TAG Trip question

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TAG Trip question

Postby frbarton » Jul 28, 2015 6:01 pm

Hey all,

A friend and I are getting ready to head down to TAG for a few days in the begining of August for 5 days and we were wondering who/where we should go to to discuss specific caves worth visiting. Unfortunately as we're both fairly distant to the area, we don't get a lot of opportunities and want to make sure that we don't waste our trip or miss some must sees. On our last trip we dropped Stephen's Gap and Signal light, as well as visiting Tumbling Rock and Limrock Blowing Cave. All were amazing and we were blown away by the kindness of the cavers we met during the trip. I've contacted the SCCI but so far have not gotten a lot of worthwhile information.

We're hoping to do a variety of wet, dry, horizantal, and vertical caves. We're fairly experianced at dropping pits less then 300ft and don't have a rope longer than that anyways. Personally, I would love to see Rumbling falls, and photos of Rocky River Cave look awesome, but other than that we are wide open to suggestions. Any advice on either caves we should see or people to speak to would be much appreciated.
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby UnderGroundEarth » Jul 30, 2015 3:25 pm

You should check out camping at http://www.caversparadise.com. It's the "home" of the Sewanee Mountain Grotto. There are a good handful of cavers who live nearby and it is owned by a caver as well. There are also a lot of great caves nearby and plenty of folks there to suggest caves for you to visit. Go to the web site to get the contact information for Maureen.
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby CaverScott » Jul 31, 2015 8:10 am

Consider getting a permit for Neversink and Valhalla. :cave softly:
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby frbarton » Jul 31, 2015 10:57 am

Valhalla looks excellent. We might have to do that. Is Neversink just a pit or is there a substantial amount of cave attached to it?

Some of the other caves we're thinking about doing are Wareagle, waterworks, The Gouffre, and Rocky River. Any opinions on them? Judging by the photos they look excellent.
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby frbarton » Jul 31, 2015 10:58 am

Also, thanks for the tip on Caver's Paradise. I've contacted them and it looks like that's where we'll be staying
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby Caving Guru » Jul 31, 2015 8:19 pm

So to answer your question about Neversink, it is pretty much just a pit with the stream only being humanly passable (a crawl) for about 10 feet beyond the sinkhole.
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby frbarton » Aug 1, 2015 10:35 am

Yeah. I think we'll be passing on that, then. Especially as we're already planning on dropping Stephen's Gap. Anyone have any advice for an interesting horizontal cave (like Tumbling Rock) or a good wet cave? We're really trying to do a variety of different things while we're down there. Thanks for your help so far, you guys have really helped us put together a cool trip.
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby Chads93GT » Aug 3, 2015 12:50 pm

gourdneck cave is wet and horizontal (sort of) and owned by the scci. get a permit. its outside of kimball

my friends call it the most vertical horizontal cave around. no ropes needed.
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby CaverScott » Aug 3, 2015 1:57 pm

Gourdneck is a fun, wet summer cave. Best to do after a big rain actually. :banana:
Neversink is just a pit; however, it is probably one of the most photographed pits in all of the US. Just google "NeverHole" or "Neversink". No cave. But you can spend at least 20-30 exploring the bottom. And check you tube for videos. Pretty impressive hole that is about a 165 footer.
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby CaverScott » Aug 3, 2015 1:58 pm

How about a pull down? (Best to get a guide)
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby CaverScott » Aug 3, 2015 2:14 pm

frbarton wrote:Valhalla looks excellent. We might have to do that. Is Neversink just a pit or is there a substantial amount of cave attached to it?

Some of the other caves we're thinking about doing are Wareagle, waterworks, The Gouffre, and Rocky River. Any opinions on them? Judging by the photos they look excellent.


If you do War Eagle, make sure you enjoy nearby Roll Tide as well! :bananabat:
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby trogman » Aug 4, 2015 3:19 am

I just want to second what Scott said about Neversink- it is magical, and no caver should go to TAG without seeing it. This time of the year, if you go there at the right time of day (I think around 11 am), there is usually a rainbow in the pit. And of course all the ferns are stunningly green. I've been there many a time, and still enjoy visiting it.

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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby frbarton » Aug 4, 2015 10:46 am

We'll we've gotten permits for Valhalla, South Pittsburg, and Stephens Gap (although not certain were actually going back to Stephens). Do South pittsburg and Valhalla have obvious/usual rig points?

You guys have me sold on Gourdneck and Neversink. Is Gourdneck close to Marion County (we're staying at cavers paradise)? How about Rocky River? It looks incredible for some photography. We got an extra day and are planning on spending as much time as possible seeing the sites. I think we've got enough vertical stuff, though, as we plan on doing a vertical cave every morning and somethIngles technical each night. I'm a bit nervous about any pull downs as there's only two of us and we don't have anyone to guide.

Thank you guys for your help so far. We are both very excited to visit and you're definitely helping us maximize the days we have down there as we won't have another chance until next summer.
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby CaverScott » Aug 4, 2015 11:25 am

frbarton wrote:We'll we've gotten permits for Valhalla, South Pittsburg, and Stephens Gap (although not certain were actually going back to Stephens). Do South pittsburg and Valhalla have obvious/usual rig points?


Both SP and Valhalla are really straight forward. Please bring a pad (old carpet, etc.) for the Trees! (I have not been to Neversink since we lost our main rigging tree.)
Regarding Gourdneck, make sure you don't disturb the water piping. Gourdneck is maybe 10-15 minutes from I-24 if my old memory serves. :yikes:
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Re: TAG Trip question

Postby UnderGroundEarth » Aug 4, 2015 12:05 pm

frbarton wrote:We'll we've gotten permits for Valhalla, South Pittsburg, and Stephens Gap (although not certain were actually going back to Stephens). Do South pittsburg and Valhalla have obvious/usual rig points?


YES

frbarton wrote:You guys have me sold on Gourdneck and Neversink. Is Gourdneck close to Marion County (we're staying at cavers paradise)? How about Rocky River? It looks incredible for some photography. We got an extra day and are planning on spending as much time as possible seeing the sites. I think we've got enough vertical stuff, though, as we plan on doing a vertical cave every morning and somethIngles technical each night. I'm a bit nervous about any pull downs as there's only two of us and we don't have anyone to guide.


Gourdneck and South Pittsburg Pit are really close to Caver's Paradise. Rocky River is about an hour away. Some others I'd recommend close to Caver's Paradise are: Cagles (vertical), Bible Springs (horizontal), Hermit (horizontal), Waterworks (vertical), Signal Light (vertical)...

You could do Bible Springs, Hermit and Cedar Ridge all in one day (all are horizontal).
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