The Tritrogs annual trip came together at the last minute; a few minor changes landed the event at Claytor State park instead of Douthat, and James cave instead of Breathing cave. Planned were 13 individuals, some of those being new cavers and one being an eight year old. My oldest son Dawson enjoys caving; I thought it would be interesting to see how he would do without any influences his younger brothers have brought to past caving “adventures”.
Friday evening proved to be hot and muggy as we set up camp. Ken and I pitched our tents, put up the canopy, and dragged much of the food out while it was still light. While waiting for the others to arrive, Dawson and I walked down to the lake. Claytor is actually a very nice park; Ok Virginia state parks actually rock! I would recommend giving them a try.
The last group arrived sometime after 2am; or so I am told, Dawson and I didn’t wait up for them. Since it was too hot for a fire, we opted for lights out and some sleep in preparation for a big day of caving.
After a big breakfast, we all set out for James cave…in the rain. Not quite what we expected, but then again its August and when isn’t there a change of rain. Fortunately the rain paused long enough for 13 cavers to rampantly dress and dash to the cave.
James cave is horizontal, though does have a few short climb-downs and several belly crawls. An ideal cave for new cavers; provides a nice variety. Two teams were formed; through past experience, one team would be too slow given the obstacles. The groups ventured upstream toward the other entrance first; not the pretty section of the cave but a good introduction to crawling and walking through the stream passage.
Returning to our starting point we continued downstream, through the culvert and into an extended belly crawl; only to discover the belly crawl is actually a hand and knee crawl for Dawson. Here the cave immediately becomes more interesting; there are multiple levels and directions to continue downstream and formations become much more prevalent. The challenges presented in the cave are actually fun, there are two climb downs that took a few minutes to get everyone past.
Over four hours into our journey we made it back to a highly decorated room, the soda straws numerous, the flow stone flows, and the stalactites tall and proud. It was here that Dawson stated he was ready to leave; his sediment quickly spread to everyone.
After a brief rest and pictures the teams planned their exits. Rather than return with a team of seven, Diana volunteered to exit with Dawson and myself (making the trip a bit more exhilarating for an eight year old). We made record time getting out of the cave, under 45 minutes. And Dawson still had time to step into water up to his waist, climb every climb, with the exception of one, and tell us how we weren’t keeping up.
After everyone got out, a bit muddier than expected, we loaded up and headed back to camp for dinner. The rain was gone, the sun out, and the temperatures pleasant. Everyone pitched in with the meal preparations and consumption of the simple spread, before long s’mores were being made over the warm glow of the remaining embers.
Sunday brought breakfast, camp cleanup, and determining what lay ahead; some opted to go mountain climbing, others opted to check out the cascades nearby, and the remainder chose Tawney’s cave just outside Blacksburg Va. Tawney’s is not as long as James cave, but very impressive. The front room is highly decorated, has a nice stream traversing the cave, and had an enormous sinkhole on the backside.
Dawson found the stream irresistible and had to personally verify the depth numerous times; in addition Ken introduced Dawson to the stickiest mud he had ever had the pleasure of standing in, and even more pleasurable after almost loosing a boot. After a few hours, it was time to think about the trek home and retuning to our daily routine.
I hope everyone had a good time and hope to see him or her in a cave again soon!
