When I bring someone new to Pettyjohn Cave in North Georgia, I enjoy taking them on the Loop tour. It’s great because the only part of the cave that the route crossed twice is about 250 feet of cave near the entrance. The round trip will take about four hours and will involve tight squeezes, moderate climbs, and some mud, but not the actual mud. If the group really wants a challenge, add the Flat Room and Z-Curves. Side trips to the Over ‘N Under Room or Echo Room can also be made for an even longer ride.
The Loop route consists of Pancake Squeeze or Z-Bends, choose one or split the group with half going through each. (Smaller cavers take the Z-curves.) Next up is the Raccoon Room, The Freeway, and then the Bridge Room. Upon exiting the Bridge Room, crawl into the Mason – Dixon Passage and the Volcano Room, then back to the Main Entrance Room.
As one glides into the Pettyjohn Inlet, you can’t help but notice the smooth slide of eroded rocks that thousands of cavers have slipped down before. If it’s raining or the muddy, wet cavers came out just before your group does, the last few feet of the cave can be quite challenging and will require most of your climbing skills just to get out of the cave. A quick turn to the left and down, then back to the right and the cave opens into a huge cavern. Until your eyes adjust to the dark, be careful going down to the great entrance hall. The floor can be slippery, so while your eyes adjust, try to take in the large formations on either side of the room. The room is about 30 feet high and 20 feet wide. Approximately 200 feet into the cave is the first connecting room and a climb.
Across the floor in the first connecting room is the route to the Signature room, a good ride for first-time cavers, with lots of sticky mud. The weathered path up the rock on the left is difficult to climb, but easy to climb down at the exit. There is a sloping rock in the center of the passage that will have a separate crevice for a foot step followed by another sloping rock with a small weathered formation in the center that provides another foot step to the top of the climb. A few more steps and you’re looking down a steep incline with a large rock jutting out on the right and the vertical wall on the left.
Slowly work your way down the right side under the boss to the bottom of the second patch room. This is where we started the Loop route and it is also the busiest route to the large waterfall on the lower level. There will be two holes at the bottom of the second patch room. The most obvious is a drop that I would not recommend. After checking, step away from the left wall and go down through the breakdown, feet first, until you’re under the hole. Then you can see that there are no foot or hand grips to use if you entered through the first hole.
Continue down below the left wall of the entrance room, the cave will open with a steep slope leading away from the main entrance room. This is perhaps the most confusing area of our tour. On a recent trip, I spent almost an hour here trying to find my way. I keep forgetting that there is another level to descend before climbing back into a short passage of water that leads to the Pancake Squeeze. Go right down a steep ledge until you can’t go any deeper. Then go back to the left and look for a hidden passage above a small ledge. If the group chooses to take the Z-curves, stay low and continue in the same general direction but further to the right. Through a spacious low room called the Flat Room. Near the end of this room, look for a vertical crevice to get into and follow it until it opens. These are the Z-curves, the higher you are, the more difficult it will be to pass.
For the group that climbed the ledge, take the first side passage through the water about 8 inches deep to the end. Duck under the ledge on the right and crawl over to the Pancake Squeeze. The pancake squeeze is tricky, try to look ahead for the highest part and stay in sight to the left. If the grip starts to tighten, try moving more to the left. You may have to remove your helmet in order to pass. There is plenty of room on each side, so crawling is not a problem. When you put the pancake down and stand up, you should make contact with the group that took the Z curves. Make sure everyone is together again before continuing.
The next challenge will be a small drop of about 6 feet. If you are tall, you can slide on your feet first to the rock floor below. A better route is along the left side between a stalactite and the left wall, where you can grab onto the stalactite and lower yourself to the ground. Continue along the right wall for another 50 feet and the left side will start to fall. Stand tall along the right side of the passage. If you go down a muddy hole in the left wall to creek level you will be on the tourist route to the waterfall. Above this hole on the right is the Raccoon Room. This is a dangerous climb and there may be a hand line there, but don’t trust it as it has been there for years. Climb up and over the ledge on the right.
