The Sinks of Gandy is a popular cave explored by thousands of people over the past century. It is formed in the soluble Greenbrier Limestone which dissolved over millions of years and formed the cavern. The cave acts as a conduit to carry the waters of Gandy Creek 1.54 miles under Yokum Knob. The property on the upstream end of the cave is owned by the Teter Family, and that at the exit is owned by the Tinglers. Both these families are extremely generous in allowing virtually unlimited access to the cave, which is extremely popular with spelunkers.

This Mountain Odyssey outing on July 15^th was led by geologist and veteran spelunker, Barnes Nugent. Among 33 adventure seekers were many Conservancy members and new faces. Hunter Lesser, long time member, archeologist, historian, Civil war expert was along.

Pat Cipoletti was there – this was good as he is a family physician and former emergency room doctor. Larry Kaeser slipped and dislocated his elbow as soon as we got into the cave. Pat snapped it back in and Larry was able to continue. We entered at the upstream end and followed the stream to the exit. When the end is reached there is a large deep pool of water.

This is called the "wet exit." To the right there is another small passage called, you guessed it, the "dry exit."

Some of our more adventurous cavers opted for the swim, others used the dry one. The temperature inside the cave is between 55-60 degrees F. Everyone who makes the journey through this cave gets muddy and wet. Although the trip generally has boulders to scramble over and sand bars to walk on, sometimes you must crawl on slippery clay banks or wade through the underground stream. The water generally isn’t over knee deep, but because of recent rains, on this day it was waist deep in places.

After exiting the cave the relatively warm air on the outside made taking a plunge into the waters of Gandy Creek to wash off the mud feel refreshing. The walk back to the cars through the wide open pastures and clear blue skies provided the group with spectacular views of Spruce Knob and some of the highest portions of the state.