Butler Cave - 9/13/2025
Ed Smith Reporting:
On Saturday, September 13, Adrienne, Ed, Greg, Ihab, Josh, Josie, Scott B., Scott W., Tim, and Wendy met at the Homestead for a day of project caving in Butler Cave. We split into two groups. Everybody entered the cave about 11:30.
Josie, Tim, Scott B., and Josh went with Gregg Clemmer, a BCCS member who was also there, to an ongoing dig off Sand Canyon. The dig follows a narrow sediment filled east trending passage. Happily, it's fairly level making the rope and sled hauling system pretty manageable for pulling out the spoils. After adding 12 more feet of passage to Butler, they exited the cave about 5pm with the dig still looking promising.
Scott W. took Greg, Adrienne, and Wendy to survey the Pants Off Crawl, a tight little section just beyond French Passage where they managed to survey fifty-five hard-won feet. They exited the cave about 6pm.
Ihab opted to tag along with a group of students from Shippensburg University who happened to be there for the day on a geology tour of the cave led by geologist and BCCS members Rosie Behr and Brian Crowell.
That night we all gathered around the bonfire waiting for the gods to stop messing with us and blow away the clouds that came out of nowhere at sunset and threaten our telescope viewing. Ed brought my 6" scope and Tim brought his much superior 10" reflector. The clouds did clear out and we got to look at planets, stars and galaxies, satellites and more than a few meteors.
Big Thanks to Josh, Scott and the BCCS for hosting us and letting us spend the night at this special place.
