AAW is a non-profit outdoor club. The members are from all over the Delaware Valley. They wanted to try caving and asked the Philadelphia Grotto for help with a caving trip. Being the Youth Group Liaison for Philly Grotto part of the deal was it would be primarily for their youth members. That didn’t happen as well as we would have liked, but it was still a good turn out from the club’s membership. Ten from AAW showed up to go caving.
We all meet at Pharo’s Truck Stop, which by the way has changed names, at about 11:40 Saturday morning. Franklin County Grotto recommended we park in the Township Building’s parking lot and avoid the Township Park’s parking lot. We also opted to avoid the restrooms at the Park while dressed in our caving cloths.
Everybody got dressed and geared up. We handed out helmets and lights and did a light check before we walked down the road to the entrance to Carnegie. There have been some changes to the Township Park that are note worthy. There is a new parking area on the other side of the soccer field. I now understand that we can use that parking area if there is no game that day that we would interfere with. That area may be a little more pleasant than the gravel parking lot at the Township Build. We arrived at the entrance and did a second light check before Amos started down the tunnel with the whole group following him with yours truly sweeping up the rear.
After we got everyone in the first room, you know with all the water, we split into two groups. I have one group of 4 and Amos took a group of 6. This allowed them to keep their buddy system intact. I started my group at the front of the cave and poked around.
The water was lower than usual this day. There was still shin high water in the first room, but other places that usually have water were not as wet, just muddy. As you are entering the first room we took the passage that goes to the left first just to get our “cave legs” and see how everyone is doing with their first real cave trip. So far so good.
Then we went off to the right passage. There is a tight belly crawl that can be frustrating. I tried to explain the passage to them. I know I can fit, but it takes me a while to get through. Then I would take up valuable space at the end for turning around. I suggested they try it on their own and would wait for them to come back.
The first one tried and decided it was too tight. Then the second one looked at it and agreed. The third and four looked and were a little hesitant, but I reassured them it would be worth it. They gave it a shot. After a couple minutes you hear the exclamations of visual reward of their efforts. It is a pretty room that is big enough to stand up and walk around in. This just gave the first two that tried and gave up the incentive to try again. They made it all the way through this time joining the others in the far room.
After they finally made it back I explained there is nothing more difficult than that passage in the rest of the cave. So off to the first main room to head to the back of Carnegie Cave. Part way back we ran into Amos’s group. They were down to three plus Amos. We went up the slope and went on back to the second main room. Here we ran into another group. They were all youth, mostly from Philadelphia, taking a trip through with Chris from Franklin County Grotto. He was doing some interesting challenges with them like two people with one light and crawling through squeezes. Our group said high as we passed and headed on back.
This section of Carnegie has some of the nicer formations. Some of it is still growing and some has been untouched. The white calcium and black magnesium mixed together is nice the way it works together in its artistic form. This was a good place to take a break and catch our breath and get something to drink. We did a “lights out” here and just sat and listened to the sounds of the cave. Water drips off the in the distance and the echo is hard to tell it origin. We stayed until there was a slight chill, which means it’s time to start moving again to keep from getting cold.
We followed the stream passage until it was to the point of a belly crawl in water. Most were too cold and tired to do that and come back again, so this is where we turned around and retraced out path back to the entrance of the cave. I had a fine group of adventurous souls who put up with a lot and didn’t complain at all. They just keep looking for the next challenge. We all had dinner together and talked about the different adventures they had been on.
They are an active bunch. Maybe we’ll all get a chance to cave again in the future.
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