November 2014 Dump - Blue Ridge Grotto

November 2014, V49, #10
November
2014
Vol 49,
No 10
The Carbide Dump
64
November 2014, V49, #10
The Carbide Dump
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
Al Stewart
2528 Montgomery Ave. S.W.
Roanoke, Va. 24015-4204
H: (540) 989-0483
EDITORS
David & Mary Sue Socky
6572 Woodbrook Dr. S.W.
Roanoke, Va.
24018-5402
H: (540) 989-7693 W: (540) 387-8613
email: [email protected] or [email protected]
The Blue Ridge Grotto holds its monthly meetings every third Friday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the second floor meeting
room of the Vinton Firehouse, 120 Jackson Ave, Vinton, VA 24179.
Chairman
GROTTO OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
Vice-Chair
Secretary
Treasurer
Safety & Techniques
MariAn McConnell
C: 540-309-4707
David Socky
H:540-989-7693
Mary Sue Socky
H:540-989-7693
Stephanie Petri
H: 540-354-2039
Dan McConnell
H: 540-966-1345
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
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 2014 by the Blue Ridge Grotto
Contributors: David & Mary Socky, Sharon Mohney, Susan Burr, Marian McConnell, John Fox, Carol Tiderman, Jerry Fuller.
Cover: Survey crews in Lowmoor Cave, VA. (L-R, bottom to top: Nick Socky, Stephanie Petri, Bob Alderson, Amy Skowronski, Brian
Williams, Joseph Caldwell, Bob Gulden, Joe Calderone, Dave Socky.) Sketch: Joe Calderone. Photos: Susan Burr, Nick Socky, Dave Socky.
NOTE: the US Fish and Wildlife Service
is closing wild caves and mines on federal lands until more is known about White
Nose Syndrome, a fungal disease that is
killing bats. Learn more about decontaminating your cave gear and preventing the
spread of White Nose Syndrome (WNS)
in bat colonies by visiting HERE
Dec 21: BRG Christmas/Solstice Party, at Dave & Mary Socky’s house, 1p5p. Potluck. Contact Mary Sue Socky
[email protected] or 540-989-7693
for more info.
Nov 21: BRG meeting, 7:30p. Elections.
Trip TBA.
Feb 27 – March 1, 2015: Florida
Cave Cavort - To be held in Williston
FL; hosted by the River City Grotto.
So come on down for a weekend of
Florida caving, music, cavorting, meeting old friends, and making new ones.
For more information and registration,
see the Cavort website.
Nov 22: Virginia Cave Board Meeting
at Natural Bridge, VA. 11am and 2pm.
Contact Meredith Weberg 703-203-6975
or see their website for info.
Nov 28-30: Gem and Mineral Show,
Salem, VA. $4.00 admission good for
all 3 days. Kids age 16 and under are
free. For more info visit their website.
Dec 13: Catawba Murder Hole video
shoot. Contact Marian McConnell 540309-4707.
Dec 19: NO BRG MEETING
Jan 16, 2015: BRG meeting, 7:30p.
Feb 20, 2015: BRG meeting, 7:30p.
March 20, 2015: BRG meeting, 7:30p.
June 26-28, 2015: Karst-O-Rama, @
Great Saltpetre Cave Preserve, Rockcastle Co, KY. For more info, go to
karstorama.com or contact James
Clements.
July 13-17, 2015: NSS Convention,
Waynesville, Missouri. Contact Joe
Nicolussi [email protected] for
info.
July 24-Aug 1, 2015 -NCRC National
Weeklong Training - Park City, KY at
the Park Mammoth Resort. More info to
come on the NCRC National Seminar
Facebook page.
July 13-17, 2016: NSS Convention, Ely,
Nevada.
November 2014, V49, #10
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
BRG Meeting Minutes – can be read
on the BRG webpage at:
http://blueridgegrotto.org under the
‘BRG Organization’ button.
Treasurer's Report - Stephanie Petri
October 17, 2014
General Fund:
Conservation:
Equipment:
Petty Cash:
Cave Bucks:
Total:
$3249.08
$227.34
$235.36
$110.00
$203.30
$4025.08
In Sympathy
Mr. Cecil Porterfield, age 70, died on
October 26, 2014. Mr. Porterfield was an
outdoorsman. He loved his farm, his
land, and his caves. He was a good steward of the land. It was a pleasure to work
with Mr. Porterfield over the years. He
was very happy when the area cavers
fenced the pit entrance to Pig Hole so
animals would not fall in. Our thoughts
and prayers go to Mr. Porterfield’s family.
