Philadelphia Grotto of the NSS

09/04/2026

Philly Grotto 9/3/26 Meeting Summary

This was an online meeting. There was no presentation but some interesting input was had from the attendees.

Finn is a new member who is looking to gain some experience caving for her colleagues who are about to do a bio archeological caving trip.

Nate is looking to do a caving trip to a non-solution cave on the Appalachian trail. This would in the pulpit rock- pinnacle area and require about a five mile hike from the parking area.

Jeremy D. wants to line up trips to the Shippensburg area and a cave in Philadelphia.

Amos will be hosting Cavers at the Philly Grotto Virginia Field House where large Virginia caves are nearby on “Cavesgiving” the weekend before Thanksgiving, November 21-23.

Other attendees were Alex N., Dia, Nick T., Jeremy and Sophi, David K, Joshua, James, Merily (who is caving back in Europe), Tomas who was in a Hermits dugout in Espana looking at an eclipse, Alexandra and Christian, and Allen Rush who gave us a nice talk about a new MAKC super maze cave in Western Pennsylvania.

Fall is coming! No better time to escape all of nature closing down and going into a hidey hole!

Steve Warnek reporting
With Editing by Amos

08/16/2026

Philly Grotto August 13, 2026 Meeting Summary

Eden Banker gave us presentation on caving in Florida and the TAG area. There is porous limestone area in Florida which presents opportunities for Cavers to make some progress down to the water table.

One cave in Florida was named "Helen Keller Cave" because it was right at the entrance area to the Withlacoochee State Forest that nobody saw it for a long time . In general, Hollow Ridge Cave is above water and did not have much to see but yielded an education for Eden and friends encountering bad air in cave. When they visited Hollow Ridge Cave. A video they took in cave there showed two of their party stacking loose mud upon each others hands with big smiles on their faces. Imagine seeing the frivolity if that and smiling then finding out that these folks were slowly being killed by the air. Luckily, the weakness and dizzyness and lack of judgement eventually caysed them to surface and enjoy fresh air as if they were getting a fresh bite out of a crisp apple .

Many fine pics were shared of TAG caves with comments from our fellow cavers who had also seen these wonders of nature. Tumbling Rocks Cave with six miles of passage took 10 hours to explore.

Rusty’s Cave keyhole entrance contained a 40’ entrance drop and then horizontal passage.

Steven’s Gap Cave has both a walk in and vertical entrance. It also has a water fall in the cave.

Neversink Cave is an open pit cave with 160 vertical on rope entrance.

Bible Cave is a beautiful Cave.

Kelly Cave sinkhole requires 129’ vertical drop.

Balcony Sink Cave has multiple vertical drops of 120’, 60’ and 50’.

Cedar Ridge Crystal Cave is a very highly decorated horizontal cave with parking near by.

Philly Grotto had 10 members at this years Mammoth Cave Week Long Restoration.

Those present in person at the August Philly Grotto Meeting were Jeremy H, Jeremy D, Sophi, Eden B, (presenter), Josh, David, Marcy, Amos, Greg, Lee, Alex, and Rein.

Attending on line were Steve W, William, Eric, and Nate.

The Grotto calendar of events was shown, and is available on the Philly Grotto Website.

Meeting Notes by Steve Warnek

07/18/2026

7/16/26 Philly Grotto Meering Summary

Though the smoke was thick in the air from the fires in Canada, there was a good crowd of 19 that showed up at Amos's place in Media. Marily, Sophi and Jeremy C., Jeremy D., Thomas, Autumn and Carey, Nick, Nate, Kathy and Will, Josh, Ethan, Shane, Sam, Marcy, Ian, Marika and Amos were those who were there in person. Jessica, Alex D., Ioannis (John in Greek), Joe D, Brian M., Eli, and I were on line.

Marily Vlontzou gave a presentation on vertical caves she has been to in Greece and she also explained the allure of Greece as per caves and caving. Caves are well decorated and plentiful in Greece. Expeditions on Crete are finding deep caves, one over 3000 feet deep. Marily was quite indulgent with us in that she did not mention any numbers in meters.

There is training to become a vertical caver. One obtains a level A proficiency when able to handle the ups and downs. A level B is attained when one is able to do the rigging for the level A folks.

Paleoanthropology is big there. Not only Neanderthals but pre Neanderthals are to be found going back over 100,000 years. There is a cave with a 23,000 year old human made wall which is the oldest human built structure in the World. Though only slightly bigger than Pennsylvania, Greece has 10,000 plus caves due to its' rugged coasts and plentiful limestone. Last but arguably greatest, Zeus was born in a cave and the entrance to the underworld is in a cave. Marily presented a side of Greece sure to entice any caver.

Jeremy D is running a beginner Wind Cave visit on July 25.

