GALLERY

Originating high up in the Monongahela National Forest, Gandy Creek meanders through open pastoral meadows before it disappears under Yokum Knob, where it has carved a passage nearly a mile long through soft limestone. Upon emerging from a boulder-strewn cave on the other side, Grandy Creek begins its descent and winds among the shadows cast by the sprawling shoulders of Spruce Mountain before joining the Dry Fork near the town of Whitmer. This photo is from the upstream entrance of the Sinks of Gandy, where its water-scalloped limestone ceiling imparts the feeling of being swallowed by a giant whale. The further in you go, the more the belly of the beast consumes water and light alike. Photo and captain by Jesse Thornton.