BLUE RIDGE GROTTO

April 21, 2023 Meeting Minutes

Jersey Lily’s; Roanoke, VA

 

Attendance:

Lauren Appel – Chair

Nick Schmalenberger – Vice

Marian McConnell – Secty

Mary Sue Socky – Treasurer

Dave Socky

Carl Cornett

Lynn Ott

Doug Feller

Barry Ferguson

Helene Ferguson

Susan Burr

Joe Banks*

Chelsha Reed*

Matt Gilliam*

Dylan Kelly* (Roanoke City Parks & Recreation)

*Guest

 

Trip Reports

 

3/18: Battered Bar Cave, VA. Participants included David Socky, Tommy Shifflett, Mike Broome, Lisa Broome. This trip was during the BCCS Pancake Weekend. The dig was at the bottom of the second pit. The entrance pit was 77 feet deep, and the second pit offset by about 40 feet and was about 30 feet deep. The dig was in the passage right at the bottom of the second drop. It was a technical dig and the rock blocking the way down was removed in an hour. Below was a 10-foot-deep pit, which was underhung, so it was rigged for a very short rappel.

 

3/18: Butler Cave, WV. Participants included Susan Burr, Lauren Appel, Nick Schmalenberger, and Kelly Perkins; the leader was Amos Mincin. They did a little digging in the Air Dig and explored some other areas in the cave.

 

3/25: Unnamed Cave #1, VA. Participants included David Socky, and Bill Koerschner - did survey. Rick Lambert, Keith Sweeney, Billy Pickett, and Eric Wishon - did surface geology mapping. This is part of the Warm Springs Anticline Cave Survey & Karst Assessment Project. This cave was dug open and is about 200 feet long and is semi vertical. When first going in, my pack rolled off a ledge and fell down a short pit and then down a narrow canyon. I couldn't tell if I could reach it. It had fallen a long way. I climbed down and looked into a narrow crack which I wasn't sure I could fit into. I clenched my teeth and slid down into the canyon. It turned out I fit ok. I then slid down through a low spot and popped out into a small room. There was my pack, thank god. Ah, but the passage continued (and there was a lot of air blowing out!). It continued in another pit. It was about 12 feet deep and looked like it could be climbed. But I was alone and scooping, so I went back. Climbing up the narrow canyon was challenging, but not too hard. Everyone else came down and we headed for the back of the cave. Bill and I surveyed from a point near the actual end of the cave. No leads. We then did a loop under a natural bridge. There were some tricky climbs, one of which Bill did but I rappelled down a rope that Rick and I rigged. It turned out pretty easy to climb out the way Bill climbed down. We then headed back toward the front end of the cave. Everyone else had gone out but Rick, who was doing a technical dig to make the crevice I had gone down bigger! After cleaning off ledges and loose rock, I slid down into the canyon to see what would be needed at the pit. but I got to the bottom and found there was nowhere to go!? It turned out the rock debris from the dig had plugged the hole I had gone through. We decided it was too late in the day, so we exited at 4:30pm in the afternoon to a sunny and warm day. For our 6.5 our trip, we managed to survey 127 feet.

 

3/26: Culverson Creek/WildCat Cave, WV. Participants included David Socky, Mary Sue Socky, Bob Alderson, Keith Goggin, Barry Ferguson, Ben Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Carrie Doupnik, John Pearson, Marian McConnell, Trish Geiger, and Jessica Bowser. This was the BRG “Slow Trip” for those who wished a leisurely, easy cave trip. This was also a memorial trip to honor Al Stewart and throw his ashes into Dread Pool – one of his favorite spots. The trip went well, and everyone survived. Marian thanked Dave and Bob for being great leaders and spotting her and other participants along the way. Good reminder to make sure all participants are properly dressed and have proper gear (John’s boot soles fell off and had to be duct-taped; and he only wore a t-shirt but Marian had a garbage bag to ward off hypothermia). A few participants used carbide lamps which was pretty cool.

 

3/26: Hanging Rock Orange Market cliffs, VA. Vertical practice went well; organized by Susan Burr and led by Nick Schmalenberger.

 

4/1: Hanging Rock Orange Market cliffs, VA. Vertical practice went well; organized by Susan Burr and led by Nick Schmalenberger.

 

4/5: Perry Campbell Cave, VA. Participants included David Socky, Rick Royer, and Joe Zokaites. Rick Lambert and Keith Sweeny did surface geology. We found more cave. The 10-foot pit I had found had a small crawl at the bottom and the cave continued down. We eventually came to another downward dig, so Rick Royer took care of that while Joe and I surveyed out. Surveyed a total of 176 feet in 6 hours. We will be back. See article on page 33.

 

4/8: McClung Cave, WV. Participants included David Socky, Joe Zokaites, Lucy Ogle, and Ripley Taylor. Other team: Kelly McCarthy, Bill Koerschner, Daniel Wilson, and Zoe Hoelmer. We went to the end of Megalithia and turned left, surveying lower levels in a section which was before the Waffle Foot passage. We had two teams and surveyed a total of 683 feet in 10 hours. Lots of small, confusing, and convoluted passages which were really hard to sketch. It was a good productive trip, but there is probably more to do, including the majority of the Waffle Foot passage.

 

4/12: Perry Campbell Cave, VA. Participants included, for survey: David Socky, Joe Zokaites, and Rick Royer. For digging: Amos Mincin and Jeremy Davis. For surface geology mapping: Rick Lambert, Keith Sweeney, and Bill Koerschner.  Explored past the point where Rick had blown up the hole at the bottom of the cave. Some digging was involved. Joe, Rick, and I surveyed while Amos and Jeremy worked on digging. Rick also did some digging at the end while Joe and I surveyed the high lead at LGP8. The high lead still goes but requires protection (the whole climb up should be rigged). The dig at the end of the cave still goes on too, but it requires some more technical digging to let us big folk get through. By the way, an 85-foot rope is perfect for tying off at the surface and reaching the first rigged pit in the cave. We were in the cave for 8 hours and got a total of 127 feet of survey in the book.

