They are still open year round. Several people have been killed in that cave.
A good friend of mine in the area completes that rappel every year. He spends several weeks training his team on how to handle different scenarios one might face while ascending or descending the Pit. This includes but is not limited to switching ropes in absolute darkness while inverted and being doused with cold water. Perhaps if those chaps would have trained with my buddy Bob Edwards first they would still be alive. I'm not interested in going to Ellison's and I don't recommend that we visit it either. We collectively don't have the skill set required to insure that everyone could negotiate it successfully.
It also takes a great investment of time, the caving part of this trip is but one small piece of several other things we could be doing. While I have never completed the Fantastic Pit rappel I have heard that it is quite the experience. Good suggestion, just way beyond the scope of this trip in my humble opinion!
-Bosley
From: UT Canoe and Hiking Club Discussion Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Weber, Jesse Clayton
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 2:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Pigeon Mountian Adventure - Ellison's Cave??
I guess this email is mostly for Isaac, but it also concerns anyone interested in the Pigeon Mountain Trip:
Do you know anything about the access to Ellison's Cave?
I've never been there, but from what I understand it's a public cave, you just have to drop registration in a box before you enter. But I know that two people died there just a few weeks ago so I don't know if the policy has changed..
The reason I'm wondering is I want to know if anyone would be interested in rappelling the Fantastic Pit, a 586 foot shaft inside Ellison's cave. I think it's the longest freefall drop in any North American cave. This cave requires multiple rappels, but Fantastic is by far the biggest. We would need to scrounge up some extra gear from UTOP or anyone that can lend it to us, because the rappel takes at least 3 ropes. I would have to suggest that we require a rappelling/vertical caving clinic before this trip if we decide to do this cave. I could give the clinic. It would be pretty simple stuff like how to control a rappel and pass knots.
Doing this cave would be a serious undertaking, and we would have to limit the number of people doing it to 5 or less, but I think we could work it into a weekend of other Pigeon Mountain activities.
So.. Whose interested?
-----Original Message-----
From: UT Canoe and Hiking Club Discussion Group on behalf of Johnson, Logan Andrew
Sent: Sun 3/6/2011 4:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: UTCH Update
Howdy Folks,
I haven't sent out an update in a while, so I figure it's due time. Here's what's coming up. Some of these events are to get in our community service, we have to have at least 30 people participate in the total of all of our community service events, so it would be great for the club for as many people to get involved with this as possible. Community service is one of the ways we keep and gain funding from the University, which means more money to spend on trips.
Remember, this is a student run club, so if any of you want to lead or suggest a trip, go for it! You don't have to be an officer to do it. I'm pretty slammed until April 10th, so get involved if you want to make some more trips happen. If you have some ideas about getting outdoors with the club, just send out a message on the listserv, or give me or Ben a shout if you need help with anything.
Here's what we have coming up so far....
March 7th (tomorrow) - Mountain Biking Clinic
This isn't a club event, but if you want to get some tips/personal coaching on mountain biking, UTOP has a FREE Mtn. Biking Clinic from 3-6 p.m.; meet at the UTOP.
March 17th-20th (2nd weekend of Spring Break)
I put in a trip request for sea kayaking in Florida, but I don't know if they will approve it or not. Also, we cannot use sea kayaks, because they have already been reserved for others. We could, however, use canoes and paddle for several miles along some waterways in Florida for a couple of days. We could camp along the river, if you haven't canoed much, or aren't very good at keeping your canoe pointed in the right direction, this might not be for you, although, the waterways we'd be on would be fairly calm. This trip could be a lot of fun, but we would have to drive as much as 15 hours each way (Thursday & Sunday)
Please let me know asap, call/text/ email me if you are interested in this trip, because we may or may not be going for sure.
March 25-27 or April 1-3 - Pigeon Mtn. Adventure
Depending on how many people want to go on each weekend, we will pick the one that the most people can go, so call/text/email me or come to the meetings if you want to go and have a preference.