August 3 through 7th Mammoth Cave Restoration Week Long

August 22 BCCS Open House includes tours into Butler Cave in Bath County, Virginia

Labor Day Weekend OTR

MAR September 25 through 27th

The next meeting is August 13.

By Steve Warnek, edited by Amos

07/16/2026

Hi everyone! Don’t forget our monthly meeting is today the 16th at Amos Mincin backyard!!

Marily one of our newest member will be showcasing some caves from Greece!!

Hope to see you there or at Google meets!

When July 16th
Meet at 7:30 pm
Where:
Amos’ backyard
13 Levis Ave
Media Pa

Monthly Meeting
Thursday, July 16th•
7:30 – 9:30 PM
Google Meet joining info
Video call link:

06/06/2026

Philly Grotto 6/4/2024 Summary

We had our June meeting on the enclosed veranda at the Hawkins residence. With some tech help from Jeremy Davis, we were able to share with the online community.

Thomas, or Tomas as known in Latino America, Never ceases to produce high adventure content delivered in a matter of fact manner. In October 2025, Thomas went to a caving event in the Philippines. These events are only open to a few American cavers every year and Thomas was pleased to be on the list in '25. Thomas flew into Manilla then on to Mindanao. Each of the participants was there to contribute in some way to Philippine speleology. Sir Mico Cuevas (yes, that man has the name "Cuevas" which is "Cave" in Spanish) was the presider over events. Sir Cuevas is considered to be the best caver in many ways in the Philippines. As an aside, the May 2026 NSS News magazine did some articles written by Philippine authors about caving in the Sultan Kundarat area of Mindanao. These articles were real literature meant to waft one into the local cave culture, written by folks who live caves very differently from Americans. Anyways, Thomas wafted us into his adventure. In the short time he was there, there were 2 earth quakes and 2 typhoons. The cracks that formed in the building where he was staying were not considered consequential. Breakfast was at 5. Lunch at noon was breakfast leftovers. Trips to the caves were in army vehicles escorted by military personnel with ri**es due to insurgents. Everybody had to be out of cave by 5 to get home by dark. 2 groups of cavers managed to survey much of Latay Cave during this event. The attendees also gave a half hour presentation on caving at a Mandalay university. Thomas mentioned a non caver wildlife artist. Dao Van Huang could knock off sketches rapidly. He sketched and water colored Thomas and his group laying out rope for a 150 meter drop. The group also stayed on bamboo rafts in a large marsh that changes 30 feet in depth seasonally. Thanks for a good one, Thomas.

Amos, Stephen P, Steven W, Jeremy D, Jeremy H, Sophi, Jack V, Carrie and Autumn, Alex and Christian, Marily, Josh, Rain and Migell were in person and Jessica, Maroe, Joe, Michael and Nate were on line. No guarantees on the accuracy of that list.

JV mentioned Hawaii Cave week coming up January 17 through 23.

Perhaps the most consequential announcement of the year? Decade? Amos let us know that he owns Wishing Well Cave now. Wow! When I want to channel determined intensity towards achieving a smart outcome, I often channel Amos Mincin. You the Man, Amos.

Signing out, Steve Warnek.

05/11/2026

Philly Grotto Meeting 5/7/2026

The meeting was held in Amos’ yard and was attended in person by Jeremy Hush (Chairman), Sophi ReapTress (Vice Chair), Jeremy Davis (Treasurer/Membership Chair), Amos (Newsletter Editor), and member Nate.

On line attendance included Andrew Erickson (Gauntlet Program Presenter), Kevin Mulligan (Gauntlet Concept Creator), and the following members and guests: Cam L, Christen S, Eric H, Francisco, James C, Mary V, Jesica B, Ya He, and Mike B.

Summary of the Gauntlet Program:
Anyone from absolute beginner to vertical caving expert can participate in the activity. A rope course is set up in trees with every type of simulated obstacle one might encounter while doing vertical caving.
A typical course set up will take an experienced vertical caver 15 minutes to complete. The Gauntlet set up is often available at Regional and National Caving Events, where permitted.
Up to 1,000 meters of rope, 400 meters of webbing, 250 carabiners, 5 vertical sets and various obstacles are set up such as barrows,water hoses and pumps simulating wet passages in caves.
Some descriptions of the course obstacles include “the sideway squeeze”, Inclined Pipe”, “Pendulum Rig”, “Bird Cage” (re-belay in a barrel) “floaty pipe”, “J-Hang
(In and out), “Vertical 18” Pipe” (with optional water flow), “Tire Hang”, “Tarzan”, (rope to rope crossing), “Tension Traverse”, “Wall Taco”, Criling Traverse “, (guided lines like zip lines), “Short Rope” (repel into water).

The Gauntlet always needs volunteers of all abilities to help set up and take down the course; act as instructor; act as helpers, keep things organized and run smoothly and safely.

Donations are always welcome to purchase or upgrade gear and or obstacles.

