SELF-RESCUE/CAVE MODIFICATION AT WET CAVE, TN by Dean Wiseman
by Troy J. Simpson
Well, I'm sitting here at my desk
typing up my last column for the year 2002. The hardest thing sometimes is figuring
what I should write about besides the standard "this is what will be happening"
thing. The first that comes to mind, is taking a moment to reflect back on the
past year's events. The Annual Picnic, for the first time, was held outside
of the confines of McLean County, taking part in Utica, IL. We had a great turnout
as we enjoyed vertical practice on actual cliffs, had a great picnic lunch,
and believe it or not, spent the afternoon underground exploring a limestone/cement
mine. It looks like a new grotto t-shirt will finally become reality as a new
design was accepted and by the time you read this, the first order will have
taken place. In terms of karst conservation, we have members becoming more active
in a greater number of clean-up activities and steps have been taken to organize
clean-up projects of our own.
Of course, I also look at some areas that I wish could have been better. Two
areas that stick out in my mind are meeting programs and membership. I think
in some regards they are interrelated. Our meeting attendance hasn't exactly
set the world on fire and I think that is partly due to the difficulty in putting
together meeting programs. I will take some of the heat for this by not being
as aggressive in recruiting people to put on programs. I also believe we seriously
need to look at our developing membership. Over the past couple of years, we
have seen our membership drop. The number of members leaving isn't what concerns
me as much as lack of numbers joining. It is normal to see people leave an organization
over time, but this is usually balanced by the number of new members joining.
As a grotto, we have taken some steps to maintain membership by organizing more
informal grotto trips (this was a concern last year), but I believe we still
need to look at gaining new members. Finally, the Near Normal News is ALWAYS
in need for articles. The past two issues have been rather emaciated. Articles
do not necessarily need to be about a caving trip as per say. It could be about
any cave related experience. So, I encourage you to take a few minutes to put
something together and send it to Jim Jacobs. The NNN is only as good you make
it.
O.K. now time for some logistical items. Make sure that you have sent in your
officer nominations to one of the executive board members as soon as possible.
To be an officer on the Executive Board, you must also be a member of the National
Speleological Society. We will be voting at the December meeting. Membership
dues will remain at 10 dollars!! For those interested in doing a clean-up at
Illinois Caverns during the Spring, let me know and I can contact Chris Hespin
and begin to work out some details. I guess that is it for now. See you all
at the next meeting!!
-The Prez.
Troy o[;)>
by Jim Jacobs
As I write this, the memory of our
grotto picnic is still fresh in my thoughts. It was what you would call "a
full day", to say the least! We hiked. We rappelled. We ate. And ate some
more. (At least I did.) We took pictures. Then we visited some neat underground
areas. A mine masquerading as a cave, that is. Nature doesn't seem to care if
these tunnels were cut by man or formed naturally. It says, "Here it is--I'm
going to decorate it!" And yes, the mine had some uniquely colored formations,
featuring various intense shades of rust. We had a chance to tour the LaSalle
County Historical Museum, and ended the day as Marty and I like to end every
visit to Utica, with a stop at the Ice Cream Cupboard. Yum!
Of course, in our eleven years as a grotto, we've had some memorable get-togethers
and trips. Here are some of my favorite memories…
The trip that I called the "Cave-in camp-out" at Onondaga State Park
in Missouri. We spent an evening of hilarious fun around the campfire. There
were some folks who had their senses of humor in high gear that night. We rappelled
from the cliff. I believe it was about 160 ft, which is still the longest drop
I've done. We visited two or three caves, including Green Cave, and had great
fun canoeing on the river. Marty and I had not experienced this particular pleasure
before, and of course, we were the first ones to dump. Luckily, the water was
only waist-deep at that point. I'll never forget Marty debating whether or not
to rescue my cigarettes as they floated by, safe and dry in a well-sealed baggie.
She concluded that if she didn't, I would probably get rather grouchy later,
so she grabbed them. But there was that moment of hesitation… I no longer
smoke, but at that time, it would have been interesting!
How about the trip to Smittle? Dave Mahon found a great place for us to camp.
For a lark, he fitted a carbide lamp with a reflector made of an aluminum salad
bowl about a foot across. What a sight! Naturally, it didn't work too well.
