November 2015, V50, #9
The Carbide Dump November
2015
Vol 50, No 9
63
November 2015, V50, #9
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 C: (540) 529-1591
email: sockydr@cox.net or sockymss@cox.net
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.
GROTTO OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
Secretary
Treasurer
Chairman
Vice-Chair
Safety & Techniques
David Socky
H:540-989-7693
Bob Gulden
H:540-384-6159
Marian McConnell
C: 540-309-4707
Mary Sue Socky
H:540-989-7693
Dan McConnell
H: 540-966-1345
sockydr@cox.net
caverbob@aol.com
marian.mcconnell@gmail.com
sockymss@cox.net
danomcconnell@live.com
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 2015 by the Blue Ridge Grotto
Contributors: David & Mary Socky, Marian McConnell, Susan Burr, John Tudek, and Jerry Fuller.
Cover: Doug Feller in Tawneys Cave. Photo and artwork by 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
Oct 15: Winter closure date for VA Bat
Caves. (WV bat caves closed Sept. 15.)
All hibernaculum caves in VA and WV
are closed for the winter, until Spring
2016. Please honor all cave closures.
Check the current status of a cave you
may be planning on visiting.
Center, Salem VA. Admission: Adults
$4.00 good for all 3 days of rock, fossil, gem and mineral shopping. For
more info, click on this link.
Dec 12: WVACS Christmas Party, at
the Renick WV field station. $10, pay
on site. Party begins 5pm, dinner at
7pm. PLEASE confirm your reservation by e-mailing Chuck Frostick
chuck@frostick.com with the names of
who will be attending so we can accurately purchase the correct amount of
food.
Dec 18: NO BRG meeting.
Nov 20: BRG meeting, 7:30p. Elections.
Jan 15, 2016: BRG meeting, 7:30p.
Nov 27-29: Roanoke Valley Annual
Gem and Mineral Show, @ Salem Civic
Feb 16, 2016: BRG meeting, 7:30p.
Apr 22-24, 2016: Spring VAR, at Endless Caverns, VA. Hosted by Tri State
Grotto
May 13-15, 2016: Spring MAR, at Shade
Gap, PA. Hosted by Franklin County
Grotto.
June 2-5, 2016: SERA Cave Carnival,
held at Pigeon Mountain , GA. Contact
Larry Matthews nss6792@bellsouth.net
for info.
July 13-17, 2016: NSS Convention, Ely,
Nevada. See nss75th@caves.org or
http://nss2016.caves.org for more info.
November 2015, V50, #9
AN N O U N C E M E N T S
BRG Meeting Minutes – can be read
on the BRG webpage at:
http://blueridgegrotto.org under the
‘BRG Organization’ button.
Treasurer's Report - Mary Sue Socky
October 16, 2015
General Fund:
Conservation:
Equipment:
Petty Cash:
Cave Bucks:
Total:
$3,357.48
$160.64
$235.36
$110.00
$000.00
$3863.48
 BRG will send landowner Christmas
cards for 2015. We are ordering 100
cards, so there will be extras for any
BRG members who will like one.
 BRG voted to have a Christmas party.
It will be held at Dan and Marian
McConnell’s house on either Saturday
or Sunday (12/19 or 12/20). Exact date
to be announced.
 Please submit written cave trip reports
to the BRG Secretary for accuracy –
date, name of cave (and State), who
went, and highlights!
 Bob Bennett, “Gimpy Caver” of TriState Grotto, has contacted BRG about
possibly leading some caving trips during April 24-26, 2016, Spring VAR at
Endless Caverns, VA. If you want to
volunteer, let the BRG Chair know.
 ROCKS – David Socky will be setting
up more survey & conservation trips to
Lowmoor Cave in the near future.
Marian McConnell will set up a ridge
walking day at Blue Ridge Vineyards
in Eagle Rock, VA.
 Safety & Techniques
–
Dan
McConnell is starting new job so hopefully he will have some time to offer
some vertical classes. Once his schedule is firmed up, Marian will schedule a
date at the River Rock Climbing Gym
in Wasena, Roanoke, VA.