 

4/13: Catfishes Pot (Gory Hole), VA. Participants included David Socky, Brian Williams, and Terry McClanathan. Terry was the only one to do the pit. He recovered an $800 dog collar from a dog that had fallen to its death 3 months ago. It stank pretty bad. Terry definitely gets kudos for getting the dog collar. Terry also measured the pit with a 200-foot tape to 134 feet!               

 

4/13: Catfish Caverns (Catamount Cave), VA. Participants included David Socky, Brian Williams, and Terry McClanathan. We went in with Brian carrying a mason hammer in order to try and get into the narrow lower canyon. The rock was too thick, so we were unsuccessful.  A few sessions with straws would do the trick. Brian got some really cool photos of the sunbeam shining into the entrance. We then ridge walked for 4 hours but didn't find a thing.

 

Upcoming Trips:

 

4/22: Paxton’s Cave, VA:  Susan, Doug, and Matt plan to go.

 

4/22: Hot Springs, VA: VAR Earth Day Restoration Day sinkhole cleanup – at Apple Farm near Covington, VA.

 

5/20: Monthly BRG Trip: TBD.

 

BUSINESS MEETING

 

Treasury Report – Mary Sue Socky, Treasurer

 

          $ 40.96        Cave Bucks

          $   2.00        Conservation Fund

          $104.12       Equipment Fund

        $3820.36        General Fund

        $3967.44     TOTAL

 

Committees:

·         Newsletter – Great issue! Please be sure to submit your stories, photos, artwork.

·         Membership – Currently we have 55 members and 5 subscribers (counting Barry and Helene Ferguson).

·         ROCKS – N/A

·         Safety & Techniques – After almost 30 years, Dano McConnell is retiring as the BRG Safety & Techniques officer. He is available for S&T consultations, and possible above-ground assistance at cave rescues (he still works full-time so it will depend on his availability). We appreciate and thank Dano for his decades of service! Susan proposed and Lauren seconded that Nick Schmalenberger be the new S&T Officer; and those present all agreed. Nick has had (and continues to be involved in) NCRC training, is currently reviewing cave accident reports to catalogue them, and has been helping with BRG vertical practices. 

 

Membership Proposals:

·         John Pearson, NSS #275731 RL, FE, CO applied for membership in BRG. His co-sponsors are Dave and Mary Sue Socky; seconded by Dr. Michael Rowland. He was voted in unanimously.

·         Barry Ferguson, who is an original member of BRG, has re-joined, along with his wife Helene, as a subscriber. Mary Sue proposed, and Lauren seconded; both were welcomed unanimously.

 

Old Business:

·         Cave Owner Award – will be presented to Carroll Bassett. Details TBD.

·         May 19th BRG meeting has been cancelled due to conflict with Spring VAR. Marian let the management at Jersey Lily’s know.

·         Donations and renewals to various cave/conservation organizations was completed.

·         MarySue tracked down and updated the contact info for the New Castle Murder Hole landowner. The cave has limited access.

·         The proposed new Explore Virginia Caves license plate can be pre-ordered (need a minimum of 450); see March Carbide Dump for details.

·         Vertical Training possibilities at River Rock Climbing Gym – Nick Schmalenberger working on this.

 

New Business:

·         New Safety & Techniques Officer – Nick Schmalenberger agreed to accept.

·         Donation in honor of Karen Kastning; Susan Burr proposed and Lauren seconded that we donation $100 to the NSS Save the Cave fund in honor of Karen. Lynn Ott will share info about how to do this to Mary Sue. This passed unanimously.

·         Mary Sue and Marian will be assisting Karen Powers on April 25th with her ongoing cave rat studies; this time at Dixie Caverns & New Dixie property, setting up cameras to collect data on the population.

 

Announcements:

·         Please sign sympathy card for Kass Kastning & Family in loss of Karen. [Done and Marian mailed on 4/23/23].

·         Pandemic Caving – be healing; don’t go on trips if you are sick.

·         Winter closure dates for bat caves in WV – September 1 – May 15.

·         Winter closure dates for bat caves in VA – October 1 – April 15.

·         NSS Convention early registration discount ends May 1st; then price goes up.

 

2023 Caver Calendar:

·         May 4-7 – SERA @ Cavers’ Paradise in Sewanee, TN. Visit www.sera2023.com for info.

·         May 5-7 – Spring MAR @ Shade Gap, PA. Visit www.franklincountygrotto.com/fcg-spring-mar-registration

·         May 13 – MedWar at Wilderness Adventure Eagle’s Landing – see www.blueridgeadventuremed.com/medwar for more info; have to have a team of 3 to complete.

·         May 19 – Remember – NO BRG meeting!

·         May 19-21 – Spring VAR @ Thorn Spring Campground, WV; hosted by BATS.

·         June 16 – BRG meeting @ Jersey Lily’s.

·         June 19-23 – WVACS Convention Pre-Camp, Reneck, WV. Contact Jessica at j.reep@aol.com for info.

 

Programs:

·         “Beyond the Lost Waterfalls” video by Dave Socky; song by Marian, sung by Dano. This included Wild cave where we said farewell to Al Stewart on March 26th.

·         “Dream Team Tree Cleanup” slide presentation by Marian of Dave, Mary Sue, Bob Alderson, Vonnie Droms, Doug Feller.

·         “Caver’s Heaven” song (audio only) by Marian McConnell in honor of those we have lost.