February 2018 Vol 53, No 02 - The Carbide Dump - Blue Ridge Grotto
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February 2018, V53, #02
The Carbide Dump
February 2018
Vol 53, No 02
10 The Carbide Dump February 2018, V53, #02
The Carbide Dump is published monthly by the Blue Ridge Grotto of the National Speleological Society in Roanoke, Virginia. Distribution date is
approximately the second week of each month. An issue may be skipped if insufficient material is received. Contributions of articles and artwork
are invited and will be gratefully acknowledged. Art work originals will be returned. Contributions should be sent to the editor. Regular and
associate grotto membership ($10) includes a Carbide Dump subscription. Subscriber rate is $10.00. Exchanges with other grotto and caving
organizations are invited. Direct exchange mail to Al Stewart.
EXCHANGE MAIL/TRIP COORDINATOR EDITORS
Al Stewart David & Mary Sue Socky
2528 Montgomery Ave. S.W. 6572 Woodbrook Dr. S.W.
Roanoke, Va. 24015-4204 Roanoke, Va. 24018-5402
H: (540) 989-0483 H: (540) 989-7693 C: (540) 529-1591
email: sockydr@cox.net or sockymss@cox.net
The Blue Ridge Grotto holds its monthly meetings every third Friday of the month at 6:30p at Jersey Lily’s Roadhouse, 1650
Braeburn Dr. Salem, VA 24153. See the Grotto meeting announcement in this issue.
GROTTO OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
Chairman Vice-Chair Secretary Treasurer Safety & Techniques
Bob Gulden Susan Burr Mary Sue Socky David Socky Dan McConnell
H:540-384-6159 H:540-989-5809 H:540-989-7693 H:540-989-7693 H: 540-966-1345
caverbob@aol.com pondlady97@cox.net sockymss@cox.net sockydr@cox.net danomcconnell@live.com
Opinions expressed in The Carbide Dump are those of the editors, unless otherwise acknowledged. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
except by the National Speleological Society and its various internal organizations, without the written consent of the Blue Ridge Grotto.
You can access the Carbide Dump electronically at: http://blueridgegrotto.org/carbidedump.htm
Copyright 2018 by the Blue Ridge Grotto
Contributors: David & Mary Sue Socky, Nick Socky, Ed Saugstad, Steve Zeitler, Susan Burr, and Jerry Fuller
Cover: Nick Socky climbing up drop to by-pass Hurricane Lake in Culverson Creek Cave, WV. Photo by Dave Socky
Feb 16: BRG meeting, 6:30p, Jersey April 21-22: Grand Caverns Spring and hands-on training. See NCRC
Lily’s Roadhouse, 1650 Braeburn Dr. Clean-up weekend, Grottoes, VA. Con- website http://ncrc.info for more info.
Salem, VA 24153. tact Meredith Weberg 703-203-6975 for May 18: BRG meeting, 6:30p, Jersey
info.
Mar 16: BRG meeting, 6:30p, Jersey Lily’s Roadhouse, 1650 Braeburn Dr.
Lily’s Roadhouse, 1650 Braeburn Dr. April 27-29: Spring VAR, Hungry Salem, VA 24153.
Salem, VA 24153. Mother Lutheran Camp in Marion, VA.
May 18- 19: Over the Edge Rappel –
Hosted by Walker Mountain Grotto.
Mar 16: Spring NSS Board of Gover- The Last Time at the 136’ Patrick Henry
nors meeting, in Blacksburg, VA. Host- May 3 - 6: 67th Annual SERA Cave Hotel, downtown Roanoke, VA. Rope
ed by VPI Cave Club in celebration of Carnival, hosted by Birmingham Grotto volunteers contact here. This is a two-
their 75th anniversary. at Maranatha Camp & Conference Cen- day commitment.
ter on Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro,
April 2-6: Sinkhole Conference & Ap- May 25 – 29: 2018 Speleofest, at the
AL. This is in Jackson County, where
palachian Karst Symposium, Shepherd- Lone Star Preserve in Bonnieville, KY.
there are hundreds of favorite caves &
stown, WV. Click here for info. Hosted by the Louisville Grotto of the
pits. Click here for more information.
NSS For more info, click here.