 The Caverns at Natural Bridge, VA –
Gretchen Boeren gave some updates on
recent financial problems the Natural
Bridge is experiencing – many on staff
have now been reduced from full-time
to weekends only. As of Nov. 30, The
Caverns at Natural Bridge will only be
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The Carbide Dump
open on Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays
(9a -4p) for the winter season. They
will offer Saturday 3p “Lantern
Tours” by reservation only, and will
schedule special events like live
acoustic music, bell ringers, and
more. The Caverns folk would still
like to work with BRG to find and
survey other wild caves on the property perhaps in late fall.
CAVE CONSERVATION
VA and WV 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.
Many caves are now seasonally closed
for hibernating bats. Some caves that
were closed for the summer (maternity
colonies) may re-open for the winter
months.
Other caves are closed yearround. 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.
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.
WNS Decon Protocols UPDATE–
Immersion of clothes, gear in HOT water
(60 C)(140 F) for 20 minutes will kill WNS
spores.
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 whitenose syndrome, a disease fatal for many
species of bats.
BRG Meeting
Notice
The November 20, 2015 meeting of
the Blue Ridge Grotto will be held at
Vinton Firehouse, 120 West Jackson
Ave. The meeting will start at 7:30p.
PROGRAM - This month’s program
will be part 1 of 2 of a video program
on Caving in China, by Dave Socky.
The program will be about 15 to 20
minutes.
Grotto Trip
Porters Cave
Bath Co., VA
Date & Time: Meet at Hanging Rock
Orange Market at 9:30am on Saturday, November 21, 2015.
Leader: David Socky at 540-989-7693,
sockydr@cox.net and Doug
Feller at 540-598-5384,
doug@felleronline.com
Requirements: Basic caving gear
Limit: 12
Cave Description
Porter’s Cave is a gated cave – you
have to climb through a metal tube to
enter the cave.
Porter’s contains maze passages, big
rooms, and crawls, which are mostly
soft sand and dirt, except for one
which has lots of mud and water.
There are also numerous short pits, the
bottoms of which can be reached without vertical gear, and lots of breakdown.
This is a fun and fairly easy cave, and
very good for beginner introduction
trips.
This month we will be going into the
Big Slit. The entry into this area is a
fun, but somewhat tricky climb up into
a narrow canyon, where some floorless
stemming is required. Once through
the narrow part, there are some interesting high levels we can get into, plus
a maze of dry phreatic canyons which
are a lot of fun to explore. Bring your
camera, because there are great photo
opportunities in this section of the
cave.
65
November 2015, V50, #9
The Carbide Dump
Cave Vandals Prosecuted
From Texas Cavers Listserv
The following Press Release was published
in the Thursday, September 24th Devil's
River News from the 112th District Attorney’s Office.
On September 14, 2015, a Criminal Bench
Trial was held before the Honorable Judge
Pedro Gomez, Jr. concerning the two count
Indictment against Adam William GarciaGallegos for damaging the Sonora Caverns
on May 24, 2014. Garcia-Gallegos was
indicted with a two (2) count Indictment on
September 9, 2014 by the Sutton County
Grand Jury. One count alleged that GarciaGallegos knowingly removed natural items
from a cave and the other count alleged that
he knowingly destroyed, defaced, marred
or harmed the surfaces of a cave. GarciaGallegos pleaded “guilty” to knowingly
removing and “not guilty” to knowingly
destroying, defacing, marring, or harming
items of a cave.
Evidence presented during the bench trial
included a 17 year old eyewitness who
observed Garcia-Gallegos break a stalagtite
[sic] during their tour. Louise Ingham testified that she asked Garcia-Gallegos to
empty his pockets and he pulled five items
from his pocket. Testimony from Ingham
and Bill Sawyer confirmed that four of the
items were debris that could have been
found alongside the trail, but the fifth item
was freshly broken from within the cave.
