The Compass Chronicles

10/14/2026

How low can you go? ⛰️🥾🪖

10/11/2026

Not every cave is easy to drop into. Sometimes they require a bit of digging and rock excavating. 🥾

10/10/2026

10/10/2026

🍁 Fall Colors & Tower Adventures in West Virginia! 🚁

We captured some incredible drone footage of two observation towers surrounded by the beautiful reds, oranges, and yellows of the Monongahela National Forest!

📍 Olson Observation Tower: Rising roughly 100 feet high at an elevation of about 3,736 feet, this tower had two couples making the climb, with one adventurous couple even standing on the roof! 😳

📍 Bickle K**b Observation Tower: Located near Bear Heaven Campground, this approximately 50-foot tower sits around 4,003 feet above sea level. A group of young visitors spotted our drone and decided to show off their best dance moves from the top! 😂🕺

Between the breathtaking fall foliage and unexpected entertainment, West Virginia certainly lived up to its Almost Heaven nickname! 🍂🏔️

🎥 Compass Chronicles | Exploring One Adventure at a Time

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09/13/2026

Yesterday, The Compass Chronicles headed underground for an awesome trip through a MASSIVE CAVE SYSTEM! 🔦🦇

Caver Kory invited two newer cavers from Clinton County to experience some of the largest passage and rooms the system has to offer. We also opened the trip up to Bluegrass Grotto members and other interested cavers, with some people traveling nearly two hours to join us!

At 9 AM, everyone geared up, grabbed the mandatory “groupie” at the gate, and took a few photos on the iconic ladder before heading underground.

Once inside, we took a head count. 11? 12? Does Blue the dog count?

OF COURSE BLUE COUNTS. 🐕😂

Our first stops included the 25-foot drop and beautiful flowstone tucked away near GP Hill. At the bottom of the hill, we made another detour to visit a normally active flowstone feature. Surprisingly, it was completely dry despite rain falling outside. After weeks of dry weather, the ground simply had not had enough time to become saturated.

From there, we headed toward the Appalachian Trail. Yes, there is actually a passage called the Appalachian Trail. That immediately sparked the important question: “So can we go home and tell everyone we hiked the Appalachian Trail?”

Absolutely. We weren’t about to ruin that story. 😂
Somewhere between the Indian Walkway and some wonderfully sloppy peanut-butter mud, we also stopped to point out the moment our underground route crossed beneath the highway on the surface. Pretty wild to think about cars traveling overhead while we were making our way through the cave below.

Then came Echo Junction.

Standing in passage approaching 70 feet tall, Jasmine and Tyler quickly realized Kory wasn’t exaggerating when he said there are basically mountains underground.

Kyle and his daughter, Leah, did a photo shoot on top of the gigantic muddy slopes.

The adventure continued with plenty of climbing, breakdown, and random holes that Tyler was naturally volunteered to investigate while David provided commentary from a safe distance. 😂

Tomasz fired up his incredibly bright cave light and illuminated portions of the ceiling and walls that some of us had never even noticed before. We’re fairly certain that thing can see into the future.
Meanwhile, Blue, Virginia, and Caver Val kept an eye on the back of the group and made sure nobody was left behind, while Tanner found every opportunity possible to climb onto the breakdown boulders for a better overlook of the massive passage.

Eventually we reached the Bedroom and its overlook into the Big Room. After a break and some discussion about the safest routes through the steep, loose terrain, we doubled back and worked our way through massive breakdown and a slot passage leading into a lower entrance of the Big Room.

And there it was.

Our final destination.

The Big Room is so enormous that most of our headlamps couldn’t even reach the opposite side. Tomasz’s approximately 1,000,000-lumen light, okay, maybe we’re exaggerating 😂, was about the only thing capable of lighting up the entire place. It was basically like bringing the sun underground.

After roughly five hours, we made our way back to the surface, perfectly timed for David to get to work an hour early and make his boss proud. 😂

But apparently five hours underground wasn’t enough.

“Encore?”

Several cavers wanted MORE, and when you ask two all-day cavers like Kory and Caver Val that question, there’s really only one answer.

ABSOLUTELY.

Stay tuned, because a few of us turned around and headed right back underground for several more hours. That adventure deserves its own post. 👀🔦

09/10/2026

Last Thursday, Kory and I (Caver Val) made what we consider a HUGE discovery! 🥳🦇

We found a passage that links one of the caves we discovered to one of our favorite caves! And let me tell you… finding a connection between two caves you love is basically a caver’s version of hitting the jackpot. 🤘

Apparently, the recent flood decided to do us a favor. The hole that is now our connection had been sealed up with years of mud and logs. When the floodwaters came rushing through the cave, they basically said, “Move over, we’re redecorating.” 🌊😂 The water pushed all that mud and debris out of the way and reopened the passage between the two caves.

So now, when we visit these caves, we have options!

We can enter through the larger entrance by rappelling about 25 feet down… OR we can take the crawling entrance, which of course comes with the added bonus of the Ear Dipper. Because apparently regular crawling wasn’t uncomfortable enough. 🤣

For those who don’t speak fluent caver, an Ear Dipper is when you’re crawling through water and there’s only enough room for half your head to fit above the water. One ear gets a nice refreshing bath while the other ear is just barely above water, pressed against the cave ceiling. It’s basically nature’s version of a very inconvenient ear piercing—without the jewelry. 😂

We’ll be mapping both caves, and I absolutely cannot wait to see that connection show up on the map! There’s something pretty awesome about seeing two caves you’ve explored and loved finally become one system on paper.