BRG Stuff
The Nov 22 Sinkhole Cleanup has
been postponed, will be rescheduled
at a later spring date.
The BRG Christmas/Solstice Party will
be held on Sunday, December 21, 2014,
from 1p – 5p. Potluck, BYOB @ Dave
and Mary Sue Socky’s house. RSVP
Mary Sue for info & directions
[email protected] 540-989-7693.
Landowner Cards: Folks on the recent
BRG trip brought Santa hats & posed for
the BRG Christmas Card photo. It looks
good! Chair Marian McConnell is getting 75 printed, mailed to cave owners for
the holidays.
Thank You to Michael and Renee Rowland for their donation to BRG of a copy
of WVASS Bulletin # 15 “The Caves
and Karst of Pendleton County” (&
map packets), by George Dasher.
These bulletins were available at Fall
VAR 2014 for $5.
Vinton Firehouse renovations – no
news from C. Heptinstall. Jen Perdue
reports that we can use Cave Spring
Firehouse as alternative meeting site if
renovations close the Vinton Firehouse
meeting room.
BRG Survey Gear – Dave Socky sent
old gear into Forestry Supplies to get
them cleaned, refurbished. Compass &
Clinometer are back and ready to be
checked out for survey. We now have
two complete sets of instruments for
survey projects.
S&T –Some BRG members have a
rope in a tree for vertical practice.
Contact the “tree people” Marian
McConnell 540-309-4707 or Dave
Socky 540-989-7693 if you want to
practice ascending a/o changeovers.
VA Cave License Plates: Marian
McConnell is member of Virginia
Governor’s Cave Board, and is looking
into creation of a “Cave” License
Plate. Proceeds would go to VCB for
educational materials. We would need
a minimum of 350 people (Statewide)
to sign up – how many of you would
be interested? Let Marian know at
[email protected]
WNS Decon Protocols – Immersion of clothes & gear in HOT water
122o F) for 20 minutes will kill WNS
spores. Use Formula 409 Antibacterial
spray, wipes for non-washable stuff.
Reminder: Caves on State and Federal
lands, including US Forest Service land,
are CLOSED until further notice as part
of a blanket regional closure to slow the
spread of WNS. Caves on private land
may be open or closed, depending on the
wishes of the owner. Check the caves’
status before going caving.
The Southern Region of the US Forest
Service has extended the closure order
for all caves and mines on NFS lands
until 2019 ‘to help prevent the spread of
white-nose syndrome’, a disease fatal for
many species of bats. (Despite the fact
that the area is already positive for
WNS.)
CAVE CONSERVATION
VA and WV have different cave
closure dates.
Virginia
Winter closure dates: Oct. 15 - Apr. 15.
Summer closure dates: Apr. 15 - Oct. 15.
West Virginia
Winter closure dates: Sept. 1 - May 15.
Summer closure dates: Apr. 1 - Sept.15.
Some caves closed for the summer (bat
maternity colonies) may reopen for the
winter months. Other hibernacula caves
will be closed. Please honor all cave
closures. Contact a grotto officer if you
want to verify the current status of a cave
you may be planning on visiting.
Meeting Notice
left with an ‘open’ grotto trip. There
are several possibilities which can be
considered at the BRG Grotto meeting:
The November 21, 2014 meeting of
the Blue Ridge Grotto will be held at
Vinton Firehouse, 120 West Jackson
Ave. The meeting will start at 7:30 pm.
 Survey and cleanup in Lowmoor
Cave, Alleghany Co. VA.
PROGRAM - This month’s program
will be slides from recent caving trips
by Blue Ridge Grotto members, including Lowmoor Cave and TAG.
Grotto Trip
To Be Determined
Since the Botetourt County Sinkhole
cleanup has been postponed, we are
 Caving and ridge walking at Natural
Bridge, Rockbridge Co. VA.
 Ridge walk for caves by the Vineyards near Eagle Rock in Botetourt
County, VA.
 Help BCCS dig at the ‘Backdoor’ dig
in Bath County, VA.
 New River Cave, Giles Co. VA
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PAY YER DUES!!
2015 BRG dues are $10.00 for current regular or associate members, $5.00 for additional family member. Subscriber fee is $10.00
per person.
Make checks to Blue Ridge Grotto.
Include a piece of paper with your current
address, phones, email, NSS number (and
NSS expiration month), and primary grotto
affiliation.
You can pay for multiple years.
Pay your dues at the Nov. 21 meeting, the
Dec. 21 Party, or mail them to the grotto
treasurer.
