Re: [Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report
Way back then. In the days of old when we were young and foolish we were the cutting edge of cavers. The year was sixty something. Orion Knox was our leader. We were exploring and discovering. Susie Holstrom was my girlfriend and wife to be. We were mapping, traversing and pushing. I had mapped Cobb Cavern near Georgetown. That cave was a show cave as Bill Eliot calls them. Cobb is a subway tunnel like cave and was a tourist cave for a short while. The owner was a friend and pyramid scheme salesman selling soap (AMWAY). Anyway Susan and I along with Super Bounce and Faye and Bill mapped Cobb.Wa thought it would link up with Laubach cave... Inner Space. We then joined Orion and his team of mappers . . On Tue, Jul 26, 2022 at 7:35 PM Marvin and Lisa wrote: > Interesting. On my three trips through there I have not noticed any > airflow and have not thought the water was cold. Further back in the cave, > after you encounter an in-feeder, it seems colder. We haven’t seen any > larger fish – or any fish at all – in the main passage. Lots of large > tadpoles, though. > > > > Marvin > > > > *From:* Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] *On > Behalf Of *grub...@centurytel.net > *Sent:* Tuesday, July 26, 2022 6:35 PM > *To:* texascavers > *Subject:* Re: [Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report > > > > Cascade Sink always had a problem with sunfish and bullhead catfish in the > main passage. Randy Waters pointed out that to find salamanders one should > look in the smaller upper passage that takes off to the left a ways back. > It is "perched" a few feet above the water of the main passage. When I was > working with Sam Sweet I went there a number of times searching for > Eurycea. Never found them in the main passage. Did find them in that left > hand side passage. > > > > Everyone always remarked on how much colder the water in the entrance way > was. The small, low air space passage to goes to the main water passage. > We attributed that to chilling of the small water body by the passage of > the constant high wind thru there. It was usually a very low air space and > quite sporting back in the carbide caplamp and bluejean jacket era > > > > Grubbsi . > > > ---------- > > *From: *"Andrew Gluesenkamp" > *To: *"texascavers" > *Sent: *Tuesday, July 26, 2022 6:11:47 PM > *Subject: *Re: [Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report > > > > Those web worms are the predatory larvae of fungus gnats. No salamanders? > > > > Andrew. Gluesenkamp, PhD > > 700 Billie Brooks Lane > > Driftwood, Texas 78619 > > (512) 799-1095 a...@gluesenkamp.com > > > > On Sunday, July 24, 2022 at 07:52:43 PM CDT, Marvin Miller < > cave0mil...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > (For the first part of this story see the post dated 7/4/22). > > > On Saturday four cavers returned to Cascade Sink to continue the resurvey > of the cave. John Young rigged the pit and then rapelled. The time was > approximately 9:30. He announced from the bottom that the young > rattlesnake was still in attendance. Adam Daw went down, then Gerry > Geletzke, with Marvin Miller bringing up the rear. At the bottom Marvin > noticed that the other three had gone on through the low entrance passage > with their gear on. He decided to take his off there at the bottom of the > pit as had been his custom on previous trips. He hung his gear on a wall > projection above the small, muddy ramp poking out of the water at one end, > and then followed the rest of the team on into the cave. > > In about half an hour they were at Station D23, the end point on the > previous trip. The station was set at the start of a dam of stream cobbles > and gravel that rose out of the water and held back the pool on the > upstream side. On the downstream side the passage sloped down into a lower > pool and turned a corner to the southwest. The pool was small and they were > soon traversing a narrow bedrock-floored channel. Some small rimstone dams > from an ancient flowpath were holding only gravel now and then a narrow > side passage entered. The corroded flowstone showed that it was the ancient > source of the water. "Lead for skinny person" was noted on the survey > sketch. More potholes and gravel and a few meters further on, a drop down > into a small pool. At the far end of the pool the passage changed character > into a belly crawl on a bedrock slab. This was soon alleviated by a ceiling > channel. The passage then sloped into another pool followed by another > bedrock crawl. > > > > In bedrock slab areas Marvin noticed an interesting phenomena. Single > web-like strands hanging from the ceiling that he ha
Re: [Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report
