SLIPPIN’ INTO DARKNESS
“Slippin’ into darkness
Take my
mind beyond the dreams”
From “Slippin’ Into
Darkness” by War
A
few months ago I was talking with my friend Stephanie when the conversation
turned to caving. She had gone caving
with her uncle a few times when she was younger and she was interested in
getting more into the sport. I had done
some caving in college and the years that followed. Unfortunately I started to really get
interested in it when the White Nose Syndrome began decimating bat colonies
throughout the eastern United States.
Most of the caves were closed, putting a halt to my pursuit of the
sport. Unfortunately the closures did
nothing to prevent the spread of the disease, which continues to progress
westward. Some caves have re-opened,
though many of the caves on public property remain officially closed.
My
conversation with Stephanie got me thinking about caving again. I touched base with a friend of mine, Rocky,
who has been exploring caves most of his life.
Most of my previous caving experience had been with Rocky, and he was
open to leading a small group in Worley’s Cave.
Worley’s is near Bluff City, Tennessee, and is one of the few
significant wild caves open to the public that is a reasonable drive from
Charlotte. Ironically, Stephanie had
been to Worley’s previously, but that had been years earlier. She was eager to go back.
We
planned a trip in January, thinking that cold, wet weather wouldn’t be a
hindrance since there is no weather underground. The temperature in Worley’s Cave stays in the
mid-50’s no matter what is going on above ground.
The
biggest blizzard of the year swept through the mountains of eastern Tennessee
two days before our trip, dropping over a foot of snow. On the day before the trip, Rocky called the
owner of the cave, who lives a short distance from the entrance. He told Rocky that we wouldn’t be able to get
there. I was inclined to take that as a
challenge, but I could tell that Rocky wasn’t comfortable with sticking to the
original plan. Reluctantly, we decided
to postpone the trip.
It
took 6 weeks, but we finally got to Worley’s Cave on March 6th. Unfortunately Scott dropped out at the last
minute, but we still had a great group.
My wife Christy and I picked up Rocky in Black Mountain Sunday
morning. Rocky’s wife Marrion dropped him off, and it was great to see Marrion again after several years. We then drove up to Weaverville where we met
Spencer, Stephanie, and Thomas (The Badger).
Everyone was in good spirits and ready to go underground.
We
drove from Weaverville up to Bluff City, TN and on to the owner’s house. We met the owner on his front porch, where we
all signed a release form and paid the $8 per person fee. We then drove down to the parking area at the
beginning of the short trail down to the entrance to the cave. The parking area was crowded. There were 2 or 3 vans full of students from
Elon University, a van full of students from Western Carolina University, and
some folks from the Flittermouse Grotto of the National Speleology
Society. It seemed that the cave would
be crowded, which was a concern.
Fortunately it is a big cave, and the various groups seemed to spread
out as the day went on. Early in the
trip there were always other folks around, but is the day progressed we found
ourselves largely on our own.
We
descended a rocky, eroded trail to the entrance to the cave. Actually there are two entrances. The lower entrance is adjacent to the stream
that flows out of the cave. That passage
requires wading in the creek. The upper level is mostly dry, though most of the
cave is covered in slick mud.
After
a quick group photo we walked in a short distance before stopping for a brief
orientation. Rocky went over the plan
for the day and discussed safety issues.
Then it was time to explore!
Initially
I had trouble adjusting to walking in the cave.
The floor of the cave is littered with rocks of all shapes and sizes,
and virtually everything is covered in slick mud. After a few minutes I began to get accustomed
to the awkward walking style that was necessary to stay upright. For most of the day, I really had to think
about the placement of each foot.
Eventually I became more comfortable as I learned to trust my footing
and balance.
The
entrance passage seemed straight-forward, but we actually passed three
junctions without noticing them.
According to the map, we passed two passages that descend to the stream
level. We also missed the junction with
the Railroad Passage. The Railroad
Passage is a lengthy side trip to the Tower of Pizza and Peccary Avenue. There used to be another entrance directly
into Peccary Avenue, but it collapsed some time ago.
