Blue Ridge Grotto of the NSS
MEETING MINUTES
June 21, 2013 - 7:30p – Vinton Firehouse
Meeting began 7:38p
Attendance:
Dave Socky –Vice Pat Sims Bob Alderson Marian McConnell – Chair
Mary Sue
Socky – Sec. Dusty
Gulden Zan Rose Stephanie
Petri – Treas.
Al Stewart Carl Cornett David Rose *David
Tudge *
Adam Dorris *Heather Bostic *Bob Gulden *Heather Rose *Jevon Rose
*
denotes guest.
Trip Reports:
4/20: Greenbrier Poor
Farm Cave, WV. Report by Pat Sims. “Nothing major; one helicopter ride is like
any other”. (This was the trip where Pat
Sims had a heart attack. Early treatment
= 100% recovery.) Doug Feller, Susan Burr Steph. Petri, Ihab Sadoon,
Adam Dorris, etc. went back to explore the R hand side of the cave once Pat had
been stabilized and airlifted back to Roanoke VA.
4/27: Gap Cave VA Survey.
Dave Socky, Stephanie Petri, Joe Calderone, and Michael Rhinehart
surveyed 460 ft. & tied into Surprise Canyon.18 hour trip. Saw raccoon tracks in mud DEEP in the
cave. Bob Alderson, Joe Zokaites, and JP McLendon were
on a different survey trip.
5/4: Dave Socky, Stephanie
Petri, Brian Williams Carlin Kartchner, David Duguid, Jason Lachniet and Tanya
McLaughlin went to Horseshoe Pit, VA.
It was an 11-hour survey trip.
Brian was hit, maimed by a largish falling rock. (He recovered after a few
minutes.) Parts of this cave are vertical.
Entire cave was surveyed, except for one lead that was left for
Sunday.
5/5: Stephanie Petri and Brian Williams returned
to Horseshoe Pit to help with a bolt climb. The climb was incomplete, so they will have
to go back. Virgin passage awaits.
5/11: Dave Socky, Stephanie Petri,
Brian Williams Surveyed wet slimy passage
between the waterfall and Cove Creek in Maxwelton Cave, WV. 9.5 hour trip, 370 ft. surveyed, everyone got
cold.
5/18: VAR – Sharp’s Cave, WV. Dave Socky, Nick Socky, Sarah Crowder,
Trish Geiger, Kim Fleischmann, and Heather Bostic went to play in Sharp’s
Cave. Very easy
cave. Dave played with his video
camera and lights. With Trish & Kim
leading, they found the way back to the waterfall which was at a higher than
usual water flow because of the rain. The way to the waterfall is
upstream. There were large trunk
passages with nice mud floors. Visited the Mud Sculpture Ledge.
5/18: VAR. Bob Alderson, Mark Minton, Vonnie Droms went
to the “backdoor entrance” of Cass Cave, WV. Bob said “it was muddier than the VAR
campground. Mark got slimed in a dig; I
got stuck in a muddy crawlway and could not turn around… Mark helped dig me
out.”
5/19: VAR – Bob Alderson, Mark
Minton, Vonnie Droms visited Lost World Caverns, WV, and did the “very
nice” 115’ Grapevine Pit drop.
5/25: Gap Cave, VA Survey – Dave Socky
reported that he, Bob Alderson, and Micah Davis entered through the Saltpeter Well Entrance. The survey crew found virgin passage close to
the vertical entrance; later the crew mutinied. 5 hour trip.
5/25-27: Bob and Dusty Gulden
reported on the Baltimore Swine & Dine weekend at Friar’s Hole Cave
Preserve, WV. Jersey Grotto folks
were there, tried to do a Friars Hole to Snedegar’s through trip. However, the Snedegar
Sump was flooded shut. So they had a
LONG trip back out.
6/1: Breathing Cave, VA. Bob Alderson, Zeb
Lily, Phil Lucas, Mark Hodge tried to document saltpeter diggings and
signatures in the historic section. They
did not find any tally marks; only lots of faggots and saltpeter spoils. The identified signatures were from the
1930’s; some were possibly earlier.
Trip Reports (cont.)
6/1: Cyclops Cave, VA – is a 6 mile cave system;
the vertical entrance series is a bitch!