April 13-15: Orientation to Cave Res- May 5: Spring West Virginia Speleo-
cue weekend course, Chimney Rock July 14 & 15: WVACS Classic. Contact
logical Survey meeting at the WVACS
State Park, NC. $60.00 for NSS mem- Dave Socky at 540-529-1591 or
field station, near Frankford, WV. Starts
bers. http://ow.ly/olIW30i9or1 (under sockydr@cox.net for more information.
at 1 pm. Please bring a covered dish for
regional events) a luncheon before the meeting! Contact July 30 - Aug 3: NSS Convention in
April 16-22: Virginia Cave Week; 2018 George Dasher at 304-542-0689 or Helena, Montana. For more info, visit
theme is Virginia Cave and Karst Trail. wvcaver@juno.com for more info. http://nss2018.caves.org/
April 20: BRG meeting, 6:30p, Jersey May 10 – 19: NCRC National Training Fall 2018: Fall VAR, somewhere in the
Lily’s Roadhouse, 1650 Braeburn Dr. Seminar, Camp Skyline in Mentone, Blacksburg, VA area. Hosted by VPI
Salem, VA 24153. AL. There will be five levels of class, Cave Club.
each with over 100 hours of classroom
February 2018, V53, #02 11
The Carbide Dump
The Karst Awareness Day in Lynch-
BRG Meeting Rapps Cave and help complete the
cave survey for WVCC and the cave
burg, VA has been postponed until Fall
2018. Marian McConnell suggested
Notice owner. holding the high school cave conserva-
The Rapps Cave entrance, 4 feet high tion event sometime after September 9,
The February 16, 2018 meeting of the and 10 feet wide, slopes into a large 2018. Organizer Gretchen Boeren said
Blue Ridge Grotto will be held at: Jer- room (20 feet high, 80 feet wide, and the grant funds should still be available.
sey Lily's Roadhouse 1650 Braeburn 100 feet long), with a floor of smooth
Dr, Salem, VA 24153. Dinner or appe- Vote for your Favorite Five CARBIDE
clay and flowstone and some columns DUMP covers of 2017. See page 12.
tizers with socializing starts at 6:30pm on the east side of the room. The cave
with the meeting starting soon after. Winners will be sent to the NSS Cover
consists of two main passages. One Art Salon in Helena Montana. Vote
PROGRAM - This month’s program extends approximately 2400 feet to Well, and Vote Often!
will be a slide show of recent cave trips the west and is intersected by numer-
by Dave Socky and anyone else who ous small dead-bottom pits and long
VA and WV Cave Closure Dates
wants to bring their photos. low rooms. The other passage extends
about 1000 feet to the NW as a broad Virginia
Grotto Trip passage, floored with huge slabs of Summer closure dates: Apr 15-Oct 15
breakdown covered with formations. Winter closure dates: Oct 15-Apr 15
Rapps Cave West Virginia
The cave may continue, but no way
Greenbrier County, WV through the breakdown choke has Summer closure dates: Apr 1- Sept 15
Date & Time: February 17, 2018. been found. The far end of the Break- Winter closure dates: Sept 1-May 15
down Room connects with another
Meet at the Hanging Rock Orange
room where prismatic jointing is
Market at 9am Saturday morning.
prominent in the ceiling.
Leader: Dave Socky at 540-529-1591
There are multiple levels within the
sockydr@cox.net cave. There are pits, a lower level
Coordination: Susan Burr 540-989-5809
pondlady97@cox.net
with a long, 4 ft tall room containing a Membership
slippery mud floor. In another area of
Requirements: Basic caving gear the cave there is a dome pit with a Updates
waterfall. There is a big canyon, and
Limits: 12 cavers Sixteen members and guests attended
1,375 feet of upper level passage, too.
the January 19, 2018 BRG meeting.
Description
Rapps Cave is formed in the Union The program was “Recent BRG Events
Rapps Cave is gated. Access is con- limestone, with over 5000 feet of sur- and Various Cave Trips” by Dave
trolled by the West Virginia Cave Con- veyed passage. It is hydrologically Socky.
servancy (WVCC). connected to nearby Buckeye Creek
Currently, BRG has 48 members and 4
This cave is contains a paleontological Cave, WV.
subscribers for 2018. BRG membership
site and protected Native American cards, membership lists and rescue info
glyphs and artifacts. will be mailed out in March.
