Holston And Patrick Henry Clubs Go Caving

Members of Holston High School’s Karst Club were joined by the Troglophiles from Patrick Henry High School on a late night trip on November 7 to Worley’s Cave in Bluff City. Eric Hoffman and Steve Ahn led a dozen students on a lesson through time and into the geology of Southwestern Virginia. 

The students explored a 4.5 hr trek in the cave that began in dry upper passage marked by beautiful natural formations and human pick-axe marks from saltpeter mining in the Civil War. The group walked through large cavernous rooms, crawled through difficult breakdown, watched bats fly, stood in awe of massive flowstone formations and stalactite curtains, and eventually worked their way down through the mud to the stream passage. From here, the group walked through the ankle deep and sometimes knee deep stream back toward the entrance. All along the trip Mr. Hoffman taught Earth Science principles. No one left without appreciating what a little carbonic acid, a little groundwater, a lot of limestone, and a huge amount of time can do!