Anybody have caves?

Quote:
"Sometimes when I'm digging a hole (especially in the winter), I think to myself "This isn't hardly worth it. Trying to dig through frozen ground and the guy only had $30.00 in his wallet."

Well that's the dumbest thing I ever heard of. Keep that kind of talk up and we'll all be getting taxed on our shovels and have to register them!

Can't say my family are Spulunkers, we are Cavers. The DH and I have caved for 35+ years and we started our sons young, 3 and 5 years old in commercial caves and we progressed to harder caves. What I have learned, must have a hard hat, headlamp, knee pads, flashlight (of course), extra batteries and let someone know were you are. I don't remember what cave we were at, but the owner had you sign in and out of this cave (1 of my favorites caves). My oldest son's flashlight is getting dim and he wants mine, I give it to him my headlamp is working. For about 5 min. (extra batteries) now I'm in pitch black darkness. Well, they found me after about an hour.

Lots of caves tend to have rare or very endangered bugs, fishes, and other exotic animals. I would love to have a cave that had any of those.....that would be interesting.

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

Until you "officially" make a discovery of a new species. Then your property would become a national monument, you would be forced to move and given $5 for your property via emiment domain all because you found the all great giant hissing four legged dung beetle in your cave.

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U.S. Constitution -10th Amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Used to spelunk a lot in Missouri when I was younger. Snakes and that kind of thing are only a potential issue very near the entrance, I never ran into any in multiple caves. Never explore alone, always let someone else know exactly where the cave is and when you expect to return, always wear a hard hat and carry multiple sources of light, preferably head lamps, coveralls work well when crawling through caves, frequently turn and look behind you because it can look very different coming out and you can become lost, carry food and water, avoid caves with a lot of 'break down' which is typically flat layers of rock that have fallen from the roof of the cave. DO NOT enter a cave when it is raining or rain is anticipated shortly, like before you plan to come out. Allow X hours for the trip and when half that time is gone then start out.

From the description it sound like your cave may be unstable so it should approached with great caution.

Sent you a PM.

For those of you who want to know more about caves and cavers, please go to www.caves.org. Never EVER go in a cave alone. Most local EMTs are not trained in cave search and rescue, and it takes time for the nearest trained group of cavers to get to you. There might not even be one in your state.

Please feel free to PM me with any questions.

Back in college days, I did a fair amount of "recreational" caving that some of the more gung-ho outing club members pushed into actual mapping exploration into unexplored systems, mostly in the VA-WVA border areas (Bath & Highland & Pendleton Counties). That was with 40 lbs less weight on my gut, though, lol, and even back when carbide lanterns were preferred over battery lights. Anyway, yeah, it's my understanding that the white-nose bat fungus spread is often due to recreational cavers going from one system to another without disinfecting their gear. I even saw a few years back that several of my old favorite spots had been closed due to cavers from NY state having visited and spread the gunk around.

The cautions are to be taken seriously, though, on not trying to squeeze in casually without several other people involved, plus proper equipment. With it being an "active" wet cave, the surfaces you'd be having to grip and lever against and step onto would likely be extremely slippery. There could be vertical, narrow crevices that anyone could slide tens of feet down into, if not further, before getting tightly wedged. If stuck, someone can become hypothermic rather quickly, especially in a wet system. Even smallish rocks coming loose from above could injure or kill you if you don't have head protection, plus it's no fun to simply whack your bare head not realizing how close the clearance has become. You can go downwards on a sloping surface and realize too late that there aren't any easy grips for going back upwards; likewise, even with a lot of hand and foot holds, the "moves" that got you down/up safely may be totally different, requiring different strengths, to go in the opposite direction later on when gravity is reversed, as it were. You can move from one passage into another and not realize how utterly different the view and perspective will be when you've turned around and need to find that same hole you came in through.

However, the odds are quite high that what's there is simply a few small passages that "pinch out" very quickly without extending into any sort of real network that could be dangerous or in which you could get lost or anything. Even if so, just a slip and fall and slide for five or ten feet could be very dangerous. I've been into a few systems that had vertical pits, sometimes right at the entrance. You need to be aware that in suitable geology, some dippy little round hole or small crevice can turn out to be at the very top of an open dome that has nothing but freefall air below you for a hundred or more feet. Ropes, harnesses, 'biners, brake bars, rapelling, prusik knots, Gibbs ascenders... having all of those and having trained and practiced with them can be essential for *some* systems.

Any real air flow in and/or out of an entrance is an indication that some substantial passages exist, although you might not be able to get into them easily. I'd agree with the suggestion that a nearby group of spelunkers might be able to give guidance on what you could expect; the area might even have been mapped out years ago. "NSS Grotto" would be the name to look for, maybe Google that and "Kentucky" and see if you can find some contacts.

I went back down to the cave today, thinking maybe I'd get some better pictures. Last time is was unusually warm out and the cool air coming out of the cave just fogged the lens up. Well, it sure isn't warm today and this time the air coming out of the cave actually felt warm, but effect was the same on the camera...foggy lens! I was determined to try to see if there was a passage going further, but I just cant see far enough back in without doing something unsafe. I think I'll follow some of the wise advise I've seen on here and see if a cave group that is properly equipped and trained is interested. I will feel bad if it's just a small room with a dead end. Anyway, thanks for the offers of concern and advise for caution. I'm going to follow it.