Interesting. On my three trips through there I have not noticed any airflow and have not thought the water was cold. Further back in the cave, after you encounter an in-feeder, it seems colder. We haven’t seen any larger fish – or any fish at all – in the main passage. Lots of large tadpoles, though. Marvin From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] On Behalf Of grub...@centurytel.net Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2022 6:35 PM To: texascavers Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report Cascade Sink always had a problem with sunfish and bullhead catfish in the main passage. Randy Waters pointed out that to find salamanders one should look in the smaller upper passage that takes off to the left a ways back. It is "perched" a few feet above the water of the main passage. When I was working with Sam Sweet I went there a number of times searching for Eurycea. Never found them in the main passage. Did find them in that left hand side passage. Everyone always remarked on how much colder the water in the entrance way was. The small, low air space passage to goes to the main water passage. We attributed that to chilling of the small water body by the passage of the constant high wind thru there. It was usually a very low air space and quite sporting back in the carbide caplamp and bluejean jacket era Grubbsi . _ From: "Andrew Gluesenkamp" mailto:andrew_gluesenk...@yahoo.com> > To: "texascavers" mailto:texascavers@texascavers.com> > Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2022 6:11:47 PM Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report Those web worms are the predatory larvae of fungus gnats. No salamanders? Andrew. Gluesenkamp, PhD 700 Billie Brooks Lane Driftwood, Texas 78619 (512) 799-1095 a...@gluesenkamp.com <mailto:a...@gluesenkamp.com> On Sunday, July 24, 2022 at 07:52:43 PM CDT, Marvin Miller mailto:cave0mil...@gmail.com> > wrote: (For the first part of this story see the post dated 7/4/22). On Saturday four cavers returned to Cascade Sink to continue the resurvey of the cave. John Young rigged the pit and then rapelled. The time was approximately 9:30. He announced from the bottom that the young rattlesnake was still in attendance. Adam Daw went down, then Gerry Geletzke, with Marvin Miller bringing up the rear. At the bottom Marvin noticed that the other three had gone on through the low entrance passage with their gear on. He decided to take his off there at the bottom of the pit as had been his custom on previous trips. He hung his gear on a wall projection above the small, muddy ramp poking out of the water at one end, and then followed the rest of the team on into the cave. In about half an hour they were at Station D23, the end point on the previous trip. The station was set at the start of a dam of stream cobbles and gravel that rose out of the water and held back the pool on the upstream side. On the downstream side the passage sloped down into a lower pool and turned a corner to the southwest. The pool was small and they were soon traversing a narrow bedrock-floored channel. Some small rimstone dams from an ancient flowpath were holding only gravel now and then a narrow side passage entered. The corroded flowstone showed that it was the ancient source of the water. "Lead for skinny person" was noted on the survey sketch. More potholes and gravel and a few meters further on, a drop down into a small pool. At the far end of the pool the passage changed character into a belly crawl on a bedrock slab. This was soon alleviated by a ceiling channel. The passage then sloped into another pool followed by another bedrock crawl. In bedrock slab areas Marvin noticed an interesting phenomena. Single web-like strands hanging from the ceiling that he had assumed to be spider-made, each appeared to be anchored to the ceiling by a small white protuberance. Upon closer inspection this white object was seen to actually be a creature that resembled a millipede. The creatures were immobile and many, but not all, had the strands hanging from their position. Small droplets of condensation or some other liquid clung to the strands. It reminded him of the habits of the glowworms of Waitomo Caves in New Zealand. Photos were taken and the survey resumed. Exploration by John and Adam showed that a passage to the left would loop around and connect to the route straight ahead through the belly crawl. The choice was made to survey the passage to the left first. A short crawl led to an interesting slope of softball sized smooth, white cobbles. The passage then became a tall, narrow fissure and headed down-slope to connect with the route across the belly crawl in another shallow pool. The fissure continued straight ahead along a wall of fantastically eroded shapes. It then got too narrow to stay at floor level and had to b
Re: [Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report
