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.