These cavers have paid for 2015:
Sharon Bruce
Bill Cuddington
Mariam Cuddington
Martin DiLeggi
Joe Fagan
Joey Fagan
Greg McCorkindale
Aaron Moses
Al Stewart
Haunted Lab
It was an easy two nights at the Science
Museum of Western Virginia’s “Haunted
Lab”. We came, we wore silly bat hats,
and we handed out lots of informational
pamphlets on bats. “We” being Marian
McConnell, Bob Gulden, Mary Sue
Socky, while Jen Perdue (dressed all in
black), was serving Kool-Aid to the costumed kids of all ages.
The Science Museum of Western VA, in
downtown Roanoke, VA, has a small
cave exhibit with faux formations and
flowstone. Nearby are fluorescent mineral display and a mine exhibit. They also
have blind fish and a cave-adapted
Axolotl, or Mexican Blind Salamander.
November 2014, V49, #10
Caving is an excuse from doing ...
John Fox
Three caves in two weekends, for me,
is like when I was 25. Took a friend
and his 3 grandsons into their first
cave on Saturday (11/1). Sunday (11/2)
spent the entire day with BRG in
Lowmoor Cave., VA The following
Saturday (11/8), visited Rapp's Cave,
WV near the WVACS field house
and attended the West Virginia Cave
Conservancy banquet in Lewisburg.
At age 25, I had an apartment and
was single. Now there are responsibilities that I was able to make an
Membership
Updates
Twenty-six BRG cavers and guests
attended the Oct. 17 BRG meeting.
Wow! We were treated to Dave
Socky’s video of him, Nick and
Mary Sue exploring a recently discovered lava tube while visiting
Hawaii in June 2014.
No membership proposals this night
– maybe next month.
Oh yeah, Pay Your Dues!
Know of a potential caver? Bring
them to a BRG meeting, sponsor
them on a BRG activity, do lots of
fun things with the best cavers
around ~
Cave Softly and Safely
excuse for because I was caving. I got
out of cleaning the house, bathrooms
and yard work. So after getting home
from Lewisburg on Sunday, I spent the
next 4 hours clearing fallen leaves from
our yards. Still need to clean a few
bathrooms, which I felt during the
WNS moratorium was a good way to
keep in shape for caving. What other
house chore puts you on your knees to
clean a bathtub, shower or floor? (Keep
it clean now.) Sport caving and hanging
with friends with mutual interests is a
great way to spend a day.
Natural Bridge Karst
The November BRG meeting had three
guests from Natural Bridge of Virginia.
The guests included Gretchen Boeren
Natural Bridge Chief Naturalist, India
Akers who is the Caverns Manager, and
Michael Lancense, a caverns guide.
Natural Bridge, under new ownership, is
“a whole new mojo”, said Gretchen. The
emphasis is now on identification, preservation, and education. Natural Bridge
would like Blue Ridge Grotto to help
them. They have no documents, maps, or
GPS locations of their holdings. They
need expertise for their 1600+ acres.
After some discussion (and reminiscing
over the old days when Bill Cuddington
was allowed to rappel the Bridge), it was
decided that Blue Ridge Grotto will be
happy to help. We need to set up a cavern trip and ridge walk.
Dave Socky and Bob Alderson, after attending the Virginia Speleological Survey (VSS) meeting, made arrangements
to send copies of the property’s cave
maps (1990’s era) from the VSS files.
Natural Bridge now has electronic copies
of the maps of all their caves.
The remodeled Science Museum has lots
of good exhibits and displays. Hopefully
they and BRG will continue to work together, as we have done in the past.
Mary Sue Socky and Bob Gulden at the
BRG Haunted Lab table. Photo by Marian
McConnell
Jen Perdue
checking out an
entrance?.
Photo by Marian McConnell
November 2014, V49, #10
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Lowmoor Cave - A new BRG Project
November 2, 2014
By
A recent caving trip for the Blue Ridge
Grotto was to Lowmoor Cave, VA on
November 2, 2014. It was a very successful trip which combined both survey
and conservation efforts. We had an
amazing turnout of 21 cavers and I would
like to thank everyone who helped! The
list of survey & cleanup crews is below:
Survey:
Team 1: Bob Alderson, Bob Gulden,
Joseph Caldwell - surveyed 431 ft.
David Socky
With three survey teams, nearly 1300
feet of cave was surveyed, a pretty
good start for a 3 mile cave/mine. The
conservation team did a fantastic job of
cleaning out at least a dozen garbage
bags worth of trash out of the cave.
Doug, Susan, and others met with the
owner outside the cave and he told us
we could just put the bags of garbage
in a small cart he had by the mine entrances and that he would take care of
disposing of the trash.
