out tookabout eight hours.
Once the bulk of the steel cuttingwas complete and it was hauledfrom the staging area down the hillto the cave entrance, about 150feet away, Bob Hoke and Meredithentered the cave to do a line plotsurvey of the cave passages so wecould establish the lie of the caveon the surface.
When Craig was almost finishedwelding, John, Jim, Judy, JC, and Iwent into the cave for a quicktourist trip. Although the cave hasonly about 400 feet of passage, it isquite lovely, formations are plenti-ful, there is an area of water filledrimstone pools and many of theformations are still active. It is easyto see why it was to be the center-piece of a theme park.
It was our hope to return to thecave and do a new survey of thecave (the one in the Caves of Mary-land dates from 1941) and perhapsto do a cleanup to remove thefencing wire, broken glass, cans,bottles, and other debris from thecave; however, the mine manage-ment felt they wanted to limit thenotoriety of the cave. Thus therewill not be a new map.
We thank the Mellott Quarry forgiving us the opportunity to jointhem in protecting Mt. Aetna Caveand perhaps some day others willhave an opportunity to visit thislong-lost gem.
Thanks to Jim McConkey for thephotos in this article.
Fall VAR FinancialReport
provided by Carrie Blankenship
Fall 2006 VAR MeetingSept. 22-24, 2006Glen Lyn, Virginia
Financial ReportINCOME: With food: Pre-registered adults ( 42x $28) $1,176 Pre-registered under 18 (2 x $25) 50 Without food: Pre-registered adults ( 48x $15) 720 Pre-registered under 18 (3x$12) 36 On site adults (82 x $20) 1,640 On-site under 18 (3 x $17) 51 Food sold at the door (18 x $13) 234 Day passes (5 x $5) 25 Total Income $3,932
EXPENSES: Building rental 258 Camping 606 Potties 225 Food 372 Soda 127 beer 279 Guidebook 162 Registration supplies 197 VAR “tax” ($3 x 172 people) 516 Total Expenses $2,742
Event Profit $1,190
Make Sure YourInformation Is
Correct for the 2007NSS Members
Manualby Meredith Hall Johnson
2007 Members Manual Editor
Don't be disappointed if yourmember information is incorrect inthe 2007 NSS Members Manual.Check with the NSS Office now to
make sure your mailing address,phone numbers, and e-mail infor-mation is how you want it to ap-pear in the 2007 Members Manual.As soon as the 2006 issue cameout, I started getting e-mails com-plaining that the member's infowas wrong. Well, it's not my job aseditor; it is YOUR job as memberto keep your info updated.
And if you have let your member-ship lapse, now is a good time topay your dues.
There is one day early in 2007 thatwill be D-Day...the day when a"snapshot" of the NSS memberdatabase is taken, and if your infois incorrect that day, well, it's goingto be incorrect in the printed publi-cation. And you'll be kicking your-self for not paying attention to thisreminder.
You can update your informationonline atwww.caves.org/info/changeinfo.shtml.You can also call the NSS Office at256-852-1300 to change your info.Don't forget--do it now!
VAR ListservProvides Timely
InformationBy Bob Hoke
Walt Pirie maintains the VAR list-serv. This is a computerized e-maillist that allows any subscriber toeasily send e-mail messages to theother subscribers.
The listserv is seeing increasing useas a vehicle for quickly disseminat-ing and/or soliciting informationfrom subscribers throughout theVirginia Region.
Anyone is welcome to subscribe.All you have to do is send an e-mail message to:
Volume XX Number 1 The Region Record Winter 2006-07
In the body of the message enter:
sub varlist your name
That’s all you have to do. You willreceive a message asking you toconfirm your subscription and thenyou will be a subscriber. The list isnot accessible by outsiders and youwill not receive any junk e-mail(spam) from it.
Any subscriber may post messagesto the list, but the following rulesapply:• No flaming (personal attacks).• No Spam (commercial messages).• Do not redistribute a post with-
out the original author’s permis-sion.
• Posts must be relevant to VARand to caving.
NSS MembersManual Cover Photo
Wantedby Meredith Hall Johnson
2007 Members Manual Editor
Believe it or not, it's time to startputting together the 2007 issue ofthe Members Manual. I am lookingfor a cover photograph and needyour help. Please send me a small-sized photo via e-mail (to [email protected]) before thedeadline, which is February 1,2007. Photos can come from any-one who is an NSS member (pleaseinclude your number with your e-mail). Photos that have been previ-ously published in NSS publica-tions are NOT eligible. Photos thathave been entered in the Photo Sa-lon at Convention are eligible.
