texascavers Digest 30 Jul 2009 15:50:00 -0000 Issue 810
Topics (messages 11515 through 11528):
Congratulations to Mary Kay Manning
11515 by: David
New sinkhole collapse in west Texas :
11516 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
11517 by: Bill Bentley
Photos & Articles from the ICS and Points Beyond - The TC Needs YOUR
Submissions!
11518 by: Mark.Alman.l-3com.com
Re: ICS Attendance
11519 by: Jon Cradit
11521 by: Pete Lindsley
11526 by: David
11527 by: Heather Tucek
Re: bandit cave
11520 by: William H. Russell
11524 by: Aimee Beveridge
11528 by: Andy Zenker
Re: Valdina Farms Sinkhole
11522 by: Geary Schindel
ICS Amazing Backpack Stories
11523 by: Frank Binney
11525 by: Charles Goldsmith
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--- Begin Message ---
Many of you know Mary Kay from watching her climb rope
at TCR back in the 80's and 90's.
She spent the past 22 years dedicated to helping visitors
at Panther Junction in Big Bend.
I believe she is now in the Big Thicket, which is why she
couldn't make it to ICS.
I think she is on CaveTex, so I will let her tell the rest of the
story.
David Locklear
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Giant Sinkhole Collapses Near Denver City
Eddie Garcia
CBS 7 News
July 28, 2009
Denver City, Texas - A giant geographical phenomenon has opened up just
two miles northeast of Denver City.
The enormous sink hole opened up just last night and is on Occidental
Permian Inc. property. Company officials would not allow us near the site but
did provide us with aerial photos. It is a sinkhole 70 yards long almost 70
yards wide and about 50 feet deep. Permian Occidental says all the wells in
the area have been shut-in as a precaution. So far no injuries are being
reported or any impacts outside the immediate vicinity of the hole. Local and
state authorities have been notified and are now working with Occidental
crews. Right now an independent fire and safety company is on location and
the entire area is secured.
_http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=14003_
(http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=14003)
Video of the sink at:
_http://permianbasin360.com/content/fulltext/?cid=47132_
(http://permianbasin360.com/content/fulltext/?cid=47132)
(javascript:loadVideo(369411))
State probing new area sinkhole
By Joshua Hull | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Story last updated at 7/30/2009 - 1:31 am
State officials are investigating what caused a large sinkhole to suddenly
appear earlier this week in an oil field near Denver City.
The sinkhole, measured at 76 feet by 70 feet and 48 feet deep, was
discovered by a worker late Monday on oil and gas land owned by Occidental
Permian
Limited, said Stacie Fowler with the Texas Railroad Commission.
No one was injured when the ground collapsed, and one well of 1,750 at the
field was damaged by the collapse, Fowler said. Some wells in the vicinity
have been temporarily shut down.
"We make sure more damage doesn't happen as best we can," she said, adding
no cause has yet been determined.
Sinkholes are a more common occurrence in East Texas and can be caused by
several different factors, said Mike Turco, chief of the Gulf Coast Office
for the U.S. Geological Survey.
Oil and gas operations are known to cause sinkholes, Turco said, which
might explain the unusual location of the collapse less than a mile east of
Denver City.
"During normal times, there is a fluid or a substance holding up whatever
is above," he said. "If that is extracted the pressure is reduced and there
can be a surface feature after a collapse."
Much larger sinkholes appeared in the early 1980s near Wink - about 100
miles southwest of Denver City - also near oil and gas operations.
Sinkholes have to be treated with care, Turco said, as each case is
different from the next. While all features share some similarities, there's
no
way to tell whether the collapse will expand without further examination.
"It depends on what the rocks are underneath the sinkhole and what caused
the sinkhole," he said. "Typically, once they express themselves after their
initial expansion they don't get much larger."
_http://lubbockonline.com/stories/073009/loc_472749121.shtml_
(http://lubbockonline.com/stories/073009/loc_472749121.shtml) Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal
Giant Denver City sinkhole collapses
Posted: Jul 29, 2009 9:26 AM CDT Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:26 AM EST
DENVER CITY, TX (KCBD) - A giant sinkhole has been discovered just outside
of Denver City, Texas.
