2012:	Over 70-years of DC-area organized caving.
	Monthly meetings continue to be on the 2nd Thursday.
	Cumulative event photo links have been moved Below.

Caving Calendar

To prevent web robots from harvesting contact info, some of the below links may prompt for a username and password.   If so, enter username: calend & password: gocave.

Area-wide Calendar -- lists scheduled caving activities (meetings, trips, and other events) in the DC and Baltimore area.   Some events may also have a PDF flyer.

Some Upcoming Highlights:

May 19-26: NCRC 2012 Cave Rescue Ops. & Mgmt. Seminar, in Mentone, AL.

May 31 (Thu): EC meeting, at Hoke's hogan, in Laurel, MD.

June 14 (Thu): Informal meeting at Hard Times Cafe in Bethesda, MD. Arrive around 6:15p to allow time to order, eat, and socialize, before the main focus of the 7:30p meeting.   See: details & directions.

June 15-17: PSC Jamboree, at PSC's Lutz Fieldstation, near Frost, WV.

June 19-23: WVACS pre-convention caving camp.   See the Particulars.

June 25-29: NSS   2012 Convention at the WV State Fairground, in Fairlea (S. of Lewisburg).

July 12 (Thu), 7:30p: General meeting: Chevy Chase Community Ctr. in DC.
At 6:00 or 6:15p: Optional pre-meeting dinner at very nearby Tian Tian Fang restaurant.
See: details and directions to both.   Program: T.B.D.

Oct 5-7: Fall VAR meeting, near Lexington, VA.   More info later.

Dec 1 (Sat):   DCG Holiday Banquet,   More info later.

Dec 21 (Fri):   Alleged end of the Mayan calendar, and whatever that implies.

Event Photos

• July 30-31, 2011 Paxton & Porter Caves, by Doug Lake
• June 10-12, 2011 SERA   Pictures and Trip Report, by Adam Lake
• May 15, 2011 Whiting's Neck group photo, by Keely Owens
• Apr 30, 2011 Poor Farm Cave (VAR weekend) by Doug Lake
• Mar 12, 2011 Paxton's Cave by John Armstrong
• Feb 12, 2011 Paxton's Cave by Doug Lake
• Dec 4, 2010 DC Grotto Banquet by Brian Freyling
• Nov 7, 2010 Great Falls vertical practice by Brian Freyling
• Jul 24, 2010 North Fork Mountain vertical trip by John Armstrong

Bat Die-off Crisis

Something is causing the death of huge numbers of bats, seemingly associated with White Nose Syndrome, starting in the Northeast, and having spread into PA, WV, and VA.   With the possibility of human cave visitation assisting this spread, precautions include cave closures (check the VAR Closed Cave List prior to any trip), and de-contamination of all cave gear before and after visiting any open cave.  For lots more information, visit any of these links:

• Bob Hoke's: Primary Sources Time-line
• NSS: WNS-Liaison | NSS Policy: 2010 | 2009 (PDF)
• US-F&WS: WNS | Caver-Info
  Decontamination PDFs: Protocols w/ Supplements for: Cavers & Researchers
• USGS: Bat-opsy Ctr. | Ft.Collins Sci.Ctr. (good overview)
• WV-DNR: 2/23/09 WNS Confirmation
• VA-DCR: Karst & Bats | VA Cave Board | VA-DGIF
• IN-DNR: Bat Disease | Closing IN Caves (5/1/09 News Release)
• Bat Conservation & Management, Inc.: WNS-Page
• Northeast Cave Conservancy: Main-Page

Trout Rock Bat Counts

Click here to see the results of the annual bat counts in Trout, Hamilton, and New Trout caves in Pendleton County, W.V.

T-shirts: Although the 31-Jan-2010 deadline for ordering has passed, info about the 70-years of DC-area organized caving commemorative T-shirt is still Here.