Team 2: David Socky, Stephanie Petri,
Brian Williams - surveyed 456 ft.
At the parking area for Lowmoor.
Photo by Susan Burr.
The survey got off to a good start, but the
cave is somewhat of a complex maze and
will be a challenge to survey and especially to produce a working map. The
grotto can expect many more survey trips
into Lowmoor, providing many months
of excellent grotto trips!
Team 3: Nick Socky, Joe Calderone,
Amy Skowronski - surveyed 406 ft.
Our plan at the start of the day was to
complete as much as we could and meet
back at the entrance (or parking area) at
Brian Williams surveying.
Photo by Susan Burr.
Conservation/cleanup crew:
Sharon Mohney, Susan Burr, John Fox,
Doug Feller, Jen Perdue, Mary Sue
Socky, and Michael, Renee, Sarah,
Christopher, Laura, and Paul Thomas
Rowland.
Pretty formations.
Photo by Sharon Mohney.
Susan, Doug, Sharon, and Jen took a
tour of the cave and even found the old
metal ladder that gives access to one of
the lower rooms. Susan indicated that
there is trash throughout most of the
cave and that there are plenty of opportunities for many more clean up trips.
Some of the trash hauled out.
Photo by Susan Burr.
5pm. Most everyone was done by then,
with the stragglers Dave, Stephanie, and
Brian showing up at around 5:40pm, just
as it was getting dark.
Cave Pearls
Photo by Sharon Mohney.
Doug Feller and Susan Burr at the
metal ladder.
Photo by Sharon Mohney.
After changing clothes and packing up
we invaded Penny’s Diner, an “authentic
dining car” in Lowmoor, with 18 cavers!
They hardly flinched, serving us a good
dinner which was a great cap to a very
fun day of caving.
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7/4: Stephanie Petri, Erica Sughrue
and company visited Caney Fork
Cave, TN in bathing suits.
7/8: Stephanie Petri & friends did
The Sinkhole, TN, a 155 foot pit.
NSS Convention:
7/15: Stephanie Petri, Brian Williams, Mark Wenner dropped 140’
War Eagle Pit, AL
pushed a 60’ fissure up above the
stream passage. Bob describes swimming in full cave gear and pack –‘if
you stop swimming, you will sink!
Carol and Mary Sue worked on the dig
for a little, while the others did survey
in “The Destruction of Jerusalem” area
and the small room beyond.
9/13: Stephanie Petri, Brian Williams, and Carlin Kartchner travelled to
Smyth Co. VA for a survey trip into
Missed Opportunity Cave, VA. Everything was virgin, shifty, unstable.
10/4: Bob Alderson, Chris Haynes,
John Haynes (geologist), Mark Minton
took a very short trip into Butler
Cave, VA. John imparted geology
knowledge about the cave for the survey.
7/16: Stephanie Petri, Brian Williams, Kris Weatherford, Wes
Combs dropped 190’ Natural Well,
AL.
9/20: Stephanie Petri, Adam Lake
and Monongahela Grotto members
rappelled 660’ Whitesides. Steph also
did a solo ascent (instead of climbing
tandem).
7/17: Stephanie Petri, Adam
Lake, Keeley Owens and company
did a night rappel into 165’ Neversink, AL in search of glow
worms. None were found.
9/27: Marian McConnell and Carl
Cornett led a Parks & Rec trip for Boy
Scouts into Island Ford Cave, VA.
This was an interesting trip with some
challenging kids.
7 / 1 8: Stephanie Petri, Kris
Weatherford & Wes Combs
dropped 90’ Glove Pit, AL in the
pouring rain. The entrance to Glove
Pit is in the shape of a bat! They
then located and did another nearby
cave, 50’ Shameless Pecker Pit,
AL.
9/27: Bob Alderson and Dave Socky
drove up to Alleghany County and contacted the owner of Lowmoor Cave,
VA. Lowmoor is a limestone mine
and a cave. The owner took them
through the mine/cave on an ATV.
Bob says there are many project possibilities for Lowmoor. BRG does have
permission to survey and do conservation stuff in the cave.
8/1: Stephanie Petri and Adam Byrd
entered Shoveleater Cave, WV.
Hours later they arrived in Hellhole,
WV. They camped, did Diggers Hall,
and climbed 535 foot high Perseverance Dome.
8/29: Stephanie Petri, Adam Lake,
Keeley Owens visited Valhalla, AL.
Valhalla has a nice 279’ entrance pit.
8/29: Stephanie Petri, Adam Lake,
Keeley Owens did another night visit
to Neversink, AL. They actually saw
glow worms (or is it foxfire fungi?)
this time.
