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previous--Pig Hhole, pg189
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TERRY TARKINGTON REMEMBERS
 BLUE HOLE
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This cave, located southwest of Waynesboro, VA was the focal point of several of the early Charlottesville Grotto trips in 1946 and 1947. In addition to studies of water temperature, flow rates, water levels, and direction of flow, we made two attempts to get back in the upper passages. Although nearly thirty years has elapsed, some of the events are still vivid in my mind; other details are not. If the description doesn't exactly fit the cave, this points up one of the problems of writing a trip report almost thirty years later! With each retelling, pits always get deeper and hazards more difficult so it was with a great deal of interest that I went back to Blue Holea couple of years ago. To my surprise, I found that it had only shrunk about ten feet in the intervening years as compared to the total depth that I remembered.
On the first attempt to gain the upper level passages, Karl "Monk" Heinse and I volunteered to make the try while the other four or five grotto members made water measurements and gave us moral support. I was tall and skinny, and Monk was shorter, stockier and quite strong. We complemented each other's strengths and skills and had gradually evolved as a caving team, undeterred by such practical consideration as common sense and caving techniques as known today.
The entrance is through a large sink about 100 feet in diameter, with extremely steep sides. The water was deep and cold!!! Clad only in my jockey undershorts and a cloth miner's hat with a carbide light, I started swimming along with Monk back into the cave. The cave width gradually narrowed from about 25 to 35 feet at the entrance to two to three feet wide before finally pinching out at the water level. Monk started to chimney up while I treaded water below. When he was up some 30 to 35 feet, he grabbed a big stalagmite which promptly came off in his hands. He shouted for me to move out from under him as he could only hold the 100 to 125 pound formation for a few seconds as he was wedged in the chimney in an awkward position. I swam out ten or so feet, and then on second thought swam out twice that distance. Just then, Monk let go and the formation fell, hitting one wall, bouncing to the other and then striking the water at the exact spot where I had first stopped. We chimneyed up to the passage level and although briefly clad, proceeded to try to check out some of the upper level passages.continued
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next--Blue Hole, pg191
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