----- Original Message -----
From: Ben Hutchins
To: texascav...@caver.net
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 7:09 PM
Subject: [Texascavers] Feb 12 See My Shovel Cave (CM Cave) trip report
Feb 12, 2012 See My Shovel Cave (CM Cave) trip report
By Ben Hutchins with contributions from Ben Tobin
When it started to sleet on us as we drove to Spring Branch, things
seemed grim. But when the taco stand that we religiously visit before our CM
cave trips was closed, the universe seemed downright cruel. Resisting the
temptation to turn around, Brett Gerard, Ben Tobin and I drove on to meet Roger
Blodgett and Tom Rogers at just after 10:00AM. We drove to Joe Eisenhauer’s
ranch in Spring Branch and after brief hellos, we were driving through the
field to the cave entrance. As quick as possible (still sleeting), we unlocked
the cave, rigged the first drop, suited up, and began rappelling the 2 entrance
pits that would take us to Echo River, 90ft below. The nasty crawlway leading
off from the bottom of the 2nd drop was sucking cold air, chilling the water/
mud soup that we were slogging through. To make matters even better, the cedar
duff/ cricket guano/cow urine slurry that is perpetually pooled in the crawlway
was smelling especially ripe. Nevertheless, we were quickly in the main
passage where we were greeted by warm air, warmer water, and definitely nicer
passage dimensions. Water in the main passage was at normal or even low
levels, making the low airspaces a cinch. With all the rain, however, the
temperature of the water was noticeably colder. We started heading upstream at
noon. We had 3 objectives for the day: continue survey in an infeeder sidelead
that had been started back in August, aid climb to the high lead 10+m above the
upstream sump, and in the process survey approximately 700 meters to rival
Longhorn Caverns and Cave Without A Name in length. Because of the increasing
chances of rainfall that evening and due prior obligations in the real world,
we had 6 hours (4 of which would be spent in travel). It took us about 2 hours
to wade, stoop walk, swim, salamander, stoopwalk, walk, crawl, and stoop walk
upstream to the terminal sump. We all went together so that the weight of the
climbing equipment could be divided among us. At the sump face, I donned a
hoodie and goggles to get a better look at the unknown. The water at the sump
face is about 2.5m deep and the conduit is just over 1m wide. In the sump, the
ceiling levels off perhaps a foot below the water level but didn’t appear to
rise again as far ahead as I could see (about 3m). It will take divers to push
this one.
In short order, Robert, Tom and I backtracked to our lead,
leaving Brett and Ben T. to storm the castle. Our lead was a north trending
infeeder, about 200m from the upstream sump. It started out with admirable
dimensions (3-4m high, 2m wide) although travel was made difficult by the hills
of slick mud that we had to crawl up and over. It was not graceful, and this
portion of the passage had been surveyed previously. Where we picked up, the
lead degraded into a 1.5-2m wide, 1m high oval shaped phreatic tube with mud
banks and a trickle of water. Watching Robert contort and wallow in the soup
to read instruments made me thankful to be sketcher. The passage continued
north with these dimensions, getting slightly lower but showing no signs of
ending. After 10 stations and 52m of survey, I checked my watch and we were
already late. So, we made SB23 a semi-permanent station and headed back out.
While the survey team backtracked and began surveying, Brett and Ben T.
sorted through gear and began the climb. Starting up a wall that appeared to
have numerous jugs and protrusions for slings, they quickly discovered that it
was all an illusion. The mud and the rock had very similar consistency, with
the mud possibly being more structurally sound. As each potential hold fell off
in progressively larger chunks, both climber and belayer became progressively
larger balls of mud. Finally, some nice, solid rock was found about 5 feet from
the top. Looking at the time we realized we were approaching out turn around
time, but shear stubbornness led us to finish the one bolt, leaving it at a
nice starting point for the next trip. After quickly packing up, we made our
way out. Barring anything unexpected, the climb should be finished in short
order on the next trip, with 1 or 2 more bolts.
When we got back to the glorious crawlway leading to the
entrance pits, we were a bit dismayed that the cold breeze sucking in was
causing steam above the warmer water in the main passage: it was going to be a
cold exit! But climbing rope is a great way to warm up and thankfully it
wasn’t raining when we exited the cave, just as the last light of evening faded
away. Ben and Brett arrived moments later to the delight of good beer sitting
at the cave entrance. Although we didn’t 700meters of survey or discover
booming upper level borehole, it was still a great trip. After letting Joe
know what we had accomplished, we warmed ourselves by his fire for a few
moments before heading home. See My Shovel currently stands at 4.45km with
several leads remaining to be surveyed.
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