District of Columbia Grotto
of the
National Speleological Society

... exploration, study, and conservation of caves.
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2013: 74-years of DC-area organized caving.
Monthly meetings continue to be on the 2nd Thursday.
Recent photos are on our Facebook group. Click on the 'f'.

Cave-Critter Book Offer

For a limited time, DCG will be offering, at a discount price, a new book titled: "Cave Life of the Virginias", by Dan Fong (a DCG member), Megan Porter, and Michael Slay.

This book is a guide to the critters found in the caves in Virginia and West Virginia. It's 5.5" x 8.5", 44 pages, full color, and printed on very thick plastic coated paper (water resistant, but probably not waterproof), and spiral bound so it opens flat.

For details, see the Book Flyer [PDF] (w/ order-form) and some Sample Pages [PDF].

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:

June 20 (Thu), 6:30p: EC meeting, at:   Doug's, in S. Arlington.   Details later.

June 27 (Thu), 9:00p: Webinar: Alpine Karst In Utah, an Overview; Presented by: Larry Spangler.   See Details

July 6 - 13: NCRC Cave Rescue Operations and Management Seminar, in Schoharie NY. See the Announcement.

July 11 (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.

July 13 (Sat), 10:30a: Trip to Flowerpot Cave. Vertical gear is necessary, and the trip is limited to 10 people. Folks will meet Saturday morning, 10:30am at Yokum's General Store at Seneca Rocks, WV. Optional camping for Fri. & Sat. nights in a reserved spot at Seneca Shadows ( 1-2 miles up the road from Yokum's). Contact: Gerry Carter, ( gcarter@umd.edu )

July 12 - 14:   Karst-O-Rama at Great Saltpetre Cave Preserve, in Mt. Vernon, KY.   Sponsored by the Greater Cincinnati Grotto.   For details, visit the K-O-R Website.

July 31: Deadline for submitting paperwork to join the Robertson Association (TRA), so you can attend OTR as a real person, rather than lowly "guest".   See below, and www.otr.org for the required forms.

Aug 5 - 9:   NSS   2013 Convention at Shippensburg, PA.

Aug 8 (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.

Aug 29 - Sep 2: OTR (Old-Timers' Reunion), Dailey, WV (10mi. S. of Elkins). See the Spring Announcement, and the Flyer. [PDF]   TRA-members (& guests) only!   Joining TRA must be done before July 31, which involves submitting some rather obnoxious paperwork, in advance, to prove you are a real caver.

July 14 - 18, 2014:   NSS   2014 Convention at NSS-HQ, in Huntsville, AL.

Summer, 2015:   NSS   2015 Convention in Rolla, MO.

July, 2016:   NSS   2016 Convention in Ely, NV.

Event Photos

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:

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.

Comments and suggestions regarding these pages may be sent to DCG Webmaster.

© 2013 - DC Grotto