8/30: Stephanie Petri, Brian Williams, Adam Lake & Keely Owens
rappelled 155’ Cemetery Pit, GA.
9/3: Dave Socky, Bob Alderson,
Mark Minton, Yvonne Droms, Zeb
Lilly, Katelyn Mahoney, and Phil
Lucas worked in an unnamed cave in
VA (landowner sensitivity). Mark
November 2014, V49, #10
10/1: David Socky, Bob Alderson,
Mark Minton, Yvonne Droms, Zeb
Lilly, Mark Hodge, John Haynes,
Merat Maxwell, and Phil Lucas went to
an unnamed cave in VA (landowner
sensitivity). High leads were checked,
digs occurred, and the survey netted
about 200 feet. The siphon goes large –
it is divable. One of the digs broke
through into a medium sized breakdown room, with at least 2 leads off
this room.
10/4: Stephanie Petri, Ben Mirable,
Adam Lake checked out Lane Lee
Cave, WV. The dig is blowing air!
They are trying to connect it with nearby Hurricane Ridge Cave, WV.
10/4: David Socky, Gretchen (Red)
Schock, Doug Schubert, Mary Sue
Socky, and Carol Tiderman went into
Fountain Cave, Augusta Co. VA.
10/7: David Socky, Yvonne Droms,
Mark Minton, Phil Lucas, Maret Maxwell, and Mark Hodge went on a 9.5
hour trip into an unnamed cave in VA
(landowner sensitivity). A bolt climb
to a high lead didn't go. But a dig by
the Ear Dip dig go with enough passage for two survey teams. One way
eventually ended, but the other, a high
canyon, needed bolts and a rope to get
down a 15 foot pit. Again, it would
have to wait for the next trip.
10/8: David Socky, Mary Sue Socky,
Carl Cornett, Marian McConnell, &
Dan McConnell accompanied the cast
and crew of Travel Channel’s
“Expedition Unknown” series into
Catawba Murder Hole for a video
shoot. (This episode, which focused
on the Beale Treasure, should air in
early March 2015.)
10/11: TAG: Stephanie Petri, Brian
Williams, and Bill Walker visited
Gourdneck Cave, TN. It was a water
cave, with lots of pretty formations.
10/12: TAG: Stephanie Petri and
Brian Williams rigged and did the 100’
drop in Cagle’s Chasm, TN
10/12: TAG: Stephanie Petri, Brian
Williams did Snail Shell Cave, TN to
the upstream sump. And this was after
they paddled a mile into the cave!
10/13: Dave Socky, Phil Lucas and
Mark Hodge took a 6 hour trip into an
unnamed cave in VA (landowner sensitivity). This was to be just a short trip
to replace the temperature & pressure
data logger in the stream and survey a
few hundred feet of the historic section
of the cave.
November 2014, V49, #10
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2015 ELECTION INFORMATION
The November meeting is always extremely busy and well attended, 'cause November 21 is the evening BRG officers are elected
for the next year. Whether you want to run for office or railroad your caving buddies, a few basic rules must be followed, as
described in the BRG constitution & bylaws:
1) Voting - in order to vote, you must be an active (paid up) NSS member and a BRG member: aka Regular or Regular Family
grotto member status.
2) Candidates - to be an eligible candidate for office, you must be an active NSS member AND have been a BRG member for at
least one year.
3) Term of Office - for one year, ending in November. No officer can hold the same office for more than two years in a row.
Elected officers are expected to attend all meetings, or be impeached and executed by the grotto.
BRG NOMINATIONS FOR NOVEMBER ELECTIONS
The following candidates fulfill all BRG qualifications and have been nominated for grotto office.
Chair:
Vice Chair:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
David Socky
Bob Gulden
Marian McConnell
Mary Sue Socky
NSS # 16334
NSS # 13188
NSS # 37358
NSS # 24206
Nominations will remain open until elections on November 21, 2014. Even if you prefer not to run for office, VOTE!
If you can't make it to the meeting, please be sure to fill out the absentee ballot (below) and mail it ASAP so it will get to
Roanoke before November 21, 2014 to:
Al Stewart
2528 Montgomery Ave. SW
Roanoke, VA 24015-4204
(Al is the only BRG caver who can be trusted with such important info.)
An alternative way of voting would be to send your ballot via email to Mary Sue Socky. She will give Al Stewart the e-ballots.
Her email address is [email protected]
Handy Dandy BRG Absentee Ballot
Chair:

Vice-chair:

Secretary:

Treasurer:

Submitted by:

(Your name)
(NSS Number)