On February 19, 1994, a group of coworkers where I currently worked, along with my caving partner, John Wallace, were hiking the ridge above Pettyjohn Cave in Pigeon Mountain in northeast Georgia. After locating four potential dig sites, we opened one and named it Patrick Cave. The next day, Doug Dewitt and I went back and mapped out the little cave.
The sink was large with trees growing in the bottom, as we checked the edges, Doug was starting to pick at a soft spot in the center with Patrick watching. Soon we began to take turns enlarging the hole.
The cave consisted of two small rooms. The first room was five feet high and six feet wide. There was a narrow hole at the bottom that might be a good place to dig. The room was full of roots with dirt on top. Another smaller room five feet wide and three and a half feet high was on the north side. Level lift was 18.9 feet and total lift was 22.8 feet. The well at the bottom was not opened. It would most likely drain into Pettyjohn Cave as we were directly above the cave, high up on the mountainside.
On February 20, 1994, we also mapped a small cave under a large rock, Sophie Cave, a large room with many spiders. Sophie was Doug’s other white Lab. The back of the cave rose to a height of seven feet, full of spiders, we call it Spider Cathedral. Another five-foot opening along the creek was pushed into a low excavation where the sound of rushing water could be heard below. As curiosity got the better of us, we pushed deeper and deeper into the unknown to see where it led, but we couldn’t get past the stream below.
This cave did not have a name, as it could not leave the light of day. This is how many caves start, curious cavers checking out holes in the ground. Digging a bit, mapping what they found and then more cavers coming back to check more and dig more.
New discoveries are made in three ways. First-time visitors to a familiar cave, without a map, will often discover an overlooked passage near the entrance or deeper as they search for a way forward. Often, cavers familiar with a cave will rush to the end, missing possible clues.
Another way to discover new passages is to carefully map the cave as you go, checking and mapping all possible crawls and climbs. This is the best and most rewarding way.
The last and most common is to simply push and dig all the possible holes that can be found. Some have even created their own caves by following a rocky outcrop or crevice until it opens up into something larger.
Biologists divide cave animals into three types: trogloxenes, troglophiles, and troglobites, or cave visitors, cave lovers, and cave prisoners.
Trogloxenes are those animals that briefly visit the cave, usually just inside the lighted entrance. Raccoons can use the entrance as a burrow, or snakes can stay cool during the heat of the day. These are temporary residents.
Troglophiles are cave lovers. They especially like the cool, moist, dark environment of the cave, and can spend their entire lives there. However, they could just as easily spend their lives somewhere else that is cold, dark, and damp, like under a rock. Many types of salamanders typify this class, cave crickets also belong here.
Troglobites are the true cave dwellers. They have evolved for this life; they can’t leave. They are usually blind, white and the case of the fish will hide under your feet if you stand still in the water.
As a troglodyte, I always think of caves and explore them in my mind, when in reality I can’t go there.