Thanks, Andy! We have seen salamanders in the cave. I didn’t hear anyone mention seeing any on Saturday. Adam Daw was with us so I’m sure he was looking. Marvin From: Texascavers [mailto:texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com] On Behalf Of Andy Gluesenkamp Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2022 6:12 PM To: texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report Those web worms are the predatory larvae of fungus gnats. No salamanders? Andrew. Gluesenkamp, PhD 700 Billie Brooks Lane Driftwood, Texas 78619 (512) 799-1095 a...@gluesenkamp.com <mailto:a...@gluesenkamp.com> On Sunday, July 24, 2022 at 07:52:43 PM CDT, Marvin Miller mailto:cave0mil...@gmail.com> > wrote: (For the first part of this story see the post dated 7/4/22). On Saturday four cavers returned to Cascade Sink to continue the resurvey of the cave. John Young rigged the pit and then rapelled. The time was approximately 9:30. He announced from the bottom that the young rattlesnake was still in attendance. Adam Daw went down, then Gerry Geletzke, with Marvin Miller bringing up the rear. At the bottom Marvin noticed that the other three had gone on through the low entrance passage with their gear on. He decided to take his off there at the bottom of the pit as had been his custom on previous trips. He hung his gear on a wall projection above the small, muddy ramp poking out of the water at one end, and then followed the rest of the team on into the cave. In about half an hour they were at Station D23, the end point on the previous trip. The station was set at the start of a dam of stream cobbles and gravel that rose out of the water and held back the pool on the upstream side. On the downstream side the passage sloped down into a lower pool and turned a corner to the southwest. The pool was small and they were soon traversing a narrow bedrock-floored channel. Some small rimstone dams from an ancient flowpath were holding only gravel now and then a narrow side passage entered. The corroded flowstone showed that it was the ancient source of the water. "Lead for skinny person" was noted on the survey sketch. More potholes and gravel and a few meters further on, a drop down into a small pool. At the far end of the pool the passage changed character into a belly crawl on a bedrock slab. This was soon alleviated by a ceiling channel. The passage then sloped into another pool followed by another bedrock crawl. In bedrock slab areas Marvin noticed an interesting phenomena. Single web-like strands hanging from the ceiling that he had assumed to be spider-made, each appeared to be anchored to the ceiling by a small white protuberance. Upon closer inspection this white object was seen to actually be a creature that resembled a millipede. The creatures were immobile and many, but not all, had the strands hanging from their position. Small droplets of condensation or some other liquid clung to the strands. It reminded him of the habits of the glowworms of Waitomo Caves in New Zealand. Photos were taken and the survey resumed. Exploration by John and Adam showed that a passage to the left would loop around and connect to the route straight ahead through the belly crawl. The choice was made to survey the passage to the left first. A short crawl led to an interesting slope of softball sized smooth, white cobbles. The passage then became a tall, narrow fissure and headed down-slope to connect with the route across the belly crawl in another shallow pool. The fissure continued straight ahead along a wall of fantastically eroded shapes. It then got too narrow to stay at floor level and had to be traversed by chimneying along higher up. Around a few corners it became apparent through holes in the floor that the fissure was following the trend of a low, wide water passage down below. They got to a point where there was a larger hole into the lower passage and the fissure was found to end about 10 meters ahead. John had earlier explored about 30 meters of the water passage ahead and reported clear water, several rimstone dams, and not much more than 10 cm of airspace. He got to a point where passage was blocked by stalactites. They decided to end the survey at the hole that dropped down into the water and went back to finish the two shots to close the loop through the bedrock crawl. After that they headed out, exiting the cave at about 6:00. In the pool at the bottom of the entrance, Marvin found the rattlesnake coiled on the mud slope immediately under where he had hung his gear. In trying to decide what to do to get the snake to move, he noticed a long cedar stick wedged by floodwaters between the walls of the pit and just above his head. He removed the stick and was able to use it to hook his gear and retrieve it safely. While eating dinner at the Dodging Duck in Boerne they studied the notes and the old maps.
[Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report
(For the first part of this story see the post dated 7/4/22). On Saturday four cavers returned to Cascade Sink to continue the resurvey of the cave. John Young rigged the pit and then rapelled. The time was approximately 9:30. He announced from the bottom that the young rattlesnake was still in attendance. Adam Daw went down, then Gerry Geletzke, with Marvin Miller bringing up the rear. At the bottom Marvin noticed that the other three had gone on through the low entrance passage with their gear on. He decided to take his off there at the bottom of the pit as had been his custom on previous trips. He hung his gear on a wall projection above the small, muddy ramp poking out of the water at one end, and then followed the rest of the team on into the cave. In about half an hour they were at Station D23, the end point on the previous trip. The station was set at the start of a dam of stream cobbles and gravel that rose out of the water and held back the pool on the upstream side. On the downstream side the passage sloped down into a lower pool and turned a corner to the southwest. The pool was small and they were soon traversing a narrow bedrock-floored channel. Some small rimstone dams from an ancient flowpath were holding only gravel now and then a narrow side passage entered. The corroded flowstone showed that it was the ancient source of the water. "Lead for skinny person" was noted on the survey sketch. More potholes and gravel and a few meters further on, a drop down into a small pool. At the far end of the pool the passage changed character into a belly crawl on a bedrock slab. This was soon alleviated by a ceiling channel. The passage then sloped into another pool followed by another bedrock crawl. In bedrock slab areas Marvin noticed an interesting phenomena. Single web-like strands hanging from the ceiling that he had assumed to be spider-made, each appeared to be anchored to the ceiling by a small white protuberance. Upon closer inspection this white object was seen to actually be a creature that resembled a millipede. The creatures were immobile and many, but not all, had the strands hanging from their position. Small droplets of condensation or some other liquid clung to the strands. It reminded him of the habits of the glowworms of Waitomo Caves in New Zealand. Photos were taken and the survey resumed. Exploration by John and Adam showed that a passage to the left would loop around and connect to the route straight ahead through the belly crawl. The choice was made to survey the passage to the left first. A short crawl led to an interesting slope of softball sized smooth, white cobbles. The passage then became a tall, narrow fissure and headed down-slope to connect with the route across the belly crawl in another shallow pool. The fissure continued straight ahead along a wall of fantastically eroded shapes. It then got too narrow to stay at floor level and had to be traversed by chimneying along higher up. Around a few corners it became apparent through holes in the floor that the fissure was following the trend of a low, wide water passage down below. They got to a point where there was a larger hole into the lower passage and the fissure was found to end about 10 meters ahead. John had earlier explored about 30 meters of the water passage ahead and reported clear water, several rimstone dams, and not much more than 10 cm of airspace. He got to a point where passage was blocked by stalactites. They decided to end the survey at the hole that dropped down into the water and went back to finish the two shots to close the loop through the bedrock crawl. After that they headed out, exiting the cave at about 6:00. In the pool at the bottom of the entrance, Marvin found the rattlesnake coiled on the mud slope immediately under where he had hung his gear. In trying to decide what to do to get the snake to move, he noticed a long cedar stick wedged by floodwaters between the walls of the pit and just above his head. He removed the stick and was able to use it to hook his gear and retrieve it safely. While eating dinner at the Dodging Duck in Boerne they studied the notes and the old maps. The survey of the day had obviously gone 10+ meters past the end of the old map. Randy Waters' hand drawn sketch of what lay beyond the showed a wide, water-filled room. Along the left wall at the end of the wide area was a traverse up into continuing passage that eventually ends in a large room. That is what the team will look for on the next trip. Marvin Miller ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report corrected
Thanks for posting your trip report, Marvin. I think maybe this is the cave I went to with Vernelle Elliott in summer 1970 to collect salamanders. I didn't do any sump diving, but I remember climbing out on rope, when I spotted a large *Scolopendra* centipede on the ledge below the entrance. I had on gloves, so I reached down and grabbed the critter by the hind end to collect him, but the head end swung around and started coming up my sleeve. I was just head above the entrance, and I flung the darn centipede out into the bushes. I never tried to collect one that way again. The life of a cave biologist! *William R. (Bill) Elliott* 30105 Briarcrest Court Georgetown, Texas 78628 *speodes...@gmail.com * 573-291-5093 cell On Mon, Jul 4, 2022 at 9:51 AM Marvin Miller wrote: > I made a few corrections to the report. The cave is in Kendall County and > Gerry's name is spelled with a z. > Marvin Miller > > On Saturday, July 2, seven cavers entered Cascade Sink (not the commercial > cave) in Kendall County. Three persons – Gerry Geletzke, Marvin Miller, and > John Young – were a survey team hoping to find a sump in the cave open and > pushing the resurvey of the cave further. The four others – Adam Daw, > Crystal Grafft, Tobin Hays, and Mio Kitano – were there to take the > opportunity to see the cave and ended up pushing further into it than > anyone has been since probably the 1980’s. > > > > John rigged the cave with a nice rebelay at the ledge above the free drop. > A rattlesnake on a ledge above the bottom pool provided some excitement. > The first sump in the cave is in the low passage that leads from the bottom > of the pit. It was immediately obvious that the water level was lower than > had been witnessed before and that this passage would not be a problem. The > survey team traversed this bit of passage with a nice 10” of airspace and > popped out into the tall fissure passage that runs straight south and a > little east for 105 meters to the second sump. This sump had not been > expected on the first resurvey trip, organized by Jean Krejca on 10/19/19 > and consisting of 3 teams. The plan had been to survey as much of the known > cave as possible but it was cut short by finding the unexpected sump. On > Saturday the survey team found it open with about 8” of airspace. The sump > was about 2 meters long and then the ceiling went back up as the passage > teed into a tall fissure passage. Surprisingly, on the other side of the > sump an old steel anchor was found bolted to the floor. The only > explanation is that early explorers, finding this sump frequently closed, > installed a line to assist in the short free-dive. As the survey team > started the survey the other team - let’s call them the push team – caught > up. It was suggested that they explore to the left – upstream – which was > plugged almost immediately at stream level with flood-borne debris, but > which might be traversable higher in the fissure. The old map indicated > that this was the case. A small stream flowed from the bottom of the debris > plug and on down the passage to be surveyed. From this point on the passage > was mostly hand-and-knees crawl in 20 – 30 cm of water. The passage was a > tall fissure but got too narrow a meter or so above the floor, so walking > was generally not an option. The passage width at floor level was typically > 1.0 to 1.5 meters. > > > > The push team caught up to the survey team again and announced that there > was at least 30 meters of passage they had explored going the other way. > The push team passed the survey team and was soon out of earshot. At one > point the floor in the passage sloped down and water level got to about > chest deep. This chilled the survey team and they were happy to find just > past this area a nice island of stream cobbles that spanned the passage and > provided plenty of space to sit out of the water and eat a late lunch. > While sitting there they heard the push team returning and soon saw their > lights. They reported dry, crawly areas of passage, two dry pancake rooms, > and several options for routes. They did not make it to the large room that > is reportedly at the end of the known cave. Remarkably, they found leopard > frogs living, and apparently healthy, this deep into the cave. Several > places in the water passage, before the start of survey and after, large > tadpoles had been spotted. After the push team headed out the survey team > continued until setting station D23 (first station was D1) on a large dam > of dirt and rock that seemed to be holding back water in the passage. The > far side of the dam sloped down into water and a low-ceilinged passage. > John explored ahead for a bit and reported that the passage comes out of > the water but stays low and the rough nature of the bedrock floor made > crawling difficult. It was 4:00 p.m. so the team decided to end the survey > there in order to make their exit time of 6:00 p.m. > > > > Tobin, of the push
[Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report corrected
I made a few corrections to the report. The cave is in Kendall County and Gerry's name is spelled with a z. Marvin Miller On Saturday, July 2, seven cavers entered Cascade Sink (not the commercial cave) in Kendall County. Three persons – Gerry Geletzke, Marvin Miller, and John Young – were a survey team hoping to find a sump in the cave open and pushing the resurvey of the cave further. The four others – Adam Daw, Crystal Grafft, Tobin Hays, and Mio Kitano – were there to take the opportunity to see the cave and ended up pushing further into it than anyone has been since probably the 1980’s. John rigged the cave with a nice rebelay at the ledge above the free drop. A rattlesnake on a ledge above the bottom pool provided some excitement. The first sump in the cave is in the low passage that leads from the bottom of the pit. It was immediately obvious that the water level was lower than had been witnessed before and that this passage would not be a problem. The survey team traversed this bit of passage with a nice 10” of airspace and popped out into the tall fissure passage that runs straight south and a little east for 105 meters to the second sump. This sump had not been expected on the first resurvey trip, organized by Jean Krejca on 10/19/19 and consisting of 3 teams. The plan had been to survey as much of the known cave as possible but it was cut short by finding the unexpected sump. On Saturday the survey team found it open with about 8” of airspace. The sump was about 2 meters long and then the ceiling went back up as the passage teed into a tall fissure passage. Surprisingly, on the other side of the sump an old steel anchor was found bolted to the floor. The only explanation is that early explorers, finding this sump frequently closed, installed a line to assist in the short free-dive. As the survey team started the survey the other team - let’s call them the push team – caught up. It was suggested that they explore to the left – upstream – which was plugged almost immediately at stream level with flood-borne debris, but which might be traversable higher in the fissure. The old map indicated that this was the case. A small stream flowed from the bottom of the debris plug and on down the passage to be surveyed. From this point on the passage was mostly hand-and-knees crawl in 20 – 30 cm of water. The passage was a tall fissure but got too narrow a meter or so above the floor, so walking was generally not an option. The passage width at floor level was typically 1.0 to 1.5 meters. The push team caught up to the survey team again and announced that there was at least 30 meters of passage they had explored going the other way. The push team passed the survey team and was soon out of earshot. At one point the floor in the passage sloped down and water level got to about chest deep. This chilled the survey team and they were happy to find just past this area a nice island of stream cobbles that spanned the passage and provided plenty of space to sit out of the water and eat a late lunch. While sitting there they heard the push team returning and soon saw their lights. They reported dry, crawly areas of passage, two dry pancake rooms, and several options for routes. They did not make it to the large room that is reportedly at the end of the known cave. Remarkably, they found leopard frogs living, and apparently healthy, this deep into the cave. Several places in the water passage, before the start of survey and after, large tadpoles had been spotted. After the push team headed out the survey team continued until setting station D23 (first station was D1) on a large dam of dirt and rock that seemed to be holding back water in the passage. The far side of the dam sloped down into water and a low-ceilinged passage. John explored ahead for a bit and reported that the passage comes out of the water but stays low and the rough nature of the bedrock floor made crawling difficult. It was 4:00 p.m. so the team decided to end the survey there in order to make their exit time of 6:00 p.m. Tobin, of the push team, had a bit of excitement at the bottom of the entrance pit. She was the last of the team to climb, and as she was getting on rope in the knee-to-waist deep water the rattlesnake decided to join her in the pool. She stayed cool and was able to avoid it and start climbing. The survey team didn’t see the snake at all when they got there and exited without incident. 105.5 meters were surveyed. More trips are planned to take advantage of the current dry conditions. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report correction
Cascade Sink is actually in Kendall County. M. Miller ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
Re: [Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report
Excellent trip report, Marvin! Bill > On Jul 4, 2022, at 9:34 AM, Marvin Miller wrote: > > > On Saturday, July 2, seven cavers entered Cascade Sink (not the commercial > cave) in Comal County. Three persons – Gerry Geletske, Marvin Miller, and > John Young – were a survey team hoping to find a sump in the cave open and > pushing the resurvey of the cave further. The four others – Adam Daw, Crystal > Grafft, Tobin Hays, and Mio Kitano – were there to take the opportunity to > see the cave and ended up pushing further into it than anyone has been since > probably the 1980’s. > > John rigged the cave with a nice rebelay at the ledge above the free drop. A > rattlesnake on a ledge above the bottom pool provided some excitement. The > first sump in the cave is in the low passage that leads from the bottom of > the pit. It was immediately obvious that the water level was lower than had > been witnessed before and that this passage would not be a problem. The > survey team traversed this bit of passage with a nice 10” of airspace and > popped out into the tall fissure passage that runs straight south and a > little east for 105 meters to the second sump. This sump had not been > expected on the first resurvey trip, organized by Jean Krejca on 10/19/19 and > consisting of 3 teams. The plan had been to survey as much of the known cave > as possible but it was cut short by finding the unexpected sump. On Saturday > the survey team found it open with about 8” of airspace. The sump was about 2 > meters long and then the ceiling went back up as the passage teed into a tall > fissure passage. Surprisingly, on the other side of the sump an old steel > anchor was found bolted to the floor. The only explanation is that early > explorers, finding this sump frequently closed, installed a line to assist in > the short free-dive. As the survey team started the survey the other team - > let’s call them the push team – caught up. It was suggested that they explore > to the left – upstream – which was plugged almost immediately at stream level > with flood-borne debris, but which might be traversable higher in the > fissure. The old map indicated that this was the case. A small stream flowed > from the bottom of the debris plug and on down the passage to be surveyed. > From this point on the passage was mostly hand-and-knees crawl in 20 – 30 cm > of water. The passage was a tall fissure but got too narrow a meter or so > above the floor, so walking was generally not an option. The passage width at > floor level was typically 1.0 to 1.5 meters. > > The push team caught up to the survey team again and announced that there was > at least 30 meters of passage they had explored going the other way. The push > team passed the survey team and was soon out of earshot. At one point the > floor in the passage sloped down and water level got to about chest deep. > This chilled the survey team and they were happy to find just past this area > a nice island of stream cobbles that spanned the passage and provided plenty > of space to sit out of the water and eat a late lunch. While sitting there > they heard the push team returning and soon saw their lights. They reported > dry, crawly areas of passage, two dry pancake rooms, and several options for > routes. They did not make it to the large room that is reportedly at the end > of the known cave. Remarkably, they found leopard frogs living, and > apparently healthy, this deep into the cave. Several places in the water > passage, before the start of survey and after, large tadpoles had been > spotted. After the push team headed out the survey team continued until > setting station D23 (first station was D1) on a large dam of dirt and rock > that seemed to be holding back water in the passage. The far side of the dam > sloped down into water and a low-ceilinged passage. John explored ahead for a > bit and reported that the passage comes out of the water but stays low and > the rough nature of the bedrock floor made crawling difficult. It was 4:00 > p.m. so the team decided to end the survey there in order to make their exit > time of 6:00 p.m. > > Tobin, of the push team, had a bit of excitement at the bottom of the > entrance pit. She was the last of the team to climb, and as she was getting > on rope in the knee-to-waist deep water the rattlesnake decided to join her > in the pool. She stayed cool and was able to avoid it and start climbing. The > survey team didn’t see the snake at all when they got there and exited > without incident. > > 105.5 meters were surveyed. More trips are planned to take advantage of the > current dry conditions. > ___ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