Sawyer and the eyewitness were able to
find the location from which the stalagtite
[sic] had been broken. Testimony was also
presented by Sawyer concerning the process and costs which will be necessary for
repairs to restore the stalagtite [sic].
After hearing the evidence, Judge Gomez
found Garcia-Gallegos guilty of both
counts and sentenced him to seven hundred
and thirty (730) days in the State Jail Division of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice, suspended for five (5) years on
community supervision. Seven hundred
and thirty(730) days is the maximum sentence for a state jail felony and five (5)
years is the maximum for a probated sentence on a state jail felony. Judge Gomez
also ordered Garcia-Gallegos to pay
$9,480.00 restitution for the repairs. The
restitution must be paid within thirty-six
(36) months to Gerry Mayfield Ingham,
who is one of the owners of the Sonora
Caverns. The Sonora Caverns has been
owned by the Mayfield Family for five (5)
generations.
During her testimony, Louise Ingham
stated, “Our Family opened the Caverns
to the public for educational purposes
and to allow people to enjoy the natural
beauty of the caverns.”
Laurie English, 112th District Attorney,
stated, “The Sonora Caverns represent a
precious natural resource that must be
protected and preserved for future generations. The removal of even the smallest
items from the Caverns damages the
integrity and beauty of this natural wonder.”
The law concerning damage to caves
within Texas was modified in 2007 and
the penalty was increased from a misdemeanor to a felony after the Sonora Caverns sustained damage to the “Butterfly”
which was the premier feature of the
Caverns. The Ingham Family and the
Sutton County Attorney, Dib Waldrip,
were instrumental in getting the penalty
raised to a state jail felony. This is the
first recorded prosecution in the State of
Texas under this statute.
PAY YER 2016 DUES!!
It's that time 
2016 BRG dues are $10.00 for regular or associate members, $5.00 for
additional family members. Discount
for members under 18. Subscriber
fee is $10.00 per person.

Make checks to Blue Ridge Grotto.

Families, additional dues payers –
there will be printed info on your
family rate at the BRG meeting.

If you mail in your dues, please 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. 20, 2016
meeting, the Dec. Grotto Party, or mail
them to the grotto treasurer:
Mary Sue Socky
6572 Woodbrook Drive SW
Roanoke, VA 24018
These cavers have paid for 2016:
Membership
Updates
Fifteen cavers and guests attended
the October 16, 2015 BRG meeting.
We were treated to “The Subway”,
a short video by Dave Socky of canyoneering in Zion National Park,
UT.
There were no membership proposals. BRG currently has 62 members and 3 subscribers (total of 65).
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
Updates
New email:
Dan McConnell
danomcconnell@live.com
Sharon Bruce
Susan Burr
Joseph Caldwell
Carl Cornett
Bill Cuddington (Life Member)
Miriam Cuddington
Martin DiLeggi
Joe Fagan (Life Member)
Joey Fagan (Life Member)
Bill Farlow
Doug & Cheryl Feller
Trish Geiger
Kelsea Johnson
Aaron Moses
Greg McCorkindale
Tony Preston
David Ratliff
Alan Staton
Al Stewart (Life Member)
John Taylor
Bob Thren
Meredith Weberg
Dave Wickersham
November 2015, V50, #9
66
The Carbide Dump
Fall VAR Meeting Highlights
By Mary Sue Socky, from notes taken at meeting.
10/17/2015: No Fall VAR weekend. Just
a meeting in the Mt. Jackson, VA Town
Hall. Twelve people attended. We were
warm, dry and cozy (for once). The meeting lasted a little over 2 hours.
Reports from Spring VAR, cave gating
projects, conservation projects, Virginia
Cave Board, etc. were made.
Spring 2015 VAR made a profit – it was
a good VAR, despite the cold rain. 311
cavers attended. Meredith Weberg reported that the use of Pay Pal for Spring VAR
was a success (although the Pay Pal option did cost more for registrants to use,
more than half of the registrants used the
feature.) The Caverns at Natural
Bridge, VA, were delighted with VAR
Conservation efforts and would like cavers to come back to do more cave conservation.
