[Texascavers] Re: About big cats

[Mike Flannigan]

In 1978 or 1979 my brother and I took off from St. Louis
in a Levi's Gremlin I owned and drove to Austin for the
Willie Nelson picnic he first held on that golf course
he bought for the concerts.  BTW, does anybody here
know if that was 1978 or 1979?  I've been thinking
1979 all these years, but now think 1978.  That is when
we learned what great partiers Texans are.

Then we drove across the country to Yosemite.  Did
a 3 day hike from Porcupine Flat to the top of the
main falls, then hiked up the Merced river? to the
campground about 7 miles above the falls.  On the
way to the campground we were in the creek bottom
and had a large cat on the cliff above us.  It was not
real big and was not really stalking much, but I think
it was a mountain lion and not a bobcat.  We were
not very afraid of it even though it was pretty close -
probably only 100 ft away.  We just thought it was
checking us out, which is probably the case.


Mike


On Thu, 12 Jul 2007, speleoste...@tx.rr.com wrote:
>Subject:About big cats
>   Date:Thu, 12 Jul 2007 4:56:24 -0700
>   From: 
> To: Texascavers@texascavers.com
>
>Big Cats
>  By: Gary Stewart  (Gadsden, Alabama)
>
>I wanted to comment on the big cat story I just read and relate some of
>my experiences. The only mountain lion encounter I have had was in
>Steele, Alabama west of Gadsden in 1979. There was a cattleman in that
>area thet was offering a $1000.00 dollar reward for the killing of a
>"black panther' that had been killing his cattle. Myself and 2 friends
>decided we would try to collect on the bounty since we were young and
>stupid and I had just returned from overseas in the Navy and need the
>money. We were several miles up into an area and new we were close
>because you could smell where it had marked its territory. We went up
snip


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[Texascavers] NSS Convention report # 10

[David Locklear]

I signed up for one formal caving trip on the bulletin board.  It was
"Eric's River Cave."

The trip leader was a caver I had never heard of Chris Schlotter. It turns
out he was the original explorer of this cave in 1995. He is well known
around here in southern Indiana, and he had several photos in the photo
salon and won a Merit Award.

We took our time getting to the cave, which was only about 20 minutes
from the NSS Campground.

The cave is in an insignificant ridge not far off the highway and just
a few miles from the famous Overlook Restaurant.

A very small stream flows out of what looks like a breakdown
collapse on the edge of the ridge only about 20 feet above a small
creek flowing towards the Ohio River.It hasn't rained much in the
past few days, so when we were there, we only saw a trickle of water.

The entrance is a tight crawl for about 10 feet to a man-made vertical
culvert cemented in breakdown. The culvert is only 8 inches long,
but in order to get thru it requires a person to contortion and squirm
their way thru it.  I didn't think I was going to fit and was
stuck uncomfortably for a minute or so.

After that, it was crawling thru breakdown for about 50 feet.I wasn't
having any fun, and didn't bring kneepads on this trip. I was wearing
a nylon stretch body suit like you would wear snorkeling.

Then we popped out in wide stream passage.It was walking
the rest of the cave; but I had to tilt my head a lot and sometimes stoop
walk which I find very exhausting over muddy slippery rocks.

The mud in the cave was like peanut butter, and we typically stayed in
the stream.The problem there was the breakdown in the water.   I must
have fallen on my ass about 6 times. I needed cordura shorts over
my thin suit to protect me from that.

There is one place in the cave with some sort of graffiti.   Mr.
Schlotter is convinced that it is thousands of years old. It was
black markings and scratches on the
ceiling.   It resembled and hour-glass with loops on each corner. And the
other looked like a space-ship or a doodle-bug with only 2 legs.
I couldn't make anything out of it, but would agree that it is not something a
typical graffiti artist would paint.

[ It is obvious that if you were to remove the breakdown at the
entrance crawlway
you would have a walk in size entrance, so maybe thousands of years ago,
an Indian walked up into the cave with a small torch.

