Our grotto is named after the Gold Rush era of the northern and central Sierra foothills. We hold informal monthly meetings, where we go over grotto business, report on recent trips, plans and sign-up for upcoming trips. Either a slide or video presentation, or a scientific or safety workshop. In addition we publish a quarterly newsletter, the Valley Caver , full of grotto news, trip reports and schedules, and other articles about caves and caving. Members are invited to contribute articles and artwork to the newsletter.
Training is a very important part of our grotto activities.
Sessions are held regularly to train cavers, both old and new, in safe caving and climbing techniques. Then there are trips for exploring and mapping newly discovered caves. These trips require more training in surveying and mapping. MLG trips are regularly scheduled into the Mother lode foothills and other Sierra Nevada caving areas in California. Longer trips can be made on long weekends to the far reaches of California and to caving areas in other states.