by Troy J. Simpson
Wow, it seems like just yesterday that I was writing this column for the last
newsletter. Time sure flies when you're having fun! It has been a pretty eventful
summer so far. First off, I would like to say Welcome Back to our V.P. John
Schirle as he is now able to travel again and it appears he will soon be back
in caving mode!! For those of you who were unable to make the June Grotto meeting,
some really exciting things are in store. No, we haven't got a t-shirt design
finalized, sorry. What is exciting is our Annual August Picnic. This year, we're
going a bit radical. We're going to have the August picnic in September. O.K.,
I'm sure you're thinking "Yeah, big deal. So we're moving a back a month."
Not only is the month changed, but the location will change. The "Annual
August Picnic" will be in the cave heaven of Watseka!! No, just kidding,
wanted to hear the collective groan of everybody! Seriously though, plans are
in the works to have this year's picnic in the Starved Rock area. Not only will
we be able to visit the park, but there are some possible vertical and cave
opportunities (outside of the park) for us to experience. Tentatively, the planned
date is the second or third Saturday of September. We would have a VERY brief
business meeting and then spend the rest of the time having fun. Stay tuned
for more details.
Some other cool happenings… Marc gave an excellent introduction to vertical
caving at the June meeting and wants to remind everybody that the ISU tower
is still reserved for August 24 for vertical practice. On the 20th of June,
several Grotto members journeyed to Illinois Caverns for an unofficial grotto
trip. There was an informal grotto meeting at Cascade Canyon and it was moved
to table the t-shirt discussion until next meeting (Thanks Jeffery!!). As I
write this column, Steve Taylor is enjoying himself at the NSS National Convention
(yes, I'm jealous!). Coming up is Karst-O-Rama in Kentucky, weeklong Restoration
Camp at Mammoth the first week of August (contact Norm Rogers), and Indiana
Cave Capers.
Finally, I want to take a moment to thank Len Storm for all the work he has
done on the NNG Website. It takes a great deal of time and commitment to keep
it up. And patience of course, putting up with me sending him stuff to add to
the site! Hope the Summer is going well for all!!
-Troy o[;)>
by Jim Jacobs
From the beginning, it has been my policy as editor of the NNN to encourage
new cavers who go on a caving trip with us to write the trip report. This is
especially true in the case of trips to caves that we've visited many times,
like Buckner's Cave or Illinois Caverns. I've written so much about those two
caves, that I wouldn't know what to say that I haven't already said many times.
Besides, "newbies" tend to be able to capture that sense of wonder
that is hard to find after the fifteenth trip to the same cave.
Of course, some would say that I use the word, "encourage" advisedly,
since the "encouragement" sometimes runs the gamut from friendly cajoling
to unprincipled nagging, and sometimes involves threats of bodily harm, or at
least being forced to follow me through a crawlway after I've eaten a can of
"Beanie-Weenies". (Wise cavers, given that choice, would opt for the
bodily harm!)
In any case, after our recent grotto trip to Illinois Caverns, I "strongly
suggested" that one of our new folks write the report. Since Jeffrey Gosnell
is much bigger, stronger and younger than I, the threats of bodily harm didn't
seem to worry him, but thankfully he sent the trip report anyway. (He may have
been worried about the Beanie-Weenies.) I certainly hope that we have more trips
with Jeff, since he writes an entertaining article!
Since we are going to be a little late getting this issue of the NEWS in the
mail, it may reach many members after the meeting on July 13th. Sorry. But I
hope that we have a decent turnout anyway. The meetings recently have been somewhat
sparsely attended. We need a bit of a spark to get things stirred up again.
Everyone, please! Do some thinking about how YOU can help to get us moving forward
again, with increased participation. This last trip to IC was a very good one,
but we need to do much more! Marc Tiritilli arranged a day at the ISU vertical
tower for the grotto on June 15th from noon to six, and only Marc and I showed
up. We got our practice in and finally packed up about 3:30 or so. The skies
were very threatening and by that time, we'd had all the practice the two of
us wanted. No waiting in line! Sorry if anyone showed up late! I really hope
that we have a good turnout for the next one in August! We had a good time!
The big news is that we are organizing an outing that we can ALL enjoy, and
I hope we get a nice turnout. Larry Bird has connections with a landowner near
Starved Rock State Park who has great cliffs and waterfalls on her property.
He has volunteered to secure this location for a grotto outing. If he is successful
in arranging this, we have voted to have a combination grotto picnic/vertical
practice/meeting the weekend after Labor Day. Everybody is invited! We can have
our picnic, practice our rope techniques in a picturesque setting, or sit around
and laugh at those who are going up and down rope, and we can even have a brief
meeting and table the discussion on T-shirts. All at the same time!
MINUTES
OF THE MEETING
May 10, 2002
Present: Dave Carson, Angie Carson, Ralph Sawyer, JoAnn Jacoby, and Jim Jacobs
No official business was conducted, as we did not have a quorum.
Treasurer Dave Carson presented the Treasurer's report. We have $238.01.
