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. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
