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previous--Virginia Cave Survey pg173
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ROCK PROJECT
Another Virginia cave that absorbed much time of VPI Grotto cavers was Fallen Rock. The cave load been partially explored by Earl Thierryin 1951. During the October VAR meeting in Blacksburg R.E. Whittemorehad agreed to and map caves in Tazewell County for John Holsinger'smanuscript to update Douglas CAVES OF VIRGINIA.
As Whitt states it: "The real beginning of the VPI Grotto's in the Fallen Rock Cave System was probably in the Fall of 1965 when Barry Whittemoreand I undertook a rather optimistic project. Our ultimate goal was to map all caves over 1000 feet long located within the boundaries of the idyllic County of Tazewell in southwestern Virginia.
"Steele's Cavewas our first effort, and we were joined by such persons as Cletus Leeand Tom Roehr, not to mention the ubiquitous Annie. While working on the Steele's Cave project, we began to scout the Ward Cove area.
While the rest of the county was interesting, the Ward Cove area held a strange fascination. Here were small water caves and big water sinks. Here were vast karat areas rolling up the mountain slopes where cliffs rose high above the valleys. Here great rivers plunged into singing chasms and ever greater rivers sprang from rock. So when we completed the Steele's Cave map in the fall of 1965, we began the systematic investigation of the caves of this enchanted place.
Many of the cavers who first passed through this area no doubt postulated the existence of a large trunk channel draining the upper end of the cove. Anyone who drives over the great drainage divide and recognizes that vast sinkhole must immediately realize the possibilities. But all previous trips had somehow been discouraged. Of the caves of the area, little information was to be found in CAVES OF VIRGINIA. Many of them were believed to end shortly in a siphon or log jam; all had received little more than a cursory investigation.
"Our first tip--off to these facts came while exploring the two limestone canyons where water from the upper end of the Cove sinks. Between these two canyons, Cletus discovered an unreported cave which carries most of the drainage during the rainy season; we named it Canyon Junior Cave.
"The next objective was to explore Fallen Rock Cave. Before we started we acquired a two-man rubber life boat, complete with oars and an air pump. We soon found out why two persons were needed to man the small craft; one to row and One to pump."--R.E. Whittemore, 1974.
On November 8, 1965, Whittand J. Craig Peterslaunched the boat toward the downstream portion of Fallen Rock Cave. "Even with constant pumping the boat shipped water. At one point, the craft struck a submerged chunk of breakdown and bubbles spewed from a two-inch gash in the port bow. But the raft was equipped with a repair kit, and we would have soon been on our way except that the glue was the 24-hour drying variety. Minor delays notwithstanding, we explored over 2000 feet downstream to a siphon, all virgin, and left having convinced ourselves that we had made a great discovery."--REW, 1974.
On November 21, 1965, Whitt, Tom Roehr, Ray Womack, Roy Clark, Rich Johnsonand Anne Whittemoreattempted to explore upstream, but found the cave much as Thierry had reported it to be.
Our next few trips, in March and April of 1966, were spent in mapping Ward Cove Cavewhich yielded over 3000 feet of mostly large, dry passage. These trips also included preliminary investigations of the Lost Mill Cavesnearby. Verdict: another boating expedition was in order.
"So next month seven of us set out in 'The Ghost' (my old gray '57 Chevy) for a big weekend of boating in Tazewell County. On Saturday afternoon we met up with John Holsingerand two of his henchmen, and decided to start by re-checking the Canyons area. While in Canyon Junior, Richard Becknoticed a hole in the ceiling at the siphon, and climbed through it into the proverbial 'big room', thus doubling the known size of the cave. The Cove was yielding just enough of its secrets to keep us interested.
After several hours of exploring, we all gathered on a hill above the Canyons for a powwow. It was agreed upon that there must be a large trunk channel draining the upper end of the Cove, for the amount of water sinking there was simply too great to seep through the joints. A negative factor was that the anticlines and synclines all plunged in the wrong direction. John Holsinger brought out the fact that several new species of cave beetle had been found in some of the smaller caves in the area, but were extremely rare, so that there must be a big trunk channel where they were all hiding out. It was just a matter of finding the entrance.
Later that same evening, we decided to try swimming, and made another discovery. We entered Gillespie's Water Cave #1 by cable ladder and explored several hundred feet upstream. It was heading directly toward Fallen Rock when a closed siphon drowned out hopes for a connection. Heading downstream, we encountered deep water. All but Richard Beck and I turned back. Richard and I tied ourselves together, so if one drowned, so would the other. Clutching at sturdy chert nodules along the walls, we groped in leap-frog fashion along the passage. The water was well over our heads. Somewhere down the passage, an ominous roar caused our pulses to quicken. What was it? Were we about to be swept over a waterfall? Was it a suction siphon? Anxiety and trepidation grew as we inched our way closer to the source, until finally we seemed to be surrounded by the noise. It was then that we noticed that the ledge to which we were clinging was made of Middle Ordovician concrete!
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