BRG has received permission to enter Per a request from NCRC-ER
(National Cave Rescue Commission –
Eastern Region), the BRG cave rescue
AN N O U N C E M E N T S call-down list is being updated. We
BRG Meeting Minutes – can be read Trip Reports: To keep the meeting currently have a group of four local
on the BRG webpage at: moving along, ALL trip reports will be cavers as first responders, with four
limited to FIVE MINUTES per cave; 15 more “out of towners” who will re-
http://blueridgegrotto.org under the minute maximum for reports per person. spond in case of a cave rescue call-out.
‘BRG Organization’ button. And please submit written cave trip re- Thank you to everyone who has offered
ports to the secretary. Thanks! to be a “Responder” or be put on the
Treasurer's Report - David Socky
“Standby List.”
January 19, 2017
General Fund: $2,930.47 Know of a potential caver? Bring them
NSS Membership: to a BRG meeting, sponsor them on a
Conservation: $ 160.64
As of January 31, BRG activity, do lots of fun things with
Cave Bucks: $ 85.64
2018, the NSS has a total of 8,474 mem- the best cavers around ~
Equipment: $ 235.36
bers. Would you like to join or renew
Total: $ 3412.11 Cave Softly and Safely
with the NSS? See this link for details.
12 The Carbide Dump February 2018, V53, #02
To be considered, a cover must be original, Below are covers from the 2017 CARBIDE
not previously used or reprinted. Covers DUMPS – vote for your favorite five covers,
may be photographic or non-photographic; and send your votes to co-editor Mary Sue
Every year, the NSS Convention offers a
a few other rules apply. Socky at sockymss@cox.net You do not
“Cover Art Contest”. Grottos submit their
favorite covers from the previous year to be The covers are much more stunning in have to be a BRG member to vote.
judged and selected for awards. Most recent- color – look at them on-line for the best Vote Well, and Vote Often!
ly, the CARBIDE DUMP won merit awards viewing.
and honorable mentions for newsletter covers. Click on this LINK for online viewing of
covers from the BRG Website.
BRG cavers know how to pick them!
Mar 2017 v52n3: Vonnie Droms Apr. 2017 v52n4: Dave
Jan. 2071 v52n1: Nixon Feb. 2017 v52n2: A lone stalag- and Bob Alderson in Lowmoor Socky & Paul Thomas Row-
Formation in Locomotive mite in Grand Caverns, VA. Cave, VA. (Mark Minton) land @ BRG Vertical Prac-
Breath Cave (D. Socky) (D Socky) tice. (M. McConnell)
May 2017 v52n5: Doug Feller and July 2017 v52n6: Silas
Springer in a WVa cave. Aug. 2017 v52n7: Are We Having Fun
Bill Walker in Hamilton Cave, WV. Yet? Dave Socky waiting to survey in a
(D. Socky) (D. Socky)
WVa cave. (Yvonne Droms)
Sep. 2017 v52n8: Kelly McCarthy ad- Nov. 2017 v52n9: George Dasher sur- Dec. 2017 v52n10: 2017 BRG Christ-
miring mini-chandeliers in Simmons- veying in Rich Creek Cave, WV. mas Card. (Artwork by Marian
Mingo Cave, WV. (D. Socky) (D. Socky) McConnell, graphics by D. Socky)
February 2018, V53, #02 13
The Carbide Dump
11/25/2017: Culverson Creek Cave, was a set of canyons, one end of which 12/23/2017: Bonfire in Catawba,
WV (Echo Tubes): Participants in- was too tight. But maybe a real small per- VA. It was cold, wet, and sleeting - but
cluded David Socky, Nick Socky, and son could push it. The other way was hardcore cavers Keith and Lisa Goggin,
Eric Pelkey. We had very good 12 hour tight, but passable, but not by our crew. their neighbor, Bob Alderson, David
trip past the Echo Tubes in Culverson We surveyed in the mid-level until we Rose, David and Mary Sue Socky (and
Creek Cave. We set a total of 15 bolts reached a real crawly section. Since it was assorted dogs) attended, burned lots of
for two down-climb drops and two up getting late in the day, we figured we brush, and decorated a wild Christmas
climb drops. We made it to within 600 would better spend what time we had left tree. Next year Keith promises there
feet of the lead we were trying to get to, by going back to the stream & continuing will be shelter from the rain.