We
reached a side passage heading up to the right, but didn’t see it noted on our
maps. The Elon kids were returning from
exploring it, and reported that it led into a small room with no exit. Just beyond this point we had a choice
between a high route and a low route. The
high route is called the Hanging Remnant Passage on my map. Spencer, Stephanie, and Thomas went that way,
while Rocky, Christy and I took the easy way.
We met back up on the far side and headed into the Waterfall Room.
The
Waterfall Room features a low-volume spray coming from the ceiling. The water comes down on an impressive
flowstone, which was one of the more notable features of the day. We had already passed some nice formations,
including stalagmites, stalactites, columns, and flowstones. However, there was a lot more treasure to
come!
Somewhere
along here we passed along a ledge with a big drop into a deep pool. That section was thrilling. I’m not sure if those pools are part of the
stream channel or if they are separate features.
Just
beyond the Waterfall Room we crossed some Rimstone
with pools of shallow water. That led to
the first major junction of the day.
Here, it is easy to descend down to the stream channel. Our plan though was to climb the Devil’s
Staircase into the upper passage. After
exploring part of it, we would descend a connecting passage to reach the lower
passage farther upstream. We would wade
downstream to the base of the Devil’s Staircase and then backtrack out to the
upper entrance.
The
Devil’s Staircase was the biggest single challenge of the day. The initial climb is only 8’ or so, but it is
vertical and the slick mud walls are hard to hold on to. We had brought a rope, but the group from
Flittermouse Grotto had already tied one off.
They let us use their rope, which eliminated the need for someone to
free climb this stretch. Christy had a
tough time here, as she is still recovering from shoulder surgery last
August. She made it, though it was
painful.
From
there, a short climb led to the second tricky section. Spencer and Stephanie had already climbed it,
and they tied off a rope for the rest of us.
That made the climb much easier.
Once beyond it we took a side passage out to a balcony that overlooks
the Waterfall Room. We had lunch there
and Rocky treated us to one of his stories.
After
lunch we reached an unexpected junction.
The passage ahead was flooded, but an alternate route goes up and around
that area. Spencer and Stephanie took
the high road, while the rest of us waded through ankle deep water.
Next
we passed through a subterranean lake with more Rimstone. This stretch was beautiful, but fancy
footwork was needed to get through without getting wet. We managed though, and soon found ourselves
in the Fairies Ballroom. This section
was the most beautifully decorated portion of the cave that we explored. It features massive columns, flowstones, and
draperies. It was breathtaking, and I
made some serious attempts at photography there. I didn’t have high hopes for photography in
the cave, and while most of my photos were garbage, I did come up with a few
gems. Some of the best were from this
section of the cave.
From
there we wandered through the Giants Causeway and into the Signature Room. We didn’t find it, but apparently E.S. Worley
signed his name on the wall of the cave somewhere in there. Beyond that room we crossed the Eggshell
Walkway, which features hollow areas under the floor. It is best to walk lightly there. Farther on we reached an area with a passage
heading up to the right and another leading down to the left. We ran into the Flittermouse Grotto folks
again, and they thought the downward passage led to the stream. They explored that way, but reached a dead
end.
We
headed right, and reached a scary spot with two deep pits. A narrow spine of rock bridges them. It is possible to avoid that bridge, but
doing so requires a good bit of scrambling.
The Flittermouse folks strode across the rock bridge confidently, making
it look easy. Christy was tired of
scrambling, and she followed. I followed
her, and was relieved that the rock bridge was one of the least slippery
stretches of the cave.
Just
beyond we reached another junction. The
main passage continues to the right, while the connection to the stream and
lower passage is down and to the left.
It isn’t obvious, as it begins with a short crawl. Rocky and Christy decided to take a break
there, while the rest of us explored a bit farther in the main channel. Our initial exploration brought us to a dead
end. We doubled-back, found the correct
route, and wandered into a huge room. We
climbed a giant pile of rocks to reach a high bench. At the time Spencer said that it was like
climbing a mountain underground. Later I
noticed that one of my maps labels this chamber the Mountain Room.
