LOCK AND KEY

My friend Rocky and I had been trying to get together for a backpacking trip for several months now. Unfortunately, we couldn’t seem to find a time that would work for both of us. We finally got our opportunity the week of Thanksgiving. I had the whole week off, and Rocky was free for the first few days, as well.

About a week prior to the trip, Rocky discovered a plumbing problem at his cabin in West Virginia. It seemed like our plans would be derailed again. Then, Rocky came up with an alternate plan. He suggested that I come up to his cabin with him. I’d help him out with the plumbing on Monday, and we do a caving trip the following day. On Wednesday we’d try to squeeze in a hike before heading for home.

The change in plans coincided nicely with the weather forecast. Monday looked like it would be particularly charming, with highs in the 30’s and rain. After that, the forecast called for colder temperatures and snow. Being underground sounded like the perfect place to be.

I met Rocky Monday morning in Statesville. I rode with him from there, up to Pearisburg, Virginia. After a mediocre lunch at Dairy Queen, we continued up through the New River Valley into West Virginia. After another hour, we reached the community of Second Creek. We followed a one-lane, gravel road down to the actual creek, which we forded in Rocky’s 4-Runner. I was startled at how low the water level was. I had been there several times before, and it was the first time I had actually seen the concrete ford. On a couple of other occasions, that ford had been a little scary.

We reached the cabin a couple of minutes later and surveyed the situation. We were in luck! Rocky had hired a local guy to do some of the work, and it was almost completely finished . We were both really disappointed, as we’d been looking forward to mucking around in the septic tank.

The weather had gone from bad to worse. It was right at 32 degrees, and raining hard. Between that and the presence of numerous deer hunters, we decided against doing anything that afternoon. That was a shame, as Rocky’s cabin is located in a pretty little corner of West Virginia. It’s down in a gorge, on the banks of lovely Second Creek. Just upstream, Second Creek emerges from an immense spring. Above the spring, the creek apparently runs through a significant cave system. However, no entrance into that system has been discovered.

That evening, we relaxed around the woodstove as the wind howled and the rain pelted against the windows. We fueled up on a pasta dinner, and made our plans for the following day. We hoped we’d be able to spend the day in Organ Cave. Rocky had led many trips through Organ Cave over the years, and I had accompanied him on a couple of them. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to reach the owner to obtain permission. We discussed a couple of backup options, but planned to try to reach the owner again in the morning.

We got a leisurely start the next morning. The rain had changed over to snow, and the yard and the banks of the creek had a nice dusting on them. After a hearty breakfast, Rocky made some more phone calls. He still wasn’t able to get through to Organ Cave. Organ Cave has commercial tours, and the recording stated that they would be open. This was somewhat encouraging, as our backup plan, Patton’s Cave, wasn’t an option. The owner of that cave had closed it due to a mysterious disease that was killing the bats there and in other caves in the region.

We gathered our gear and left the cabin around 9:30. The 4-wheel drive in Rocky’s truck came in handy as we climbed up the snow-covered, single lane road out of the gorge. This was pretty exciting, as the road is so narrow, the wheels on the right side of the truck were already on the edge of the precipice. It was a bit of a relief when we finally reached the plateau. From there, we headed into the community of Sinks Grove, where we stopped at Bob & Bob’s. Bob and Bob’s sells caving supplies, and Rocky needed some equipment for the trip. For the most part, I was borrowing his extra gear. This included a helmet and light. I had purchased knee pads a couple of days earlier, and was relying on my regular hiking gear and clothes for everything else.

From there, Rocky was finally able to reach the owner of Organ Cave. Luckily, she was there, and she was willing to let us in. We headed straight there, but took it slow, as even the main roads were snow-covered. The road down to the cave is quite steep, and it was also snowed over. Even with 4-wheel drive, making it back up might’ve been dicey. Instead, we parked at the top of the hill and walked from there. This was fun, as the temperature was in the 20’s, with gusty winds and blowing snow. However, we didn’t want to carry our winter coats and other warm clothes into the cave with us. Down in the cave, the temperature stays in the mid-50’s year-round. So, we stripped down to our caving clothes and hustled down the hill towards the relative warmth of the underground.

We stopped at the office to check in with Janie, the owner. I signed a release, and discussed our proposed route. We had planned to visit Sally’s Waterfall, but the loop route through there requires a tricky down-climb. She advised against it, saying that the descent was particularly hazardous due a coating of slippery mud. After some debate, we decided to cut out that loop, but approach the falls from another direction.