Cross the raccoon room on the right side towards the back of the room. Avoid the dead end and stay to the right by crawling over several mud walls until you reach a canyon crossing. The large pedestrian walkway on the right will end in a cul-de-sac after several turns. At the junction there will be a nice stalactite with water dripping into a pool with rim stone dams around the pool’s edge. Follow the canyon to the left and go up The Freeway. The Autopista is an easy pass for crouching with mud banks on either side. Go through three rooms about 75 feet each until you reach the bridge room.
The Bridge Room is a good place to take a break, dangle your legs over the edge, and listen to the current about 80 feet below. You could go down here and go to the waterfall. By crossing the bridge, which is a narrow, muddy arch over the canyon, and continuing through a long trunk passage, the rear sections of Pettyjohn Cave can be accessed. To continue the Loop, do not cross the bridge, follow the narrow mud path along the right wall of the grand canyon and stay on the same level near the roof.
At the end of the Bridge Room, look for a small hole near the ceiling, this is the narrow access to the Mason – Dixon Passage. If you descend at this point and duck under a ledge, you can follow the lower stream passage to the sinkhole at the lowest part of the cave, 235 feet below the entrance. Take off all your gear and push it into the hole in front of you, then squeeze it. After about 20 feet, it will start to open up and you can slide into the passage on the left. This passage will start at about 4 feet tall and then open for walking with a tighter drag in the middle.
After about 500 feet there will be a large patch room. On the left is the worm tube that leads to the echo room, the largest room in the cave. The worm tube has 200 feet of very narrow passage and the climb to the echo room is very difficult. But the great room is worth the effort to see. To the right in the connection room and on a rock ledge and through a horizontal crevice there is a small room on the way to the Volcano Room. One more horizontal rift and then exit to the edge of the Volcano Room.
The Volcano Room is shaped like a large funnel with steep sides and leads to the creek passage and sinkhole. For years, the only way out was to climb a vertical wall to a small window above the Volcano Room. We usually use a cable ladder when we come from the other direction. I have freely scaled the wall, but it is very exposed. In the late 1980s, someone dug a detour under and around the vertical rise to the window. To enter this crawl from the side of the Volcano Room, enter head first, pushing your gear. Work your way up by twisting as you go. Try to stay on your back because you will have to crouch at the end and if you are not on your back you will not be able to crouch or roll over. If you go the other way, you will want to go feet first and back. Going downhill is a little easier.
Coming out of the crawl and waiting for the others, it’s worth climbing up to the window and looking out into the Volcano Room. There is not much room in the small vertical passage from the window, so before it fills up, go up to the larger room above. Go up to another room with a walkway to the left and a rise to the right. The passage on the left is a dead end. The climb along a narrow ledge, first to the right, then back to the left and up to a large training room. On the other side of this room and on one edge there is another room that descends. Keep left and enter a crawl path before the room. The skid trail will have a very sharp turn to the right. The corner of the rock at the bend has been broken to allow the extraction of a poor spelunker who fell through the window onto the Volcano Room and broke his leg.
The easy drag continues up through a large collapse to a small drop in a small room. When you are in this passage, you can speak to anyone who may be in the Autograph Room above. If they are at the bottom of the autograph room, they should be only a few feet from this passage. But no eye contact could be made. Going down to the small room, turn right and slide your feet into another small opening first before fully entering the small room. Keep going down this dry and dusty little vertical crevice until it is level.
If you continue to the end of this passage, there is a difficult climb that needs long legs to get to the feet. Before reaching the end and shortly after it is leveled, there is a hole that leads to the passage above. The upper passage is approximately 4 feet tall and wide. It will lead to delivery at the end of the passage below. Continue down the hall, through a small window, and into what looks like a dead end. It is possible to climb through the breakout and enter the main entrance hall from above, but it is very narrow and vertical. In the apparent cul-de-sac, lie on your side and slide under the wall, it is about 12 inches tall but opens up. Crawl on a rock and enter another small patch room.
To the left is a passage to the east passage of the creek and Crowell Domes. Up and to the right is a 20 foot climb to the main entrance hall. One direction is the autograph room and the other direction is the second connection room where we go down. Go down to the back of the room and then go back up on the left side. At the top, stay to the right and slide down along the right wall to the first patch room. From here it is an easy walk to the entrance and a slippery climb out of the cave.