According to Occidental Permian Ltd., at approximately 11:00 p.m. on
Monday, July 27th, the sinkhole was discovered 2 miles northeast of Denver
City,
on Occidental property. An independent fire and safety company is on
location and the area is secured. Wells in the area have been shut-in as a
precaution. The sinkhole is approximately 70 yards long, 67 yards wide and 16
yards deep. Occidental personnel reports that there are no injuries to
employees, and no injuries or other impacts outside the immediate vicinity
around
the hole. Oxy has notified the appropriate local and state authorities, and
will continue to cooperate fully with them. NewsChannel 11 will be
following this story and will bring you any updates as they become available.
_http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=10810491_
(http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=10810491)
**************Hot Deals at Dell on Popular Laptops perfect for Back to
School
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1223105306x1201716871/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Faltfarm.mediaplex.com%2Fad%2Fck%2F12309%2D81939%2D1629%2D9)
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
This story has has been covered by all 3 of the local network news. I find it
most interesting when they say Experts don't know why this happens and in the
finishing sentence of the news story they comment on how it is near an
injection well.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: jerryat...@aol.com
To: Texascavers@texascavers.com
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 1:43 AM
Subject: [Texascavers] New sinkhole collapse in west Texas :
Giant Sinkhole Collapses Near Denver City
Eddie Garcia
CBS 7 News
July 28, 2009
Denver City, Texas - A giant geographical phenomenon has opened up just two
miles northeast of Denver City.
The enormous sink hole opened up just last night and is on Occidental Permian
Inc. property. Company officials would not allow us near the site but did
provide us with aerial photos. It is a sinkhole 70 yards long almost 70 yards
wide and about 50 feet deep. Permian Occidental says all the wells in the area
have been shut-in as a precaution. So far no injuries are being reported or any
impacts outside the immediate vicinity of the hole. Local and state authorities
have been notified and are now working with Occidental crews. Right now an
independent fire and safety company is on location and the entire area is
secured.
http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=14003
Video of the sink at:
http://permianbasin360.com/content/fulltext/?cid=47132
State probing new area sinkhole
By Joshua Hull | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Story last updated at 7/30/2009 - 1:31 am
State officials are investigating what caused a large sinkhole to suddenly
appear earlier this week in an oil field near Denver City.
The sinkhole, measured at 76 feet by 70 feet and 48 feet deep, was discovered
by a worker late Monday on oil and gas land owned by Occidental Permian
Limited, said Stacie Fowler with the Texas Railroad Commission.
No one was injured when the ground collapsed, and one well of 1,750 at the
field was damaged by the collapse, Fowler said. Some wells in the vicinity have
been temporarily shut down.
"We make sure more damage doesn't happen as best we can," she said, adding no
cause has yet been determined.
Sinkholes are a more common occurrence in East Texas and can be caused by
several different factors, said Mike Turco, chief of the Gulf Coast Office for
the U.S. Geological Survey.
Oil and gas operations are known to cause sinkholes, Turco said, which might
explain the unusual location of the collapse less than a mile east of Denver
City.
"During normal times, there is a fluid or a substance holding up whatever is
above," he said. "If that is extracted the pressure is reduced and there can be
a surface feature after a collapse."
Much larger sinkholes appeared in the early 1980s near Wink - about 100 miles
southwest of Denver City - also near oil and gas operations.
Sinkholes have to be treated with care, Turco said, as each case is different
from the next. While all features share some similarities, there's no way to
tell whether the collapse will expand without further examination.
"It depends on what the rocks are underneath the sinkhole and what caused the
sinkhole," he said. "Typically, once they express themselves after their
initial expansion they don't get much larger."
http://lubbockonline.com/stories/073009/loc_472749121.shtml Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal
Giant Denver City sinkhole collapses
Posted: Jul 29, 2009 9:26 AM CDT Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:26 AM EST
DENVER CITY, TX (KCBD) - A giant sinkhole has been discovered just outside of
Denver City, Texas.
According to Occidental Permian Ltd., at approximately 11:00 p.m. on Monday,
July 27th, the sinkhole was discovered 2 miles northeast of Denver City, on
Occidental property. An independent fire and safety company is on location and
the area is secured. Wells in the area have been shut-in as a precaution. The
sinkhole is approximately 70 yards long, 67 yards wide and 16 yards deep.