There was discussion on what VAR hosts
would provide (or not provide) at future
weekends.
Two of the biggest complaints in recent
years is that the VAR hosts are not
providing beer or food to some people’s liking. SO - VAR has done away
with providing alcohol at VAR. It seemed
to work well. BYOB from now own.
Dinner – should VAR do away with being required to provide a Saturday night
meal for pre-registrants, provided there
are restaurants with 10 miles? (topic tabled for future discussion).
Note - Do you see an emerging pattern
of complaint vs result? Don’t complain
about port-a-johns .
Cave Gating: Owners and Cave Conservancies are tired of on-going vandalism to their caves. They are working with VAR and other agencies to
protect these caves by gating them.
Charlie Mauk Cave, VA was gated
on June 13, 2015, by VAR members.
Upcoming: Haynes Cave, WV is
now suffering from continual vandalism and will be gated in 2016, as well
as two other Virginia caves. VAR will
call for volunteers to help with these
projects.
Contact Carol Tiderman to volunteer.
Lastly, there will be future VAR Weekends:
April 22-24, 2016: Spring VAR @ Endless Caverns, hosted by Tri-State Grotto.
Sept. 30 – Oct 2, 2016: Fall VAR in
Alderson, WV.
Spring 2017: There are two possible
bids in for Spring VAR. No dates yet.
There was a discussion on the listing
of cave locations on the internet . This
is very bad for the landowners and
caves. DO NOT send any of your
newsletters, cave survey info to
Karst Information Portal (KIP).
KIP will publish everything online,
including cave locations and driving
directions.
Editor Nikki Fox is doing a great job
with the Region Record. Please send
her info for upcoming issues.
Phil Ballister has “fixed”
VARListServ glitches.
the
Jim McConkey continues to slowly
work on the redesign of the VAR
webpage.
VAR members continue to help at
Grand Caverns, VA with various cave
and community projects. They raised
$127.00 for cave conservation by assisting with the Heritage Days Ball in
October, and will help with “Caroling
in the Caverns” on December 5, 2015.
By John Tudek - from his ‘Grimm Grotto’ Facebook page at this link
Dave Socky and Susan Burr in muddy passage in Tawneys Cave during
BRG October grotto trip.
Photo by Susan Burr
67
The Carbide Dump
8/22: Lowmoor Cave, VA - This
was the other half of the BRG Grotto
trip for August – the survey part. The
surveyors included David Socky,
Bob Gulden, Bob Alderson, Ed
Saugstad, and Jeff Huffman. They
spent 7 hours in the mine and surveyed a total of 1896 feet. Mary Sue
Socky, Trish Gieger, and Cyndi
Hutchison were the clean-up crew.
8/29: Fountain Cave, VA - The
usual VAR expedition into Fountain
cave included David Socky, Nick
Socky, Joe Calderone, and Amy
Skowronski surveying in the Maze,
and Mary Sue and Jim McConkey
cleaning steps. The surveyors spent 4
hours in the cave, getting 311 feet of
complicated maze passage in the back
of Fountain.
8/30: Waterfall Cave Dig, VA This was a 3 hour dig trip which included David Socky, Mark Hodge,
Phil Lucas, Bill Murray, Hope
Brooks, Jeff & Wendy Maddox, Bryan Crowell, and Frank Marks. We
dug into a 3 way intersection with 2
leads blowing air. Because of the air,
this is an excellent dig.
9/2: Warm River Cave, VA - David
Socky, Zeb Lilly, Mark Minton, and
Vonnie Droms spent 10 hours in
Warm River digging a lead in the
back of the cave. This is a possible
by-pass to the upstream sump, and
could very well give us access to the
continuation of the cave. We left the
dig as very close to enterable, so with
just a little cleanup, a small person
may be able to push the lead and find
out if it goes. (Due to land owner
relations, this cave is CLOSED; the
owner has permitted only these survey trips.)
9/12-19: David Socky, Dave Wickersham, & friends went floorless caving in Zion National Park. UT.