Pretty much any caving photo isokay to enter. More than five en-tries must be sent to me on a CD(these can and should be high reso-lution): Meredith Hall Johnson,8061 Kittiwake Ct., Springfield, VA
22153. Anything sent or post-marked after February 1 will not beconsidered. Please spread the wordaround to all your grotto members.The only stipulations are thatcavers in the photo cannot be easilyidentified, nor any "bad" cavingpractices illustrated, such as some-one touching a formation or notwearing a helmet.
Whoever gets their photo chosengets to write a short biography forpage 1 of the publication. Howcool is that? Start looking throughyour cave photos now!
Stegers Caveby Dave Duguid
For the last few years a dedicatedgroup of VAR cavers have beenworking on an extensive survey ef-fort on Cave Hill”in the park whereGrand Caverns is located. In addi-tion to mapping all the knowncaves on the hill, several new caveshave been found as the result ofridgewalking. These are being sur-veyed and plotted onto a singlemap. Caves include Grand Cav-erns, Fountain, and Madisonamong others.
Many intriguing mysteries havepresented themselves during thework. One of the outstandingmysteries is an underwater caveknown as Stegers Cave. The origi-nal 1980 survey resulted in a roughsketched map, but the map gener-ated more questions than answers.
Several scheduled dates had beenplanned for a dive trip to do a newsurvey of the cave, but fell throughfor various reasons. Finally, BrianWilliams and Dave Duguid met atGrand Caverns on a perfect fall dayon November 11. The sun wasshining and the temperature ac-cording to the forecast was to be inthe 70’s. Their intent was to get a
handle on any riddle that Stegersmay hold.
The entrance to Stegers is a karstwindow near the base of CaveHill. The window is a vertical fis-sure approximately five feet longand two feet wide; from the win-dow to the water level is approxi-mately 10 feet. Less than 25 feetfrom the cave is a river that hap-pened to be running high andslightly milky.
An aluminum ladder was installedin the entrance and a loose planwas put into place. The first stepwas to verify the correctness of theprevious map and look for any ad-ditional passage not on the map. The second would be worked outafter the completion of the firststep.
I suited up, worked myself down tothe water column, rigged my diveconfiguration as the individualcomponents were lowered down,and submerged with a time limit of30 minutes.
Dropping down the fissure it im-mediately became clear the cavewas not well represented in the oldmap. The 80-foot visibility enableda very good view of what layahead. The fissure cracks are nar-rower, deeper, and more pro-
7
Dive tank being lowered to the water inStegers Cave. (Photo by Jim McConkey).
Volume XX Number 1 The Region Record Winter 2006-07
nounced than on the old map. Icontinued my descent and ob-served that the left wall consistedof a crusty clay substance thatflaked off. Particles from percola-tion ranged from clay to smallchunks of debris. The larger pieceswere a bit unnerving as they raineddown - I could feel them hittingmy legs. The right wall was solid,though it did have large thin bladesthat with a little effort could bepulled off.
Following the pre-existing linefrom the 1980 dive, though not us-ing it, I descended all the way tothe bottom. At the bottom therewas a six-foot karst window on theleft leading to another vertical fis-sure. The two fissures were com-pletely traversed at the bottomlooking for additional passage. The only additional passage was awindow the size of a softball. There were many isopods to befound swimming around.
Retreating along the line in a rain-storm of debris and rapidly fallingvisibility several short “jumps” offthe line were made to insure therewas no other passage at a shallower
depth that was missed while de-scending. I breached the surface28 minutes after the dive started.
After getting all equipment out ofthe cave, I updated all on my find-ings and drew a simple map. Thesecond part of the plan was estab-lished; Brian would make a dive togather the survey data and to take afew pictures. We waited over anhour before Brian geared up anddescended into the cave. Brian sur-faced 30 minutes later.
Brian found that the visibility didnot clear up despite waiting. Itwould probably take days for the
cloud to settle. Brian retracedmuch of my path through the cavewith a few extra minutes spent atshallower depths hoping to find anew lead.
Both Brian and I were satisfied,though disappointed, that therewas no more cave to be explored;and that we had sufficient data togenerate a map that is a more accu-rate rendition of the cave.
After the Stegers work we had theopportunity to tour the normallyclosed Madison Cave. That tripended at the back of the cavewhere two sumps are present. Thewater clarity and surrounding cavelooks very much like Stegers.
The Stegers dive profile was as fol-lows:• 32% nitrox [nitogen/oxygen]
mix;• 89 feet for 28 minutes;• Estimated distance of 200 feet
covered; and• No decompression required, five
minute safety stop done.
