Newberry - Bane's pg169

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Newberry - Bane's continued

This came in pretty handy, though, because any gear they had I would tie on to my rappel line and just lower it down the well. They wouldn't have to carry it down through the Staircase. Most of the times I'd use a body rappel, or a carabiner over-the-shoulder rappel down the well. Of course I had fairly decent rappel pads by then, and sometimes I'd prusik out. Sometimes I wouldn't; it all depended on whether I wanted to carry the prusiks back there or not.

Of course, you know a new connection with Bane was found., a dry, dusty crawl which I believe the credit for that goes to Larry and Betty. They found this while I was gone to Tennessee. I went to live in Nashville for awhile, working there with the highway department and also working for the Tennessee state cave survey with Tom Barr When I got back, Larry and Betty took me in there, and we had to use respirators due to the dust.

Garry Mossat bottom
of Bill's Rappel Well.
Photo by R. E. Clark

NEWBERRY - BANES

The
Second
Connection

In November 1953, cavers from Duke, VPI and Wytheville Grottos explored Newberry Cave and attempted to follow the route taken by Joe Lawrence, Bill Cuddington and Ed Des Rochers when they connected Newberry Cave with Bane Cave. Among this group were Larry and Betty Sabatinos. Leaving three persons at the entrance of the "Hoss" room, so named for a group of formations resembling saddles, most of the party continued down a narrow, slightly muddy passage to the left. Searching to no avail, they returned to the entrance.

In December, Don Wiseman of VPI and Larry and Betty made a return trip, but decided to try to explore and map from the Bane end. At the bottom of the 80-foot well they started out in a direction opposite the main part of Bane Cave. At a small room where four passages branched, they followed an upper lead from which strong drafts of air issued. It quickly became a small crawl passage and the group crawled on their stomachs for 770 feet. Any part over a foot and a half high and two feet wide was considered a room! A large amount of organic dust was so thick that at times they could hardly see a few feet ahead. A right angle turn took some tricky maneuvering, but then they were able to crawl on hands and knees. After about twenty feet, they came to a window that opened and dropped to a passage below. Having left their rope at the Bane entrance, they were not able to check the lead.

The following weekend, the three returned again, determined to find the connection. At the room where the four passages branched off, they tried the right hand passage, which also had a strong air draft, which at times was so strong that it blew out lamps. After crawling through Rimstone pools with very cold water, they found a larger passage which appeared to be as dry and dusty as the 770-foot dust crawl. At a large room they checked several small but impossible holes and then checked a very narrow crack which made the connection. It was found that when the combined grotto trip had turned back, the group was not more than twenty feet from making the connection.

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