texascavers Digest 9 Dec 2011 16:21:43 -0000 Issue 1452
Topics (messages 19176 through 19180):
Re: Punkin Cave trip report
19176 by: Logan McNatt
Re: December 3rd - Longhorn Report
19177 by: Logan McNatt
food
19178 by: Nancy Weaver
19179 by: tbsamsel.verizon.net
Re: cave divers
19180 by: Matt Zaldivar
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Thanks for the trip report, Jim. I think a lot of us on the list would enjoy
reading more trip reports from those who actually go caving.
Logan
On 12/8/2011 4:10 PM, Jim Kennedy wrote:
*Punkin Cave Survey Expedition #17*
*2-4 December 2011*
This past weekend, 2-4 December 2011, saw more than a dozen cavers convene at TCMA's Carta Valley resort, er, fieldhouse to tackle the monster
mazes of the incredible Punkin Cave, the 10^th longest and 28^th deepest cave in Texas. We, as cavers, are extremely fortunate that we own
Punkin and the equally awesome Deep Cave nearby. I strongly urge all cavers to join the TCMA and help support the purchase of additional caves!
Everybody arrived Friday evening, except Ann, who was attending a swanky office party. We cleaned up the cabin from the previous users,
including tossing out three dead mice. Some folks just don't understand about mouse-proofing buildings by doing such things as sealing all
paper products and food packages in tins, jars, and mouse-proof cabinets. Or turning all plates, cups, bowls, pots, and pans upside down when
storing them. Sigh. But at least the sticky traps we set out are doing their job. After the flurry of cleaning and reorganization, we got
the water and heat turned on, set out some snacks, and settled down to watch a couple of movies (/Chronicles of Riddick/and/Talladega Nights/)
on the big screen while the rest of the crew trickled in.
The next morning we ate a hearty group breakfast, organized into three survey teams, and left for the cave. Lee Jay and Galen led Vivian and
Aubrey to the western side of the cave, below (but not connecting to) Hellmouth. Their survey was slow and meticulous, as Aubrey was working
closely with Viv to develop her sketching skills. When I asked Viv later how Aubrey was progressing with her sketching, Viv proudly said
"She's there!" Good to have another qualified sketcher in our ranks! That team only set 11 shots for a total of 21.36m (1.94m per shot),
but the sketches (from both sketchers) are superlative! This survey is heading to a nice big blank spot on the map, and I hope it continues.
The second team heading out to the West Maze had a bit of a delay when one of the party showed up at the cave entrance and forgot their
boots. Matt Turner, who wasn't feeling up to caving that day, offered to make a run back to the fieldhouse for some borrowed footwear. Once
properly equipped, Dale, Arron, Angela, and Andy went back to some leads in the far southwest corner of the cave that were left from a
previous survey. They pushed a lot of passage and got the most length of the day, but, as usual, left lots more leads for future trips. They
made 21 shots for 74.60m, for an average of 3.55m per shot. One shot was almost 9m long! Despite the early delay and all that survey
footage, they still were not the last out of the cave.
That dubious honor went to my team, which included Oscar, Yaz, and Lydia. I blame it all tight nasty stuff we were in this time. In fact,
our first lead had to be enlarged by rock shaving a tight window through which several leads could be seen. Cemented breakdown plagued our
survey, and we spent a lot of time pounding on rocks. Viv's team heard us almost the entire time, but we never saw them until the very end of
the day. We still managed to make 14 shots, including an 8.41m shot. Too bad that was offset by the 0.64 and 0.65m shots! Our total survey
was 43.57m (3.11m per shot). Yaz was the star of the survey, squeezing into subhuman leads that left Oscar and I just shaking our heads, and
totally destroying her pants in the process.
We got back to the cabin to find that everyone had already showered and that dinner was ready. Thanks to Don, who was still recovering from
shoulder surgery, and Ann for that! The mood was festive, the weather surprisingly warm, and the fellowship awesome. We tossed down a
fabulous meal of chicken mole, Mexican rice (courtesy of Yaz and Matt), frijoles, and iced tea, with an appetizer of chips, guacamole, and
homemade salsas from Galen and Yaz. Dessert was flan, and followed with yet another movie, the classic seasonal flick/Scrooged/.
The next day we had to clean up and close the cabin pretty early, since there was a TCMA meeting in San Antonio at 1:00, and we had 5 TCMA
board members on this expedition. Expedition participants wereDon Arburn,Yazmin Avila,Dale Barnard,Oscar Berrones,Andy Edwards,Angela
Edwards,GalenFalgout,Lee Jay Graves,Lydia Hernandez,Aubri Jenson,Jim Kennedy,Vivian Loftin,Ann Scott,Matt Turner, andArron Wertheim. It is
truly a joy to work with such a dedicated, enthusiastic, skilled, and FUN group of people.