More information may be found online at gauntlet.org. There is also a presence on Instagram.

The balance of the Grotto meeting each member told of the latest caves explored.

Thank you to all that attended and especially Andrew Erickson the presenter!

03/07/2026

Philly Grotto March 5, 2026 Meeting summary by Steve Warnek and enhanced by Irina.

The meeting started with the presentation on the evening.
Irina Tăbărană gave a thorough and fascinating description of the experiences she had while doing cave exploration in the Grand Canyon. Here are some of the items she talked about:
- finding new caves in the Grand Canyon means a lot of ridgewalking and spotting holes in the limestone wall (commonly called the Red Wall) that further would get checked out.
- the way to reach these caves in the Red Wall is by hiking off trail and using a rope to rappel. Sometimes, the rappels are too long, so come cave are reached from the bottom up.
- water sources are few and hard to find. some established camps for cave exploration are gathering water from drips off the walls into 5gallon buckets of water.
- caving in the Grand Canyon is only possible by collaborating with the National Park. Always have a permit to explore the caves. Not following NP procedure could get you kicked out of NP for a long time.
- Weather in the Grand Canyon is at times challenging. Make sure you take proper decisions when you adventure in the desert. For the Grand Canyon especially, there is 5000ft of elevation loss between most parking lots and the river. That creates between 20 and 30 degree F difference between the top and the bottom, usually beeing hotter as you lose elevation.
- Irina explored Doubble Bopper cave, a system that is over 30mi long and discovered two new caves. Both new caves were no longer than 150ft, but still great discoveries.
- Pictures of Double Bopper were shown during the presentation, that also included crazy Gypsum Formations and mummifided bats and other animals. Samples have been taken from the bats and some research articles were published. (Ancient bat remains illustrate the role of caves as habitat anchors in the temporally dynamic landscape of the Grand Canyon on JSTOR)
- Irina puts down Philly Grotto as her affiliated grotto on every form that is asking for it. Irina was chair of the grotto for one year in 2021.
It was a pleasant home coming and much interest was shown by the audience as seen by numerous questions.

Present at the meeting were: Marcy magness
Brian mayfield
Christian endres
Amos Mincin
Renee Fail
Tomas Hawkins
Nate toriello
Allen Rush
Joseph Adams
Raise Hagerty
Irina tabarana
Renee e
Kari Thomas
Rachel pendragon
Liz
James Conrad
Jeremy Davis
Kira
Jori
Alex
Francois
Sophi
Jeremy Hush
Lucas W
along with myself, Steven W.

Future trips:
- Pancake weekend is 20-22 of March. It's good time in Burnsville Cove. This is a weekend that is mostly focused on digging, either on surface, or underground. There is room to stay at Amos's place in VA (15 min out from Butler cave) or camping on BCCS property is available (the property that Butler Cave entrance is on). Please sign the online waiver for BCCS if you plan to visit Butler Cave or any of the other BCCS preserves. you can find the form here: BCCS Waiver
- MAR - May 1st thru 3rd. Regional caving event with a Pirate theme in central PA. There will be caving trips signups at the registration.
- VAR - 8-10 of May. Regional caving event in Virginia. There will be caving trips signups at the registration. Spring VAR 2026
- NRO - 15-17 of May. Regional caving event in New York. There will be caving trips signups at the registration.
- NSS Convention in Indiana July 6-10. 2026 NSS Convention - National Speleological Society

Grotto calendar can be found on the Philly Grotto website and you can even add it to your phone. This way you'll be up to date with all caving.

03/05/2026

Irina Tăbărană will be presenting about the Grand Canyon expedition for this month!
Join us online or in person

When March 5th
Meet at 7:30 pm
Where:
Woodshop
2810 E Victoria st
Philadelphia Pa 19134

Monthly Meeting
Thursday, March 5th•
7:30 – 9:30 PM
Google Meet joining info
Video call link:

11/22/2025

Dom sent the following about the incident at Carnegie Cave in the 60’s

Came across this video on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl4IOqo5COk&t=512s) that describes the tragedy that occurred in Carnegie Cave, PA, back in the 1960's soon after I-81 was built. When I first started doing beginner trips to Carnegie Cave back in the '80s, I think our trip leader at the time mentioned it, but no details.

Anyway, if you're interested, the URL is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl4IOqo5COk&t=512s
or if this doesn't work, search YouTube for
"Caver's Only Light Breaks 1000 Feet Into Cave"

Listen to Don't Mind: Cruxmont here on YouTube so you're all caught up for Don't Mind: Sealskin Rock on March 25th! ➡️ https://youtu.be/5kYDT4dLnsk?si=j85luz...

08/28/2025

The NSS is in need of a new membership department chair. The current chair has overfilled her plate and wants to step back. It's not a hard job but needs to be a person who keeps tabs on projects, can run Zoom meetings, encourage other members, and have creative ideas would not hurt.