The minutes of the April meeting were published in the NEWS.
DISCUSSIONS: We discussed the T-shirts, but tabled the issue for later. As
usual. Dave Carson reported that the participants in the Mammoth Cave Restoration
weekend moved over 600 bags out of the cave from River Hall. The ISS meeting
minutes are available on their website.
MINUTES
OF THE MEETING
June 14, 2002
Present: President Troy Simpson, John Walther, Larry Bird, Angie Carson (w/Matthew and Justin), Treasurer Dave Carson, Marc Tiritilli, Vice-President John Schirle, Secretary Jim Jacobs.
Called to order at 7:20.
REPORTS:
Jim Jacobs read the minutes of the May meeting. These minutes and the minutes
from March were approved. The March minutes had been published in the May NNN,
but were not approved at the May meeting since we did not have a quorum.
David Carson read the Treasurer's report. Approved. It was duly noted that Vice-President
John Schirle had returned from his foot injury and seconded the motion to approve.
OLD BUSINESS: We discussed T-shirts, but tabled taking any action at this time. John Schirle gave the ISS education report.
NEW BUSINESS:
· Annual NNG picnic. Big news! Instead of having the picnic in August,
we voted to have a combination picnic and vertical trip in the Starved Rock
area the weekend after Labor Day. Rappelling in prohibited in Starved Rock State
Park, but Larry Bird has connections with a nearby landowner, who has some great
cliffs and waterfalls on her property that will make a wonderful setting for
a meeting/picnic/vertical practice. Let's get the ball rolling on this!
TRIP REPORTS
· Troy took a youth group to Maquoketa.
· August 24, John S. will be taking the "Central Ill. Gem and Mineral
Club" to Illinois Cavern. They will stay at Camp Wartburg the day before.
Grotto members may volunteer to assist.
· Marc will be going to New River Gorge, West Va. and to Kentucky for
some caving.
Adjourned.
Presentation: Marc Tiritilli gave a nice presentation on vertical techniques and equipment. He also put together an exceptionally nice handout to go along with his talk. Thanks for all your hard work, Marc!
NNG
attends NSS Convention 2002
Steve Taylor
Well, one of us did anyway!
I flew to Manchester, New Hampshire and rented a car to get to convention.
This was cheaper than flying closer - enough so to justify the car rental. I
enjoyed a five-hour drive along the northeast coast to the convention campground,
arriving at dusk on Sunday night. I set up my modest camp and wandered around
visiting vendors row and various cavers I hadn't seen in a while.
Monday was a busy day for me, as the biology session was in the morning and
the afternoon, with lots of papers being presented (including one by me in the
afternoon). The sessions were in the recently constructed 25 million-dollar
Camden High School. Very nice facilities for various sessions, vendors, and
events (such as rope climbing in the gym). That evening was the "howdy
party" at the Camden ski area. There is a modest ski lift, and most everyone
got in line to get a ride up the mountain. At the top of the lift, we got off
to hike up higher on the mountain, where you could get a good view of coastal
Maine and various inlets, islands, and lakes. The chairlift down the mountain
had a much longer line - turns out they fill only every fourth chair, so that
the line was at least an hour long. I guy in front of me figured that math out
by counting people and timing chairs. It was about a 15-minute hike down the
mountain, which resulted in my getting back to the party in time to partake
of fresh lobster.
The next day was my big caving day. I drove several hours north along the coast
of Maine to spend the day in Acadia National Park, situated on a large island
and featuring the highest point on the coast of main (roughly 1500 feet) in
addition to granite outcrops, forests, lakes, tidepools, harbors, cliffs, and,
of course, sea caves. I managed to visit only one sea cave, Anemonae Cave, as
the tide was high and I was alone - but I did see two other sea caves. Had a
great time scrambling around on the cliffs skirting death, etc.
The rest of the week was a blur of sessions, slide shows, beer, campground fun
(the all caver band, "Terminal Siphons" played at the Wednesday night
party/dance). Thursday night was the photo salon, awesome slides! And upon return
to the campground after the slides, we were treated to blueberry pie ala mode.
Another feature of the convention was a free (well, covered in registration
fee) ride on a Schooner. I did this on Wednesday afternoon - great weather and
we saw seals.
Anyway, I had a good time and got to go caving in Maine! Hopefully, I won't
be the only NNG member at next years' convention - in California near the really
big trees.
Trip
Report-Illinois Caverns
Jeff Gosnell
Grotto Trip To Illinois Caverns
(Troy Simpson, Bill Morrow & Dave
Carson Reveal Their Hostile Natures)
June 22, 2002: Not to complain, but I've been a grotto member since February
2001, and I was beginning to wonder if our group actually goes caving (After
all, Tobin's Pizza may be dark and dank, but it's no cavern). So I was heartened
when Dave Carson organized a trip to Illinois Caverns on June 22.
