[Texascavers] TCR Turns 30! Update 1
MessageHowdy Ya'll, See, I told y'all updates would be coming. An observant observer noted that on the Paradise Canyon Park web site, they clearly state NO PETS. They are serious about that and that is their policy when the park is open to the general public. For the weekend of TCR, the owners of the park are gracious enough to give permission for us to have dogs since we are renting the enitre park. Please only bring well behaved dogs. Dogs are welcome at this TCR and I plan on bringing my dogs. If you bring dogs, please pick up anything your dog drops. You are responsible for your dog. Dogs are allowed off leash as long as they are not a nusance. Please bring some means of controlling your dog, if he or she starts annoying others. As long as your dog isn't a problem, there is no problem. :-) Allan
[Texascavers] NSS Convention Report # 12
One of the things I was looking forward to on my summer vacation was getting some rest and sleep. However, I had forgotten how exhausting a convention is. There was so much caving going on at this convention that getting rest didn't seem to be on anybody's agenda. For example, the cavers camped next to me had invited me to go to River Cave and Clifty Cave, which are reported to be 2 of Indiana's funnest caves. However, I had to turn them down because I had already planned on doing other things. However, I had planned on caving with them all day on Thursday. They were going to a well known place called Caves of the River Valley, which was about an hour north of the convention. Caves of the River Valley is a very special place. It is apparently owned by one man. I don't know if he likes caves, but he allows caving on the property year round for a $ 5 daily entrance fee to his property. I can't list all the caves there but we did 3 of the easy caves on the property in one afternoon - Flowstone Cave, Frozen Waterfall Cave Lamplighter's. The 1st cave was Flowstone Cave. It was mainly one stream passage that had some walking passage and some crawling. The water was ankle deep in a most places, and occasionally was almost knee deep. Again, my large Swago caving pack was too much too carry into this cave. And to make matters worse, I didn't rap the closure enough and the entire pack filled with water, which soaked all my gear causing the pack to weigh a whole lot. Then it was like dragging a sack of bricks the rest of the trip. The next cave Frozen Waterfall Cave was just a short walk away.I would say that this was a beginner cave as long as the person had the proper clothing and was with an experienced caver.The entrance can be climbed without a handline, however, if you did and were to slip and fall you could break several bones. This cave was not for fat people as in some places you are walking thru a 12 inch wide passage. Near the back, the passage seemed to be getting narrower and smaller, so I turned around at least a hundred feet before the rest of my group did. This cave had one or 2 nice big formations and some crawling. The 3rd and final cave of my Indiana caving was Lamplighter's. Lamplighter's Cave is a thru trip. I am guessing it was a mile of stream passage. Most of the cave, I would say is ok for a beginer to go into. There is a crawl that I would call the death crawl - a good place to initiate someone into Indiana Caving.It is not a long crawl. It is not a tight crawl, but does require getting down on your stomach.But it is a cold wet crawl over sharp rocks the whole way ( I didn't have knee pads, just the extra layer sewn into my nylon overalls ).I would say proper gear in this crawlway is a must. I had gloves that were part neoprene part nylon and that did not seem to be enough. My booties were a similar material. I highly recommend lace-up rubber boots for these trips, especially in Lamplighter's. ( and we were there in low water ). The thing that intimidated me the most was the entrance to Lamplighters.It was a squeeze for me that involved bending my body awkwardly.Had it been in the cave, I would have had to turn around. I probably would have not done it, but the trip leader appeared to be fatter than me, although I weighed 30 pounds more than him. And since it was a thru trip, I was hoping I wouldn't have to go back up it which appeared to be even worse than going down it. Upon exiting, we landed in some guys front yard. He was nice and had allowed us to park an extra car in his driveway.We were all wet and had to climb under his electric fence. As we were driving away, he greeted us and told us he had a new cave on the other side of the house that had just opened up. He said only one group had been in it. They told him they mapped it and that it tied back into Lamplighter's. He told us to come back soon. I would not do Lamplighter's again, but I would recommend it because thru trips are uniquely