Occidental personnel reports that there are no injuries to employees, and no
injuries or other impacts outside the immediate vicinity around the hole. Oxy
has notified the appropriate local and state authorities, and will continue to
cooperate fully with them. NewsChannel 11 will be following this story and will
bring you any updates as they become available.
http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=10810491
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hot Deals at Dell on Popular Laptops perfect for Back to School
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
All,
As of 7/30, 7:30 AM, I only have one photo (a rather sexy one from Bill Steele)
from the ICS for The TEXAS CAVER!
Other than that, I have ZERO photos, ZERO trip reports, ZERO articles and other
miscellanea submitted for publication in the next issue.
Looks like a VERY thin next issue of the TC.
Hey, at least we'll save some dinero for the TSA!
C'mon, people, I'll give you a few more days to recuperate from the ICS, but,
it's time to get busy!
Send something/anything to texascav...@yahoo.com.
Thanks!
(A desperate) Mark
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Well, you see, that depends on how you count.
There were around 1570 folks that registered.
That includes week long registrants as well as day-pass folks and those that
registered and could not attend due to problems like obtaining entrance visas.
The numbers kept changing up to the last day when Karen closed registration and
books were packed up to be transported to Virginia.
A final tally is still being calculated for each category. We might know the
final number in a week or so, when Karen gets home and reopens the books.
Jon
From: Bill Stephens [mailto:stephen...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:12 PM
To: texascavers@texascavers.com
Subject: [Texascavers] ICS Attendance
Does anyone know the final attendance numbers and number of nations represented
at the ICS?
Bill
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Bill, the last count (unofficial) was 1565, more than 300 additional
cavers beyond those registered at the start of the congress. Last
Sunday it was undecided if the new names would be added to the ICS
web site, which should stay up for at least a couple of months.
Perhaps when Karen Kastning makes it back home in a few days a more
official count can be announced.
Personally, I think the ICS web site was a great piece of work and
that Texas cavers should push to keep it on line and update it to
reflect the success of the 2nd Congress to be held in the USA. I
would like to see pictures added that illustrate as many activities
as possible so that the few that were unable to make it at the last
minute can enjoy what the rest of us experienced.
- Pete
On Jul 29, 2009, at 9:11 PM, Bill Stephens wrote:
Does anyone know the final attendance numbers and number of nations
represented at the ICS?
Bill
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I think it might be interesting for the historical record to note the
ratio of staff to attendees.
Would a reasonable guess be 1 staff for every 25 attendees ? or
more like 1 to 50 ?
Nearly every attendee volunteered in someway to make ICS a success.
I think that is what
makes caving conventions so successful.
For example,
I saw one caver, who you all know, that seemed to
be making a sincere effort to escort an elderly caver to all the
congress events.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I think I heard George Veni say it was something like 30% of the registrants
were volunteering...
2009/7/30 David <dlocklea...@gmail.com>
> I think it might be interesting for the historical record to note the
> ratio of staff to attendees.
>
> Would a reasonable guess be 1 staff for every 25 attendees ? or
> more like 1 to 50 ?
>
> Nearly every attendee volunteered in someway to make ICS a success.
> I think that is what
> makes caving conventions so successful.
>
> For example,
>
> I saw one caver, who you all know, that seemed to
> be making a sincere effort to escort an elderly caver to all the
> congress events.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
>
--
Go find out!
-Heather Tuček
UT Grotto
NSS 59660
(512) 773-1348
trog...@cavechat.org
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Freddie,
The current owner is very protective of Bandit cave and it
not using it as a dump. He is somewhat (in my view) overprotective
and has not even let biologists into his cave to study the biology,
but he is protecting the cave. For several years prior to the
current owner acquiring the cave the cave was used for neighborhood
parties, especially on Halloween, and when the new owner took over he
was under pressure to continue this tradition. He resisted, and this
experience is probably is what lead to the current very restrictive
access policy. The cave is still there, but checking it out would be
difficult as the cave has a stout steel door, and we need use caver
requests for access carefully, at first they should be for
worthwhile studies; and then we can build a relation with the
landowner. There are digging leads in the cave, but they were pushed
in the past to where the diggers gave up.