Punkin Cave is still the 28^th deepest cave in the state at 62.4m. Our three survey teams only added another 139.53m to the cave's length in
44 shots, for an average of 3.17m per shot, slightly up from average. This statistic is somewhat misleading, as longer shots could certainly
be made, but the incredible complexity of the cave requires us to place stations at every passage intersection, and there are a HECK of a lot
of intersections! This trip brings the cave to just over 4 kilometers, at 4090.29m. It is back down to the 10^th longest in Texas due to a
flurry of surveying in some of the Guadalupe Basin stream caves during this summer's drought. Currently we only need 364m to pass See My
Shovel Cave and regain #9,460m to pass Cave Without a Name and make #8, and924m to knock Longhorn Cavern out of the #7 slot. We still have at
least a kilometer of passage to map, but it will be slow going. And, of course, we always hope to break into the conjectured borehole that
lies beneath these mazes and supplies all the tremendous airflow felt throughout the cave. We can do it!
The next trip is tentatively planned for the long Presidents Day weekend in February, when we will have TWO days of surveying in the cave.
Keep watching CaveTex and other caving calendars for the announcement.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim "Crash" Kennedy
TCMA Punkin Cave Survey Coordinator
8 December 2011
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Mark, et al.,
Just saw your trip report, so ditto the thanks I just sent to Jim. Two caving
trip reports sent to the list on the same day is great!
Logan
On 12/8/2011 9:42 AM, [email protected] wrote:
Hey, y’all.
Before my feeble memory forgets and the weekend gets here, I just thought I’d post a report from what we accomplished this past weekend at the
Longhorn Caverns SP Project:
*_Participants:_*
*__*
Alan Downey – Project 1
David Franks – Project 1
Kyle Leonard – Project 2
Scott Grimes – Project 2
Nicole Yzaguirre – Project 2
Rachel Saker – Project 2
Joshua Smith – Project 2
Valerie Bowen – Project 2
Leslie Bell – Project 1
Christopher Francke – Project 1
Gerald Geletzke – Project 1
Jerome ? – Project 2
Maya Liu – Project 2
Rahul Bhandari – Project 2
Mark Alman – Project 2
Total volunteer hours: 182 hours, including 92 hours drive time.
_Project One: The Search for New Passage_
*_Lumbago Alley Area Dig Team Report from Christopher E. Francke:_*
At first inspection, the dig passage looked about 25+ feet long, with rocky sediment, and filled the 2.5 foot high passage to about 2 feet.
Basically a 6 inch gap, from sediment layer to ceiling.
We, first cleared the outside entrance of the passage, in order to level the area so a digger's body would not be at a down sloping angle
while digging.
The next few hours, all diggers removed the sediment, rocks and debris.
At the conclusion of the dig, the passage was opened to about 16 feet, where there was about 2 feet long of "tubular" passage remaining,
before the passage opens to a "room" about 4+ feet wider, the ceiling raising to about 3+. This "room" had a depth, from the end point of the
dig, about 6 feet, and appeared to veer to the right of the passage.
It is apparent that the floor sediment of the room begins to slope near the walls and water is settled in those areas. It may be likely that
the passage will become more watery at this point. There was no water settling in the passage during the dig, although if one dug deep enough,
the sediment became more wet and muddy and less rocky.
I'm excited to go back, knowing that we are about 2ft (say 1hr) away from getting in to
the little "room" ahead.
Thank you, Mark for the opportunity to help the folks at Longhorn Caverns.
_Project Two: Lovers Lane Trail and Drain Rebuilding_
__
__
*_Team Report from Mark Alman_*
*__*
*__*
Let me first compliment the Project 2 folks, made up mainly of young cavers from the A.S.S. (Aggie Grotto) as consistently being one of the
hardest working and most pleasant to be around group of cavers I have ever encountered.
We got a *_LOT_ *done this past weekend!
Using fill material removed from the heavily silted and compacted floor near the dam below the Pigs Trough area of Lovers Lane, we have
managed to replace all of the material that was washed out during heavy flooding that exposed the large drainage pipe.
This area is now filled back in and all sign of the drainage pipe has been eliminated. Next project weekend, we will begin hauling in gravel
and rock to give the area a more “natural” appearance and, hopefully, minimize erosion during the next big rain.
The trail there is also now very smooth and has been taken down to the original
trail and stone. Much easier to walk, now!
After a short and enjoyable lunch in the LCSP cafeteria (yeah, we really rough it) we tackled removing anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of the
silted in and dried material that covered the original trail just down from the drainage pipe area. The “youngsters” managed to remove a
section 2 to 3 feet wide and approximately 12 to 15 feet long of compacted mud and top soil that revealed the original trail through this area.
