Kelly & Jason
Photo by Kelly & Jason
Into the Depths: The Passionate Pursuits of Cave Explorers Kelly and Jason
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‘Kelly and Jason are dedicated cave explorers and surveyors whose passion for the underground world has taken them on extraordinary journeys. From their childhoods in Atlanta and Memphis to their current roles as National Speleological Society LIFE Members, they share their experiences of mapping caves for landowners and contributing to vital cave science projects. With a wealth of knowledge and a sense of adventure, Kelly and Jason discuss their memorable discoveries, safety protocols, and dreams of exploring caves beyond the U.S. Join us as we uncover their inspiring stories and valuable advice for aspiring cavers.’
Background
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Kelly: I was born in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up on a large farm in a rural area west of there. We had cows, chickens, pigs, and a horse every now and then. It was country. I remember collecting eggs as a kid, running around barefoot all the time outside and helping my dad do whatever I could.
There were six of us kids, my brother, who is the only boy, is the oldest. We hung out with our cousins a lot and we had those kinds of summers where your mom put you outside for the day and it was yours to explore. My dad worked with his three brothers at a successful family business, a car junkyard that my grandfather had started when they were kids.
My parents did well, and they raised us to work hard and be kind. I can thank my mom for so much that she taught me and my dad for always teaching me to work hard and not give up.
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Jason: I was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. The land of no exploration. When I was 8, I joined the Cub Scouts. This led me to the outdoors and my passion for exploration. As I advanced through Boy Scouts, I was able to experience things such as rock climbing, camping, canoeing, hiking, backpacking, and I even went to my first commercial cave, Blanchard Springs in Arkansas.
I obtained my Eagle Scout at 17 and went to work at Philmont in New Mexico that summer. I later returned when I was 20 to work a full summer on a conservation work crew. A few years later while I was attending college in Murfreesboro, Tennessee I found caving.
Photo by Kelly & Jason
For those learning about you for the first time, can you tell us a little about what you presently do?
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Jason and I are both cave explorers and cave surveyors. We have produced dozens of maps for local landowners as well as helped on countless other survey/cave science projects (dye tracing/biological inventories) in this region. We are both National Speleological Society LIFE Members & both recognized as Fellows of the Society.
We have surveyed caves for the Appalachian Power Company in VA, The famous Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, TN, & locally numerous mile-plus-long caves for private landowners.
We have a love for caving & the outdoors and giving back to our community. When we are not surveying, we are having fun caving! Caving is not our profession as we have real jobs but instead it is a passion and something we love to do in our spare time.
Photo by Kelly & Jason
How did you and your husband Jason first get introduced into the hobby of caving? What was it about exploring underground that appealed to you?
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Kelly: I first learned of caving through my sister and her husband. They used to take my first husband with them, and I literally thought they were crazy! A few years after I had my daughter, I decided I would finally try out caving. I was 26 at the time and the first cave I went to was Hurricane Cave in Georgia. It has a culvert pipe entrance for about 100 feet or so as the cave was almost destroyed by the Interstate.
Cavers were able to save this cave by installing a culvert pipe at the entrance to where it could safely be entered. I was immediately fascinated and fell in love. I can’t really explain it, it just draws me in. At this point, I am ok with saying I have an obsession with caving. I want to see as many as I can, and I love to see all the different types of cave formations. Each cave is so different and has its own challenges. When people ask me, what is your favorite cave, I always tell them the last one I visited!
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Jason: My first memory of visiting a cave was a show cave named Blanchard Springs in Arkansas while I was a Boy Scout. Later, at the age of 23 and while attending college in Murfreesboro, I found recreational caving. I met a fellow caver, Chris at a friend’s house and he invited me to go on a trip to Camps Gulf Cave.
We made our way back to the fourth room in this cave and it literally blew my mind what was underground. This particular cave is known for its massive, large rooms and one can easily get lost. I just knew I wanted to see more. A few years later, I was taught how to survey and my passion for surveying caves begun.
Photo by Kelly & Jason
As volunteer cave surveyors and researchers, what types of projects have you contributed to the most?
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We contribute more directly to cave surveying. Jason is a cartographer, which means he not only sketches inside the cave, but he also produces the maps. Jason has received numerous awards from the National Speleological Society (NSS) as well as the Southeastern Regional Association of the NSS for many of his maps.
