No injured cavers recorded.
At around noon on Saturday, November 28, 1982, a group of five cavers entered Harmon's Waterfall Cave in W. Virginia. After exploring for some time, they had difficulty in discovering the route back to the entrance. When their carbide supply ran low, they sat down to wait for help. Late Sunday afternoon a cave search was mobilized and six cavers responded, one of whom was familiar with the cave and had brought a map. Though it was raining hard the main part of the cave is dry and no flooding was expected. Eight hundred feet of 'semi-crawling, tight' passage leads from the 25 foot entrance climb-down to a junction. If the lost group was not encountered at that point, the rescuers would split into three groups of two to sweep the known cave. At the junction they heard voices and soon encountered the stranded cavers, who were led out with no further incident.
The cavers were 'experienced outdoors people with a minimum of caving experience,' who should have had greater light reserves, but did the right thing under the circumstances.
A group of five cavers with limited caving experience became lost in Harmon's Waterfall Cave due to inadequate lighting and were assisted out by rescuers.