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TAG Fall Cave In 2002 - TAG Pitting (Saturday) Brian Williams Pics: Brian Williams, Caren Beck, Team Vinzant Part 2 of 2 (Part 1) The next morning R.D. was up and ready to go while we were still scrambling to get our gear together. The great thing about the TAG House is you can hike to pits all over Low Gap. The bad part is that if R.D. Jones is the guide, you are going to be running through the woods just to keep up. Now for us folks that are used to living at sea-level it's bit more than just a hike across those mountains. "Where's R.D. ? Oh there he is, way up there waiting on the rest of us to catch up…again". I'm not going to be in any shape to do any pits if we keep this pace up. We finally found a pit called Mystic Well which turned out to be a nice little 70 footer with some formations but no passage. Dropped this pit and snapped some photos before moving just down the hill to explore Mystic Cave. This was a small hole in the ground that was actually a pit you could climb down into and a small cave at the bottom. Lots of nice pretties here. After a short break at this cave it was off to find Moses Tomb. We knew about where it was but still had trouble finding it from that side of the gap. Up the hill, down the hill, across the creek, back across the wash, down the ridge, it's around here somewhere. Another group of cavers got there just ahead of us and rigged for the 230 ft. drop. Moses Tomb is just a body-sized hole which bells out as you go down, so there is only room for one rope. After dragging through the woods for a couple of hours we were ready for a much needed break so we waited on the other group of 4. As we approached the pit, one of members of the other group looked at the 7 of us and said, "Hey, pretty big group you got there." I think it was Andy that had the best response, "Yea, but we climb faster than you guys." Gotta love that ! We finally were able to rig the pit and do the drop. This is where 2-way radios really come in handy. The drop is mostly in the dark but that only helps a little with the feeling of "exposure". Talk about scary. Something about that 200 ft. mark. Not that you are going to die any harder on a 200 ft drop as you are on a 50 ft. drop, but still….So we all made it out on rope-walkers with the exception of Caren who insisted frogging out. Very impressive climb but I do remember the first words she sputtered at the top, "Got…to…get…my…rope-walker…working…" Young Andy volunteered to be the last out and we pulled the rope just as another 2 cavers were heading up to drop the pit. Next we struggled up the hill on "jello" legs to a small pit known as Jacobs Pretty Pit. This was a short 45 ft. drop into a small cave where the staggering display of formations helped this pit really live up to it's name. Took some photos then headed out. Over the hills and through the woods, back to the TAG house we go. Next stop was the Depot in Rising Fawn for more yummy veggies and 'nanner pudding". Made it back to the campground in time to take a shower and catch the bonfire party and fireworks display. Now I know where that extra money for registration went this year, great fireworks show and lots of fun around the fire although it was so warm this year it kept everyone well spread out. After visiting with other FSSers and swapping stories of our day, we headed back to the TAG house for another nights quiet sleep. The next morning found us heading back up the mountain behind the house looking for Sandstone Monument Cave, aka, Kellys. Passing numerous pits along the way we continued up hill looking for the giant sandstone rock that marked the site of Kellys 75 ft. entrance drop. It's funny how many small pits we passed up on the way. We'd stop and drop a rock down the pit and listen, "Nah, that ones only about 40 ft. deep , that's not the one we are looking for." We did find Kellys after a 45 minute hike and it was one of the most interesting caves of the weekend. The entrance pit is a small squeeze down a formation covered wall to the bottom which was littered with dead critters. It smelled like dead critters down there too but we covered up the little bodies with rocks which helped. In various stages of decomposition we found frogs, a turtle, a chipmunk, and other unidentified remains. Lots of live salamanders here and we also rescued one cold, skinny garter snake. The rest of the cave was fairly technical with a great corkscrew passage that lead further down until it terminated in a huge dome room with a 40 ft.? pit hanging lots of formations. We did not drop this pit as the lip was actually a crack in the floor and would probably need a bolt for a re-direct in order to safely make the drop. Matt and Sully ended up going to the bottom of another pit in the passage that pinched out at the bottom too tight but kept going. There's more to explore in this cave and I know it's one we will be back to. The FSS had a great crowd there and it looks like everyone got to see a lot of caves and the new folks there for the first time had some great experiences. Picture Captions: 1. Getting rigged and ready at Mystic 2. Woody going down in Mystic Well 3. On rope, and heading out 4. Caren and Brian near the goodies in Mystic Cave 5. Woody and Andy stand by as RD checks the rig at Moses Tomb 6. Caren on rope and at the Tomb entrance 7. Happy Campers 230 feet below the opening 8. We are really , really deep 9. Grab Brian's butt, that will make him forget about the climb 10. Caren "Frogs" out of the Tomb 11. Andy gets a helping hand at the top 12. Matt Vinzant and the multiple strobe shot of Moses Tomb 13. The drop into Jacobs Pretty Pit 14. Pretties in the pit 15. The small opening to Kelly Cave's 75 ft. pit 16. Andy explores the corkscrew passage 17. Woody finds a way up 18. Matt and Brian find a way down
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