Trip report: Lower Orange Grove

[Unregistered User]

My buddy and I went to Lower Orange Grove today (Sunday 5/9/2010). Vis in the cavern was poor due to algae bloom and the ubiquitous duckweed. While the duckweed is normally not a problem- and I have seen crystal-clear infinite vis from the cave entrance to the surface before- the algae bloom was horrible. No problem, though, as we were heading to the deep section. Vis was actually quite good when reached 164' before the line goes back up to begin the loop. I would estimate 40-50' of clear sight right when we began the loop. We started off to the left and after the second tie-off on the main line, I noticed that the line was buried within the silt and seemed further than normal to the right (inner) side of the tunnel as we were going in. We were diving air and since I had not been there in over 6 years, I didn't put much thought into it, even though it seemed strange. I thought it just might have been slight narcosis that had me concerned. After the second line arrow and second tie-off (about 150' to 200' from the split) I knew that something was definitely amiss. I was hugging the ceiling and going painfully slow to try to keep from kicking up silt. This effort was unsuccessful and we had to keep our fingers around the line throughout. My buddy was about 15' behind me when I peeked backward to see a nice fluffy cloud enveloping him. After about another 25' I saw ahead of me a loop capturing a line arrow along the straight main line. This was obviously an old tie-off that had come loose from whatever rock it was tied to. Realizing the problem, I tried to swim the line back to the left (outer) wall over to its original position, but my buddy could not see anything and kept a death-grip on the line, forcing me to give up my effort to move the line back to the left wall. This was his first time in Lower Orange Grove, he was already dealing with zero vis for about :10, and I did not want to pause on the line and create a traffic jam in zero vis adding to his stress level, so I moved back to the right side of the cave (where there may have been 2' from silt to ceiling) and just kept on going, turning around and waiting only once to ensure I saw the glow from his dive light and that he could see mine as well. I then proceeded to swim the last 50' until we got to the bigger section at the next right-hand bend. I stopped and he was right behind me just then leaving my silt cloud. I did not attempt to go back and retrieve the line to place it back in its original placement (from where I remembered it being 6 years ago). We continued the dive uneventfully and made our exit with no problems. I want anyone who is contemplating a trip to Lower Orange Grove to keep that existing line placement in mind before they commit. I would recommend entering the loop from the right side and trying to lift the line from the silt and reattaching it to the right (outer) side of the wall (left side if you decide to go from that direction at the start of the loop). In normal circumstances I would have attempted to correct the line during this dive but did not want to create an undue stressful situation leaving my buddy behind while I went back into the silt cloud. Even then, it would have been extremely difficult to effectively place it back where it needed to be under the silty condition. Just keep in mind what you will have to contend with if you decide to do Lower Orange Grove. This line needs to be reattached and I doubt I will be back there for well over a month or more to do it.

[KarsticGator]

I doubt I will be back there for well over a month or more to do it.

I doubt the silt will settle down for over a month! That left side passage got slightly disturbed by your fin strokes, and completely blasted by mine.

It's always fun going zero viz at 145'.

[LiteHedded]

i enjoyed lower orange grove the one time I went. I don't think I'm in any rush to go back though. it's a neat little dive

[Sludge]

I'm sometimes criticized for pointing out incorrect nomenclature, but here goes: "Lower Orange Grove" refers to the large cavern that goes down to 100', to the left and below the cave entrance. The deep section, accessed by going through the restriction at 100' is "Lower Lower Orange Grove." I'm not making that up.

[LiteHedded]

psh. caverns shouldn't get their own names!

[Sludge]

You mean like the Ballroom at Ginnie?

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I wish that cave divers could come up with some better names for caverns... there are already too many "Ballrooms".

Oh... and for that matter, too many damned Blue Springs, Hidden Springs, and even Crack(or any variation of..) too :P Atleast cave divers can't be blamed for spring names most of the time...

[sskasser]

Every time I hear "Ballroom", I think of a certain AC/DC song. Guess my refinement is showing

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Bwaha! Is it ackward for you to sing that one?

[sskasser]

Bwaha! Is it awkward for you to sing that one?

Not in the slightest, buwahahahaha!