Issac Bosley will be leading this trip. You may have seen his email about this trip. If not, here's some info he gave out about it:
Greetings C&H'ers,
I would like to propose that we get another trip scheduled this semester. This one would be car camping in NW Georgia, a little place called Pigeon Mountain. This has more stuff to do per square mile than any other place I've ever been. The list of pleasantries includes but is not limited to:
1. Caving/Spelunking
2. Rock Climbing
3. Bouldering
4. Hiking
5. Waterfall and wildflower gazing (several of them)
6. Fishing
7. And many many more.
Truly an oasis for the outdoor inclined. I am thinking the weekend after spring break (March 25-27) would be a good time to head this one up. One stipulation is that it will be Turkey season, so in order to not get shot at by a redneck we would have to stay in our camp till 10am each morning (I'm thinking this won't be an issue). I've already green lighted everything with the Georgia Wildlife Service so we are good there. I will work with El Presidente to see if we can sponsor this thing. (It is sponsered - Logan) Please email me back if you are interested so that I can populate a head count. We will also get a sign up sheet going at meeting. Details will follow in latter emails however here are some links so you can check the place out:
http://www.georgiaoutdoors.com/hiking_climbing/climbing1.asp <https://legacytmail.utk.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.georgiaoutdoors.com/hiking_climbing/climbing1.asp>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petty_John's_Cave <https://legacytmail.utk.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petty_John%27s_Cave>
http://www.jjanthony.com/waterfalls/falls/pocketbranch.html <https://legacytmail.utk.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.jjanthony.com/waterfalls/falls/pocketbranch.html>
Cordially,
Isaac Bosley
Graduate Student-Mechanical Engineering
University of Tennessee-Knoxville
April 2nd (Saturday) - IJAMS/ River Cleanup - Community Service
This is an event we've done for several years. We will take out a canoe or two, and ride with the IJAMS people on their motorboat to pick up litter along the Tennessee River from 10 am-2 pm, afterwards lunch will be provided; we will grab some pizza at Barley's.
April 16th (Saturday) - Volunteer for an Adventure Race
I'm not sure what time and exactly what we'll be doing, but we will be assisting the people who will be hosting the race. We might even be able to get out on some canoes to help people who are racing their kayaks, but it should be pretty fun.
April 22-24 (Easter Weekend) - Clear Creek Canoe Trip
We will take some canoes down Clear Creek for three days covering several miles. From what I hear, this is a great wild and scenic river, we will be several miles from civilization, so everything along the river should be pretty secluded. We carry everything with us we need to sleep and eat in watertight dry bags. Depending on the weather, it could be very cold or very warm, so we'll have wetsuits if we need them. I believe we'll be going through rapids up to class 3. If you have never paddled a canoe on whitewater, then you will need to come by the aquatic center with Randy and get some strokes down pat before the trip; I'll let you know later on when that will be. This is part of our required "risk management," so if you haven't whitewater canoed, then you really need to come practice; I'll be right there with you learning.
Interested in Climbing or Kayaking?
Check out these events that UTOP is hosting for free on this web page.
http://recsports.utk.edu/Programs/Outdoor%20Rec/Weekly%20Activities/ <http://recsports.utk.edu/Programs/Outdoor%20Rec/Weekly%20Activities/>
Also, they have some Spring Break trips or other events you might want to check out.
http://recsports.utk.edu/Programs/Outdoor%20Rec/Trips/Forms/Spring_2011_Program_Guide.pdf <http://recsports.utk.edu/Programs/Outdoor%20Rec/Trips/Forms/Spring_2011_Program_Guide.pdf>
As always, see you this week at 6:30 in Humanities Room 68.
Thanks Everybody!
Logan
UTCH President
(423) 863-1521
________________________________________________________________________
UTCHC Mailing List Archive: http://listserv.utk.edu/archives/utch-l.html
UTCHC Web Site: http://web.utk.edu/~canoehik
________________________________________________________________________ UTCHC Mailing List Archive: http://listserv.utk.edu/archives/utch-l.html UTCHC Web Site: http://web.utk.edu/~canoehik
________________________________________________________________________
UTCHC Mailing List Archive: http://listserv.utk.edu/archives/utch-l.html
UTCHC Web Site: http://web.utk.edu/~canoehik
