Building Sandcastles in a Cave! Lockridge- CAVING BEGINNER

OVERVIEW

Do you like swimming? Do you like caving? Do you like building sandcastles? Do you wanna reawaken your inner child? It is finally Lockridge time!! And one of our fabulous cavers, Laurel, thought of the immaculate idea of building sandcastles on this little bit of sand in the cave. We will also have some time to explore and go in a little passage that has some cool cave coral! This is a super easy water cave with no tight crawls or hard climbs BUT you do have to do some swimming at the entrance. Super doable and honestly you can touch the bottom most of the way. For the entrance, your head will always be above the water so no worries. The rest of the cave is walkable for the most part. It’s actually so fun. If you have any concerns please please please contact me I can explain in more detail. I promise you can do it!

*** Need a driver! Priority off the waitlist!

Schedule:
10:00 – Leave Echols
12:00 – Arrive at cave, go over safety/conservation information
12:30 – Start caving
3:30 – Finish caving and head back to car
6:00 – Back at Charlottesville

Gear: You absolutely need all the gear listed! Please contact me ASAP if you cannot get everything on this list! This is a very intimidating list so please please please contact me with any concerns!

Gear we have:
– Caving helmet
– No fewer than 2 working headlamps
– Gloves
–Wetsuits

Gear to Bring:
– Water
– Snack/Lunch
– 24 hour emergency food supply (just anything that can last you a days worth of meals, worst case scenario kind of item)
– A container for any human waste – pack it in, pack it out (like a screwable Tupperware, old water bottle, etc.)
– Clothes that can get dirty/ripped/ruined (Long pants, and long sleeves are mandatory- please try to avoid cotton at least for socks)
– Close toed shoes that can get dirty/ripped/ruined (sneakers, hiking boots, anything like this works)
– At least 1 spare light (can be a headlamp or flashlight or even your phone )
– A bag or backpack that can get dirty/ripped/ruined (can be found at the gear room as well, I will also have some extras)
– Clean clothes/shoes for the car (Please please! Also make sure you bring layers! It is still a little chilly out! )

Gear we have extra but please first try to bring your own. If you cannot get your own please notify us ASAP:
– A trash bag for hypothermia kit (Hefty trash bags work well)
– Trash bag for dirty clothes, shoes, and backpack (make sure it’s big enough and can be the same trash bag as hypothermia kit)
– AAA batteries (like 6)
– Dry bags for your phone and other things you don’t want to get wet. Ziplocs work.

Important notes:
– You MUST read the Caving Checklist provided by the club. It can be found under the Resources tab on the website. I have also linked it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lv1Hz8qOIvGb0BgVwFrU6NH1EyT3wPqt/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115487946960226883937&rtpof=true&sd=true
– You are responsible for gathering all of your own equipment. Most of the gear is available at the club’s gear room.
– You should be comfortable being in the dark.
– Because caving is such a dangerous sport, I will be very strict in ensuring you have the proper equipment (i.e., if you are not properly equipped with EVERYTHING mentioned above, you are not entering the cave). Please please let me know and I will help you get all the gear you need!
– It is a good idea to not have anything massively important scheduled for the evening of the trip in the unlikely event we are delayed. But I absolutely need to be back in Charlottesville by 7 so we will be trying our best to make sure we are not getting back later than this.

If you have any questions or concerns or are unable to pick up gear, my phone number is (970) 294- 8781 (Allie), (757) 985-9543 (Lillie) or (804) 270-8009 (Josh) . Also feel free to reach out to me if you just want to talk about the trip! Caving is very intimidating so literally contact me about ANYTHING. See you all Sunday!