but ran out of rope and hardware. Now there until it was time to turn around. As it
1/1/2018 - Porter Cave, VA: Jeff
most of the route is rigged & good steps turned out, we did a crawly side lead off
Huffman, Bill Walker and Susan Burr
have been cut into the steep mud slopes the stream & ended up in walking canyon
took Glen Hugus, his daughter, Tony
in the Culverson main passage. It was a passage, with air! We got a couple of shots
Smith and several others into Porter's
particularly exciting trip because we in, but then had to quit because it was time
for their traditional New Year's Day
were the first people to be back in that to get back to the entrance where we were
cave trip. Susan reports: It happened to
section of the cave for at least 30 or 40 to meet the other two teams. It was a good
be freezing outside that day. We practi-
years. The other good thing we discov- 7 hour trip with 426 feet surveyed.
cally froze getting ready and going to
ered was that you don’t need a wetsuit. 12/2/2017- Paxton Cave, VA: Doug the cave. I was trip leader and it was
We were overheated most of the time Feller & Susan Burr took 8 Greenbrier the first time that I led a group through
and didn’t have to use our polypro. We Grotto members, including Bill Balfour, the Keyhole, into the Attic and down to
only got wet up to our thighs. What Ed Swepston, & Ed Saugstad into Paxton the Natural Bridge — without Doug
really helped was being able to bypass Cave. They did the normal tourist trip Feller. We did the loop out and back
Hurricane Lake. route to the Christmas Room loop & through the Keyhole, and then went to
11/28/2017: Redington Cave, VA: Western Maze, then back out. Had fun. the other Natural Bridge room and let
Participants included David Socky, 12/2/2017: Mary Sue Socky and Cyndi them explore some, then to the for-
Mark Hodge, Phil Lucas, and Jim Red- Hutchison ventured up to Grand Caverns mation room, then next to see the Big
ington. This is the virgin cave that Phil VA to help the Grand Cavers with Slit, and then out the other direction.
Lucas and Amos Mincin broke into the “Caroling in the Caverns”, a Grottoes/ This was Glen's daughter' first cave trip
week before. Dave Socky got on this Ruritan event to raise scholarship funds. since her brain injury. Other than a little
trip to help dig and survey the known This year, over 900 people showed up to panic attack 3/4 the way through the
cave. The idea was to dig on the lower hear singing, bagpipes, and brass groups Keyhole, she did GREAT!
entrance tunnel so it would connect into play Christmas carols in the cave. Caver 1/9/2018: Lowmoor Cave, VA. Par-
the upper cave that was going. The sur- volunteers lit & positioned hundreds of tea ticipants included David Socky, Mary
vey was to find out how close we were. lights throughout the cave rooms. It was Sue Socky, Karen Powers, and Makayla
As it turned out, we made a voice and
magical. It left you with a good feeling! Beckner (Karen’s assistant). Also doing
light connection. Dave Socky will draw
12/15/2017: Butler Cave, VA: Partici- bat counts was Wil Orndorff and Chris
the map. We surveyed 143 feet for a 5
pants included David Socky, Nick Socky, Hobbs in Lowmoor Mine, and Tom
hour trip. Malabad and Rick Reynolds in Wares
Tony Canike, and Reilly Blackwell. We
12/2/2017: Cave Hollow Arbogast, went back to the Candle Room via Crisco Cave. We saw a good portion of
WV: Participants included David Way. Nick and Tony worked on a bolt Lowmoor Cave. We counted 2 Big
Socky, Jay Balakirsky, and Joanne climb while Reilly and Dave surveyed Browns plus about 35 Tri-colored bats.
Smith (Miles Drake’s wife) - team one. some of the finger passages off of the Most of the Tri-Colored bats were in the
Dave West, Karen Willmes, and Rick Candle Room. We also surveyed up to the long ‘finger passage’ that contains the
Royer - team two. Aaron Bird, Hope webbing climb on the way to the 4-Way mine overlook at the extreme north of
Brooks, and Eric Pelkey - team three. Stop, but we didn't climb up because it the mine.