Saturday, we went back to revisit both caves and hunt for more possible connections. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any more links… yet. We still have a couple of leads left to check out, so we’re definitely not calling it quits.

These caves just keep giving us more adventures every time we visit. At this point, I’m pretty sure they’re just trying to keep us coming back. And honestly… it’s working. 😜🦇🤘

09/04/2026

A little behind on posting, but last Sunday Kory and I (Caver Val) finally got to survey a cave we’d been patiently stalking for months. Since it’s a flood-prone cave, we had to wait for Mother Nature to stop hitting the rinse cycle before we could safely go in.

We quickly decided to name it Sand-worm… because apparently someone ordered an industrial-sized sandbox underground. There was sand everywhere. It stuck to everything. I even found sand in my ears, and I’m pretty sure I’ll still be finding it next week. The entire cave was basically one never-ending army crawl with exactly one place where you could stand up… just long enough to remember what having a spine felt like.

As exhausting as it was, it turned into one unforgettable adventure. The cave was packed with stunning formations, which meant every inch of that endless crawl had to be slow and careful so we didn’t accidentally headbutt or break thousands of years of nature’s artwork.

Totally worth it… but if I never crawl through another giant underground sandbox again, I won’t complain. 😅

09/02/2026

Saturday started before the sun had fully accepted its responsibilities as the five of us—Kory, Bob, Harry, Kyle, and I—headed to Tennessee to survey a cave… with absolutely no idea what we were about to get ourselves into. (As usual.)

First obstacle: hiking up a mountain in the heat while carrying enough gear to question every life decision that led us there. Once we finally reached the entrance, we dropped about 50 feet into the cave while Bob drew the lucky straw and spent the next six hours topside as our lookout.

Meanwhile, Kory, Kyle, Harry, and I got to work surveying an incredible cave filled with beautiful and unique formations. By the time we reached the last tight passage, Harry and I unanimously declared it “snack o’clock” and let Kory and Kyle continue working while we bravely sacrificed ourselves to quality control our trail snacks.

Then came the climb out. I ascended first, followed by Harry. Kyle went next… somehow hauling his pack, my pack, and Kory’s pack through a squeeze that I barely fit through with just my own. On the way in, I had to unclip my pack and drag it behind me just to make it through. Kyle apparently looked at three backpacks and thought, “Challenge accepted.” I’m still convinced he temporarily bent the laws of physics.

Finally, Kory made the last climb, and with all five of us safely back on solid ground, we filled the landowner in on everything we discovered and promised to send him the finished survey map soon.

Of course, no successful cave trip is complete without stopping for food, swapping stories, exaggerating each other’s struggles, and already planning the next adventure before we even made it home.

I’d survey another cave with this crew any day!

08/28/2026

Rappelling Into Monticello’s Hidden History 🦇🔦
There’s something pretty incredible about dropping on rope into a cave hidden beneath downtown Monticello.
Last weekend, our group of cavers from Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia had the opportunity to rappel into the cave beneath the Wayne County Museum, explore a piece of local history, and then make the climb back out.
This wasn’t just another cave trip. It was a chance to experience a place filled with stories, mystery, and history that has been sitting beneath the city for generations.
From the first person over the edge to the final climber back at the top, this was one adventure we won’t soon forget. 🧭

08/28/2026

🏛️🦇 Did you know there’s a cave hidden beneath the Wayne County Museum in downtown Monticello?

Long before the building became the museum we know today, it had a much different life. In the early 1900s, it served as a hotel and was also associated with a grocery store. One of the building’s most interesting claims to fame was that it was reportedly one of the only hotels in the area to offer “air cooling,” an early form of air conditioning.

And the source of that cool air? A cave beneath the building.

Deep in the basement of what is now the Wayne County Museum is an entrance into a natural cave system beneath downtown Monticello. Local legend says the cave was eventually sealed after people discovered they could enter the cave system elsewhere, make their way into the basement, and steal produce that was being stored there.

Today, you can still descend into the cave, but the mystery doesn’t last forever. Underground stands a massive brick wall approximately 23 feet tall, completely blocking the continuation of the passage. Beyond that wall, the cave is believed to have been filled with clay, dirt, and debris, leaving the rest of the system hidden beneath the streets of Monticello.

Last weekend, Compass Chronicles had the opportunity to revisit this unique piece of Wayne County history with friends from Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. 🔦

We want to give a special thank you to the Wayne County Museum staff for granting us access and allowing us the opportunity to explore the cave.

This trip also carried a deeper meaning for one member of our group. Years ago, while Bill Walden was still alive, he had visited the museum basement and seen the cave entrance, but he never had the opportunity to actually descend into it with Bill. Finally getting to make that descent last weekend turned an already fascinating cave trip into something much more personal and sentimental.

Sometimes caving isn’t just about discovering what lies underground. It’s about the history above it, the stories left behind, the people who came before us, and finally getting the chance to explore a place you’ve wondered about for years.

And somewhere beyond that 23-foot brick wall, a little more of Monticello’s underground story may still be waiting. 🧭