Ken and I met up with Tanya in Marion VA for a weekend of caving; but not any caving, surveying. Tanya had two leads on possible new cave in the area; and a team was in place to continuing work inside Rowland Creek cave.
First stop, a cave that Tanya described as a hole in the ground next to a house, vertical in nature, and determined after tossing a few small stones into the hole there was an un-quantifiable distance and some water. We met with the enthusiastic owner; she had just bought the property and was very excited to have two springs and a potential cave. She, and her son, escorted us maybe twenty-five feet to the cave entrance. Removing the “gate” produced an entrance wide enough to slip into without digging.
After suiting up and armed with a hand-line thanks to Ken as the anchor, I dropped into the cave. The cave initially was dirt, but quickly changed to rock walls and ceiling; the floor was steeply sloping, consisting primarily of dirt and roofing shingles. The slope ended in a deep pool of water. After cleaning out the shingles, Ken and I surveyed the cave. The cave is 30ft in length; the pool is probably a sump and could be dived. However I question the water quality, as the house’s septic system is upstream and in close proximity with the cave.
The woman’s son was given the honors of naming the cave; he decided to call it Rodas-Wolters Pit. After eating some tasty cookies, thanks to the landowner, we hit the road for our next stop, Five Goat Cave.
Five Goat Cave was mentioned in a previous caving report; at the time of initial investigate the river was too high to cross. Today the river was not running high. The trek across the river was soothing as the water was cool. The trek up the hillside, not as pleasant, was covered in underbrush and the summer heat and humidity was present.
The location was eventually reached. I started to check out Five Goat, while Ken pushed on to investigate another rock outcropping. As I approached the “cave” the strong smell of scat was abound; this should have registered as a sign. Looking into the small hole light could be seen from the right side. There was no way a goat could get into what I was standing in front of; going around the corner to check out the source of light I found there to be a large fissure crack. I also found two raccoons; I could see them in the shadows, and I could now hear them as well. The sounds and body movements told me I was a very un-welcomed guest. To reduce bodily harm I quickly retreated. Five Goat Cave looks to be a massive rock that slide down the rock outcropping, creating a shelter. Perhaps another look after the current residents have moved out may be in order just to insure no cave lies within.
At this time, Ken was beckoning our presence; he had found a cave nearby. Still being caught off guard by the raccoons and telling myself I was never going to repeat that, I was a bit hesitant standing outside the entrance even though there was no nasty smell; that is until Ken told me he threw a few stones into the cave and listened for any additional movement (though I was happy that Ken volunteered to go in first).
The cave had an interesting upper entrance or skylight. There were very old formations in this cave, and the cave looked to be comprised of dolomite. The cave, including both entrances, was quickly surveyed for a grand total of 37ft. Tanya named the cave “Chip on the Shoulder”.
We retreated back the way we came, though the step hillside in front of the cave looked like an easier route. Unfortunately during our walk back someone stepped on a Hornets nest; and yes there were causalities, Ken and Tanya both took the brunt of the anger.
Sunday Robbie and Jason joined us; Robbie, Jason, and myself were to survey a lead and check out a pit in time and conditions were right. Meanwhile Ken and Tanya were going to work/dig on Sentinel cave and Animal Den located on the same hillside.
The team I was on quickly got to our destination and started surveying. We had a rough start, as the numbers were not matching, most likely accountable to the 70-degree inclination. Soon we were making good progress; the lead had a low, muddy room, which opened up, into another room. This room had massive breakdown blocks, a sizeable pool of water and is well decorated on one side.
Retreating back into the muddy room we pushed the other lead; we had a shallow sloping room to the left. To the right Robbie stated we had connected back into known passage. At first I didn’t believe him, he said I would recognize it when I up to where he was at; and he was right. It was a lead we had left before. The survey of 213ft closed three leads.
We proceeded to check out the pit lead; it held the most promise as it blows air and is in a location on the perimeter of known cave. Robbie had the honors of dropping the pit. He described the pit as being narrow but wide. The pit broke into two passages; one passage joined another known lead with a low pinch. The other passages lead back to another lead. Three more leads closed out.
As we retracted, one last lead was looked at. The lead continues, but some small modifications to some breakdown are in order, something to consider another day. I took Jason to the upper entrance; he graciously climbed a ledge we could only inspect from a distance. The ledge didn’t hold much promise, and he confirmed there was no lead.
I checked out the efforts of Ken and Tanya on the other caves. Animal den was obviously worked on. After parting the Mosquito curtain and crawling inside it became apparent the cave terminated at 6ft. Later it was discovered that Ken and Tanya surveyed the cave and renamed the cave to Mosquito Den…I wonder why? I quickly stopped at Sentinel, seeing no fresh dirt piles, and another cloud of Mosquitoes; I quickly deduced that Ken and Tanya didn’t work on this cave today.
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