David Socky, Brian Williams, Stephanie Petri, and Scott McCrea surveyed
for 15 ½ hours and were well thrashed by the cave. It was worth it – they surveyed 750 ft. of virgin cave, half of which was
nice dry walking trunk passage. Survey
ended when they reached a vertical drop - no rope. There will be more trips in the future. (There was another survey team & a
surface survey team for the project weekend.)
5/4, 6/1: Mary Sue Socky continued
with the historic trail project in Fountain Cave, VA. More of the historic trail was
identified. NOTE: Grand will be running “wild trips” into
Fountain as of July 2013.
6/8: Piercy’s Cave, WV. Mark Minton, Vonnie Droms, Bob Alderson used
a scaling pole to check out high leads.
6/8: Dave Socky, Larry Fisher
and Joe Calderone went to survey the Airport Passage of Maxwelton Cave, WV.
6/15: Marian McConnell reported
on looking for lost sinkholes and
caves near Luray, VA. Marian,
Pat Sims, Susan Burr, Doug Feller, Ivy Lidstone, Carl Cornett, Dave and Mary
Sue Socky were accompanied by Jill Remer.
Group was directed to a sink by the farm manager, who said it was a pit
“17 years ago”. Well, it’s completely
filled in now. Digging did not open
anything up. We borrowed a farm truck,
drove and hiked the property, looking for caves near the Shenandoah River. Found lots of limestone, but no caves. (June is a nasty time of year to ridgewalk.) Group
accumulated several ticks, poison ivy, and a few big ass bruises when Doug hit
that hole in the pasture.
6/15: Bob Alderson went back to Cass
Cave WV with Vonnie Droms & Mark Minton for more digging.
6/21: Marian McConnell and Carl Cornett took a
group of Girl Scouts to Island Ford Cave, VA. The old rope someone had placed to an upper
level was gone; the cave was clean, and no other groups were encountered.
Upcoming Trips:
·
6/22: BRG vertical trip planned to Lightner Ent. of
McClung’s Cave, Greenbrier Co. WV. A
7 to 12 hour trip is planned. Dave Socky
is leader.
·
6/22: BRG beginner cave trip to Tawney’s Cave, VA. A 3 -4
hour trip. Pat Sims is leader.
·
7/6: Fountain Cave,
Grand Caverns project. Resurvey of
Fountain Cave will begin. Contact Mary
Sue Socky if you want to carpool.
·
7/21: (Sunday trip) BRG/Dixie
Caverns Conservation Cleanup. Mary
Sue Socky will coordinate.
Program: a nice slide show of recent cave trips. One special slide was included, too.
BUSINESS
MEETING
TREASURER’S
REPORT (Stephanie
Petri):
6/21/2013 Balance Sheet
Petty Cash 110.00
General Fund 3,853.09
Conservation 266.59
Equipment 250.36
Cave Bucks 174.30
TOTAL
BALANCE: $4,653.98
NEWSLETTER
–Thanks for the artwork and articles! Extra hardcopies of the DUMP are
available at meetings.
MEMBERSHIP –
membership lists are available at meetings.
Bring folks interested in caving to the BRG meetings.
ROCKS
–Brian Williams wants to finish surveying Turtle Shell Cave.
SAFETY
& TECHNIQUES – Dan will set up vertical sessions at
Catawba Murder Hole if people want to practice.
MEMBERSHIP PROPOSALS – Bob Gulden, NSS # 13188 RL, FE, sponsored by Mary Sue Socky. Seconded by Dave Socky. Bob’s proposal was accepted, tabled until the July BRG meeting.
OLD BUSINESS:
·
Dixie Caverns
Cleanup – see upcoming trips – Will
be Sunday 7/21.
·
BRG “night at
the movies” – “The Croods” – we will rent and watch this movie at the BRG Xmas
Party.
·
Requests for Caving
Presentations: Mary Sue and Marian
continue to talk with school groups, scouts, & libraries.
·
Porter’s Tree: project is
tabled until Susan Burr gets more info.
RASS may have already cleaned up the downed tree.
·
NSS
Fundraising –The NSS currently has
62% of their goal to pay off the new mortgage.
They are relying on caver support to cover the cost of the new
property. After discussing the various
options (Sustaining Donor, Team 404, Buy-A-Brick, or Buy-A-Block), David Socky
proposed that BRG buy a brick (for each $100 donation, your message will be lazer engraved on a brick that will be used for the patio area,
walkways, or other ornamental features.). Stephanie Petri seconded the motion. Everyone voted YES, except for Al
Stewart. Motion passes, BRG will buy
a brick.
