Author: phil
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April Fools Trip
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Skies were clear and sunny, with a slight breeze out of the east on April Fool’s Day 2023. FSS President J. Fletcher set up a morning work day for the group, with an afternoon exploration of Catacombs Cave. No one was really sure if we would get underground–it was April…
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FSS does SERA
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Five true go-getters from the FSS drove up for the April 21-24,2022 SERA Cave Carnival. Background: The National Speleological Society (NSS) was founded in 1941. The NSS is broken into 11 different regions depending on geographical region. The four grottos in Florida, including the Florida Speleological Society (FSS), are part…
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Let’s Go Cavorting Again
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After two years of waiting, and 4 months of planning: meals, ticket sales, tee-shirt design, band, cave permissions, guide book printing, port-a potty rental, raffle, and area preparation–the March 4-6, 2022 weekend for the Florida Cave Cavort had arrived. According to the Britannica Dictionary, a Cavort (kəˈvoɚt) is: 1) to…
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A NEW POLE BARN
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After two years of Covid precautions-things are moving forward. Two things that had been put on hold were the Florida Cave Cavort and a new pole barn. Fortunately, now the time was right. The forecast was for a beautiful day on February 26, 2022. It was only one week before…
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A Brand New Gate on Warrens Cave
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Selfless Dedication: South Dakota is beautiful in the summer, Florida is ridiculously hot. So, why would two semi-retired gentleman voluntarily get in a truck and drive 2,000 miles from South Dakota to Gainesville, Florida to do hard manual labor for a week, without their family, and without getting paid a…
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Caves are Not Just for Exploration
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Being a caver is not just about exploration. Cavers also have an obligation to the conservation of caves. While we normally bring trash bags to pick up occasional litter on our caving trips, certain caves are trashed so regularly that we must organize dedicated cleanup events. Jennings Cave is an…
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New Years Cave Resolution
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Many people make New Year’s resolutions: eat less, lose weight, exercise…Kat and Fletcher are no different, but their resolution was to go caving. After contacting Dave and Phil who came down from Jacksonville, we went to Whitcliff Cave on the beautiful morning of January 16, 2021. We had a little…
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Underground Oasis
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Sometimes its just nice to get away. With COVID looming, trips have been down. There have also been a few new members that were looking forward to getting underground. Natalie rose to the challenge and put together a small group to explore Florida’s underground oasis on Septeber 26, 2020. All…
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A Hats Off
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Just like Charles Dickens said in the very first sentence of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” In spite of a worldwide pandemic, civil unrest, and political upheaval–four…
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TRIP TO WARRENS CAVE 03/14/20
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Facing fears of the Corona Virus reaching us, a small group decided we would go caving at Warrens Cave before we are all stuck inside. Warrens is Florida’s longest cave at 4.5 miles. Because of the many long…