The only hard part was the almost 7 hour drive back in Sunday. We left at about 9:30am, and arrived back in Chapel Hill around 4:45, with a couple of stops in between. A three night trip, with a stop at Lake James both ways, would have been ideal. A one night trip would be very ugly.
Every boy on the trip said they wanted to do it again. Soon.
We ultimately had 10 on the trip (seven boys, plus three adults).
Lake James was beautiful and could be considered for a fishing trip in the future.
We had an ashes ceremony at the morning campfire at Lake James.
There were 7 groups caving at one time, about 125 people in all. There were two other Scout Troops.
Although there were other groups, the tour guide was very knowledgeable and led us univocally. We hardly saw anyone else except when we returned to the largest rooms to go to sleep.
We were the only group with helmets, although I recommend them even more highly after this trip.
Future caving trips need helmet and light fitting done at a troop meeting prior.
The sleeping area's floor was damp. future trips need to bring large tarps as a base for their sleeping bags, etc. Oh yes, you get really dirty.
We received patches for all the attendees - to give out at the next COH.
The adults led the Scouts Own on Sunday morning. We invited Troop 1776 from Marietta Ga to join us.
