The Sinks of Gandy

                                cave opening to the Sinks
Have you ever even heard of the Sinks of Gandy?

I hadn't!
That is until going on this school fieldtrip with my son.

The Sinks of Gandy is an underground cave located near Whitmer, WV. It's over 8,000 feet in length and has two main entrances. Both entrances are located on private property ~ one opening is in Randolph County and the other in Tucker County.
On our way down from Spruce Mountain the bus pulled off alongside the gravel road.
Nothing to be seen but rolling meadows and Spruce trees.
A cave here???
You wouldn't think so but once we climbed over the pasture fence and meandered through the rocky meadow we came upon Gandy Creek and the opening to the cave.

The kids were given another lesson on the history of the cave as well as a stern lecture on cave safety.

Then we were off!
We entered the darkness and waited for our eyes to adjust.
We walked bent over so as to not hit our heads on the ceiling of the cave until we reached the first large open "room".

Here the kids stopped to take pictures, learned about how and why the cave had formed and searched for any living creatures that may have been using this cave as it's home. (bats and one lonely salamander)

The tunnels were flooded due to the heavy rains we had been having so we were forced to turn back. It's hard to see but that water was over our heads in depth.

We exited the cave and headed back through the field to our waiting bus.

We all would have loved to go through the whole cave but safety comes first. Maybe one day we will get the chance to return and explore it again.