fun. Well, that was all the wild caving I did in Indiana, 6 caves in all during the convention. The only ones I want to go back to are Middle Cave and Waterfall Cave, and that is only because we turned around in walking size passage, and I would like to see the rest of the cave. I spent the rest of the afternoon driving the back roads around southern Washington County. I found an interesting old house in the middle of nowhere. I stopped suddenly to take a look at it, not realizing there was a redneck in a big truck right on my bumper. Fortunately, he was able to stop before he hit me. As I was driving south towards camp, I could see a dark storm with lightning in the general area of the convention campground. I realized my stuff must be soaked as I did not have my rainfly on my tent. I went to the NSS Salon, and learned there like
[Texascavers] More HD Caving programs
If you enjoy watching caving programs in HD, I would have to recommend getting the HDTV package from Dish Network. I mentioned a program earlier this summer about base jumping in Golondrinas, but the programs are getting much better. Last night's program was called Mountainous Sky Caves and follows several Chinese explorers to a region in southwest China called Guangxi. They have found over 30 big caves in the area and believe that they may all be connected by a river system estimated to be 700km in extent. The thing that impressed me about the caves is just how large they were. The main cave was at the bottom of a shear walled sinkhole over 600m deep. If I understood the narrator, the cave goes another 400m deep from there and isn't fully explored yet. In one shot, the team is over 700m down and you can still see daylight coming down the entrance, I'm not aware of any other cave in the world where that happens. Good stuff- Aaron - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] More HD Caving programs
What channel was the Chinese cave program on? Was it that CCTV Chinese network, an American channel, or something restricted to just HD? I don't have HD, but I do get CCTV, etc. Roger Moore GHG ** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
RE: [Texascavers] More HD Caving programs
The program was on a channel called �EquatorHD�. They show natural/cultural programs from around the world. Aaron From: cavera...@aol.com [mailto:cavera...@aol.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 9:33 AM To: addi...@caveresource.com; Subject: Re: [Texascavers] More HD Caving programs What channel was the Chinese cave program on? Was it that CCTV Chinese network, an American channel, or something restricted to just HD? I don't have HD, but I do get CCTV, etc. Roger Moore GHG Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com. - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] NSS News
Sentences seen in the July 2007 NSS News: Rattlesnakes are one reason the place can be so foreboding. We had a cave to map that required forging the river by foot. Does anybody read that stuff before it is printed? Shame! -- Bill Mixon --- You may Reply to the address from which this message was sent, but note the following permanent addresses for long-term use: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org, sa...@amcs-pubs.org - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] NSS News
This sentence no verb. On 7/30/07, Bill Mixon billmi...@worldnet.att.net wrote: Sentences seen in the July 2007 NSS News: Rattlesnakes are one reason the place can be so foreboding. We had a cave to map that required forging the river by foot. Does anybody read that stuff before it is printed? Shame! -- Bill Mixon --- You may Reply to the address from which this message was sent, but note the following permanent addresses for long-term use: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org, sa...@amcs-pubs.org - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
RE: [Texascavers] RE: NSS Convention # 9
Though not often seen, there are a lot of foxes in most parts of Texas. - Fritz _ From: Minton, Mark [mailto:mmin...@nmhu.edu] Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 12:09 PM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] RE: NSS Convention # 9 David Locklear said: I saw a fox along the road. Yvonne Droms and I also saw a fox on a back road as we were driving back to the Convention campground at dusk after a cave trip near Wyandotte. Apparently there are a lot of foxes in southern Indiana. Cool! Mark Minton
[Texascavers] laundry mat?
What's this laundry mat business? Sounds like a misspelling of the trademark Laundramat. --Mixon --- You may Reply to the address from which this message was sent, but note the following permanent addresses for long-term use: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org, sa...@amcs-pubs.org - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] laundry mat?