After nearly a mile of walking over muddy wet rocks, I had had enough.
Around every bend it was just the same old thing.Occasionally there
would be a formation. There was plenty of troglobitic crawfish and fish
in the cave, and even 2 tiny sleeping bats.

Near the back of the cave was a small crawling side passage.It was
more similar to some of the stream passages I have seen in Texas.   The
rock was very sharp and scalloped on all 4 sides of the passage and there
was little mud. It was completely different from the rest of the cave.   Not
having kneepads, and being too large for crawling passages, I turned around
after about 1/2 way.

I think I saw  85 % of what most cavers see when they do a trip in this cave.
There are several crawling side passages, but Mr. Schlotter says they don't
go far.

Personally, I feel someone could remove thousands of tons of silt and mud
and rock from this cave, and they would have a big long beautiful cave.   I
bet under all that mud there are interesting discoveries waiting to be seen.
Maybe the floor is beautifully scalloped with formations or maybe there
is archaelogical or palentological material buried in all that mud.I think
it might be a commercial cave if it were in Texas.

I had fun.   It was probably the most caving I have done in one cave in many
years. But for me it was one of those caves that you just want to do once.

I wish it were a thru trip.It would be a lot more fun.I didn't have much
trouble getting out of the culvert, but it wasn't fun.

2B continued ...

David Locklear

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[Texascavers] NSS Convention # 9

[David Locklear]

I am 3 days behind on my reports. I have been underground
every day, and missed all of the sessions at the convention.

This is a personal report and contains no cave related information.

Some local rednecks in Marengo were advertising a special lunch
at the convention, and since part of the reason I was here was to
investigate the local cuisine, I headed over there for lunch.They
were grilling big chickens on a trailer pit. They may have bigger
chickens than Texas.I think he said they were from Illinois or Iowa?

[ I know for a fact that they have some sort of mosquito like creature
that appears to be left over from the prehistoric period.It is orange
and about 1 1/2" long with huge eyes. ]Ironically, the Indiana cavers
I was with said they had never seen anything like that before.

I left there and headed north to explore the scenic southern Indiana
rural backroads.

I ended up at Bluesprings Caverns.  ( which I already reported )

After the tour, I was an hour north of the convention
and it was late in the evening.  The only productive thing I could
do was drive around and see as much of the Hoosier National Forest
as possible, before the sun set.  So I headed southwest.

My first stop was a very picturesque covered bridge over the White
River.   ( The river is not white ).

http://www.psci.net/~drmott/cbL02.jpg

http://www.psci.net/~drmott/cbSpcLaw.html

2 red-necks where bow-fishing.
I have never seen that before. I drove thru the bridge several times
just for the fun of it.One time at 45 mph, feeling like the
Dukes of Hazard.You could probably hit 50 if you were certain
no traffic was coming.   This was the "Williams Bridge."

I saw a fox along the road.

I stopped and had a milkshake at a curb-stop where a cute
girl comes out to your window and takes your order.We don't
have that in Houston. They made my shake just how I like
it.Chocolate-Banana-Peanut Butter.

My next stop was "Jug Rock."

http://www.visitmartincounty.org/images/jug_rock_R.jpg

This was the geologic point of
interest on my vacation. Nobody seems to know about this place
and the locals in Shoals do absolutely nothing to let tourist know about it.
It is much more impressive than the picture.  I would say it is about 40
feet tall. If you had some tree climbing boots you could easily get to
the top of it as there is a straight tall tree next to it.However, the top
is covered in ivy looking plants.

I had dinner in downtown Shoals at Velma's Cafe.It doesn't look
like I am going to find any unique food on this trip, unless you count
fried pickles.

In town, I walked across the White River on a bridge, and I saw a
school of large fish about 3 to 4 feet long.There were at least
6 of them.I guess they were catfish.One may have been
over 4 feet.

My next stop was Spout Spring.It was just a 3 inch pipe coming out
of a cliff, but the water coming out looked crystal clear.