Bill Russell
Geoff and Aimee's post about the showing of the Austin Cavers movie
at their house reminded me of a cave that I haven't heard anything
about in thirty years. Bandit cave is an ex-commercial cave in
Rollingwood that was in a vacant lot only three blocks from Geoff
and Aimee's house. The last time I checked, it appeared the lot was
still vacant and being used as a neighborhood yard waste dump. This
cave had two entrances, one of which was a large steel door that was
the commercial entrance. It was wired for lighting which was
non-functioning as of my last visit in 1978. It had standing room in
it and several crawling leads. An ex-mayor of Austin claims that the
cave had a crawlway that exited at lake Austin in the cliffs above
Redbud isle. Has anyone done anything recently with it? Any
conservation efforts, or landowner contact?
--
William Hart Russell
4806 Red River Street
Austin, TX 78751
H: 512-453-4774 (messages)
CELL: 512-940-8336
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
The owner has put in a new fence along the property and I believe there are no
trespassing signs.
--- On Thu, 7/30/09, William H. Russell <whruss...@gmail.com> wrote:
From: William H. Russell <whruss...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] bandit cave
To: "freddie poer" <freddiepoe...@yahoo.com>
Cc: texascavers@texascavers.com
List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com
Date: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 8:12 AM
Freddie,
The current owner is very protective of Bandit cave and it not using it as
a dump. He is somewhat (in my view) overprotective and has not even let
biologists into his cave to study the biology, but he is protecting the cave.
For several years prior to the current owner acquiring the cave the cave was
used for neighborhood parties, especially on Halloween, and when the new owner
took over he was under pressure to continue this tradition. He resisted, and
this experience is probably is what lead to the current very restrictive access
policy. The cave is still there, but checking it out would be difficult as the
cave has a stout steel door, and we need use caver requests for access
carefully, at first they should be for worthwhile studies; and then we can
build a relation with the landowner. There are digging leads in the cave, but
they were pushed in the past to where the diggers gave up.
Bill Russell
> Geoff and Aimee's post about the showing of the Austin Cavers movie at their
> house reminded me of a cave that I haven't heard anything about in thirty
> years. Bandit cave is an ex-commercial cave in Rollingwood that was in a
> vacant lot only three blocks from Geoff and Aimee's house. The last time I
> checked, it appeared the lot was still vacant and being used as a
> neighborhood yard waste dump. This cave had two entrances, one of which was a
> large steel door that was the commercial entrance. It was wired for lighting
> which was non-functioning as of my last visit in 1978. It had standing room
> in it and several crawling leads. An ex-mayor of Austin claims that the cave
> had a crawlway that exited at lake Austin in the cliffs above Redbud isle.
> Has anyone done anything recently with it? Any conservation efforts, or
> landowner contact?
-- William Hart Russell
4806 Red River Street
Austin, TX 78751
H: 512-453-4774 (messages)
CELL: 512-940-8336
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To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com
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--- Begin Message ---
Just invite them to the next caver party at Aimee and Geoff's.
Andy Zenker
Texas Caver
--- On Thu, 7/30/09, Aimee Beveridge <aim...@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Aimee Beveridge <aim...@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] bandit cave
To: "freddie poer" <freddiepoe...@yahoo.com>, "William H. Russell"
<whruss...@gmail.com>
Cc: texascavers@texascavers.com
List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com
Date: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 10:31 AM
The owner has put in a new fence along the property and I believe there are no
trespassing signs.
--- On Thu, 7/30/09, William H. Russell <whruss...@gmail.com> wrote:
From: William H. Russell <whruss...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] bandit cave
To: "freddie poer" <freddiepoe...@yahoo.com>
Cc: texascavers@texascavers.com
List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com
Date: Thursday, July 30, 2009, 8:12 AM
Freddie,
The current owner is very protective of Bandit cave and it not using it as
a dump. He is somewhat (in my view) overprotective and has not even let
biologists into his cave to study the biology, but he is protecting the cave.
For several years prior to the current owner acquiring the cave the cave was
used for neighborhood parties, especially on Halloween, and when the new owner
took over he was under pressure to continue this tradition. He resisted, and
this experience is probably is what lead to the current very restrictive access
policy. The cave is still there, but checking it out would be difficult as the
cave has a stout steel door, and we need use caver requests for access
carefully, at first they should be for worthwhile studies; and then we can
build a relation with the landowner. There are digging leads in the cave, but
they were pushed in the past to where the
diggers gave up.
