Saturday morning Diana Gietl and I scoped out Culverson
Creek Cave (Wildcat Entrance) for a future photography trip. We were joined by
Karen Willmes and Dave West, two of my best friends who happened to arrive at
VAR/YTR the night before just minutes behind us.
Diana saw many potential places to shoot photos on a future
day. We slipped down the entrance climb into a stoopway that soon became
walking height, and then we had high ceilings for the rest of the trip (not
counting Dave’s side leads). The
entrance passage eventually dumped us into the main stream, and we headed
upstream first to wide passages (and eventually a sump). Be warned that a
misstep in this area could leave you in mud up to your knee.
Downstream travel was less muddy but more wet. I felt foolish taking some extra time
skirting one pool, but I remembered it as a necessary maneuver in order to stay
dry. Diana found it trickier on the way
out and found herself sliding into the creek up to waist deep. The best treat was a number of Northern
Spring Salamanders, in addition to the white crayfish.
While Diana napped after the short cave trip, Karen, Dave,
and I wandered down to the entrance to Poor Farm Cave at the far end of the
property. Karen and I joined George Dasher from there to walk off in search of the lost entrance for Rimstone Falls Cave. Unfortunately we stopped at the electric fence so missed
out on the cave.
We had a great catered dinner. Diana liked it so much that
she retrieved her flipped plate from the patio deck and scooped up the whole
meal. The evening continued with the
funk music of Septatpus, including a song dedicated to Rob Harris.
On Sunday I sat through the VAR meeting and then went back
to camp to find that the sun’s heat had driven Rob Harris and Diana from their
tents. I put on fresh caving clothes, and we set off for Poor Farm Cave for a
one-hour trip. The coolest thing in Poor Farm Cave was a hidden whistling
passage.