One time I was in Mexico with Matt Oliphant and Nancy Pistole. Several of us decided to go get our clothes washed and I'm pretty sure that I heard Nancy say, Want to go do our laundry, Matt? Bill Bill Mixon billmi...@worldnet.att.net wrote: What's this laundry mat business? Sounds like a misspelling of the trademark Laundramat. --Mixon --- You may Reply to the address from which this message was sent, but note the following permanent addresses for long-term use: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org, sa...@amcs-pubs.org - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] Jim Hixson
I first met Jim Hixson at some Indiana Cave Capers back in the 1960s. He was famous for, among other things, abusing vehicles. At the Cave Capers he had an old Chevy sedan, and something went wrong with the shift linkage. He got a bunch of cavers to roll it up on its side for convenient access to the transmission. He once had a pickup truck named Henry that didn't have a single body piece that hadn't gotten crumpled up somehow. I auctioned off a small piece of it at what may have been the first NSS convention auction, in 1973. -- Mixon --- You may Reply to the address from which this message was sent, but note the following permanent addresses for long-term use: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org, sa...@amcs-pubs.org - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] Jim Hixson
-- Original message -- From: Bill Mixon billmi...@worldnet.att.net I first met Jim Hixson at some Indiana Cave Capers back in the 1960s... an old Chevy sedan, THAT WAS BEASTIE. Black. Godzillion miles. And, if we get started, there are an equal number of Hixson stories. He was a definite character and has been in very ill health for quite some time. Henry, new and unblemished, showed up at the first Huntsville convention in 1967. Jim had the bed lined with a piece of 10-mil poly he had liberated from the mine where he worked. We filled it with water at a truck stop owned and run by women. The women's rest room was the one inside. They were reluctant to let us run the hose until Sandy Deal convinced them it would work. Sandy and Jim drove Henry and the Porta-Pool around the campground, the rest of us riding in it and throwing unsuspecting folks in. All went well until Squire Lewis was tossed in, when the water turned black. He hadn't washed his feet for a Lng time. Remember his dog, Linda? The Anvil Cave rally at that convention was won by a team of 6 - 3 dogs (Linda, Woola, and C. Thumb) and 3 people (Jim, Sandy, and myself). Other competors complained that the dogs kept running around and confusing them. Sower grapes. They just did not know how to read maps very well. At the time, both C. Thumb and Linda were NSS members complete with FD numbers. We camped at his house after the convention, and Beastie was undergoing yet another transplant and had 3 spare transmissions in the back seat. Another claim to fame was Jim initiating the first speleoralley at Blacksburg. The resulting ruin of family vehicles needed for cross-country return to home caused Ken Laidlaw to initiate the rules for a less destructive version at White Salmon. Children (and cavers) must play. Yes, Jim will be missed by some of us, for sure. DirtDoc - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] Jim Hixson
I remember Jim Hixson's dog Linda. It bit Bill Torode on the face at an NSS convention. That might have been at Blacksburg in 1971. Linda was placed in a fenced square in the campground. Poor Toroda bent down to pat her on the head and she jumped up and chomped him on the face. I think the dog was okay. Bill dirt...@comcast.net wrote: -- Original message -- From: Bill Mixon billmi...@worldnet.att.net I first met Jim Hixson at some Indiana Cave Capers back in the 1960s... an old Chevy sedan, THAT WAS BEASTIE. Black. Godzillion miles. And, if we get started, there are an equal number of Hixson stories. He was a definite character and has been in very ill health for quite some time. Henry, new and unblemished, showed up at the first Huntsville convention in 1967. Jim had the bed lined with a piece of 10-mil poly he had liberated from the mine where he worked. We filled it with water at a truck stop owned and run by women. The women's rest room was the one inside. They were reluctant to let us run the hose until Sandy Deal convinced them it would work. Sandy and Jim drove Henry and the Porta-Pool around the campground, the rest of us riding in it and throwing unsuspecting folks in. All went well until Squire Lewis was tossed in, when the water turned black. He hadn't washed his feet for a Lng time. Remember his dog, Linda? The Anvil Cave rally at that convention was won by a team of 6 - 3 dogs (Linda, Woola, and C. Thumb) and 3 people (Jim, Sandy, and myself). Other competors complained that the dogs kept running around and confusing them. Sower grapes. They just did not know how to read maps very well. At the time, both C. Thumb and Linda were NSS members complete with FD numbers. We camped at his house after the convention, and Beastie was undergoing yet another transplant and had 3 spare transmissions in the back seat. Another claim to fame was Jim initiating the first speleoralley at Blacksburg. The resulting ruin of family vehicles needed for cross-country return to home caused Ken Laidlaw to initiate the rules for a less destructive version at White Salmon. Children (and cavers) must play. Yes, Jim will be missed by some of us, for sure. DirtDoc - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] Jim Hixson
