Virgin Cave, VA
Posted: Jun 11, 2013 4:17 pm
Being unaffiliated with a grotto and having no other means to publicly document our work, however insignificant, here's a little trip report on our weekend efforts.
We began by relocating two entrances with the help of a local man who had explored them in the past. One has a steep sided sink entrance and consists of one large room with a couple of drains and a small amount of breakdown passage. The second cave is large and downsloping after a crawl in entrance but is blocked by collapse after only 207'. While surveying out of this cave, a very small passage with airflow was noticed. Returning with a mini shovel and hand pick, we dug away 6"-10" of sediment and clay from the floor over a length of 20'. This gave access to a small canyon 1'-3' wide and 15' high and choked with flowstone and clay at floor level after only another 20' or so. At the top of the canyon, though, onward passage could be seen beyond a mass of drapery and flowstone. After some consideration, a small amount of drapery was removed to allow passage. Beyond this point the cave was highly decorated, with much rimstone of various sizes and colors, white flowstones, and a massive column. The passage is awkward and delicate and after struggling through it for a short distance a small pit was reached. We returned the next day, rigged the pit and dropped 19' into a perfectly round dome floored with fantastic rimstone. The lead out of this room is extremely tight but was pushed for another 80' or so with the help of a little more digging. There remains at least one diggable lead with good airflow.
Being short on time, we surveyed out from the bottom of the pit, tallying a measly 137' of new cave, with around 80' more explored but unsurveyed, and good potential for more. This experience has convinced me that a better camera is well worth the money I'll have to spend. If I ever remove more formations or am forced to crawl over pristine rimstone, I'm determined to take quality photos first.
Bad photos coming whenever I can get them to upload.
We began by relocating two entrances with the help of a local man who had explored them in the past. One has a steep sided sink entrance and consists of one large room with a couple of drains and a small amount of breakdown passage. The second cave is large and downsloping after a crawl in entrance but is blocked by collapse after only 207'. While surveying out of this cave, a very small passage with airflow was noticed. Returning with a mini shovel and hand pick, we dug away 6"-10" of sediment and clay from the floor over a length of 20'. This gave access to a small canyon 1'-3' wide and 15' high and choked with flowstone and clay at floor level after only another 20' or so. At the top of the canyon, though, onward passage could be seen beyond a mass of drapery and flowstone. After some consideration, a small amount of drapery was removed to allow passage. Beyond this point the cave was highly decorated, with much rimstone of various sizes and colors, white flowstones, and a massive column. The passage is awkward and delicate and after struggling through it for a short distance a small pit was reached. We returned the next day, rigged the pit and dropped 19' into a perfectly round dome floored with fantastic rimstone. The lead out of this room is extremely tight but was pushed for another 80' or so with the help of a little more digging. There remains at least one diggable lead with good airflow.
Being short on time, we surveyed out from the bottom of the pit, tallying a measly 137' of new cave, with around 80' more explored but unsurveyed, and good potential for more. This experience has convinced me that a better camera is well worth the money I'll have to spend. If I ever remove more formations or am forced to crawl over pristine rimstone, I'm determined to take quality photos first.
Bad photos coming whenever I can get them to upload.