Shortly before we left, two people arrived for the 11am tour. It seemed that we wouldn’t be the only ones in Organ Cave after all. That was ok though. With over 40 miles of passage, we knew it wouldn’t be hard to find solitude in Organ Cave.

We descended the wooden steps into the gaping main entrance to Organ Cave. There are approximately 10 entrances to the system, but the majority of them are unappealing for one reason or another. The main entrance, however, is quite nice. We followed the standard tour route initially, and after a short distance, the lanterns that light it came on. Apparently the tour group was coming right behind us. In fact, we were barely beyond the entrance when we heard a commotion. It seems that one of the tourists had dropped her keys among the boulders at the entrance. Woops! What we didn’t realize was that this would be a recurring theme throughout the day.

Before long, we reached a narrow stretch of passage blocked by a gate. Rocky unlocked the gate, using the key Janie had given him. He left the key in the lock, per her instructions, and we walked deeper into the cave.

Walking the commercial part of the cave was like strolling down a sidewalk. We passed a couple of prominent side passages. One leads up to a room with hoppers that were used during the Civil War to mine Saltpeter. The other runs up to The Organ – the cave’s namesake rock formation. We bypassed both of those, and quickly reached the end of the commercial tour. There, we turned on our lights, and began the real adventure.

We continued down the main Organ stream passage. This is a large passage, but it does require some mild scrambling over rocks and boulders. Normally there is a stream flowing through here, but the water level was so low, we only saw occasional puddles.

We hadn’t gone far when I noticed that my light seemed dim. I had started with fresh batteries, using the rechargeable batteries I typically use in my camera. Fresh or not, they didn’t seem to be holding up. I switched to my second set, but they didn’t last long, either. After that, I switched to one of Rocky’s spare sets, which were regular batteries. These did much better. Apparently rechargeable batteries don’t have the same power as regular batteries.

Before long, we reached the first major junction. Here, the Old Saltpeter Route joins the main channel at a 10’ waterfall. Well, normally there is a 10’ waterfall, but today there was no water. That would be one of our possible return routes at the end of the day.

A bit later, we passed the junction with the Discovery Passage, which was our other major return option. This passage is extremely difficult to locate from the main Organ Stream. It enters the tunnel high up along one wall, and is obscured by an overhanging rock. We continued on past this, passing through the Dog Room to the Blow Hole, where we encountered a sharp breeze. Here we left the easy walking behind in favor of something more adventurous.

We turned out of the main Organ stream into “Straddle Alley”. Progress through this passage requires placing one foot on either side of a gaping chasm and shuffling forward. Initially the gap was fairly narrow, and a slip likely would’ve resulted in getting wedged in the crevice. A bit farther on though, the crevasse widened like the jaws of a ravenous beast. I looked down between my legs, passed the ass that I wasn’t ready to kiss goodbye, into the inky depths. How far down was it? It was hard to judge, but I think it’s safe to say that it was far enough.

This would’ve been nerve-wracking even with ideal footing. Unfortunately, the footing was far from ideal. Some spots were muddy and slippery. I tried not to think about what would happen if I slipped. Unfortunately, I was forced to look down, as each step had to be made with care.

We wriggled around a couple of tight corners before reaching the end of straddle alley. What a relief! My pulse was racing, and I was sweating heavily, despite the 50-degree temperature. Actually, I’m not sure if I was wet with sweat, or liquid adrenaline.

We took a break there at the T Room. From there, we could’ve turned left and headed out through the Discovery Passage. Instead, we went the other way, deeper into Organ Cave.

We reached another 3-way intersection a minute later. Here, a left turn would’ve taken us through the Gypsum Passage towards Lovers Leap and the 1812 room. That was a possible return route, but we headed the other way, towards the Throne Room. At this point, Rocky gave me the maps and suggested I lead.

Navigation in a cave is completely different from finding your way in the woods. Obviously, it’s hard to keep track of your surroundings due to the darkness. The real challenge though, is that the navigation is in three dimensions, rather than two. A side passage might be high up on the wall, or down in the floor, or in the ceiling. One tunnel may pass over or under another, unseen. And the maps we were using show all of the passages on multiple levels. As a result, some areas, like the one we were heading to, are very confusing.

Fortunately, the stretch ahead was pretty straight-forward. Before long, we arrived at an area Rocky calls New York City. Here there are dozens of small rock formations hanging from the ceiling. These formations look eerily like the skyline of New York City. From there, we pressed on to the Throne Room. The Throne Room is named for a gently sloped rock that makes for a nice seat. From there, I led us towards the Sand Room. After a short distance, we reached the junction with the passage to Sally’s Waterfall. There was a bit of water running out of this tunnel, which suggested that the waterfall hadn’t completely dried up. Rocky wasn’t real interested in making the short journey to the falls, so I went solo. It was only a short distance away, but getting there was a hassle. Apparently the passage had flooded recently, leaving a thick coating of slick mud on every surface. I worked my way upstream through the muck, slipping and sliding over muddy boulders.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long to reach Sally’s Waterfall. It’s located in a small but high chamber, where the water free falls from high above into a small pool. I took in the scene for a few minutes, and attempted some photos before heading back.

