15 Feb., 2004

Beginner's trip to Clarksville Cave, NY

Cavers: David, Daniel, George, Matthew, Anne, Scott, Lesley, Mike F., Jose

yesterday's caving trip was pretty cool. we breezed through the Ward half of the cave, skipping the thook entrance. spent some time shoving as many people as possible into the tunnel behind the lake room. I found my car key sitting exactly where i was sitting in the lake room last week (and used it to drive home) - that's the first awesomely cool part.

we found our way to the gregory half, guessing the correct turns, and occassionally exploring some short but fun side passages. after the water slide and sump, and some tromping through large passages, we came to a truly amazing room not far from the exit. it has stalagmite-style ice formations, some of which get thicker as they extend up from the floor (cool part number 2).

the exit was snowy, and had no foot prints near it. we went through the drain system outside the cave, and as soon as i could see light from the other end, i realized it was coming through a giant pile of snow, so we had to turn back there, but that was no big deal. all-in-all, a good trip. you should definitely hit clarksville before the ice melts.

-david

Last Modified: Mon Feb 16 12:51:00 2004 by krobinso