Despite having one of the lowest caver turnouts (30 people) since the first Guano Gatherings in the 90s, we still were able to haul out enough guano from Bracken Bat Cave on Saturday to fill all available containers, including Walt's truck, in record time. I estimate that somewhere over a ton of guano was scooped up, loaded into buckets, passed up the entrance slope, and dumped into containers in about 45 minutes! Thanks to Wes, Philip, and Stefan for being at the sharp end of the line, and Walt, Rebecca, Ron, and Fran for being on the receiving end. We had a good turnout of Aggies as well, and a couple of folks from the EAA who were fascinated by the cave. Afterwards we all got a chance to go inside and poke around, with folks collecting bat skulls for educational talks and souvenirs. We had a variety of people taking pictures, and as always, I would appreciate copies for my archives (individual photographers get credit). So email me any photos you might have taken during the event. A smaller than usual group of us had the traditional Italian food at Capparellis afterwards, but for some reason the Aggies didn't stick around. Oh well, it's not too early to start planning for next year, when the Guano Gathering will be held sometime at the end of January. Let's try to have a record number of participants for the 10th year of the event! Maybe I WILL have T-shirts printed up!
-- Crash
