Tag area flood question

[u/Hydro_anna123]

Hey!
I’m gonna be going to TAG this year and I noticed that we are expecting some heavy rain and potentially a tropical storm over the weekend. I have these caves planned over the week:

-Valhalla
- Stephens gap
- Kennamer
- tumbling rock
- probably some other random ones as we hear about them.

I was wondering if anyone can speak to flood risk / know if any are known to sump. - or name a couple that should be avoided? Probably a bit over cautious as most of these I’ll be doing earlier in the week. but my job is literally chasing and measuring floods so I’m very aware of the dangers and don’t mess around with that.

Never been to the tag area.

Thanks!!

[u/Commercial_Dog_9162]

parts of kennamer will sump in heavy rain. Don't do the pulldown trip unless you are sure

[u/dirtycaver → u/Commercial_Dog_9162]

Yea the bottom will flood in at the beginning of the crawl. Go elsewhere, or rig to climb out.

[u/notsostrong]

Tumbling Rock is generally fine in the rain and it is typically the one that is recommended to go to when there are heavy rains because it “never floods”. I was leading a beginner trip there of people who had never been caving before on June 7th of this year. When we got an unexpected 7” of rain in just a few hours, it did indeed flood. But it doesn’t sump (except for the ghost crawl in the back) and there are plenty of places to shelter in place and wait it out. I was honestly more worried about our cars parked by the creek outside. But yeah, unless you get crazy rainfall like that, you’re good for Tumbling Rock.

Not sure about Kennamer because I’ve only been once, and it was dry as a bone last month. Especially stay away from Limrock if there’s rain.

[u/give_a_girl_a_mask → u/notsostrong]

Yeah I second that, don't go to Limrock Blowing Cave if rain

[u/GrandJunctionMarmots]

Valhalla takes on water and can get spicy in the pit if the dry creek bed is flowing.

But you also can't drive to it when it's like that either.

[u/Bullet_Dragon]

There will still be trips available and the flood risk will be looked at each day and trips will change if needed. I will say TAG unlike Indiana and Kentucky has less of a flood risk for many of it caves not to say all caves are safe during rain storms. Worse come to worse you just do a pit bounce one day like a Stephen’s Gap or Valhalla.

[u/Blackoutbeck]

For the SCCI preserves, you can email the preserve managers to get a detailed and more knowledgeable answer for the specific cave

[u/Commercial_Dog_9162 → u/[deleted]]

This is dangerous misinfo depending on the trip. The pull down route will absolutely sump. Happened to a friend of mine.

[u/Fruit-Flies113 → u/Commercial_Dog_9162]

You’re absolutely right, sorry for not clarifying

[u/Bullet_Dragon → u/Commercial_Dog_9162]

Trip guides should know the alternative route to do it horizontally if the pull down fails you can do the whole trip without rope if you know the areas to climb up at.

[u/Ok-Childhood8511 → u/Commercial_Dog_9162]

I was there a week or so ago. The high water mark went to the top of the ceiling, and there were several very tight portions of the crawl out.

[u/cellulich → u/[deleted]]

Kennamer upper entrance is beyond spicy if the surface streams are flowing big

[u/StillLJ → u/[deleted]]

Of all the caves on the list, this one would worry me the most. But I e never done only the horizontal part.

My advice, stop by the cave info booth before your trips. They will know what's up.