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Discovery
 &
 Disaster
GOERGE
TITCOMB
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On November 22, 1962, John Cooper, Lew Bicking and I left DC for Lewisburg, WV. We spent the night at the Fort Union Hotel and were rudely awakened the next morning by the arrival of John Holsinger. After a hearty breakfast at the local beanery, we set out for the Friars Hole area which is about 25 miles north of Lewisburg. This is a valley next to Droop Mountain where the Pittsburgh Grotto has been exploring with the expectation of finding a large cave system. The last two miles of road to Crookshank Holewere treacherous and almost impassable due to recent rains and thawing conditions. At one point it was necessary to traverse a muddy section of the road where it was sloped toward the downside of the mountain. The cave was easily located and we parked our cars at the top of the ridge where we could look down into Friars Hole. Friars Hole is a valley, not a sink. However, the topo map shows several streams which flow into this valley and then go underground. Only one other cave is listed by Davies; this being Snedegar's.
Our first view of Crookshank Holeproved to be an impressive one. The entrance is a vertical pit approximately 40 feet in diameter and 100 feet deep. A rock wall rises on the south and west sides overhanging the pit. On the side that must be approached by cavers, the wall drops straight for ten or fifteen feet and then bells out. Due to the slippery sloped edges around the pit, it is impossible to look directly into the cave. Upon arriving at the cave, we found a considerable amount of water spraying into it. After some inspection a spot was found where our rope could be rigged that would avoid most of the water.
At this point a discussion was held to determine if we did indeed want to explore this awesome looking hole. Holsinger was in favor of doing Snedegar's instead, but was outvoted. continued Snedegar pg232
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