Students will visit the James River Grotto

Campus Recreation is joining forces with the James River Grotto to take students on a caving adventure on Oct. 29. 

Students will begin the trip by meeting at Hydaway Outdoor Center and then will depart for the cave, which is just under two hours away. Students will spend four hours exploring the cave. The trip costs $25, providing students with lunch, caving equipment and guidance through the cave. While all the slots for this trip are filled, allowing for 10 students and three Campus Recreation staff members to attend, they hope to have two caving trips per semester so that more students will be able to join the adventure. 

“It is full. Caving trips always fill up,” Katy Ward, assistant director of outdoor adventure, said. “They are one of the top two trips to fill up when registration (opens).”

Ward describes caving as underground rock climbing but in the dark. She said that students should expect to be climbing, crawling, walking over and under rocks and having plenty more adventure. 

“It is a world like no other,” Ward said. “A cave, unless you’ve been in one before, it’s a whole new environment. It’s amazing to see all the different ways that literally the earth is being held up by the pillars of rocks, the pathways that just naturally are created through time and water, spaces, and just God.”

Ward said Campus Recreation hosts around 40 trips a semester, taking students on different outdoor adventures to allow them to try something new or explore their passions. With all the stress of homework and school, being outdoors provides a good outlet for students to release tension. 

According to the James River Grotto chapter website, the group is dedicated to preserving and studying caves. The JRG emphasizes being safe and practicing responsible techniques while exploring the caves. The JRG will be assisting the Campus Recreation staff and helping students explore safely. 

Ward warns those who are claustrophobic to avoid going on the trip as they will be in tight spaces. She will show the students how to read a cave map and teach them about the surroundings in a cave. 

“I have been on too many caving trips to count,” Ward said. “I have over 60 hours in a cave. My favorite part of the trip is definitely seeing participants who have never done it before get to experience it and get to understand why it is such a unique environment and trip, especially when they enjoy it and they walk out thinking, ‘I would do that again.’ That’s the best feeling.”

Students can learn more about other outdoor adventure trips offered by visiting www.Liberty.edu/Outdoor-Adventure. 

Denny is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion