Cave explorers recall bizarre experiences while camping in the Seneca Creek Backcountry witnessed in Pendleton County, West Virginia

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On November 5th, 1994, I and six other cavers got together to do some ridgewalking and camping along several miles of limestone exposed on the east side of Seneca Creek, in the Seneca Creek Back Country. This is a remote and heavily forested section of the Monongahela National Forest, and lies on the western flanks of Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia. We planned a through hike, so I pre-positioned my vehicle down stream at the public parking area near the intersection of White's Run and Seneca Creek. Then we drove around and upstream to the ****** trail head where we started out. Hiking along or off to the side of the trail we passed the entrances of a few caves that were located on previous trips (we'd been working this area for a few months already). The area is heavily forested with second growth hard woods that have grown up since the virgin timber was clear cut in the 1890-1912 logging era. We worked our way north toward and through a region known for a series of...