Socky’s team did the H survey down the was the end of the day and we didn't feel 1/9/2018: Mary Sue and Dave Socky,
stream passage toward the Cave Hollow like doing the tricky climb, even with the bat biologist Karen Powers, and assis-
Entrance. The cave down this way was webbing. We went out via Goodway tant Makayla Beckner toured Lowmoor
a lot different than what we had done Climb (30 foot vertical climb up), then the Cave, VA to do a bat count. (This was
last month. This was stream canyon Frothing Slosh and the Pancake Crawl, the morning after the regional ice/sleet
passage and involved a lot of narrow both of which were dry - which was really storm, BTW.) 3 Big Brown Bats and 46
stuff, plus lots of crawling. We got into nice. It was a long and tiring 14 hour trip, hibernating Eastern Pipistrelle/Tricolor
an upper level which was a lot drier, but with travel time taking up a good 7 hours Bats were counted. Karen also found
most of it was pretty low. There was (both ways). one dead bat, and a dead mouse. Karen
one huge wide room, but it was only
two to three feet high! Above this level (Continued on page 14)
14 The Carbide Dump February 2018, V53, #02
Bash Cave, WV
February 3, 2018 By Ed Saugstad
A bit of prologue; Bash Cave, WV (aka the cold snowy trek (about 1/4 mile) to difficult to get through or around it. In
Balfour’s Aerial Suck Hole) was located the cave. Once at the cave, I found that addition to that, we left quite a few other
via an aerial photo of the area and first Mountain Dave, Keely Owens and Steve leads for the next trip, currently sched-
was surveyed by Bill Balfour & co, Zeitler had gone ahead to start surveying uled for 10 February.
some 45 years ago. The map of that orig- through the dig. When I got there, they The trip lasted about 10 hours with the
inal survey shows a couple hundred feet had just finished the first shot. I assumed worst part for me being the uphill climb
of mostly gnarly passage, ending in a front sight duties while Dave did back to the parking area on a snow-covered
decent-sized room. A few years ago, a sights (Keely was sketching and keeping slope with a layer of dead leaves under
WVACS caver, Phil Murray, began talk- book). We quickly found out that my the snow. My wellies had zero traction
ing up the cave as a project for more new cave light was strongly magnetic, on that surface, so I made most of the
effort, as (1) there was good air flow in and really interfered with azimuth read- way up inches at a time on my knees. As
the cave where a small low passage exit- ings, so I had to remember to keep my a consequence, I awoke during the
ed the terminal room, (2) a permanent light at least 18" away from the Disto on might with terrific leg cramps, feeling
stream sinks into the ground just before all readings. like I'd been placed in a sleeping bag,
reaching the headwall that hosts the hung up like a piñata, and pummeled
We set a total of 52 stations, the first
cave’s entrance, and (3) two decent- with baseball bats. This morning,
nine of which were through the dig. The
sized caves (Piercy’s and Piercy’s Mill) though, after a bit of coffee laced with
passages we surveyed varied for the
are nearby. Consequently, a group of brandy, am feeling much better, and
most part from stoop-walking to
diggers headed up by (Mountain) Dave strolling, with almost no crawling once ready for another go at Bash!
Knox began working at the aforemen- through the dig (there was a fair bit of Rejectedly Submissive,
tioned low lead last year. After several scrambling in places). Midway through Ed Saugstad
forays, the group finally broke out into the survey, we were joined by Greg Monroe Co. WV Stringer
actual new cave last month; this month’s Springer, who drew cross-sections/
trip was to be the initial survey of the profiles. Earlier, he along with his sons, Addendum: Ed reports - from Greg
new section. Cass and Silas, had been resurveying the Springer: "1000 feet in the new section
I got up to the field station yesterday (3 historic area of the cave, starting from excluding the length of the dig (87 feet).