By 9:30 the group was assembled and ready to enter the cave. Grotto members
included Julie Angel, Troy Simpson, Jim & Marty Jacobs, Dave Carson, Bill
Morrow, and myself. In addition, we had three guests, Julie's son, Michael Angel,
Jim's grandson, Jimmy Forman, and one of my summer camp counselors, Sheri Ousley.
Marty chose to wait on the surface and take pictures of our entering and exiting
the cave, and do some shopping and sightseeing in the meantime. Jim was worried
because he had to leave his wallet in the car.
At the bottom of the stairs, we set a leisurely pace to the "Lunch Room,"
allowing our new cavers to ooh and ah at the sights of "Canyon Passage."
The group paused at the "T-Junction" to show Michael, Jimmy, and Sheri
the basic caving principle that a cave is really twice as long as its mapped
passageways, that is, the way back looks different from the way in.
Taking a right at the junction, we entered the "Lunch Room," where
Dave happily snapped pictures with his new digital camera and told us that he
had asked his wife to marry him in the "Lunch Room" some years ago.
With the photo op complete, it was time to do some real caving. We crawled over
the rimstone dams in the southwest corner of the Lunch Room and negotiated the
passage that would take us back to the waterfall. This unnamed passage is a
breakdown-filled "keyhole," that ends in a 15-foot pit. The waterfall
itself is little more than a trickle dribbling into the pit. Bill, our resident
rock climber, immediately began looking for a way to chimney the damp walls,
while Dave, Troy and I squeezed through an opening around the edge of the pit.
In the end, the four of us managed to get to the other side of the pit and press
on along the stream. Our reward was finding a 6 inch colorful salamander, the
only one spotted that day.
Back in the Lunch Room, several of us noted that the cave seemed considerably
warmer than usual. It felt like the temperature was in the low 60's, rather
than the upper 50's. It was so warm I striped off the shirt I always wear over
my thermals.
We returned to the main passage and headed downstream, taking a quick peek at
"Waterfall Passage" along the way. At "Chimney-dome Passage,"
Bill and Dave showed us their rock climbing skills. The pair climbed up the
narrow walls and wound up over our heads on the main passage. Dave got some
great shots of their climb, as Bill managed to rain down showers of mud on those
standing below.
We were all so warm by now, it was decided to head up "Cascade Canyon"
and get nice and wet. The water level was surprisingly low. However, the shorter
members of the group still got thoroughly wet. We paused upstream to take a
break and eat. Our Grotto president noted that we had a quorum and called a
meeting to order. Notes from the meeting are as follows:
Old Business: It was decided we would table the discussion of T-shirts until
the next meeting (Read the grotto's minutes back to December to get the joke).
New Business: There was discussion on whether or not the grotto president was
empowered to declare war on other grottos. It was decided the president's power
is limited to only sanctioning other grottos. Disappointed with his limited
powers, Troy sanctioned Windy City Grotto for ignoring his request for a detailed
Illinois Caverns map.
From "Cascade Canyon" the group headed to the first waterfall on
the main passage. Here, Julie, Michael, and Troy decided to head back to the
surface. Without much prodding, the rest of the group was talked into heading
to "The Dragon" and "Hidden Passage." Jim and Jimmy slowed
down after seeing "The Dragon," while Dave, Bill, Sheri, and I pushed
a side passage near the second waterfall (I am not entirely convinced it was
"Hidden Passage," but it was a nice canyon.).
Here, Sheri showed us what kind of caver she could be. A point in the passage
allowed for a dry "up and over" climb or a wet belly-crawl through
a 24-inch hole half filled with water. While Bill started leading the group
up and over, Sheri, without hesitation, dropped to her belly and squeezed into
the water-filled crawl. Dave and I both stood in disbelief as her feet disappeared
into the hole, and we both commented on how neither of us had the gumption to
do what our neophyte had just done. So with our egos on the line, we quickly
followed her through the wet crawl and out the other side.
Back in the main passage, our watches told us it was time to start heading back
to the surface. We gave Sheri the job of leading the group back to the surface,
and she did a great job in recognizing the "T- Junction" and making
the right turn back.
Our last bit of adventure occurred in "Canyon Passage" at the aluminum
ladder. I innocently suggested to the others that we take the lower passage
in the stream bed, rather than climb the ladder. But as all, but our heads became
immerged in the stream, Bill assured me he would "kick" certain parts
of my anatomy for talking him into taking the lower passage. We emerged from
the lower crawl to find a group of flashlight cavers gasping at where we had
just come from.
Once out of the water, Bill seemed less hostile. But when he joked that he would
need to be cut out of his wet coveralls, Dave replied, "I'll cut ya!"
Sensing approaching violence, Sheri and I urged the group onward to the surface,
where the light of day seemed to restore everyone's sanity.
The group headed to Columbia for Mexican food, where we reviewed Dave's digital
photos and looked at the ones Troy had already developed at a 1 hour film lab
in Waterloo. Troy also remembered to close the meeting we opened in the cave
as we were dipping into the nachos.
It was a great trip, and I hope to do it again. But if anyone reading this ever
caves with Bill or Dave, I suggest bringing along pepper spray.