[Texascavers] LaChance SInkholes at Monday's Bexar Grotto meeting

[Bennett Lee]

At the Bexar Grotto meeting this Monday, May 8, prepare to entertained by the 
Bexar Grotto's own Bennett Lee with his witty presentation and animations 
detailing the latest status of the LaChance Sinkhole Project, a.k.a., Bob 
Cowell's Dig.  We're also expected to have special guests of the LaChance 
family join us, who provided updated stats and amazing new flood photos.  Don't 
miss this presentation!

The Bexar Grotto meets every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 7pm in the 
Party Room of Chester's at 410 and N New Braunfels.

Chester's 
Hamburgers
1006 NE Loop 
410
San Antonio, TX 
78209

Bennett Lee
Programs Vice-Chair
Bexar Grotto
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[Texascavers] LaChance Sinkholes

[Bennett Lee via Texascavers]

WARNING: this is about caving, so those of you prefer to use this list to 
complain about David Locklear can skip this.

Here are some photos from the LaChance dig, from both the recent July 4th 
weekend and an older trip from the end of 2014.  Includes a link to the same 
photos on my Flickr account for those of you who are Facebook-challenged.

2016-07-02
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1198527723531896.1073741861.11240401264&type=1&l=154b9e0a99
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wittytexan/albums/72157670190217472

2014-11-07
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1198526203532048.1073741860.11240401264&type=1&l=33ced0946a
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wittytexan/albums/72157670788005336


Very Partial Trip Report:
Despite the high temperatures, the day was quite pleasant.  The LaChance's 
property is well-shaded and we had a nice breeze.  I don't have a complete of 
everybody who attended, but it was a lot.  About 20-30 people.  Enough to have 
separate digs at four of the sinkholes.

I hauled buckets for a while before snagging a spot at the bottom of one of the 
sinkholes.  The main dig there was to the right.  I ventured off to the left 
and started a new route.  While I was opening my route to the 6½" that I know I 
can manage thanks to the TCR squeezebox, everyone else returned to the surface 
to eat watermelon.  Slackers.  I stayed in the cave and single-handedly 
connected that sinkhole to one of the other sinkholes that the owner had been 
digging on previously.  So nice to be able to stand up in a dome after crawling 
for so long.  So high, I even had to climb up.  It was an obvious connection to 
the sinkhole that Lisa LaChance had been digging on previously.  After I made 
that connection, I climbed back down and started removing loose rock in the 
floor at my squeeze near the dome.  The aquifer is roughly 250 feet below the 
sinkholes, and I estimate that I got down to about 248 feet where I was digging 
before I returned to the surface for lunch.

After gnawing on the watermelon rinds that the slackers left me, I went back in 
to help the others on their dig to the right.  I wanted to leave my passage 
open so Michael Gibbons could go back with his GoPro and climb down the hole I 
made, but he's afraid of heights and so he wouldn't get near the pit to film my 
magnificent progress.  Unfortunately, the surface called an end to the project 
before I could back to mine that day.  Hopefully it won't fill in before our 
next trip.

With the project ending for the day, Arron Wertheim had to drag away Victoria 
Sommers from her dig in the sinkholes that were above my pit.  Apparently she 
heard about my near-connection to the aquifer and was desperately trying to 
complete the surface connection.  Apparently no one else liked my tight, 
squeezy, helmet-off route from the other sinkhole.  Hopefully next trip we can 
either open the surface connection or get some REAL cavers to join me through 
my route.
Afterwards, we went swimming in the Guadalupe at the LaChance's private 
community river-front access, floated the nearby rapids, and then ate supper at 
Cooper's BBQ.  Dave Adamowski even got wet in the river (amazing if you know 
how adverse he to water).  Jordan Rasmussen stayed dry, though-her top was made 
out of some waterproof fabric that wouldn't absorb water no matter how much we 
splashed her.

Good trip.

--Bennett

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