Please read the entire description for this event and pay close attention to the time zones.
Dan Werner and Maverick Moore will lead an intermediate vertical trip to JCE and NP on August 8 at 8:00 a.m. EASTERN. This is a great trip for folk planning to get to the DCG campout in Cookeville, TN Friday night.
JCE has an 87-foot entrance drop, an awkward 16-foot nuisance drop (needs rope; vert gear can be left at the bottom of the nuisance drop), a few hundred feet of crawling on cobbles, followed by a lot of steep and spectacular sculpted stream/waterfall passage (mostly walking and easy down-climbing, with a few narrow parts, short stoops/crawls, and a little chimneying). At the bottom of the main 87-foot pit, you can also go in the opposite direction for a couple hundred feet, which involves another 16-foot rope-required nuisance drop with walking passage to a nice 35-foot (not climbable) waterfall dome.
You’ll get plenty wet in JCE, but there shouldn’t be any water crawls. You don’t need a wetsuit, but you should bring a change of clothes in a waterproof bag. You may get chilly waiting for folk to climb out, and you’ll be more comfortable on the NP bounce if you aren’t wet.
NP is a short drive (or a long walk) from where we’ll park for JCE. It’ll be a bounce only: a beautiful 210-foot pit, about 170 feet of which is free. Pic attached. The free drop is next to an enormous flow stone that goes the entire length. There’s some cave at the bottom, but it’s mostly miserable crawling with no real reward, so we’ll skip that.
The vertical entrance to NP is tight and awkward before it bells out, so you need to be comfortable with dropping through a hole where you can’t see below you until you’re hanging over 200 feet of air. To manage time, we may try to drop two ropes and use a redirect to keep them separated.
It’s a steep-ish typical TAG approach hike to JCE. NP is about 20 feet from the road (i.e. no approach hike).
You must be comfortable and efficient with changeovers, crossing rebelays and redirects, and navigating tight drops to join this trip.
The last part of the road to the caves is terrible, and parking is sketchy. Ideally, we’ll be able to fit everybody and their gear in two high-clearance 4WDs (let us know if you have one).
Please only sign up if you know you can join the trip (i.e. please no “placeholder” signups).
Please check the additional information section of the registration email for important details.
For any questions please contact Tim Rainey at (470)469-3874, Dan's information will be provided after registration.
Gear to Bring:
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Vertical Kit: caving harness, ascenders, descender (full or micro-rack recommended for NP; bobbin or rack/micro-rack fine for JCE), and locking carabiners.
- Helmet: Must have a chin strap.
- Lights: Three independent sources (e.g., helmet-mounted headlamp + 2 backups) plus batteries
- Clothing: Non-cotton, synthetic, or wool layers.
- Boots: Sturdy, good traction, ankle support (rubber boots are common).
- Protection: Knee and elbow pads.
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Gloves with a reinforced palm..
- Pack: Small, durable pack (no zippers, drawstring preferred).
- Food/Water: High-calorie snacks and water.
- Trash Bag: Excellent for preventing hypothermia or keeping dry and also good to put dirty clothes in after the trip
