[Texascavers] Re: Ralph Batsche -Mexico 1974
It was driving around in Purificación that prompted many of us to start carrying two spare tires. Many times people got sidewall cuts that could not be repaired. I remember a trip when Dale Pate had an explosive blow out and when we stopped to change the tire, we found a long blade of rock _inside_ the tire! One time Yvonne Droms and I limped out of the mountains on a badly sliced tire that I stuffed three tire plugs into side by side. It still leaked slowly, but I had a compressor and had to stop every hour or so and pump it back up. We made it out on our own after a whole series of travails. Interesting fix for the broken U-bolt! I never heard of that failing before. Bill Farr did a comparably novel fix one time up at Cheve in Oaxaca. He broke some part of his front suspension such that one wheel would no longer stay in the proper position to drive. He used his winch to capture the broken parts and/or the axle and tension them back into a usable position. He made it out on his own. Cavers are definitely inventive when it comes to getting out of the wilderness! Mark Minton At 10:56 PM 10/27/2010, James McLane wrote: The roads also feature incredibly sharp rocks that can slice up your tires. I had many adventures fixing vehicles up there. Once I sheared off the "U" bolts that attach the front axle to the leaf springs on one side of an International Scout. I was able to reattach the axle by tying it to the springs with a chain. The motorcycles were a much faster and smoother way to travel in those mountains than trucks, but the long distances made you worry about running out of gas. Jim McLane > Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:51:20 -0500 > From: gi...@att.net > To: tinker_bucksn...@live.com > CC: mmin...@caver.net; texascavers@texascavers.com > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Re: Ralph Batsche -Mexico 1974 > > The roads were almost always bad in spots, but they've been the worst > I've ever seen them the past few years. I remember driving > substantially faster back in the '70s than we do now. There are only 3 > or 4 ejidos still logging so the roads get minimal maintenance. Until > the '90s I didn't have a 4-WD vehicle but my 3/4T GMC (with granny > gear) and later a Chevy, always made it just fine--with one notably > muddy hairpin turn one rainy night. I had plenty of clearance. Any > bumping I did always occurred coming down. The front suspension was > sorta soft and the front-end cross member banged on a few rocks when > braking was done at the wrong time. I still see 2-wd trucks up at CC > fairly often. > It was a great thing, by the way, that you guys did, Jim, in > scouting that area out at that early date. Trouble now is that there > are thousands of acres of limestone mountains up there that'll never > have enough cavers or time to get properly checked. There could be > dozens of cave systems like Purificacíon. > --Ediger Please reply to mmin...@caver.net Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.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: Ralph Batsche -Mexico 1974
The roads also feature incredibly sharp rocks that can slice up your tires. I had many adventures fixing vehicles up there. Once I sheared off the "U" bolts that attach the front axle to the leaf springs on one side of an International Scout. I was able to reattach the axle by tying it to the springs with a chain. The motorcycles were a much faster and smoother way to travel in those mountains than trucks, but the long distances made you worry about running out of gas. Jim McLane > Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:51:20 -0500 > From: gi...@att.net > To: tinker_bucksn...@live.com > CC: mmin...@caver.net; texascavers@texascavers.com > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Re: Ralph Batsche -Mexico 1974 > > The roads were almost always bad in spots, but they've been the worst > I've ever seen them the past few years. I remember driving > substantially faster back in the '70s than we do now. There are only 3 > or 4 ejidos still logging so the roads get minimal maintenance. Until > the '90s I didn't have a 4-WD vehicle but my 3/4T GMC (with granny > gear) and later a Chevy, always made it just fine--with one notably > muddy hairpin turn one rainy night. I had plenty of clearance. Any > bumping I did always occurred coming down. The front suspension was > sorta soft and the front-end cross member banged on a few rocks when > braking was done at the wrong time. I still see 2-wd trucks up at CC > fairly often. > It was a great thing, by the way, that you guys did, Jim, in > scouting that area out at that early date. Trouble now is that there > are thousands of acres of limestone mountains up there that'll never > have enough cavers or time to get properly checked. There could be > dozens of cave systems like Purificacíon. > --Ediger > > - > 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: Ralph Batsche -Mexico 1974
The roads were almost always bad in spots, but they've been the worst I've ever seen them the past few years. I remember driving substantially faster back in the '70s than we do now. There are only 3 or 4 ejidos still logging so the roads get minimal maintenance. Until the '90s I didn't have a 4-WD vehicle but my 3/4T GMC (with granny gear) and later a Chevy, always made it just fine--with one notably muddy hairpin turn one rainy night. I had plenty of clearance. Any bumping I did always occurred coming down. The front suspension was sorta soft and the front-end cross member banged on a few rocks when braking was done at the wrong time. I still see 2-wd trucks up at CC fairly often. It was a great thing, by the way, that you guys did, Jim, in scouting that area out at that early date. Trouble now is that there are thousands of acres of limestone mountains up there that'll never have enough cavers or time to get properly checked. There could be dozens of cave systems like Purificacíon. --Ediger - 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: Ralph Batsche -Mexico 1974
The roads were terrible and the first day they were wet! Bill Sherborne's van had a big motor and a positive-traction rear axle, plus it was nearly empty. Nevertheless the van had to drive up some grades quite rapidly to make it. Bill rode his motorcycle and Tom Iliffe (from Galveston) drove the van. This may have been Tom's first caving trip to Mexico. As you may know, Dr. Iliffe has become quite famous for his underwater cave biology studies. Jim McLane > Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:56:36 -0400 > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > From: mmin...@caver.net > Subject: [Texascavers] Re: Ralph Batsche -Mexico 1974 > > Jim, > > Thanks for the old photos of > Purificación! I'm amazed you were able to drive > that (presumably 2WD) van up those roads. Maybe > they were better then... Most everything looks > about the same today, although I noticed in your > photo 44 that the bridge over Arroyo Rillitos > where it joins Arroyo Luna has wooden decking and > supports. That has been a concrete bridge ever > since I can remember. The stone abutments look > new in your photo - maybe that bridge had just > been built but not yet paved. I can't imagine > that wooden scaffolding would survive the rainy season! > > Mark Minton > > Please reply to mmin...@caver.net > Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.org > > > - > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com >
[Texascavers] Re: Ralph Batsche -Mexico 1974
Jim, Thanks for the old photos of Purificación! I'm amazed you were able to drive that (presumably 2WD) van up those roads. Maybe they were better then... Most everything looks about the same today, although I noticed in your photo 44 that the bridge over Arroyo Rillitos where it joins Arroyo Luna has wooden decking and supports. That has been a concrete bridge ever since I can remember. The stone abutments look new in your photo - maybe that bridge had just been built but not yet paved. I can't imagine that wooden scaffolding would survive the rainy season! Mark Minton Please reply to mmin...@caver.net Permanent email address is mmin...@illinoisalumni.org - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
