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Snedegar
Crooshank: ESCAPE through a siphon R.E WHITEMORE GARY McCUTHEN |
"Lewisburg, WV--Four persons, three of them students from Virginia Tech at Blacksburg, were reported safe early Tuesday morning after being trapped by rising water in a Pocahontas County cave since Saturday."--ROANOKE TIMES, 1965.
WHITT: "It all began when three members of the VPI Grotto decided to go caving with Lew Bicking of the Baltimore Grotto. The cave we decided upon was the notorious Snedegar's-Staircasesystem. Lew would show us as much of Snedegar'sand Crookshank'sas we wanted to see if we would help him map Staircase. So Saturday, January 9, 1965, saw Ed Bauer, Dixon Hoyle and I leave campus late in Ed's VW. We arrived in Lewisburg, and quickly located Solo Lew eating alone at the Court Restaurant.
"Arriving in the Friar's Hole vicinity, the road was too muddy for us to drive any closer than Snedegar's water entrance. Leaving the car, we walked around to the dry entrance. Inside the entrance we deposited a supply of dry clothing.
"The entrance to Staircase is not quite so picturesque as Snedegar's, nor is it pleasant. The sinkhole slopes gently down over rolls of discarded fencing on one side, and a small stream cascades down over flat-lying slabs on the other. Several horizontal cracks open in the upper parts of the sink, but the real opening into the cave is a slimy crack in the very bottom which leads immediately to a 30-foot drop. Here we began our survey. The trip progressed smoothly and as rapidly as possible in that cave. The passage is mostly a high, narrow, sinuous fissure with a stream occupying the entire floor. Most of our surveying was done along the top of the fissure where it is wider and drier. Of course, anything dropped into the stream was immediately swept away.
"When we reached the end of the fissure and surveyed down to where the two streams join, we had a choice: we could survey 'Uncle Earl's Domepits', or we could survey on through the 'expressway' to tie in with Crookshank's, then survey a 1000-foot side passage in Crookshank's. For some inexplicable reason, we decided to survey in Crookshank's, a decision which probably saved our lives.
"As we made our way downstream along the Crookshank's trunk channel, we stopped to rest in a small, sand-floored side room. There, before my very eyes, Ed and Dick did something that graveled my speleological senses. They produced several cans of food and began to heat them over carbide flames. Lew and I didn't refuse a few handouts, though; but only because it would get rid of the food quicker so we could continue mapping.
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"Mapping or the upper level progressed more rapidly and with much less effort than mapping in the Staircase. The passage was large and flat-floored, so in no time we had surveyed a distance almost equal to the entire length of Staircase. We finally reached a point where the passage seemed to be blocked by breakdown, so we terminated the survey and entertained thoughts of breakfast in Lewisburg.
"As we made our way along the low, wet crawl into the main trunk channel, an ominous roar reverberated down the passage. When I could finally get a full view of the stream, I remarked, or, rather shouted to Dick something to the effect that I could swear the creek was 20 times louder than before."
At this point, Lew noted that the stream was four feet above the siphon and that they would be trapped from 24 to 48 hours. The group returned to the small sand- floored room where they'd eaten, and Lew set up a stick to gauge the rise or fall of the water level. For twelve hours they slept huddled together like sardines in a can for warmth. After checking the siphon again, Lew determined that they would be there longer than 24 hours. He "calculated that the water was falling at a steady rate of 1/4 inch per hour where we were bivouacked, which meant about a two-inch per hour drop at the siphon where the passage was much more narrow. By now, it was 6:00 PM Sunday, and the fact that we had missed breakfast was becoming harder and harder to ignore. Sunday night wore into Monday. Lew checked the siphon again, and figured at least another twelve hours before we could effect an escape through the lowest point."
GARY: "As a safety precaution, the VPI Grotto maintains a signout sheet for caving trips. This list gives the driver, destination and expected time of return. Ed Bauer had put down Sunday 6:00 PM as time of return, but none of the trio were really missed that night. One or two cavers who came by their rooms just assumed they were elsewhere.
"By Monday morning, word began to spread among the cavers that no one had seen Ed, Whitt, or Dixon since Saturday. Whitt was to give a trainee test that afternoon, and when the trainees were unable to find him, rescue organization was begun in earnest. Two groups of cavers were organized independently by Rick Nolting and Mike Hamilton. By Monday 5:00 PM, the two groups had contacted each other and combined forces.'
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