9/13-19: Bob Alderson & friends
went backpacking in the Grand Canyon, AZ.
9/19: Rehobeth Church Cave, WV –
BRG trip with Susan Burr, Doug Feller, Carl Cornett, Bill Walker, Trish
Geiger, and Jeff Huffman – the water
was low and cave was muddy. Did
make it to the waterfall and Kandasum
Room. 4 hour trip.
9/26: Gap Cave, VA - David Socky,
Bob Alderson, and Joe Zokaites spent
16 hours surveying 700 feet of passage
near the start of the Big Dork area. We
reached the end of the passage (too
tight), but Bob got into a very tight lead
(I couldn’t fit) which turned into walking passage. It appears that this lead
may a by-pass to the end of our original survey. There are also low leads
which need to be completed where we
first started.
10/1 & 2: Butler Cave, VA - Dave
Socky, Mark Minton, Yvonne Droms,
Mark Hodge, Phil Lucas, and Maret
Maxwell spent two days digging off a
spur in the Complaint Dig, just a few
minutes from the entrance to Butler.
The dig was looking real good, but by
the end of our second day, the crack in
the ceiling we were following closed
up to almost nothing. There was hardly any air. The consensus was that this
dig was not worth spending any more
time on. Oh well.
10/2: Scott Hollow Cave, WV - BRG
turned out a number of cavers for this
rescue in Scott Hollow, including Dave
Socky, Colin Beck, Stephanie Petri,
Brian Williams, Bill Walker, Ed
Saugstad, and Bob Alderson. An 18
year old caver fell 10 feet after his
hand hold let loose and broke his lower
right leg at about 2:30pm near the Double Waterfall.
We got there about
9:15pm and were in the cave by
9:35pm. When we got to the patient,
he had been moved to just inside the
passage that leads from Mystic River to
the entrance. There were 57 cavers
helping. We primarily used a double
line of cavers, shoulder to shoulder, to
move him up the passage. We had him
out of the cave by 1am.
November 2015, V50, #9
10/3: Grand Caverns, VA – Mary
Sue & David Socky went for the
Grand Illumination.
10/3: Fountain Cave, VA - The usual VAR expedition into Fountain cave
included David Socky, Nick Socky,
Rebecca Stewart, and Joe Calderone
surveying in the Maze. The surveyors
spent 4.5 hours in the cave, getting 284
feet of complicated maze passage.
10/4: Butler Cave, VA – Bob Alderson & friends visited the “Complaint
Section” with a 50’ waterfall and canyons.
10/10: Shoveleater Cave in Germany Valley, WV – Bob Alderson &
friends worked on digs and found
some going leads.
10/10: Maxwelton Cave, WV - A
mop up trip in Maxwelton Cave included David Socky, Nick Socky, Joe
Calderone, Amy Skowronski, and Andrew Lycas. The group spent 12.5
hours in cave and got around 250 feet
of survey in Thunder Hall. Because
Dave Socky didn’t know exactly
where he was the whole time, Nick
found a tight lead near the end of the
LOVE survey (LOVE27) which led to
virgin stoop walk passage. Nick and
Andrew turned around in going cave!
Dave Socky couldn’t fit, but Nick
plans on returning. Also, Nick was
real happy – he reached his 1000th
hour of caving and his 200th cave on
this trip since he started keeping records in 2010.
10/26: Caverns at Natural Bridge,
VA – Mary Sue Socky, Susan Burr,
and the Guldens volunteered for
“Scout Day.” About 400 people came
through the cave!
Note: Friar’s Hole is now at 46 miles
of passage!
November 2015, V50, #9
68
The Carbide Dump
2015 ELECTION INFORMATION
The November meeting is always extremely busy and well attended, 'cause November 20 is the evening BRG officers are elected.
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 20, 2015. 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 20, 2015 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 sockymss@cox.net
Handy Dandy BRG Absentee Ballot
Chair:

Vice-chair:

Secretary:

Treasurer:

Submitted by:

(Your name)
(NSS Number)