Sites - 2/01/2025
Harriet Flynn Reporting:
On Saturday, February 2, Eric, Casey, Madison, and I met up in Franklin, WV at 10:30am before heading to Sites Cave. This cave trip was a scouting trip for future grotto trips and for Eric to scout for taking some Syracuse students down in March.
We drove down the road and after a few wrong turns trying to find the parking area we made it (it was covered in snow and hard to tell that there was a gravel lot there). Unfortunately, Eric's 10mil 300 ft rope had gotten stuck in the mail so Casey brought his 9mil 300 ft rope for us to use. He measured it out in his living room the night before.
Before we could get to the cave we had to cross the creek which was flowing strong and fast after the Friday rain and all the recent snow melt. Everyone took their own approach to get across, some being more successful than others. Eric definitely kept his shoes and feet the driest whereas my entire right foot ended up in the creek. We hiked the driveway and up the hill to the cave entrance where Casey and Eric set up the safety line and then rigged the rappel rope.
Eric headed down the 275 foot rappel at 12:25pm. Since the way down was so deep and had a few turns there was no view from the top to the bottom and we couldn't hear each other. We had no idea if Eric had made it to the bottom (he was yelling up to us to say he was "off rope!" but we had no idea). After 20 minutes we figured all was good and I headed down next, then Madison, then Casey. All four of us made it to the bottom by 1:37pm.
This was the longest rappel any of us had done and Madison and I found the section where you couldn't see light above or see any headlamps below the hardest part. Casey got caught up on the Fickle Finger of Fate but managed to whip the rope off before he got too close.
Once we had a quick snack break we explored the bottom of the cave for 30 minutes and saw some very whimsical helictites as well as some large shields. Then it was time to head back up. We knew we needed plenty of time to get to the top and I was on a time constraint for getting back to Harrisonburg.
Eric headed up first with the plan of pulling on the rope several times once he made it to the surface. We waited about 25 minutes and then saw the rope moving so I headed up next. Turns out that he had not made it out yet but I did feel the rope being pulled on when I was about 20 ft up. Madison waited about 25 minutes after I began and then began her accent. We saw each other as I approached the top and then she stood on a ledge to give me some slack so I could make it over the final ledge at the surface. Madison got caught up to the Fickle Finger of Fate and had to ascend her way over to the finger to get the rope off of it and then she did a spin and a little swing before continuing up the rope.
Eric began his accent at 2:25pm as the first person and Casey made it to the top as the last person at 4:30pm. Casey was the fastest person up and it took him about 25 minutes. I took the longest with about 45 minutes after getting caught up on the last ledge.
We all made it out, headed down the hill, forged the creek and made it back to the car by 5:15pm.
If you are ever thinking about doing Sites cave you need to know/ have the following:
1) 300 ft of rope
2) 30 ft of webbing or rope for the safety line
4) 3 rope pads
3) full vertical gear for each person
4) complete the permit. PERMIT IS REQUIRED. You will also be given a combination for the gate lock.
5) each person going must have done a 75ft rappel before
6) the endurance to climb for 25-45 minutes straight
