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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Western Region Regional Coordinator

Regional Coordinator

 

The purpose of an NSS Youth Regional Coordinator is to provide informational assistance to cavers, grottos, and youth group leaders so they may conduct safe and appropriate cave-related experiences. In addition to caving trips, these experiences may include presentations on ethics, geology, biology, techniques, and safety, as well as other topics of speleology.
     

Responsibilities:

  • Monthly written report with: 
  1. Progress - Accomplishments 
  2. Plans – Projects To Do
  3. Problems and Challenges
  • adhere to all guidelines, policies, and requirements of the National Speleological Society (NSS).
  • adhere to all guidelines, policies, and requirements of the appropriate youth group organization.
  • treat all youth groups with equal consideration.
  • make themselves available to grottos within their region, to assist them in working with youth groups.
  • make themselves available to youth groups within their region, to assist them in conducting safe caving trips and learning about caves.
  • promote responsible caving practices for youth groups.
  • promote responsible caving practices by grottos and cavers when working with youth groups.

While not required by the NSS YGLC at this time, most youth organizations may require;
  • State background checks
  • FBI Clearances
  • Red Cross, or equivalent CPR and First Aid
  • Cave Rescue training
Please send resume and cover letter to allenmaddox@youcave.org.

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Boy Scouts Help With WNS Winter Survey

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by Kirsten Alvey-Mudd



Thanks to Boy Scout Troop 864 from Wildwood, Mo and Christa Droste from Oakfield, Wisconsin for helping with WNS Winter surveys in Northeast Missouri yesterday!

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Caving With Boy Scout Troop 368

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The Scoutmaster of Troop 368 contacted the Pennsylvania Cave Commission looking for a way to take his Boy Scout Troop on a beginner cave exploring trip. He didn’t want a commercial cave with walk ways and lights. He was looking for crawling and climbing and getting muddy.

A friend of mine from the PCC forwarded his request to me hoping I could help. This was all back in 2016 and May 2017 we made this happen.

Their meeting place was a bit far for me to travel to give a cave talk at their Troop meeting. We set up a Skype call which worked out really well. We could see each other and talk about caves, how they are formed and how we, as cavers, try to preserve them.

Coming from difference places, we all met up at a convenience store about a mile from the cave. They were all set and ready to go. At the cave we distributed and checked helmets and lights. Inside the gate entrance we had a reminder talk about safety and cave edict and made all the introductions.  These guys were good sports…
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