Cave Exploring With The Louisville Grotto Club

Going Down Under With The Louisville Grotto Club

by Heather Daily

Publication Date: March 2001

When I was in middle school, my dad and I went on a spelunking tour in one of the caves at Carter Caves State Park in Kentucky. The family had gone on a few other tours that were strictly for tourist and involved no crawling. However, being the daredevils we are, my dad and I pursued something a little more thrilling. We padded up and registered for the tour of Salt Peter Cave that was guided by state park staff. We crawled around in the cave for hours in areas where we slithered on our stomachs and the ceiling came within an inch of our backs. It was a great adventure that I've always remembered and wanted to do again.

Being the daughter of the publisher of Extremz Magazine does have its advantages. My long-time wish recently came true, when dad called me and asked if I was interested in going on a caving tour that involved rappelling down a 100-foot cliff inside the cave! There was only one answer...of course I did! He put me in touch with Larry Martin, one of the Louisville Grotto Club members, who invited my husband Nick and me along on one of their recent trips.

We met on a windy, Sunday afternoon with Larry and a few other Grotto members. We followed them to Breckinridge County to a dairy farm located out in the middle of nowhere. The Grotto members went inside and talked with the landowner where the cave was located to let him know we were there. Shortly thereafter, we parked our cars and began to gear up.

The club loaned us kneepads, helmets and other necessary gear for caving. We packed our supplies and headed off towards the woods. We walked for about fifteen minutes and came to a hole in the ground located out in the middle of a cow field. This was the entrance to Raymond Cave. Inside this little hole was an extremely beautiful cave, not what you would expect out on a diary farm.

After figuring out how to turn on my head-lamp, I slid down the sloping ground and into the opening of the cave. Located a few feet ahead was a grate-like door that blocked the entrance to the cave. Steve and Ted explained that the Louisville Grotto Club put the door up to keep unwanted guests out - people that is. The door was designed so that bats could travel in and out of the cave. I later found out that the bat population had increased since the gate had been installed.

I was getting very excited and ready to begin our adventure. We crawled on our knees for a little while (thank goodness for kneepads) and came to a passage we had to crawl through on our bellies. The end of the passage opened into a small room filled with beautiful, new formations and little pools of water. This room was called the Crystal Palace. A few of us stopped while Nick took pictures of the formations with the aide of Larry and Steve. The others went ahead to set up the climbing equipment for our rappel.

Scott led us to the next stopping point - a large room known as the Registration Room. There on the top of a stone was a plastic jug with a notebook and pencil. It was placed there in 1996 for people to sign as they travel through the cave. Of course we signed and added to the history. The registration Room was above the pit where we were going to rappel.

As the others went to setup, Steve took Nick and me to another room nearby. The room was almost totally covered in crystal formations. Nick got out the camera and took a few pictures as I sat and talked with Steve while admiring the view. I was finally able to ask some questions; like how many members belonged to the Louisville Grotto Club and what kinds of things they do? Steve said there were about 60 members in the Louisville Grotto and several clubs around the country. They organize trips to cleanup caves and survey new caves. But, one of the main things they do is install bat-friendly doors to keep vandals out. Some of the members are also involved in rescue missions involving caves. The Louisville Grotto puts on an annual festival called the SPELEOFEST, where people from all over the country come to a weekend-long caving fun-for-all, usually held somewhere in Kentucky.

After we finished exploring this room, we headed back to the Registration Room. From there we crawled around a bit, slid down a little slope and popped up in the room where we would be making our descent into the pit. Ted asked who would like to go first, and I volunteered Nick. We geared-up in safety equipment and Andy rappelled down first to backup as safety at the bottom of the pit. Nick followed Andy, and then Larry.

After a while, Nick appeared over the top of the ledge and then it was my turn to rappel. I have to admit I was a little afraid of rappelling into a 140 foot deep, pitch-black pit with only my head-lamp to lead the way. Larry helped me get set on the rope and over the edge. Since the rope was wet, it was a little tough getting started. However, once I was over the edge it was easy going. Larry shouted down for me to stop for a minute and look around. I did and it really hit how big of a hole I was in.

One of the guys later informed me that the pit was 140 feet deep. The width of the cave was about 100 feet, by sixty feet. It was amazing and I soon forgot any fear that I might have had. It only took a few minutes to get to the bottom, and then Andy and Scott helped me get setup for my ascent up the rope.

This was the most physically challenging thing I had ever done. The rope went through a series of gadgets; one on the left foot, one to the inner side of your left knee, and finally up through a brace that was attached to a metal plate in the middle of the chest. They told me it was like climbing a ladder - just pull one foot up and then the next, then push the other device up with your hands. I had never had this much trouble climbing a ladder in my life. I would go up about five steps and have to stop for a bit. I made it halfway up the wall and didn't think I could make the rest. Nick and Larry were at the top coaching me up the rest of the way. I finally made it and was glad to be back on solid ground again.

Eventually Scott and Andy appeared over the edge, and we packed up the equipment and headed back for civilization. We carried backpacks in with us containing our gear. The weight of the packs at the beginning of the trip seemed heavy. However, on the way out of the cave, my back felt as though someone had stashed a ton of rocks into my pack.

We scrambled through the same way we had entered and were soon at the cave entrance. As we climbed the muddy hill, I looked back and was a little upset it was over. We were in the cave about half the day and had a great time.

I would like to personally thank Larry Martin, Steve Gentry, Ted Burke, Scott Cundif, Andy Erickson, Bill Napper and Kim Webb for showing us a great time and teaching us about the things the Louisville Grotto Club does for caves in our area. For more info on the Louisville Grotto Club call (502)955-5593 or visit their website at www.caves.org/grotto/louisvillegrotto