After tracking down the complete survey notes, here is the anxiously awaited trip report from the Punkin Cave survey over Easter weekend...
Punkin Cave Survey, Easter Weekend, April 6-8, 2012 Friday: Don Arburn worked on the cabin porch roof and other cabin improvement projects. Ellie Watson, Jen Foote, Phil Thommes, and Garrett Jorgensen started the day with a familiarization trip into Deep Cave. Maya Ye Liu, Matt Zappitello, and Saj Zappitello arrived on-site early afternoon. Matt rigged both drops into Punkin, and Phil and Garrett tested the ropes. Turns were taken conquering (or almost-conquering) the alternate entrance (very tight squeeze) into Deep Cave. Then Matt, Saj, and Maya embarked on a familiarization trip into Deep Cave, accompanied by Ellie, Jen, Phil, and Garrett for more familiarization. Geary Schindel, Sue Schindel, and Jacqui Thomas arrived on Friday evening. Some folks watched a movie while other folks were serenaded by tuba practice. Saturday: Matt was designated trip leader en absentia due to his utter excitement about caving in general and this trip in particular. He dutifully organized teams and assigned leads with assistance from Ellie. Don and Maya journeyed into Davey Jones Locker and re-surveyed 35.95 meters with 13 shots. Ellie and Geary surveyed 29.89 meters with 9 shots in Sleepy Hollow. Saj, Matt, and Jacqui went back to Saj’s exciting lead in Superstition Maze and surveyed 68.87 meters with 24 shots. Garrett, Phil, and Jen surveyed 32.67 meters with 14 shots in Sleep Hollow including squeezing through a very tight lead… someone may have temporarily lost their pants. Sue enjoyed the day top-side as surface support and camp guard. Considerably more ramen was consumed than usual on this trip without our fearless leader and chef extraordinaire, Crash Kennedy. Sunday: Matt successfully learned how to use the family size coffee pot. Everyone packed up, cleaned up, and headed home. A total of 167.38 meters were surveyed over the weekend. According to Crash’s calculations: this gives Punkin Cave a new total of 4345.34 meters of surveyed passages, making it the 339th longest cave survey in the US, and still the 10th longest in Texas. Punkin is now only 109 meters from passing See My Shovel Cave again for 9th place, 205 meters from passing Cave Without a Name for 8th place, and 669 meters from passing Longhorn Cavern for 7th place. Yeehaw! ~Saj Zappitello --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
