Driebilbis Cave in Berks County 2/13/05

On February 13, 2005, Bill, Kathy, Dave, Hanna, Mike, and I all met at the parking lot of the Moselem Springs Inn in quest of counting bats in Driebilbis Cave.

Driebilbis Cave has about 1000 feet of tight passage and is about a mile from the famous commercial cave, Crystal Cave. Except for the one bat count, Driebilbis is closed during the winter months to allow the bats to hibernate undisturbed. This was my first trip to this "sporty", as Mike would say, cave.

I soon found out the true definition of "sporty". Narrow passages with tight turns. Chimmneying up, down, and sideways. The gated entrance itself is only 18 inches in diameter. We covered every nook and cranny in that cave that we could to get an accurate count of the inhabitance.

Once we enter we made the first right. This is a loop that was challenging with elevation changes and squeezes. It was a good 15 to 20 minutes to cover the whole loop back to the entrance.

Next we went through the "jug-handle", which is a passage I could only do on my side with one arm in front of me and one arm behind me. It was only 10 feet or so, but the sharp turn to the left at the end made it a challenge. This immediately lead to the "Cork Screw" which, as its name describes, is a series of turns and drops which really throws off your sense of direction.

At the end of the Cork Screw we went up a sloped rock which reminded me of a large (seemed like 20 feet), grand piano on a slant. Of course the only hand and foot holds where on the rock 2 feet parallel above this slope. Getting up was tough, but once at the top we took a break at "The Lounge". Sitting at "The Lounge" and looking down the slope we just came up, heading off to our right was the next leg of our journey.

This reminded me of hopping rocks to cross a river, except that instead of water, it was exposed drop of about 8 feet. Made me just a little nerves. Past that were a few more tight passages and then a room. This room was a bit wet with a lot of water dripping through. They said it was good luck to get dripped on your face. If that's the case, I'm set for life.

The ceiling in here is quit high. Mike and Bill climbed as high as they could to look for bats. They both agreed that there was about 8 more feet that they couldn't get to, but it looked like there might be a room beyond that. Maybe come back sometime with the proper gear to climb the rest of the way to see what's up there.

There is another room off this room that has a few passages and loops. One loop looked like a fun little squeeze, but I am too big to fit in it. Dave and Hanna went through the loop starting at opposite ends. I think they had too much fun.

In this drier section we stopped for a short food and drink break and counted up a few more bats. One of them started to move so we decided to take off before it woke up from its hibernation. Heading off another passage we approached "The Lounge" from the other side completing this loop.

One more room to check out, we slid down the piano, past the Cork Screw, and to the bottom. Off to the right was a passage to another room that was filled with "pop corn". The detail was fascinating.

After resting there a moment, we headed back out the passage and back up the "Cork Screw" and back through the "Jug-handle". Then back up and out that 18" pipe they call and entrance.

Overall, we spent about 3 hours in the cave. We saw and counted only 7 bats. We were expecting about 20. Where the others are, we don't know. Maybe next year they'll come back.

This cave was a good workout for me as I've only been doing this for less than 2 years now. I'm hoping to go back and try those passages again.