July 22 2025
Taylor T opened meeting.
Introductions- What song would you put on cave playlist?
Taylor T (chair)- Song called cave by Muse
Ken W- Monks chanting
Zeke- final track on Bowie’s low, subterranean
Melanie (covice chair)- Queens of the stone age- Dont ook just keep your eyes peeled
Katie- System of a Down Chop Suey
Kat (co-vice chair) vor by sleep token
Rudy- Mumford and Sons the cave or I see fire under the mountain from lotr
Matthew- Chop suey
Stephan F (Treasurer)- In Zair
Taylor O (secretary)- Get low by Lil Jon
Eli- System of a down shout out; Night tapes- silent song
Jon- born to be wild
Quinton- something by magdalena bay
Emily- Bob Dylan subterranean blues
Alex- Moon rocks vy flip turn
Felix- Drops of Jupiter
Piotr-Highway to hell
Online: Lee- would whistle
Mike and Lisa- Pretty Lights dubstep cover of John Denvers West Virginia; Anything from velvet undergound
Jake- *Audio difficulties*
Melissa- gloverla
Peter- Something by the Scorpions
Business
Annual Grotto trip in West Virginia Culverson Ck Cave If you ordered a t shirt, see Stephan about $25 payment. Shirts will be distributed at campsite. About 5 hour drive. Stephan says check made to Tritrogs works. Cash works too. Group campsite bringing canopy. Bring tents, sleeping bags, places to park car. Showers and bathroom one campground over. Vault toilet. Blue meadow campsite.
Trip Reports
June 28 Haynes WV- Rudy provided summary. A lot of history used to mine black powder in civil war; tubing, watched tree snap in half, gypsum formations; good cave for crystals; old planks from miners
June 21 – 29 NSS Convention, NY Stephan spoke on NSS convention; Clarksville cave, Peter added some things. Did field trip beforehand to geologic formations and history; Stephan sat in on caves for cavers all day presentation. Mark and Pete went to two local commercial caves- Hal caverns and secret caverns. Boat ride at the bottom. Went to US explorations on Tuesday. Climbing contests
July 11 – 19 Rescue Training- Melanie presented; week long 14hr days;
July Eli’s trip Creeping pot, Stevens Gap, and A cave that shall not be named; rattlesnake; devils walking stick
July 19 Breathing Cave
July 12 Hancock, WV Update provided by Melissa Brown; wet and cold otherwise good conditions; Ken named rooms as they went through; Melissa’s fsv part was comic book hold; EMily sai first time caving for er in about a year
June 17- Mike B added trip in Georgia. Howards waterfall cave. SCCI propert; didnt do climb down
Mike and Lisa also did caves in Budapest in Europe; walked friends through full dark area
June 14- Melanie and Nick did a cave; loved puppet buster; Melanie might have stress fracture on foot
Upcoming Trips
Aug 1 – 3 annual grotto trip Blue meadows Campground White Sulfur Springs, WV
Aug 09 Boy Scout Trop Butler VA
Aug 28 to Sept 1 OTR2025 Old timers reunion. Need a sponsor. Caving, parade, contests, survey courses; hot tubs and saunas; cave vendors
Melanie said cavefest same weekend in Indiana
Oct 3 – 5 Fall VAR RASS Field Station VA Another big event w vendors
TBD Mammoth Cave Grotto Trip, KY
TBD Buchanan Project Weekend
Taylor T going to start polling for Aug trip
Melanie said if you want a project or to survey let her know
Break for 8 minutes
Program Culverson Creek Cave; North of Lewisburg, WV.
Download offline maps ahead of time for navigation
Anticipate it being wet.
Hot outside. Cold inside
Loaner gear
Get to the caves by 10am; explore 4 to 6 hours. Come back in evening for dinner.
Group breakfast saturday and sunday