A very efficient bucket brigade system moved several large buckets of material that were deposited just behind a stone wall ~50’ away to help
reinforce it against future flooding.
Their amazing work increased the head room through this area immensely, making it easier for visitors to pass through without bashing their
heads.
We still have ~12 to 15’ of trail to complete before exposing the original
trail. And then, on to a plethora of other Lovers Lane projects.
We finished up this project around 3 PM and Gerry escorted 11 of the crew on a
through trip to the Crownover exit.
Two of the Aggie cavers ran in to Burnet for supplies and, after securing the Crownover key from LCSP staff, I met the mud-encrusted intrepid
travelers around 5:30 at the LC Back door and transported them all back to camp in the back of my truck.
During their trek, a nice nap was enjoyed by yours truly near the Crownover
gate.
After cleaning up, some stayed in camp, while 8 of us went in to Marble Falls for a delightful dinner and the highly recommended Peanut Butter
Pie at the always satisfying Bluebonnet Café.
Alan, Rahul, Maya, Christopher, and Leslie said their goodbyes and headed home
after dining, while Gerry, Josh, and I headed back to LCSP.
After seeking shelter from the cold and rain on the second floor of the Observation Tower, hilarity and banter and repartee ensued before
heading to bed around 11 and Gerry heading back to Waco.
A VERY chilly cold front and rain blew in around 2 AM Sunday and all headed
home rather quickly after getting up Sunday.
All in all, an extremely fun and productive project weekend!
January status is unknown at this point, due to availability of project leaders
and prior commitments. Stay tuned!
If y’all are ever interested in helping out with this ongoing project, please do so. We _guarantee_ a fun and enjoyable weekend with a lot of
caving, service to the TPWD, and a ton of good ol’ caver camaraderie!
Look for more info on CaveTex and the TSA calendar and a HUGE article on
various Longhorn shenanigans in the next /TEXAS CAVER./
//
//
Thanks to all of the folks who have helped out this year on the Longhorn project, especially *Gerry Geletzke*, and hope to see more of you
next year.
Have a safe and happy Christmas and a fruitful 2012!
Mark Alman
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anyone else remember when the gourmet meal during and post caving was
an open unheated can of something, often glugged down without benefit
of the unnecessary weight of a spoon? campbells soup was popular as
well as beanie weanies and god knows whatever other delights.
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Lets hear it for sardines!
Dec 9, 2011 07:58:54 AM, [email protected] wrote:
anyone else remember when the gourmet meal during and post caving was
an open unheated can of something, often glugged down without benefit
of the unnecessary weight of a spoon? campbells soup was popular as
well as beanie weanies and god knows whatever other delights.
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I was recently contacted by this guy from Albuquerque, Bill Mason. He says he
is "an avid cave diver" and want to dive here in Texas and in Mexico. Someone
told him to contact the UT Grotto, which was probably a good idea, but I'm not
a diver so I'm passing the buck to those who are. His e-mail is
[email protected].
Thanks,
Matt Zaldivar
UT Grotto, President
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Bill Mason <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, December 7, 2011 10:32 AM
Subject: RE: Texas Cave Diving
Thanks Matt. If you can, please introduce me to the cave divers there. I live
in Albuquerque so I can do road trips to Texas, but won't be able to make the
meetings.
Best,
Bill
________________________________
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 12:39:39 -0800
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Texas Cave Diving
To: [email protected]
Bill,
I personally don't actually have the authority to give anyone access to caves.
The best thing you could do is get to know the local divers; coming to our
meetings is a good way to do that. We have an unofficial get together this
Wednesday at the Posse East, www.posse-east.com. Our next official meeting
will be on the 21st at 7:45pm on the University of Texas Campus in 2.48 Painter
Hall (156 West 24th Street, Austin TX 78712)
http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/pai.html. If you can't make it to a
meeting, I can get you in contact with other cave divers that may be able to
help.
Matt
________________________________
From: Bill Mason <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, December 4, 2011 11:15 AM
Subject: Texas Cave Diving
Hi Matt,
The Southern AZ Grotto recommended I talk to you about cave diving in Texas and
Mexico. I am an avid cave diver and explorer in search of new caves to survey.
I've explored in Florida, Bahamas, Philippines, and Arizona. I can provide a
resume upon request. In essence, I'd like to know if there are sinks or sumps
that have not yet been explored in your area. If so, would you be willing to
let me give them a shot? I know Dr. Stone is active in Austin, so I can
understand if the answer is "no," but I wanted to give you a shout. The map
shows a whole lot of Karst in Texas...
Best Regards,
Bill Mason
352-328-7179
Albuquerque, NM
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