On a beautiful spring weekend in April 2026, the caving community came together to repair a fence on the property that contains the Cyclops cave in South Western Virginia (Russell County). Cyclops is a popular vertical cave.
On one side of the property the fence became so broken that livestock from neighboring farm properties were able to enter the cave property. The goal was to remove the old fence and replace it with a new one.
The fence repair was organized by the Flittermouse Grotto out of Asheville. Kimberly Lughart organized us and Zach Lemcke led the actual fence repair. From TriTrogs, Mike Yang, Matt Brown, and myself joined in.
The cave property is owned by Southeastern Cave Conservancy (SCCi). SCCi provided funds for the materials for the new fence. The Director of Conservation from SCCi, T.O. Smith, joined us for our efforts. Sam McDonald lives nearby Cyclops and provided the tractor.
Under Zach’s leadership, the whole operation went very smoothly. It didn’t take long to take down the old fence. The new fence was sturdy with large wooden posts spread over longer distances as well as steel posts spaced closer together. We even installed a solar powered electric fence to keep livestock from trying to break the fence down.
Saturday night we had a bonfire. On Sunday after we finished the fence we considered going into Cyclops but we didn’t have enough time. Instead, we went into another cave on the property. Sallymander is a small vertical cave. We saw at least four salamanders on the way in. I think it’s safe to say the cave lived up to its name.
Thanks to Flittermouse grotto for letting TriTrogs join you in your efforts! You can tell Flittermouse has been caving together for a long time. They get along with each other really well! They’re a hoot!
Paige Owens takes a group selfie 
Sam McDonald, Derek Hall, John Brier, Matt Brown, John Cristie, Ben Robinson, Mike Yang. Zach Lemcke, Kimberly Lughart, Emily Kwiatkowski 
Zach instructs Paige, T.O., Kim, Sam, Matt, and Ben Robinson 
The beautiful cyclops property 
Sean Sinor removes the old fence 
John removes vegetation grown around the old fence 
Kim cleaning up a mess 
Sam McDonald on his tractor driving stakes with Matt Brown 
That’s a lot of teamwork! 
Scot McCrea watches the group augur holes for the wooden posts 
Sean, Emily, Kim, and T.O. setting quick concrete around a post 
Sean, Kim, and Scott set up the new fence 
The neighbor’s horses really wanted to eat the tall grass on the Cyclops property. We ran them off 
One of the beautiful horses 
Emily Kwiatkowski fiddles. Flittermouse banner in the distance 
Saturday night bonfire 
Mike Yang uses wire to secure the fence to posts 
Hooking the fence to the posts 
Tightening the new fence 
The group “tests” the electric fence 
Matt Brown descending into Sallymander cave 
Derek Hall on his way into Sallymander cave 
Inside Sallymander cave 
Sallymander cave lived up to its name. Several salamanders were seen