Bill Russell
> Geoff and Aimee's post about the showing of the Austin Cavers movie at their
> house reminded me of a cave that I haven't heard anything about in thirty
> years. Bandit cave is an ex-commercial cave in Rollingwood that was in a
> vacant lot only three blocks from Geoff and Aimee's house. The last time I
> checked, it appeared the lot was still vacant and being used as a
> neighborhood yard waste dump. This cave had two entrances, one of which was a
> large steel door that was the commercial entrance. It was wired for lighting
> which was non-functioning as of my last visit in 1978. It had standing room
> in it and several crawling leads. An ex-mayor of Austin claims that the cave
> had a crawlway that exited at lake Austin in the cliffs above Redbud isle.
> Has anyone done anything recently with it? Any conservation efforts, or
> landowner contact?
-- William Hart Russell
4806 Red River
Street
Austin, TX 78751
H: 512-453-4774 (messages)
CELL: 512-940-8336
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--- Begin Message ---
Valdina Farm Sinkhole.
There were two trips to the cave, one on Wednesday, July 22 and the other on
Saturday, July 25. The trip on Wednesday included a number of foreign cavers
and was lead by Josh Rubinstein with the Edwards Aquifer Authority and Graham
Schindel and Paul Bryant who were volunteers. Josh worked with Brian Pease on
the surface where they performed three cave radio locations. Graham and Paul
coordinated activities in the pit while Scott Wahlquist (a volunteer from
Virginia) operated the cave radio inside the cave. Cave radio locations were
obtained from three sites, one at the upstream side of the downstream sump and
one on the downstream side of the sump. A third location was made on the
upstream portion of the cave. The cave radio locations were made in support of
remapping of the cave and potential monitoring well locations. The drought has
opened up the downstream sump which was only accessible by cave diving. The
word is that foreign cavers really showed the American's how to use the Frog
System.
On the Saturday trip, we surveyed the radio locations to recoverable points in
the cave and also installed some dye receptors in support of an upcoming tracer
test in the cave. There were a number of TAG cavers on the trip along with
some Poles. The Saturday trip was lead by myself and Graham Schindel. Later
this fall, we may initiate a remapping project along with a LIDAR study in the
cave to determine changes to the cave sediments related to the aquifer recharge
structure feeding the cave.
Please note that Valdina Farm Sinkhole is only open by special permission. The
Edwards Aquifer Authority holds an easement on the cave. Please do not contact
the owner for permission to enter the cave as they have requested that they not
be bothered. In addition, this cave is very dangerous and requires a very
careful eye on the weather as it will flood to the top of the 150 foot deep
sinkhole in a matter of minutes after large storms in the drainage basin.
I also wanted to thank David for his posts on the ICS and his insistent
volunteering for the entire week. I don't think there is anything that he
didn't help with at some time. He exhibited real Texas hospitability by
welcoming many of the foreign cavers that were camped around him. I think the
Ukrainian cavers really appreciated his help.
Geary Schindel
-----Original Message-----
From: David [mailto:dlocklea...@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 12:34 AM
To: texascavers@texascavers.com
Subject: [Texascavers] Valdina Farms Sinkhole
I was just curious how the trip went ?
That is a cave I have been wanting to go in for 24 years.
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--- Begin Message ---
On 7/29/09 8:46 PM, "Charles Goldsmith" <wo...@justfamily.org> wrote:
> So Frank, what's this I hear about you and your extra big backpack?
>
Actually I had two amazing backpack experiences at ICS:
1) Back in the early 1970s I visited a multiple entrance cave in the Grand
Canyon. Technical climbing was required to reach the entrances, and wetsuits
were required to negotiate the stream passage deeper inside the cave (which,
by the way, had been mapped by Rune and other Texas cavers back in the
1960s).
We entered by way of a dry upper entrance, where I stashed the brand-new
expensive backpack I had used to transport the wetsuits, rope and climbing
gear. Twelve hours later, exhausted from pushing tight leads deep in the
cave, we decided to save time by rappelling down to the Colorado River by
way of a lower, wet entrance. As dawn light began to illuminate the Grand
Canyon, we pushed off down stream in our oar raft and it was shortly
thereafter I realized my expensive new backpack remained in that upper
entrance.
Over the next 35 years, especially when I passed below those cave entrances
on numerous Grand Canyon raft trips, I wondered what might have happened to
that pack.