[Texascavers] Cascade Sink trip report
On Saturday, July 2, seven cavers entered Cascade Sink (not the commercial cave) in Comal County. Three persons – Gerry Geletske, Marvin Miller, and John Young – were a survey team hoping to find a sump in the cave open and pushing the resurvey of the cave further. The four others – Adam Daw, Crystal Grafft, Tobin Hays, and Mio Kitano – were there to take the opportunity to see the cave and ended up pushing further into it than anyone has been since probably the 1980’s. John rigged the cave with a nice rebelay at the ledge above the free drop. A rattlesnake on a ledge above the bottom pool provided some excitement. The first sump in the cave is in the low passage that leads from the bottom of the pit. It was immediately obvious that the water level was lower than had been witnessed before and that this passage would not be a problem. The survey team traversed this bit of passage with a nice 10” of airspace and popped out into the tall fissure passage that runs straight south and a little east for 105 meters to the second sump. This sump had not been expected on the first resurvey trip, organized by Jean Krejca on 10/19/19 and consisting of 3 teams. The plan had been to survey as much of the known cave as possible but it was cut short by finding the unexpected sump. On Saturday the survey team found it open with about 8” of airspace. The sump was about 2 meters long and then the ceiling went back up as the passage teed into a tall fissure passage. Surprisingly, on the other side of the sump an old steel anchor was found bolted to the floor. The only explanation is that early explorers, finding this sump frequently closed, installed a line to assist in the short free-dive. As the survey team started the survey the other team - let’s call them the push team – caught up. It was suggested that they explore to the left – upstream – which was plugged almost immediately at stream level with flood-borne debris, but which might be traversable higher in the fissure. The old map indicated that this was the case. A small stream flowed from the bottom of the debris plug and on down the passage to be surveyed. From this point on the passage was mostly hand-and-knees crawl in 20 – 30 cm of water. The passage was a tall fissure but got too narrow a meter or so above the floor, so walking was generally not an option. The passage width at floor level was typically 1.0 to 1.5 meters. The push team caught up to the survey team again and announced that there was at least 30 meters of passage they had explored going the other way. The push team passed the survey team and was soon out of earshot. At one point the floor in the passage sloped down and water level got to about chest deep. This chilled the survey team and they were happy to find just past this area a nice island of stream cobbles that spanned the passage and provided plenty of space to sit out of the water and eat a late lunch. While sitting there they heard the push team returning and soon saw their lights. They reported dry, crawly areas of passage, two dry pancake rooms, and several options for routes. They did not make it to the large room that is reportedly at the end of the known cave. Remarkably, they found leopard frogs living, and apparently healthy, this deep into the cave. Several places in the water passage, before the start of survey and after, large tadpoles had been spotted. After the push team headed out the survey team continued until setting station D23 (first station was D1) on a large dam of dirt and rock that seemed to be holding back water in the passage. The far side of the dam sloped down into water and a low-ceilinged passage. John explored ahead for a bit and reported that the passage comes out of the water but stays low and the rough nature of the bedrock floor made crawling difficult. It was 4:00 p.m. so the team decided to end the survey there in order to make their exit time of 6:00 p.m. Tobin, of the push team, had a bit of excitement at the bottom of the entrance pit. She was the last of the team to climb, and as she was getting on rope in the knee-to-waist deep water the rattlesnake decided to join her in the pool. She stayed cool and was able to avoid it and start climbing. The survey team didn’t see the snake at all when they got there and exited without incident. 105.5 meters were surveyed. More trips are planned to take advantage of the current dry conditions. ___ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com Texascavers@texascavers.com | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/texascavers@texascavers.com/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
