In my borrowed knee pads, helmet and headlamp, I followed behind my guide’s white, bumper-stickered Jeep along a narrow North Georgia highway. The morning was cool and rainy, the roadside trees cast in a gray winter light. But neither time nor temperature mattered where we were going: Pettyjohn’s Cave, an 8-mile-long underground cavity located in nearby Crockford-Pigeon Mountain Wildlife Management Area. I had never been caving before, and I knew only two things: First, that caves in Tennessee and North Georgia maintain a temperature of 58 degrees Fahrenheit year-round; and second, that I was going to get muddy, as I had been warned upon signing up for the two-hour tour with G3 Adventures.
The Company
G3 Adventures is an outfitting company offering guided hikes, cave tours and other educational programs. Founded in 2011 by Christine Rose and Amy Gonzalez, it was originally named Georgia Girl Guides.
“Then I came along and ruined that,” says Jerry Wallace, the company’s first male guide, who joined in 2016. “I said I’d be happy to wear a skirt, but they decided it was just time for a name change.”
Now, the company comprises six “adventure leaders,” three women and three men, all of whom are trained in CPR, first aid and cave rescue. While the company offers a range of nature programs, “caves are our specialty,” Wallace says.