Photo by Kelly & Jason
As Fellows of the National Speleological Society, what accomplishments or long-term service are you most proud of? How has being a part of this community enhanced your caving experiences?
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We both received our Fellow awards for the years of contributions we have made to the National Speleological Society. I received mine in 2014 and Jason received his in 2022. We both have a lot of love and joy for giving back to the caving community. We enjoy teaching cavers how to survey as well as taking new people into caves and showing them the proper techniques.
It sounds like you've had the opportunity to cave on some very notable private properties - what are some of the most memorable caves you've had the chance to explore and map on the Jack Daniels or Appalachian Power lands?
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One of the most memorable would most definitely be the survey at the Jack Daniels property. The team at Jack Daniels was looking to get a cave on their property surveyed and our friend had recommended us for the job.
I say job, but it wasn’t a paid job. All of the survey work we normally do is voluntary. In exchange for us surveying the cave for the distillery, we asked that in return we be allowed to have a Tennessee Cave Survey (TCS) meeting on the property and for cavers to be allowed to tour the cave we surveyed. They agreed and it was a fun event in the spring of 2017 when we had over 100 members of the TCS on site while I gave a presentation on the survey and then they got to visit the cave afterwards.
The survey for the Appalachian Power Company was our one and only ever paid survey. They were putting in new high tension power lines and had someone on the ground looking for holes. They hired us to come in and survey those holes, to see how deep they went and if their power poles would interfere with the cave. That was a fun job while it lasted but it was a very long drive for us. We used the money we made on that job to buy new hard mounted lights for our caving helmets.
Photo by Kelly & Jason
Caving looks like an adventure but also requires safety precautions - what protocols do you both follow in your explorations and documentation work?
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I do like to say that caving can be very dangerous, and it can also be very safe. There are many different things you do while caving to ensure safety. Some of the most common are to carry three sources of light. We also carry back up clothes in our packs, as well as emergency supplies and water. When we vertical cave we always belay the newer folks to ensure their safety on rope as well.
Do you have any memorable or unusual discoveries or experiences you'd be willing to share from your extensive time underground
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Anytime we find new cave passage, referred to as virgin cave makes for great memories. We had a project in 2021 that was supposed to be an easy low hanging fruit type survey. The cave was listed as being 4,500 feet long.
It is significant to have a mile long cave so we were hoping that by surveying the cave we would get a least a mile of passage out of it. We were nearing the end of the survey and were only around 200 feet or so short of a mile. Jason said to me I better find a blowing lead and sure enough, that day I did. It was a fist-sized hole, which we dug open over the course of four trips. It ended up giving us another 3,300 feet of virgin cave passage.
At the end of the passage there was a large room, 150’ long by 50’ wide with a 98’ waterfall plunging down from above. I’ll never forget the day we discovered that. When we told the landowners what we had found, Mr. Winton said he wanted to see it. I had the wonderful opportunity to take him along with his daughter and two nieces to the newly discovered section of their cave. To see the amazement and wonder on their faces as they saw it for the first time was an experience I will never forget.
Other memorable moments include seeing things such as fossils and bones in caves. It is common to see things like shark teeth, Archimedes screws, and cephalopods. On occasion we will also discover rare fossils in caves. We do our best to document them with photos and videos.
Photo by Kelly & Jason
What are some of your dream caving destinations or expedition goals you hope to accomplish in future years?
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Jason and I would love to visit caves outside of the US at some point. Right now, our lives have kept us locally, which we are ok with as there are nearly 12,000 known caves here in Tennessee which is enough to keep us busy for more than our life time.
Photo by Kelly & Jason
Based on your extensive background, what advice would you have for others who want to take up caving locally or get more involved in volunteer efforts?
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For those looking to get into caving, I would suggest reaching out to the National Speleological Society and finding a Grotto near you. A grotto is a caving club, and they are located all across the country. Most grottos will have beginner led caving trips and sometimes even loaner gear.
To continue following our explorers Kelly & Jason’s journey or simply want to reach out and say Hi, you can connect with them on the following accounts:
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@tag_caver
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/undergroundearthcaving/
Blog
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@tag_caver
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