Yep, I remember Linda too - she was a great cave surveyor too! I'm saddened by Jim's passing, he was a really good guy who, while he never had much, would have given you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He wasn't the best about finishing things, but he was an excellent surveyor, and a *lot* better caver than a lot of folks realized. He will definitely be missed. Keith - Original Message - From: speleoste...@tx.rr.com List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 6:54 pm Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Jim Hixson To: dirt...@comcast.net Cc: CaveTex texascavers@texascavers.com, Bill Mixon billmi...@worldnet.att.net I remember Jim Hixson's dog Linda. It bit Bill Torode on the face at an NSS convention. That might have been at Blacksburg in 1971. Linda was placed in a fenced square in the campground. Poor Toroda bent down to pat her on the head and she jumped up and chomped him on the face. I think the dog was okay. Bill dirt...@comcast.net wrote: -- Original message -- From: Bill Mixon billmi...@worldnet.att.net I first met Jim Hixson at some Indiana Cave Capers back in the 1960s... an old Chevy sedan, THAT WAS BEASTIE. Black. Godzillion miles. And, if we get started, there are an equal number of Hixson stories. He was a definite character and has been in very ill health for quite some time. Henry, new and unblemished, showed up at the first Huntsville convention in 1967. Jim had the bed lined with a piece of 10-mil poly he had liberated from the mine where he worked. We filled it with water at a truck stop owned and run by women. The women's rest room was the one inside. They were reluctant to let us run the hose until Sandy Deal convinced them it would work. Sandy and Jim drove Henry and the Porta-Pool around the campground, the rest of us riding in it and throwing unsuspecting folks in. All went well until Squire Lewis was tossed in, when the water turned black. He hadn't washed his feet for a Lng time. Remember his dog, Linda? The Anvil Cave rally at that convention was won by a team of 6 - 3 dogs (Linda, Woola, and C. Thumb) and 3 people (Jim, Sandy, and myself). Other competors complained that the dogs kept running around and confusing them. Sower grapes. They just did not know how to read maps very well. At the time, both C. Thumb and Linda were NSS members complete with FD numbers. We camped at his house after the convention, and Beastie was undergoing yet another transplant and had 3 spare transmissions in the back seat. Another claim to fame was Jim initiating the first speleoralley at Blacksburg. The resulting ruin of family vehicles needed for cross-country return to home caused Ken Laidlaw to initiate the rules for a less destructive version at White Salmon. Children (and cavers) must play. Yes, Jim will be missed by some of us, for sure. DirtDoc - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com --- -- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
Re: [Texascavers] Jim Hixson
Well my memories of Jim are too many to mention here, but suffice it to say that my life could have gone many different routes had I not had the good fortune to be introduced to Jim in my teen years. Jim and I and a host of other cavers ran around West Virginia caving, partying, surveying, digging, fieldwalking and even at times working. He was a friend of my families and crashed many a nights at the Passerby's. He later helped me finance a restaurant business I started in college and was there for me when it crumbled a few years later. He then gave me a place to live, a job, a car to drive and advice.he had a heart as big as a continent. My home moved out of West Virginia, and I lost daily touch with many folks, but my memories of Jim and his impact on my life will always be great ones. He will be missed :( . **Ahhh a Windy Mouth suck in trip detailed on the web http://www.varegion.org/var/theVar/history71/pg147WindyMouth.html now that reminds me of Jim... :) Mark On 7/31/07, speleoste...@tx.rr.com speleoste...@tx.rr.com wrote: I remember Jim Hixson's dog Linda. It bit Bill Torode on the face at an NSS convention. That might have been at Blacksburg in 1971. Linda was placed in a fenced square in the campground. Poor Toroda bent down to pat her on the head and she jumped up and chomped him on the face. I think the dog was okay. Bill dirt...@comcast.net wrote: -- Original message -- From: Bill Mixon billmi...