We
rejoined Rocky and Christy and spent a few minutes with our lights off,
meditating in the darkness. It was a
great experience. The darkness was
complete, and the only sound was the occasional drip of water in the distance. After the trip, Stephanie wrote a poetic
description of the experience. These are
her words, but I don’t think this trip report can be complete without them:
“Caves affect me differently than other
places. The perfect darkness, the singular drops of water echoing through
tunnels, the still and humid air.... It's so relaxing. It feels cozy, with the
whole mountain pressing down on you. You feel like you could hold the mountain,
as it holds you.”
We
turned our lights back on and resumed the adventure. A brief crawl led to a sharp descent that was
part scramble, part butt-slide. We
bottomed out at the subterranean stream.
I’d been dreading this part, since it involves wading in cold
water. Ironically, it turned out to be
my favorite part of the cave. The
underground river passes through a tunnel that it has carved out of the
rock. In places it reminded me of a
subway tunnel – long and straight, with curved walls. Although the water was cold and the current
was strong, it was rarely more than ankle deep.
In a couple of places it came up over the knee, but those sections were
brief.
The
underground river was enthralling, but by that point I thought the grandeur was
behind us. I was wrong. The river entered a wider chamber, where we
found more columns, stalagmites, stalactites, flowstones, and draperies. We waded among those spectacular features,
taking in the majesty of it all.
We
continued wading downstream. Before long
the tunnel opened up into a large room. We
were back at the base of the Devil’s Staircase.
Our return in the stream was a lot faster than our exploration of the
upper passage! One guidebook states that
it isn’t possible to follow the river downstream from here because of multiple
sumps. However, Stephanie told us that
on her previous trip they had continued through the stream all the way out to
the lower entrance. When we go back (and
we will) I’d like to try that route. I’d
like to explore upstream from where we joined it, too. Who knows what else we might find?
The
hike out from there followed the same route we had covered earlier in the
day. It was largely uneventful, although
Christy’s light and Thomas’ light both began to fade. They both switched to backup lights for the
final stretch. When caving, it is
critical to bring at least 3 sources of light for every person.
Leaving the cave was disorienting, like we’d
just returned to Earth after an extended absence. Everything was so bright, and colorful. The birds were singing, and ….the
smells! There were numerous distinct
smells – all of which I’d completely failed to notice on the way in. We paused at the entrance for a few minutes
to let our senses adjust to the stimuli.
Then we began the short but steep hike back up to the cars.
The
parking area features picnic tables, changing rooms, and a porta-potty. We made use
of those amenities, as everyone was eager to change out of wet, muddy
clothes. From there, we took a little
side trip to check out Big Springs on the Holston River. We parked at a boat ramp and walked down to
the river. The spring is fairly
impressive, as there is lot of water joining the river there. It isn’t much to look at though, particularly
since a large tree has fallen across the spring.
The
drive back to Asheville was long. The
highlight was a brilliant Sundog that stayed with us for nearly 30
minutes. Once in Asheville we stopped at
the Lucky Otter for dinner. That proved
to be the ideal ending to a great day!
I
definitely want to return to Worley’s Cave.
There is a lot more there that we didn’t have time for. Between the Railroad Passage, the
continuation of the main passage beyond the Mountain Room, and portions of the
underground river we didn’t explore, the potential for adventure is
abundant. I’d like to camp in there
sometime, too. I’ll bet that is an
amazing experience. Beyond Worley’s,
there are some other caves that I want to explore, mainly in Tennessee,
Virginia, and West Virginia.
“There
is a place on the mountain nearby
Deep in a cave
but it's up rather high
There in the darkness are safely concealed
All of the dreams
that you never revealed
And if you go there
and after you do
All of these dreams
would be yours to pursue
The rest of your lifetime
devoid of a care
If you keep your eyes open
you may find yourself there
Such is the promise
such is the curse
You could just live your life
better or worse
Knowing the cache of dreams
up on that hill
Beckons and sways
but won't bend to your will
You might find a river
under a mountain
That feeds a remote subterranean fountain
Drink from this, taste
just a hint of a dream
That somehow leaked into
the underground stream”
“All of These Dreams” by Phish
(Anastasio/Marshall/Herman)
© Who Is She? Music, BMI
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