8
Sketch map of Stegers Cave drawn by Dave Duguid after the November, 2006, cavedive. No significant new passage was found.
Dave Duguid emerges from his dive inStegers Fissure Cave. (Photo by JimMcConkey).
Volume XX Number 1 The Region Record Winter 2006-07
VAR GrandCaverns/Cave Hill
Project Update(Part V)
by Jim McConkey
The VAR Grand Caverns/CaveHill Project refuses to die. Thismonth I will present some of ourrecent activities.
Madisons Saltpetre CaveHaving become friendly with thelandowner, and with the interest ofsome climbers-turned-cavers fromthe Baltimore Grotto, we haveturned our attention once again to-wards Madisons Saltpetre Cave. Aspreviously reported, this was thefirst commercial cave in the UnitedStates and it has been well ex-plored. However, there are someenticing high features that look likeleads from the ground that no onehas really ever looked at. Theclimbers, John, Paul and Jordan,have started to poke and prod atthese, and have already found atleast one small high room which isnot shown on Charlie Lucas’ excel-lent 1987 map. Hoping for anotherGrand-sized discovery, Dave Sockyhas been spearheading an effort toremap the cave so that we can tieany new passage into the map. Asecondary, but important, reasonfor remapping the cave is to trainnew sketchers and surveyors.
Sketching large and complicatedcaves, like Madisons, is very differ-ent from sketching small caves.This is a wonderful opportunity forseveral new sketchers to mirrorDave and learn how to sketch largepassage. The resurvey is almostcomplete, but the fun pushing thehigh leads continues.
Grilling at Grand CavernsThe picnic pavilions and their grillsare one of the most-used featuresat Grand Caverns Regional Park.After about 40 years, however, theyare really showing their age. Thebottoms of grills were almost non-existent, and the sides were not inmuch better shape. Visitors havepatched them using everythingfrom aluminum foil to flattenedbeer cans. They were long overduefor some help, but at $1,000 piecefor new ones, the Park couldn’teven consider it. In November,Craig Hindman and Scott Davisborrowed a plasma cutter to sliceup salvaged steel and then spent aday welding it into the old grills. Allthe grills have solid bottoms now,and all the shaky sides have beenreinforced. The Park can put offtheir purchase for another 20 yearsnow, and Park visitors can onceagain grill without fear of losingtheir hot dogs.
Fountain CaveWe have also put a number ofteams into Fountain Cave recently,checking for leads that were missed(or were buried) many years ago.There are many holes that have notbeen looked at in a long time, andsome previously buried passageshave been opened. Until a recentfoot injury put him out of cavingcommission, Bill Biggers has led adig in the back of Fountain in anarea that had been blasted and isfull of debris. Nothing has beenfound so far, and the dig has cometo a standstill, but it is very intrigu-ing why miners blasted this pas-sage. It is about as far back inFountain as you can get, and isheading away from any knowncave on the hill. Why did they workso hard to blast back here? We maynever know, but we will continueto scout Fountain for new leads.
Howdyshell Farm DigOur good friend Jim Battarbee,when not working for his wife atour favorite eatery, does heavyequipment maintenance on a farmnot far from Natural Chimneys.His boss’ wife grew up on thefarm, and heard stories of her fa-ther sealing a cave on the propertyback when she was a toddler toprevent cows or curious childrenfrom wandering into the cave andgetting injured. To this day, steamcan be seen rising from a hill at theback of the farm in the winter. Un-fortunately no one around thesedays knows where the cave is/was,and the steam is generally seenfrom about a half mile away, so thelocation is only approximate. Cu-riosity got the better of them, andon hearing of Jim’s associationwith a bunch of cavers, the ownerskindly extended us an invitation tocome look for the cave.
We finally had a chance in Decem-ber and Jim led a crew of about 10to the farm and back to the hillwhere the cave is supposed to be.
9
Dave Socky and Marian McConnell sketchback-to-back in Madisons Saltpetre Cave.(Photo by Jim McConkey).
VAR Chair Craig Hindman repairs one ofthe many rusted-out grills at GrandCaverns. (Photo by Jim McConkey)
Volume XX Number 1 The Region Record Winter 2006-07
Imagine our surprise when wefound that the owner had kindlyleft a backhoe at the cave for ouruse! On the western flank of thehill we found a nice limestoneheadwall, with the limestone dip-ping about 20 degrees down to theeast. A 6-inch crack was visible inthe face, widening the lower it got,but no part of it was wide enoughfor a human. The owner had al-ready started digging, but mighthave inadvertently buried the wayin, if this is really the place. Jim dugat the crack with the backhoe whileseveral of us used wrecking bars topry a few rocks loose on the sideof the hill where we thought wefelt a little air.