So imagine my surprise at the ICS banquet when Bob and Debbie Buecher came
over and asked if I was missing a backpack. A few years ago Bob was at that
particular entrance and noticed a dusty pack stashed on a ledge. He's got it
at his home in Tucson and plans to reunite me with it.
2) My other ICS amazing backpack story concerns the charity of my good
"friend" Bill Steele. One day I loaded up my backpack with heavy books I
planned to mail home (ICS proceedings, Derek Ford's Castleguard book, Bill's
Huautla book, a coffee table-sized French caving diving book, the Vertical
Bill Cuddington bio, etc.)
Unfortunately, the campus mail center was closed when I arrived but Bill
Steele graciously allowed me to stash the pack in his truck while he, Diana
and I attended the photo salon.
Later that night he was kind enough to hand deliver the pack to me in Groad
Hollow. As I schlepped the pack across campus to my apartment, I remember
thinking how smart I was to be mailing those books home--they weighed a ton
and never would have passed airline weight limits.
The never morning I struggled to get the heavy pack on my back and made the
long walk the length of the campus from the Pecan Grove apartments to the
registration building coffee shop. The mail center wasn't open so I carried
the pack around most of the day, criss-crossing the campus numerous times
for various sessions.
Finally I made it to the mail center with the backpack, where upon
transferring the contents into Priority Mail cartons I discovered a quite
large, beautifully stream-sculpted, authentic Texas karst rock in the bottom
of the pack. What a thoughtful gift--Thanks, Bill!
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
And how long have you known Bill? Caved with him?
Really cool story about the Grand Canyon and your pack though.
Charles
On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 10:23 AM, Frank Binney<fr...@frankbinney.com> wrote:
> On 7/29/09 8:46 PM, "Charles Goldsmith" <wo...@justfamily.org> wrote:
>
>> So Frank, what's this I hear about you and your extra big backpack?
>>
> Actually I had two amazing backpack experiences at ICS:
>
> 1) Back in the early 1970s I visited a multiple entrance cave in the Grand
> Canyon. Technical climbing was required to reach the entrances, and wetsuits
> were required to negotiate the stream passage deeper inside the cave (which,
> by the way, had been mapped by Rune and other Texas cavers back in the
> 1960s).
> We entered by way of a dry upper entrance, where I stashed the brand-new
> expensive backpack I had used to transport the wetsuits, rope and climbing
> gear. Twelve hours later, exhausted from pushing tight leads deep in the
> cave, we decided to save time by rappelling down to the Colorado River by
> way of a lower, wet entrance. As dawn light began to illuminate the Grand
> Canyon, we pushed off down stream in our oar raft and it was shortly
> thereafter I realized my expensive new backpack remained in that upper
> entrance.
> Over the next 35 years, especially when I passed below those cave entrances
> on numerous Grand Canyon raft trips, I wondered what might have happened to
> that pack.
> So imagine my surprise at the ICS banquet when Bob and Debbie Buecher came
> over and asked if I was missing a backpack. A few years ago Bob was at that
> particular entrance and noticed a dusty pack stashed on a ledge. He's got it
> at his home in Tucson and plans to reunite me with it.
>
> 2) My other ICS amazing backpack story concerns the charity of my good
> "friend" Bill Steele. One day I loaded up my backpack with heavy books I
> planned to mail home (ICS proceedings, Derek Ford's Castleguard book, Bill's
> Huautla book, a coffee table-sized French caving diving book, the Vertical
> Bill Cuddington bio, etc.)
> Unfortunately, the campus mail center was closed when I arrived but Bill
> Steele graciously allowed me to stash the pack in his truck while he, Diana
> and I attended the photo salon.
> Later that night he was kind enough to hand deliver the pack to me in Groad
> Hollow. As I schlepped the pack across campus to my apartment, I remember
> thinking how smart I was to be mailing those books home--they weighed a ton
> and never would have passed airline weight limits.
> The never morning I struggled to get the heavy pack on my back and made the
> long walk the length of the campus from the Pecan Grove apartments to the
> registration building coffee shop. The mail center wasn't open so I carried
> the pack around most of the day, criss-crossing the campus numerous times
> for various sessions.
> Finally I made it to the mail center with the backpack, where upon
> transferring the contents into Priority Mail cartons I discovered a quite
> large, beautifully stream-sculpted, authentic Texas karst rock in the bottom
> of the pack. What a thoughtful gift--Thanks, Bill!
>
>
>
>
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