Mike and Phil from River City Grotto (RCG) met up with Kat and Fletcher from the Florida Speleological Society (FSS) at the meeting place on Jan 16, 2021. We signed release waivers and went over a plan on arrival. There was only one thing wrong. The person with the key to the property was missing. After a half hour we called Bill Birdsall who came to our rescue allowing us access to the property. We then walked into the quarry which looked as if no one had been there for quite some time. We found the gate to the cave was off and the lock was missing. The gate also had some minor damage to it.
Kat and Mike remove debris.
Kat tries out the Caliber Check (entrance).
After removing a couple tree branches, we could see there were a few red solo cups in the entrance. We expected to find more vandalism, but were happy to find the cave was in good shape: other than a few red solo cups there were no carvings, spray paint, or vandalism inside. We explored all the main passages in the Loop, Scatterbrain Room, and Effigy Hall.
When we exited the cave we found a new lock waiting. Bill brought a hammer to do a little bending repair to the gate before safely reinstalling it. We then went over to enjoy a little pizza in Bill’s beautiful backyard.
Photo by Mike Baker
Once again, a GREAT day underground at White Cliff Cave. Of course we owe Bill for his dramatic rescue efforts…and the pizza THANKS BILL!