Cavechat.org

Been caving for several years but new to the form and a new NSS member. Thought i would say hey. Spent last weekend in Hermit Cave and the one before in Gourdneck. Good fun all around.

Always good to have a new Chattanooga member

Im going to try and make it to the next grotto meeting.

Chatt89 wrote:Im going to try and make it to the next grotto meeting.

You just missed the meeting this week. It's the second Monday of each month and Brian does an awesome job of lining up presentations for the meetings.

If you do not have any plans for Labor Day weekend, the Sewanee Mountain Grotto hosts a caving event that is Aug. 31st - September 3rd right in the heart of TAG. Here are the details:

SEWANEE MOUNTAIN CAVE FEST - The annual auction & party for the Sewanee Mountain Grotto held on Labor Day weekend. This is our 10th year and as usual there will be cave trips, float trips, an auction and a pot luck dinner. Event starts August 31st and goes thru September 3rd. The event is held at Maureen Handler's property aka Caver's Paradise. Address is 485 Wild Heart Lane, Sewanee, TN 37375.

We do not charge a registration fee. Instead we ask for a $5 fee per person for camping for the entire weekend, that you bring a dish for the potluck dinner on Sunday and donate something to the auction. Your auction donation should be caving or camping releated but does not have to be new. Be creative!

Friday night we will be showing the movie SANCTUM and will be serving POPCORN so bring your camp chairs. Saturday night is the annual Bat Float to Nickajack Cave and there will be a band and a fire. Sunday night is the big night with the Potluck and Auction. And of course we will have our Sewanee Mountain Mugs again this year for BEER, which includes brew from our guys with the TAG Brewery. For $10 you get beer all weekend!

All of the proceeds from our event go back into the caving community...!

Here is an updated list of vendors who have donated to our auction: Mountain Outfitters, Brunton, Inner Mountain Outfitters, Ruby Falls, On Rope 1, PMI, Petzl, Lodge Cast Iron, Keson, NSS Bookstore, CMI, Eagle's Nest Outfitters, JK3 Softwear, Tennessee Valley Rail Road, Coleman, Cave Country Dive Shop, Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center, Highline Ropes, Karst Sports, The Lost Sea, Teresa Williams Jewelry, Carolina Shrewsbury, Atlas Gloves, & Creative Discovery Museum.

Is it typically a family event or mostly just cavers? And do people come and go though the event? I may have some family stuff going on one day but i would really like to come for as much as we could. If i could bring the fam.

Yes, the event is family friendly and there are quite a few of us cavers who also have kiddos that will be there. You can come up whenever and leave whenever. There is no registration fee, only a $5 fee per person for camping for the entire weekend. There will be several led cave trips and hopefully we'll have a kid friendly cave trip too! If you do come for the dinner and auction on Sunday night we do ask that you bring a dish for the potluck dinner - the grotto is providing the meat - and donate an item to the auction. The donated item does not have to be new but we do ask it be camping or caving related.

The dinner on Sunday starts at 5pm Central, followed by the auction at 7pm.

Maureen also has a bathhouse with real showers and toilets. There is also a hot tub and sauna area that is adult only in the evenings.