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Showing posts from April, 2017

Caving With Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania Council 11-18-18

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Yes, they were at it again. This time there were two new Troops to introduce to caving. Eastern PA Council set this one up at the same time as the one in October. This trip originally had sixteen people, but one Troop backed out at the last minute. It’s a shame because they missed a very good time with these girls. Maybe they’ll come out again when they can. We have been having a tremendous amount of rain and unprecedented snowfall for this time of year. As a result the cave actually had a good bit of water in it.

I like to use this cave for beginner trips because it is stable. But I’ve never seen this much water in this cave. Parts that usually have a little sticky mud had water over the top of my thigh. I choose to avoid the lower parts of the cave. For most of the girls this was their first wild caving trip. I didn’t want to take any chances with them and I didn’t want anyone cold and miserable. But they all got very muddy, and had a blast. How could I tell? Watch the video. L…
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Facebook Live 4-25-17

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In case you missed it, I did a Facebook Live video to talk about the kid in, almost, every trip that has a difficult time with what's going on during the activity, and how they rise above their fears and become a braver and more confident person.
If you have anything to share on this topic, please comment to this post. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.


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Caving With Boy Scout Troop 44

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Troop 44, from Morristown, NJ, wanted to try a real caving trip. They’ve been to a commercial cave and did some studying of geology. They’re Scoutmaster, Mr. Morrison, contacted me and we started making plans. We batted around a few dates and finally arrived at one that was good for everyone.

His next problem was that a few parents were a bit nervous. I sent him a link to this website and where most of the current pictures were posted. This seemed to have helped a lot as the plans kept moving forward.

The day of the trip was great. We meet at a convenience store so everyone could get some last minute necessities. Took a ride over to the parking area for the cave, well, the rest is on the video.

Enjoy.


https://youtu.be/bWOkQ00WSfs

Questions?If you want more information about taking youth groups caving, or you're just curious about what's involved with getting kids underground, visit the National Speleological Society - Youth Group Liaison Committee at www.caves.org/youth. Or you…
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Caving with Boy Scout Troop 191

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Chris Aman from Boy Scout Troop 191 contacted Philadelphia Grotto looking for help to take his Boy Scouts on a caving trip. Philadelphia Grotto is my “home” grotto, so I had the pleasure of having this Troop passed on to me.

My conversation with Chris started back in July of 2016 and we didn’t get underground until March of 2017. These things take time to pull together. 

I did have a chance to visit the Troop at one of their meeting and talk to the whole Troop about caves and caving. They are a good size. But only a portion of the boys were old enough to go on this trip. Maybe next time we’ll get some more as they age up.

Watch the video and the look over the pictures. I hope they show you how much fun these guys had underground that day.


Questions?If you want more information about taking youth groups caving, or you're just curious about what's involved with getting kids underground, visit the National Speleological Society - Youth Group Liaison Committee at www.caves.org/you…
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