Dead Dog Cave

On March 12, 2005, members of the Philly Grotto took a group of Boy Scouts to Dead Dog Cave. This cave, from what I understand, has about 4000 feet of passage. We only scratched a few hundred feet of that.

I arrived at Amos's house around 9:15 AM. Paul was already there and packing his stuff in Amos's car. Amos and his nephew, Brian, were all packed and ready for this adventure. Dead Dog Cave is in West Virginia and we had a 3-hour ride ahead of us.

The Mighty Montana (not just a mini van) arrived at the property sometime after noon. The cattle farmer who's property the cave is on, was very pleasant and talked with us for awhile. He explained where the cave was and even provided a can of WD-40 in case the lock was frozen.

We thought we'd get changed and look for and unlock the entrance before the Boy Scouts showed up. But, just as we were unpacking the Montana, four more vehicles showed up.

Out poured the Scouts followed by their leaders. They were real anxious to get in the cave. Some came all dressed with helmets and headlamps in place and ready. While the leaders were settling them down and splitting them into groups, we were able to get dressed and geared up.

Amos and Brian took the beginners and Paul and I took the experienced. For some of these boys it was their 6th trip caving with the Philly Grotto. These kids knew what to do.

Next we had to find the cave. Locating a small hole in the ground amongst a few acres of field, karst, and trees isn't easy. Though it was a good day for a ridge walk, that wasn't our goal. We spread out and searched the property while the cows looked over our shoulders. And even if we didn't find the cave, the boys were having a fun time searching through the trees and rocks and jumping over cow pies.

Paul and I came across the entrance at the same time coming from two different directions. Giving out a holler, the boys came running. Even after all the energy they spent, they were still revved up and ready to cave. Paul and my group entered the cave first. Amos tells us to go to the left. "OK."" Your left or my left." " Never mind, go to the right." " OK." " That was your right, so it's my left." "What ever." We went caving.

Not knowing Dead Dog cave, we just poked around and explored passages. There are a lot of them. Every few feet there's another intersection with plenty of good choices for exploring. After some scrambling and chimmneying, our group came across a large room that had some definite traces of critter. Judging by the scat and claw marks, it probably was raccoon.

Here the boys were able to do some exploring on their own and not get out of ear shot. A couple loops and some dead end passages with plenty of decorations. They were amazed by how many stalactites and stalagmites they were able to see. Most of the caves they've been in up to now have been heavily traveled and worn down.

About 4:20 we decided that it was time to start our way back and out again. It was hard coming in and some of the boys were starting to show signs of wearing out. So before anyone got too tiered to scramble and chimney, we headed back. It was about an hour before I, as sweep, stuck my head out the hole. I was last one out. Sort of like the first one in, you can sit in the dark and solitude for a moment and take the whole cave in.

The boys had fun. We had fun. We only had two folks exit early, and that was no big deal. Just a precaution to avoid an incidence.

Amos, Brian, Paul and I all agreed that we need to get back into this cave soon. We only saw the beginning of the passages and never got the bulk of it. And, it's part of a larger cave system that we didn't even get into. This is definitely on my list of "Got To Get Back To" caves.