I just posted this on TAGnet, but since word of this wretched little cave has made it all the way to Texas I decided to share my personal remembrance of the place. In general I try to forget that I ever had the misfortune to live in Maryland. In the immortal words of the Talking Heads, "Don't go back to Rockville!" Schetromph cave is a potential deathtrap. I know because I have been there many times. Back in the mid to late sixties it was a popular destination for cavers from the Washington DC area who were young, skinny, and had nothing better to do.
After a nasty climb down near the entrance there is a dreadfully tight round tube called the "corkscrew". The only possible way to enter it was headfirst with helmet off with one arm ahead and one behind. The tube sloped steeply down and to enter it was an act of foolish gravity based faith. The only way out was to shoulder wriggle forward until such time as the tube corkscrewed steeply up at the other end where there were jagged rocks to pull on and thus exit the tube of terror. Why we did this repeatedly I do not know, but I can assure you that I would never do it again for the entire cave is worthless, as are all caves in Maryland. For that matter Maryland itself is worthless. Getting out was somewhat easier but much more potentially dangerous. Again, the only choice was to go head first and trust in gravity. The aforementioned jagged rocks formed a keyhole slot into which it was easy to let your foot slip, but once gravity was puling you down into the corkscrew tube there was no way to extricate your foot. You would simply hang there by your boot until you died. I once made the mistake of going there with a tall gangly fellow who was thus trapped, as was I until I managed to work his foot out of the slot. If I am not mistaken this is the place where the recent victim was trapped, though I find it hard to imagine how he could have gotten his knee folded against his body in such a tight space. Need I mention that caves in Maryland are cold and we were invariably dressed in tee shirts and denim jackets? The thought of listening to his dying moans while watching my carbide lamp flicker out was not pleasant. Most extraordinary of all was the fact that someone for some inexplicable reason somehow dragged a concrete block through the corkscrew. When I found it inside the cave I was absolutely flabbergasted. After finding it I methodically searched the cave since it seemed utterly impossible that anyone could have done such a thing. There is another entrance but it is suitable only for raccoons. It would seem to me that the only hope for a rescue from the corkscrew would be to enlarge the other entrance with a backhoe. The fact that the fellow was extricated otherwise is nothing short of a miracle and all credit to the brave fellow who chiseled him out! Sleazeweazel
