Caving trip

Hey, Sunnyhillers, most of you know by now that I am an avid caver (one who
explores natural, undeveloped caves). Many of you have expressed interest
levels ranging from genuine to morbid curiosity in my hobby. Some of you
have been so bold as to approach me and say you think you'd like to tag
along sometime. To this my response is, GREAT!

Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 5. I have reserved a group trip
into the wild, undeveloped area of Laurel Caverns. I need 6 to get the
group rate of $18/person, group max size is 16 (I think, gotta double
check). The time slot I have is 2pm-5pm, I would suggest we meet at
Sunnyhill at 11:30am. Laurel Caverns is located east of Uniontown, PA on
US40, atop Chestnut Ridge (and the view on a clear day is stupendous!) The
cave trip is into the undeveloped part of the cave: No lights, no walkways,
no hand rails, no tourist trails, the cave is pretty much in its natural
state (for as much visitation it gets). You will need grungy clothes, and a
change of clean clothes.

This is a great trip for folks who think they may be interested in caving,
but want something relatively easy to start (I was 8 years old when I
started doing this cave trip with my dad, due to insurance issues these days
the minimum age is 12). Because this is a trip into undeveloped cave, there
is no access for those with physical disabilities (sorry). You will be
climbing over underground rocks, walking through a shallow stream, and doing
a minimal amount of crawling and squeezing (for a wild cave trip, this one
really is pretty easy).

How did this trip come to be? I had originally reserved this trip for my
high school youth group, but interest in anything this year on their part
has been dismal at best, so I decided rather than scrapping it to offer it
to you Sunnyhillers. Most of the caves I do are the "hike through the woods
to the hole in the ground and go in" type, completely wild, no fees, guides,
etc. but this is a real good into to the sport.

If you are interested, here is a website with more information:
http://www.matheia.com/caving.htm . Please read over the information on
this website so you know how to prepare and what to expect (I can print it
for you if you need me to, let me know). You will need to sign a waiver to
go in (insurance reasons, again...). There will be a signup sheet on the
bulletin board at the bottom of the stairway where you can sign up. Because
I need to keep track of the group size, I need folks to sign up.

Hope all of you who are interested can make this!

Carl Pierce

(PS - Hey Spiritways Pagans, get to know our Earth Mother in a new and
intimate way!)