My next stop was a scenic place on the White River where the entire
river suddenly drops 3 feet over a few sloping cliff. The water looked
nasty.  A sign read the town of Hindostan was once here but in 1848
1,200 people died of the Great Sickness.I have a feeling they all
went swimming there.

I spent awhile driving on the Lawrence County Scenic Byway. There
was a deer crossing sign so I slowed down, but suddenly a deer darted
right out in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes to keep from
hitting it.

I stopped in the town of French Lick to get more information about there
old train excursions. I don't see how to fit that in this trip. Across
the street was a casino. I was on a tight budget and vowed that I
was going to leave after I lost $ 3.00. I quickly was ahead by $ 24,
so I left.

I drove around the roads at Lake Patoka.I saw a very large beautiful red
sunset over the lake.

I had a late night dinner in Marengo, and the local dairy queen-like restarant.
They had a good meatball sandwich.

After getting back to the convention campground, I watched some of
the live entertainers, and socialized with cavers, but then went to bed to get
ready for a big caving day the next day.

David Locklear

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Re: [Texascavers] More from a Florida caver on the storm, plus photo link

[wwildchild]

I do recall one message from John Locklear saying he would be sleeping under a 
tarp.??I hope he didn't seek?refuge in a porta-john.?? The possibilities of 
irony would be endless. 

Humor aside, I truly hope?John and everyone else?is ok and dry.??I image those 
that were stuck in the storm were really wishing they had gone caving. 

Puppy
=:-)



Life is a sexually transmitted disease, we are all terminal. The difference is 
living till that moment or simply waiting for that moment. 



-Original Message-
From: Fritz Holt 
To: cavera...@aol.com; Texascavers@texascavers.com; 
greater_houston_gro...@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 12:50 pm
Subject: RE: [Texascavers] More from a Florida caver on the storm, plus photo 
link





I hope that no one was in the portajohn? at the time of the fire and caught 
with their pants down.

?




From: cavera...@aol.com [mailto:cavera...@aol.com] 
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 12:22 PM
To: Texascavers@texascavers.com; greater_houston_gro...@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Texascavers] More from a Florida caver on the storm, plus photo link


?


The red cross brought dry blankets last night to folks, etc. Today is the last 
day of convention anyway. I know I am leaving after the banquet tonight, my 
stuff is all packed up, and i just went to the laundry mat with about 50 other 
cavers to get stuff dry. 

Here are some photos someone took of the campground after the storm.

http://forums.caves.org/viewtopic.php?p=40380#40380



Roger 









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RE: [Texascavers] More from a Florida caver on the storm, plus photo link

[Fritz Holt]

I hope that no one was in the portajohn  at the time of the fire and
caught with their pants down.

 

  _  

From: cavera...@aol.com [mailto:cavera...@aol.com] 
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 12:22 PM
To: Texascavers@texascavers.com; greater_houston_gro...@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Texascavers] More from a Florida caver on the storm, plus
photo link

 

The red cross brought dry blankets last night to folks, etc. Today is
the last day of convention anyway. I know I am leaving after the banquet
tonight, my stuff is all packed up, and i just went to the laundry mat
with about 50 other cavers to get stuff dry. 

Here are some photos someone took of the campground after the storm.

http://forums.caves.org/viewtopic.php?p=40380#40380
 

Roger 





  _  

Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL.com

.

[Texascavers] More from a Florida caver on the storm, plus photo link

[CaverArch]

The red cross brought dry blankets last night to folks, etc. Today is the  
last day of convention anyway. I know I am leaving after the banquet tonight, 
my 
 stuff is all packed up, and i just went to the laundry mat with about 50 
other  cavers to get stuff dry. 

Here are some photos someone took of the  campground after the storm.

_http://forums.http://forhttp://forhttp://forumhttp:_ 
(http://forums.caves.org/viewtopic.php?p=40380#40380) 


Roger 



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[Texascavers] Passed on from Florida List: Bad storm at Convention

[CaverArch]

<>

[Swiped and  forwarded by] Roger Moore, GHG



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