@worldnet.att.net I first met Jim Hixson at some Indiana Cave Capers back in the 1960s... an old Chevy sedan, THAT WAS BEASTIE. Black. Godzillion miles. And, if we get started, there are an equal number of Hixson stories. He was a definite character and has been in very ill health for quite some time. Henry, new and unblemished, showed up at the first Huntsville convention in 1967. Jim had the bed lined with a piece of 10-mil poly he had liberated from the mine where he worked. We filled it with water at a truck stop owned and run by women. The women's rest room was the one inside. They were reluctant to let us run the hose until Sandy Deal convinced them it would work. Sandy and Jim drove Henry and the Porta-Pool around the campground, the rest of us riding in it and throwing unsuspecting folks in. All went well until Squire Lewis was tossed in, when the water turned black. He hadn't washed his feet for a Lng time. Remember his dog, Linda? The Anvil Cave rally at that convention was won by a team of 6 - 3 dogs (Linda, Woola, and C. Thumb) and 3 people (Jim, Sandy, and myself). Other competors complained that the dogs kept running around and confusing them. Sower grapes. They just did not know how to read maps very well. At the time, both C. Thumb and Linda were NSS members complete with FD numbers. We camped at his house after the convention, and Beastie was undergoing yet another transplant and had 3 spare transmissions in the back seat. Another claim to fame was Jim initiating the first speleoralley at Blacksburg. The resulting ruin of family vehicles needed for cross-country return to home caused Ken Laidlaw to initiate the rules for a less destructive version at White Salmon. Children (and cavers) must play. Yes, Jim will be missed by some of us, for sure. DirtDoc - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com -- Mark Passerby RE/MAX Real Estate Professionals Technology Developer Ph. 517-896-4376 Web. www.Lansing.com http://www.lansing.com/ E. webmas...@yourhomepros.com
RE: [Texascavers] Fox sightings
There are probably too many stray dogs and not enough Jaguars. Nature's remedy in action. _ From: Joe S. Ranzau [mailto:j...@oztotl.com] Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 1:01 PM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: RE: [Texascavers] Fox sightings This past week Sara and I saw a fox in Placencia on the beach... For some reason I was suprised to find a beach bum fox. Didn't expect foxes to like the beach but what do I know. Now the Jaguar eating all the dogs in the area was also kinda cool... Big prints outside my cabin in the sand one morning but thats a different story. Joe David Locklear said: I saw a fox along the road. Yvonne Droms and I also saw a fox on a back road as we were driving back to the Convention campground at dusk after a cave trip near Wyandotte. Apparently there are a lot of foxes in southern Indiana. Cool! Mark Minton - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
RE: [Texascavers] Fox sightings
I have seen a Collared Peccary with a front foot stuck in the hole of some animal's vertebra. By far the most hazardous to wildlife, especially sea mammals, are plastic sacks and other forms of plastic such as six pack can holders. I cut all of the loops before disposal. Go ahead, pat me on the back but be sure it's on the back. The Geezer _ From: Louise Power [mailto:power_lou...@hotmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 3:10 PM To: Fritz Holt; j...@oztotl.com; texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: RE: [Texascavers] Fox sightings In Oregon, it's too many people who don't know what to do with their trash. They substitute for jags, mountain lions, and other predators. However, as you can see, this little guy was caught, the bottle removed from his head, and he was released. _ From: Fritz Holt fh...@townandcountryins.com To: Joe S. Ranzau j...@oztotl.com,texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: RE: [Texascavers] Fox sightings Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2007 14:08:10 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: from raistlin.wokka.org ([69.56.185.90]) by bay0-mc3-f15.bay0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.2668); Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:08:27 -0700 Received: (qmail 84777 invoked by uid 89); 31 Jul 2007 19:08:30 - Received: (qmail 84768 invoked by uid 31338); 31 Jul 2007 19:08:30 - There are probably too many stray dogs and not enough Jaguars. Nature's remedy in action. _ From: Joe S. Ranzau [mailto:j...@oztotl.com] Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 1:01 PM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: RE: [Texascavers] Fox sightings This past week Sara and I saw a fox in Placencia on the beach... For some reason I was suprised to find a beach bum fox. Didn't expect foxes to like the beach but what do I know. Now the Jaguar eating all the dogs in the area was also kinda cool... Big prints outside my cabin in the sand one morning but thats a different story. Joe David Locklear said: I saw a fox along the road. Yvonne Droms and I also saw a fox on a back road as we were driving back to the Convention campground at dusk after a cave trip near Wyandotte. Apparently there are a lot of foxes in southern Indiana. Cool! Mark Minton - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