The main dig was little disappoint-ing. All we dug out were rocks anddirt, such as one might expect atthe base of the cliff. There was notrash, no rounded stream stones, oranything else out of place that afarmer might have used years agoto seal an entrance. To make mat-ters worse, the entrance is maybe10-20 feet over the water table,with the limestone dipping at 20degrees. Not encouraging! After acouple hours we decided it wouldbe more productive to wait until itgot really cold and the steam couldbe traced to its source. We will beback.
Hopkins Farm SurveyJim Battarbee also introduced us toanother area landowner, who hadheard of our grand discoveries atGrand and invited us to his farm todo the same for his cave, appropri-ately located under another “CaveHill.” We have taken several tripsto the area, and have so far locatedthree small caves. The main cave,known as Hopkins Cave, has beenknown since the 1800s, and report-edly harbored injured soldiers andhid horses during the Civil War.No known description exists forthe other two small caves.
The Hopkins Cave inverted-V en-trance is a resurgence with a strongflow and has been sumped everytime we have visited. It can report-edly be entered during dry condi-tions. The landowner told us thecave is reported to go all the way toEndless Caverns (about 35 milesaway!). We have walked thestreambed and have found the in-surgence about ¼ mile upstream.The last survey was in the 1940s,and the landowner never received amap. According to VSS records,the cave is mostly a crawlway thatgoes straight into the hillside forless than 100 feet, turns sharplyleft, and ends within another 100feet. The main passage of the sec-ond cave is roughly parallel toHopkins Cave and lies about 100feet to the left, heading right to-wards the known end of the cave.It is also a resurgence, although itdries up much sooner than Hop-kins Cave. A third cave, used as ananimal den according to the nosesof the few who have dared to en-ter, is parallel and another 50 feetto the west. Whether passable ornot, these other two caves areclearly part of Hopkins Cave. Wekeep checking back, and as soon asconditions permit, we will enterand map Hopkins Cave and its twosmaller cousins.
Grand Caverns New SectionCleanupOne of the nicer parts of the newsection in Grand has been marredby some muddy footprints. A smallgroup traveled to this area in De-cember to try to clean up some ofthe footprints, unfortunately with-out success. The footprints are ona sloped area of formation, and allattempt to spray the affected areasresulted in dirty water washingmud onto clean formation. Weneed something like a carpet sham-pooer, which steams the forma-tions and immediately sucks up thewater. If anyone has any experiencecleaning cave formations with sucha gizmo, please let us know!
January SurveyWe will return to Grand CavernsJanuary 6-7 and all VAR cavers arewelcome to join us. It is prime timefor ridgewalking, and our other ex-plorations will continue. Campingat the large pavilion for the hardy.
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Serious digging technology being applied insupport of the Howdyshell Cave dig at afarm near Grand Caverns. (Photo by JimMcConkey).
VAR LimitedAccess Cave List
Check the access status of VARcaves on-line at
www.VAR-caves.us
18th Annual Grand Caverns Easter Restoration Camp
April 6th-8th, 2007 Hop on down to the GRAND CAVERNS EASTER RESTORATION CAMP, sponsored by the Virginia Region of the National Speleological Society on April 6th - 8th (Friday – Sunday), 2007. If you enjoy the aroma of melting chocolate eggs and napalm, join us for our annual gravel hauling express through beautiful Grand Caverns, and our equally exciting sinus plugging, epoxy FILLED escapades in NEARBY Fountain Cave!. Repair broken formations. Eradicate moss. Improve cave-owner relations, wrestle with WILD rabbits in the Wesson-oil PIT, and a whole lot more! A great way to kick those Old Man Winter Blues and it beats making license plates! Primitive camping, socializing with convicted felons, and food and beverage provided for Saturday lunch and dinner! Easter egg hunt for the kids on Sunday morning (depending upon number of kids)! And, best of all it’s all FREE (okay, donations are accepted)! If arriving at night, check the left-hand gate, it is usually left with the hasp in-place so that it appears locked to the uninitiated.
Directions to Grand Caverns: From I-81, take Exit 235 to SR 256, [turn left if traveling South on I-81, and right if traveling North on I-81, toward Grottoes] Travel East on SR 256 for 7 miles to Grottoes. At the intersection of Dogwood Avenue, turn South [Right] on Dogwood. Travel South on Dogwood Ave. for 1,000 ft. Turn Right into the Entrance of Grand Caverns [Grand Caverns Drive]. Phone (888) 430-2283.
