No injured cavers recorded.
On Sunday April 19 1981 John Hofleit, David Parr and Joe Douglas entered Pulley Cave in Davidson County, Tennessee, on a survey trip. The day dawned cloudy and they had thought about going to a different cave but the sun briefly came out and strengthened their resolve.
Entering the cave through the "Corkscrew" entrance descent, they proceeded into the lower stream passage and headed up the main canyon passage, some 20 feet high and three feet wide, to where it branches. The right branch carried the main stream and heads for a swallet located nearby. They began surveying the left-hand branch. A little rain had begun falling as they entered and as they started surveying, rumblings were heard from the right branch. The noises continued as they set five stations. Suddenly Parr yelled "Get out of here, Quick!" and everyone broke and ran. Parr headed up the passage to where he knew it connected to the upper level - the other two beat it down stream and immediately were in knee-deep water as sticks and debris raced past. Fear of loss of light and tripping in the debris raced through their minds. In a few minutes they were out the entrance, now a waterfall.
Analysis: The thunderstorm dumped almost an inch of rain in five minutes and 1.7 inches over a 15 minute period. Cavers should pay attention to weather forecasts, which are readily available. In thunderstorm conditions one should certainly think twice about visiting stream passages.
Reference: John Hoflelt "A Quick Lesson in the Hydrology of the Pulley Cave Area" Speleonews April, 1981 p 13-15.
This record was last updated on 27th Apr 2024 at 23:11 UTC.