Dead Dog Cave Trip 10-18-08
This was Pete’s first caving trip. He happened to come along on a trip that was a little more than a beginner trip.
Dead Dog Cave is in the north east panhandle of West Virginia. It’s not considered a vertical cave, but there are some exposures to overcome. Mostly in the beginning it’s tight, but it did open up in some “walking” passage.
When we got in we started in a place that I had seen a side passage I wanted to check out the last time I was there. I found it again and looked once more. I wasn’t going to fit. But I wanted Amos to take a good look at it. So I backed out and Amos and the rest of the crew went in to take a look.
It’s really a crack that about 8” at the widest part. But it’s still limited in the height of that part. The rest of the crack is about 5” wide and drops about 6 to 8 feet. The “pinch” is about 4 to 5 feet in distance till were it opens up.
After a little while John came back out to join Linsey and me. The other three made it through the pinch and were on the other side. This was exciting for me in that I could see that it opened up and I suspect it’s the connection to the Shirley Cave system.
After about 15 to 20 minutes we heard voices and Amos called through the crack saying they went to the left and it was amazing and they were going to explore the right passage next. From what I remember from the map the right was the smaller area and the left was long passage to Shirley. They were gone for a while and we just sat a talked and rested and passed the time.
At one time I remember swatting away some bugs flying in my face, I guess drawn by the headlamp. That was immediately followed by a swoop of a Small Brown bat flying between us. Not less than 30 seconds it was back for another pass this time bumping into us as it passed by. We must have been in his familiar flight path, so I suggested we move to another location to give him room.
I climbed to the upper passage first and could see where he was coming from as he tried to circle again and again. Then he changed his course and came down the passage, right passed eye level and only inches away, and down and out of sight. We never saw him again.
As the other two got to the top we headed down a little and found another opening and dropped down to that to explore it. We poked a little, but we didn’t want to go too far. In a few minutes we could hear voices again calling for us. Scrambling up, chimneyed back down the passage and slid back down to the opening we were again in voice contact. They were excited but wanted to get back out. So we worked together and one at a time Pete, Dan and Amos wiggled out of the crack and back on our side of the cave.
Amos was very excited. There was a lot of formation over there. Next time he wants to take his camera. Apparently while getting ready to crawl into a smaller passage, Dan told Amos to freeze. Quietly Dan told Amos that there was a raccoon right behind him. Amos, while lying on his side, looked over his shoulder. There was this big raccoon at arm’s length just looking at him. Auuuh, nice kitty. As Amos moved out of the crawl space the raccoon scattered into it. That’s when they decided to return.
The rest of the cave was not as eventful, but it’s still a challenging cave, especially if it’s your first caving trip. Amos, John, Dan, and Pete took the “big step” and saw some amazing formation. They did pass on the “leap of faith” as Amos called to “tricky”. According to Dan when Amos calls something “tricky” big red flags go up.
We headed on out using a passage I had not used before. Amos says it’s “exposed”. Even though I need a hand up one big step, I though it was easier than that tight crawl I usually do and refreshing to get past on my feet instead my belly.
We all squeezed up through the entrance again and Amos was the last one out. He and I had a discussion on this just before I exited. I conceded and left him be the last one to exit and enjoy a moment of solitary silence in the cave. Amos got the gate back on in record time. But the lock was giving us problems. With a few tries and way too long on my head I did get it to “click”. Need to bring some WD40 next time.
Walking back to the van the sun was just setting and the cows were all checking us out as we walked past. I guess they don’t get too much bipedal company. We did stop for pizza and then took the long ride home.
Here's more pictures of the trip