February) around 0915 only to find that the entrance. Cass and Silas had exited The cave is now ~1350 feet long." See
the survey team had departed and al- the cave. We stopped at a formation photos by Steve Zeitler on back page.
ready was at the cave parking area. So, choke in the only water passage we
after getting there and suiting up, I made found, but judged that it shouldn't be too
(Quick Trips continued from page 13) 1/13/2018: Maxwelton Cave, WV. a room off on the left on the way back to
Participants included David Socky, Keely Ghost Camp. All the other leads turned out
and Makayla were expecting a 2-hour visit Owens, Errol Glidden, and David Small- to be little loops, or small, tight leads that
to count bats in a few rooms. But this IS wood. This was a day trip to check and ended. We didn't survey any of these be-
Dave's survey project! He took us to nu- push leads in the Pie Survey to Ghost cause of time constraints. The Pie Passage
merous areas, with differing temperatures Camp and then to the Sweetwater River. and cave between Ghost Camp and Sweet-
and air flow. We crossed the metal ladder! The best lead was a few hundred feet be- water is really crawly with some walking
We crawled! He kept mentioning yond the Ghost Camp and involved an but a lot of little obstacles and lots of mud.
"Charlie's Dig", too. After 5 hours under- upstream and downstream lead for a sec- It's not hard, but it does give one a pretty
ground, Mary Sue and Karen convinced ondary stream off of the Confluence good work out. It took us 3 hours and 20
Dave that, while he usually spends 13 Room. But it had rained close to 2 inches minutes to get from the entrance to Ghost
hours in this cave on a survey trip, they just before the weekend so the water levels Camp, but we did stop for lunch and a
were tired, out of food, water, and were were up, making both leads very wet. Wet couple of rest breaks. It was pretty obvious
low on batteries - It is time to leave! So suits would have been needed. So instead that this part of the cave reacts fairly
Dave took everyone out. Then he charged we dug at a lead that was above the stream. quickly to rainy weather outside. Just the
back up to the mine entrance to touch base The dig was opened up just enough for weekend before, water levels were pretty
with Wil Orndorff and Rick Reynolds to Keely and Dave Smallwood to get in, so dry. Then it rained on Thursday and Fri-
let them know the counters were leaving. they surveyed the passage beyond for day, and on Saturday (1/13) water levels
Short trip for Dave, LONG trip for Karen about 10 stations, getting 170 feet. The were noticeably higher. Our trip was a
and Makayla, & a great trip for Mary Sue. only lead left in this section was a real wet total of 15.5 hours for 303 feet of survey.
one. We then surveyed another 130 feet in
February 2018, V53, #02 15
The Carbide Dump
Walker Mountain Grotto is hosting the 2018 Spring Activities: Guided and unguided caving trips, a con-
VAR at the foot of our namesake Big Walker Moun- servation project of a clean-up at one of our local
tain in Marion, Virginia. “holes”, plenty of hiking, rock climbing, and world
Spring VAR will be April 27-29, 2018 at Hungry class trout fishing, and more – all within short drives
Mother Lutheran Retreat Center, a private camp lo- of the campground.
cated adjacent to Hungry Mother State Park. The site Guidebook: A guidebook along the lines of SERA-
offers easy access to many caves, mountain biking VAR guidebook is in the works. Be sure to reserve a
and hiking opportunities, rock climbing, fishing and copy when you register.
canoeing on Hungry Mother Lake, and shops and res- T-Shirts: Of course! A final design will be forthcom-
taurants in downtown Marion. ing.
Don’t worry about southwest Virginia’s fickle spring Door prizes: Of course!
weather. We have reserved the entire camp and have
access to many covered and indoor spaces, including Lodging: Plenty of flat space for tent camping and
a large pavilion, dining hall, and bunkhouse with hot RVs will be available. (Sorry no RV hook-ups.) We
showers. There is plenty of flat space available for also have a cabin available for rent as well as two
tents and RVs (sorry, no hook-ups). large bunkhouses that offer communal sleeping ar-
rangements. Showers, flush toilets, porta-potties are
Musical entertainment will be provided by Blacks- available on site.
burg, Va’s The Kind Check ’em out at: http://
thekind.org/ Stay tuned for updates on catering, program, and
most important of all: REGISTRATION!
Vendors: we have verbal commitments from Speleo-
books and IMO. Be sure to tell them thanks when you
see them! https://walkergrotto.wordpress.com/var/
2018 Spring VAR Camping 2018 Spring VAR Pavilion
16 The Carbide Dump February 2018, V53, #02
Photos of Bash Cave on February 3, 2018. Photos by Steve Zeitler
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