·
BRG Cave Trip
Guidelines – (written 1990, has been
revised from time to time.) Good basic document, needs updating.
· Motion (by MSSocky, seconded by Dave Socky) under ‘Grotto Gear’, “The user of any grotto gear provides their own batteries or carbide.” Delete “carbide” ,we no longer use it. Motion passed.
o Discussion of “Suggested grotto gear use
donation: $3.00”. Mary Sue Socky had researched the NSS
guidelines, found recommendations “Financial compensation - Any fees
exchanged in return for using equipment and/or guiding trips, including
"suggested donations", may place the owners of the equipment, the
cave, and the cave guides at additional liability risk in case of
incident. (from Youth Group Caving,
Legal Issues & General Information, p. 8)”
http://www.caves.org/youth/YGLC%20info%20for%20cavers%20FINAL1~09.pdf
Discussion
continued: mention of “suggested
donations” from any BRG member or trip leader to trip participants puts
everyone, including cave owner, in jeopardy. However, If a
participant thinks of it on their own, wants to make a donation, that would
probably be OK.
·
Motion by Mary
Sue Socky, seconded by Stephanie Petri) to delete the “Suggested grotto gear
use donation: $3.00” from the BRG Cave Trip Guidelines. Motion passed.
Any further changes to the Cave Trip
Guidelines were TABLED until the next meeting.
Bring proposals to the July meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
· Celebrate Catawba Day 2013 – Marian McConnell has hosted an info booth at past Catawba Days; cave, groundwater and bat info has been well received. This year’s Catawba Day is August 10, which conflicts with NSS Convention. Does anyone want to host the Caver info booth? No interest, so BRG will pass on this event. Maybe we’ll be back in 2014.
· I-18 Cave, VA. - Carl Cornett is interested in visiting I-81 Cave, Smyth Co. VA. This cave is on I-81N, between MM 42 and 43. It is vertical, gated, VDOT has tried many times to fill it with gravel. Dave Socky will check with Va Cave Board, or Karen Kastning, Wil Orndorff to see about getting access.
· VDOT vs. Dixie Caverns - VDOT is hosting a citizen information meeting on June 26, 2013. This meeting is to gather public input on the environmental study being conducted to widen I-81 between mm118 and mm150; Dixie Caverns could be impacted. People will try to attend. Comments can also be sent to VDOT by July 6, 2013 via Angel.Deem@VDOT.Virginia.gov Please reference “I-81 Tier 2 EA in the subject line.
· Does BRG want a Summer Party/Cave Trip/Canoe trip? If so, where?
o Dan & Marian McConnell can host a party at their house on Sunday, Aug 18.
o We could have a cave trip, or a canoe trip (Brian Williams leads the best canoe trips! Perhaps Susan would ask him if he could set up a trip).
o Last year (2012) the party was cancelled due to lack of interest. L
o Do we want an August meeting? The meeting room is reserved - if we want it.
o We could have a fun filled weekend of meeting, trip, cookout Aug 16-17-18.
o Bring your ideas to the July BRG meeting.
ANNOUNCEMENTS, MAIL BAG, ETC.
·
Aaron Moses is doing much better. Bob Alderson recently saw him. Aaron’s broken femur is healing.
·
WNS Decon
protocols – HOT water (122 F) for 20 min.
will kill WNS spores
·
A pissed off
landowner has closed his caves to VAR.
Avoid Carpenter-Swago Cave, Roadside Pit, and
nearby caves.
ANNOUNCEMENTS,
MAIL BAG, ETC.
·
River Rock
Climbing Wall opened in March 2013. It is small, nice, with reasonable
rates. Perhaps BRG can rent it for a
vertical training session.
·
Let Dan McConnell
know what you would like in vertical training.
Practice can be held at Catawba Murder Hole.
·
Dave Socky has
made updates to the BRG webpage – yay!
Please let Dave know what changes, additions you would like to see on
the webpage.
·
Hardcopy of
Ellison’s Cave, GA cave rescue (May 25-26, 2013) write up is available at front
desk.
·
NSS Convention 2013 will be in Shippensburg, PA, Aug
5-9, 2013. Forms on desk
·
MURDER HOLE book by Marian McConnell is available and is selling
like hotcakes!
o NSS members can get discount if they order MURDER
HOLE through the NSS Office.
Meeting adjourned at 8:54p.
Minutes Submitted by
Mary
Sue Socky
BRG Secretary