For more information contact VAR Conservation Co-Chairs:
Andy Reeder, 840 Twin Lakes Rd., Green Bay, VA. 23942, (W) 434-455-5876/ (H) 434-392-7452 or e-mail at: [email protected]; and
Meredith Hall Johnson, 8061 Kittiwake Court, Springfield, VA 22153, 703 451-3637 or e-mail at: [email protected]
Spring 2007 VAR Meeting General Information (Updates will be posted to the website at www.varegion.org/frontroyal/)
The Spring 2007 VAR Meeting, hosted by the Front Royal Grotto, will be held at East Fork Campground in Durbin, WV, on April 27-29, 2007. (See www.eastforkcampground.com for more campground information). Pre-registration: Deadline April 1, 2007.
Dogs: are welcome if on leash and picked up after.
Water: Drinking water is available with many spigots located throughout the campground.
Bathrooms: There is a small bathhouse at the campground, one side for men, the other for women. Each side has 1 toilet and 1 shower. There will be additional porta potties throughout the campground and possibly extra showers hooked up by spring.
Food: A nice dinner with vegetarian option will be provided Saturday evening. Pre-registration guarantees a meal. Without pre-registration you risk not having a meal ticket available.
Vendors: Speleo Vendors will be present to meet your caving equipment needs and wants.
Directions: Map and additional directions www.destinationdurbin.com/location.html
From Richmond, VA area I-64 West to I-81 North to Staunton. West on US 250 approx. 70 miles to Durbin.
From Baltimore-Washington, DC area From the DC beltway, West on I-66 to I-81 South to Hwy 55 West at Strasburg. At Petersburg take Route 28 South to US 250. Continue on US250 West approximately 8 miles to Durbin.
From North Carolina I-77 North to Virginia I-81 North. Take I-64 East to White Sulphur Springs, WV. Exit on US60 to Route 92. Continue on Route 92 for 70 miles to Durbin.
***Once you reach the quaint town of Durbin, look for VAR signs next to the train station ***
Schedule of Events Friday: Registration begins at 12PM.
• Cave trips, socialize… Saturday: Registration
• Many led and self-guided cave trips Ex: Poor Farm Cave, Billy Clay Pit, Cassell, Tub, Sharps, Roadside Pit, Carpenter Swago, and others…
• Conservation project and other activities • Evening meal • Presentation-by Tom Tucker “History of Allen’s Cave” • Bonfire, music, dancing, socialize…
Sunday:
• Front Royal Grotto traditional pancake breakfast - $ 4.00 • VAR business meeting
Pre-Registration Form Please print this form out and mail it with your check (payable Front Royal Grotto with “Spring VAR” on memo line) to: Front Royal Grotto c/o Eric W. Berge 12612 Marsteller Drive Nokesville, VA 20181 Name_____________________________________________________________________ Others you are paying for_____________________________________________________ Address___________________________________________________________________ City_________________________State___________Zip____________________________ Phone Number________________ Email__________________ VAR FEES: Adult (18+ years): $26.00 X _______________= $_______________ Children (4-17 years): $22.00 X_______________ = $_______________ Vegetarian Meal YES/NO (circle one) How Many Vegetarian Meals = _______________ Babies 3 and under: Free Special 2007 Spring VAR T-shirt: $10.00 Size S_____M_____L_____XL_____ XXL_____ Total Number of T-shirts_______________ X $10.00 = $_______________ Total amount enclosed: $_______________
Cost after April 2, 2007: Add $3.00 per person.
Use pre-registration prices only if your form is postmarked on or before April 1, 2007
Spring VAR 2007 April 27, 28, and 29
East Fork Campground Durbin, WV
Hosted by Front Royal Grotto
National Speleological Society6304 Kaybro St.Laurel, MD 20707-2621
Address Service Requested
Winter 2006-07 Regional News
If you want to continue receiving the Region Record, please read this . . .If this page is marked “TIME TO RENEW” it means that your Region Record subscription has run out and this is the last issue you will receive. Subscriptions are automatically extended when you attend a Spring or Fall VAR meeting, or you can subscribe to the Region Record. The last issue you will receive (Volume-Number) is indicated on the top line of your mailing label. More detailed information about subscriptions is listed in the box on page 2.
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Name____________________________________________________________________________________Address __________________________________________________________________________________City___________________________________ State __________ ZIP _______________________________E-mail_____________________________________________ Grotto (or other caving organization that I claim as my primary caving affiliation) _________________________
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P A I DAnnapolis Jct, MD
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Please make checks payable to VAR and send to:Meredith Hall Johnson, 8061 Kittiwake Ct., Springfield VA 22153
