Introductions- if you could name a newly discovered cave what would you call it and why?
Zeke-certain death cave
Ken- philima kunk cave
Dianna G- new cave #37
Taylor- cave of Mexico
Kat- cats crawl
Rudy-(Mayan) something large
Jacob- full throttle cave
Eli- Reese’s pieces cave
Mark D- hole lotta fun
Melanie- nothing to see here cave
Eva D- rattlesnake cave
Sam C- snake pit
Taylor T-Dragons horde
Stephan- Terra Nova
Peter H- bat cave
Emily- Treasure trove cave
Business:
Posting Trip Reports
Grotto trip- still working on tshirt designs and cave selections. Grotto Trip Ship Art Deadline June 15
NO JUNE MEETING (party instead?)
Officer meeting TBD
Grotto trip Aug 1st thru 3rd Possible CVs culverson Ck Buckeye Ck WVCC Others in Greenbrier Co. Tshirts submit art to Cat Crofton by June 15th.Grotto trip done every year that is beginner friendly. Grotto has gear that cn be loaned out. Loaner gear to be updated eventually. Taylor T is the person to contact. Person contacted TT for donation of gear, from Charlotte. Sat and Sunday cave likely during grotto trip
Trip reports:
April 28 : New river cave, VA. Last minute trip for TT Jacob and Matthew. TT’s car was left in blacksburg VA for a month. Goal was to get to tuxedo junction. DIfficult crawl. Speedrun to waterfall
May 3 Worleys CV, TN Jacob Jillian and Blake. Short trip 6 hours. Made it to falls back.
May 9 to 11 Spring VAR (Virginia area regional) Breathing Cave VA Very mazy. Good photos. Much talk about cannibalism and GW.
Hamilton CV, WV Cold campin n spruce knob, highest point in WV. Cat says hamilton was most entertaining cv. Fossils everywhere. Lots of crawls. Wasnt super rocky or muddy. Ended in rm w clawmarks. Bears extinct cheetah, extinct large cat fossils all present. Will have to go back for air blower.
Shoveleater WV- Very vertical, on rope most of the time per Eli. A lot of bottlenecks waiting for folks to pass on rope. On the nothing pit loop. Super fun.
May 23 – 26 New River VA
May 23- 26 TAG w Melanie and Jacob. Drove down thursday night and got in Friday 1 am. First cv was elmos canyon. Top of the mtn middle of nowhere. Had to re-rig due to being 20ft short. Didnt find second pitch where there was water. Free climbed back up. Next day was paint rock river. Brutal hike in after arriving around 10am to parking. Arrived at cv 1130-12. In cave by 2pm. 30 to 40 ft entrance pit. Second pitch was 140ft alongside waterfall. Next drop angels falls. Jacobs first time to tumbling rock for 4 hours. Crawled to empress room.
Upcoming Trips
June 21st to 28th 2025 NSS Convention Cobleskill NY
June 28 Rehoboth Church union WV. Capped at 8 people
Aug 1-3 Annual grotto trip, bluemeadows campground white sulfur springs WV. Ken suggested labelia salt peter cv has historical stuff and organized by WV cave conservancy. Can hit bear town otw back.
Aug 9 Boy scout troop trip, VA (Butler?)
TBD: mammoth CV grotto trip KY- Taylor T
TBD: Buchanan Proj weekend- Melanie and Sully
Break
840 switched to cave jeopardy. Godzillas vs cave sluts
Tritrogs lore; caves in pop culture (the descent); Bats- Mexican freetails; bats make up 20% percentage of all mammal species; Vampire bats consume 800 times more iron than humans; First tritrogs grotto trip was in 1990; Jesse James used caves in state Missouri to hide from lawmen; Civilization Mayans believed caves were entrance to underworld; Paleontology- this new species was discovered this year at mammoth ntl park thru fossil studies- ancient shark; Fossils found in sedimentary rock; Caving history- amatuer cave exploration in 20th century was called spelunking; Greek nymphs that lived in caves had bee for a body; what nearby cv has fossil alley- Lowmoor; NSS stands for national speliological society; Mammoth cv housed TB hospital; Name for fossilized poop- Coprolite; Mexican long nosed bat- pollinize blue agave; Explorer died in sand cave in 1925- floyd collins; Tritrogs logo is Trex biting caveman; Small insect eating bat is the most common in US- little brown bat; Weddelite besides caves is found in kidney stones.
Beers at Raleigh Times after meeting