I rejoined Rocky and we continued towards the Sand Room. There is a regular maze of passages in this area, and I nearly got us there. Unfortunately, I missed a left turn in a confusing area. We ended up in a long, narrow passage that got tighter the farther we went. We crawled forward until the tunnel became impassable. After consulting the map, we discovered our error. Ironically, we were directly above the Sand Room, but had no way to get down to it.

We backtracked, found the correct passage, and resumed our journey. A few minutes later, we found the correct passage and began to climb. At one point, I spooked a bat, and it fluttered around in my face before flying off. Earlier we had passed about a dozen roosting bats. I didn’t attempt to photograph them, as I was afraid the flash from my camera would disturb them.

We scrambled upwards and reached the Sand Room. This room is a pleasant place for a break, and we had a quick lunch here. Afterwards, I followed Rocky up The Ascending Way. A few minutes of easy walking brought us to the nicest formations in this part of Organ Cave. Delicate Soda Straws hung from the ceiling, but a single narrow column was the focal point of the room. Beyond here, we found more formations. From this point, we could’ve continued up to the Handley Room. Beyond the Handley Room is the 40,000 year-old skeleton of a porcupine, partially buried in rock. That would’ve been something to see, but we were running short on time and energy.

We headed back, retracing our steps as far as the T Room. From there, we took an alternate route. We headed back through the Discovery Passage, which was one of the nicest parts of the trip. Initially we strolled through a twisting tunnel that almost looked manmade. It was just wide enough to pass through comfortably, and tall enough that crouching wasn’t necessary. Even the footing was ideal. Before long, we reached a small niche where Rocky spotted a few small Angelhair Crystals. A few feet away, he pointed out some ancient fossils imbedded in the Limestone.

Beyond here, the tunnel shrank, and soon we had to crawl. The knee pads I’d picked up at Target came in real handy through here. Knee pads rate in quality from Wal-Mart specials, to pads specifically designed for caving, all the way up to ones autographed by Monica Lewinski. Mine were definitely at the low end of the scale, but they held up ok. My only difficulty was keeping them from sliding out of position.

Before long the crawl ended, and we reached a down-climb that initially seemed a little tricky. Finding the right footholds wasn’t easy in the dark. I eventually figured it out, and worked my way down. From there, we reached a window looking out over the main Organ stream. We scrambled down to the creek bed, and headed upstream towards the exit.

Along here I had to switch to yet another set of batteries. I learned two important things about caving headlamps on this trip. First, LED lights are far superior in terms of the quality of light and battery economy. Second, rechargeable camera batteries are nearly worthless. I’ll keep these things in mind before my next trip!

From there, it was an easy stroll out to the exit. We reached the gate, which we were relieved to find unlocked. We both admitted later that we feared that Janie would forget about us and lock us in the cave! Since Organ Cave would be closed until Saturday, we would’ve been trapped there for several days. Our only other option would’ve been a 6+ hour journey to another entrance!

Rocky closed the gate and secured the lock. Unfortunately, his muddy hands slipped as he was closing it, and the chain ended up in the wrong spot. The gate wasn’t secured, and we had no key. We saw no choice but to drive to Janie’s house, pick up the key, and return to lock it.

We emerged from the cave at dusk. We were relieved to see that the snowstorm had abated while we had been underground. In fact, much of the snow that had fallen had melted. I think we had both wondered if we might emerge to find a foot of fresh snow.

Rocky called Janie, but she was on her way to church, so we couldn’t get the key. She told us she’d take care of the gate the next day. Rocky felt bad about inconveniencing her, but there really wasn’t anything else we could do.

We headed back to the cabin, where warm showers and a hot meal awaited us. Unfortunately, Rocky misplaced the house key while we were unloading the car. We shivered in our damp caving clothes as we searched for the key. Eventually it turned up, and the third (and final) key-related fiasco of the day reached its conclusion.

That evening, we dined on chili, which was quite good despite the fact that I had my own brain fart and forgot to add the meat to it. The whole time I was cooking it and eating it, I thought it seemed like something was missing, but I couldn’t place it. It wasn’t until I saw it in the fridge after dinner that I realized my mistake!

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