Between rainstorms, we had a great time! We got to do some rappelling in front
of the Smittle cave mouth. The next day, it really rained, and showed no signs
of quitting, so some of us decided to leave, while others stayed behind to tour
Smittle. We stopped at Onondaga and took the guided tour wearing our hard hats
and lights. The guides really didn't know what to make of us. On the way home,
Marty and I had a really hard time seeing the road. There was an absolutely
driving rain, and there was a problem with the defroster on our old Ford van
(the "Butterscotch Beast"). We had to constantly take turns wiping
the fog off the inside of the windshield. Talk about "white-knuckle driving"!
Or the first grotto trip to Cave River Valley. Again, lots of rain! We had a
big fire going the first evening, and it was touch and go trying to get supper
cooked while the rain was trying to put the fire out and cool down my wok. That
night I cooked a beef, pepper and onion stir-fry for five of us under these
conditions. (I had chopped up all the ingredients at home and brought everything
in baggies.) About the time I finished cooking it, the rain intensified, and
the five of us ended up crammed into Don Coons' extended cab Toyota pickup eating
it from paper plates, elbow to elbow. A couple of people claimed that it was
one of the best meals they've ever had. That trip we did the Lamplighter Cave
through trip, starting outside CRV, and exiting the cave from the CRV side.
The connection between the two portions of the cave is called the "Combat
Crawl". It is the sleaziest, greasiest crawl I've ever taken. You're crawling
(hands and knees) in water, and sinking into abut six inches of mud as well.
Ick! We also visited Flowstone and Endless caves.
Then there was the trip to Wayne's Lost Cave when the temperature dropped to
20 degrees while we were in the cave. The wind also picked up so there was a
serious chill factor! While I was fumbling with frozen fingers trying to untie
even more frozen bootlaces, the seat of my coveralls froze to the tailgate of
the truck. And I was still wearing them.! I was shaking so bad that I could
hardly get the key in the door to unlock it. I started the engine, and turned
the heat up full, but it seemed like fifteen minutes before I had thawed out
enough to be able to feel the heat.
Or the time that Brian Braye and I were driving back from Mammoth Cave, and
he had something important to attend as soon as we got back. I think it was
a wedding. We, of course were running late and trying to make up time. Brian
decided that he wanted to save a few minutes and shave while we were driving.
But our luggage was in the back of the truck. My Mazda extended cab pickup had
a sliding rear window in the cab, and a fiberglass topper. The front window
of the topper also slid open, so you can actually go from the cab to the back,
and do so without stopping, he climbed through the windows into the back and
got the electric shaver. No big deal for someone who's conquered Wayne's Lost.
Yes, we shaved a couple of minutes off of our travel time that way (ouch!)
My scariest caving moment happened on a trip through Keller Cave. We were well
back in the canyon area, at a point where we were on a very narrow ledge about
fifteen feet above the stream. I had my pack slung on my left side, which was
the side the wall was on, so I needed to shift it over to my right side, so
that it wouldn't be between me and the wall. But as I tried to take it over
my head to get it repositioned, it got hung up, and the strap knocked my light
off of my helmet. It was still attached, but it was hanging down behind me,
and I couldn't see! I was stuck on a narrow ledge, fifteen feet about the water,
blind as a bat with one arm hung up over my head with the pack strap. I'm glad
no one was around with a camera! Luckily, Marty was close, and was able to position
her light so that I could see well enough to back up to a safer place where
I could sit down and untangle myself. Whew!
My second wild cave trip was interesting. After touring Buckner's Cave with
the ISU Campus Recreation group, (my first wild cave), I was now an experienced
caver and ready to lead my own trip! So Marty, my brother and our grandson T.J.,
(who was then 7 ½ years old) set out for Indiana. That was the trip that
I discovered that cave maps make a lot more sense outside of the cave than they
do inside the cave when you're lost. After we passed a formation for the third
time, Marty momentarily lost her sense of humor and said, "Gimme that thing"
as she grabbed the map. (Actually, she is much better with maps than I am.)
Anyway, between that, and uh, following some other people who really knew the
way, we finally made it out, and discovered that we'd really had a great time…even
when we were going in circles. We seemed to get, well, not really lost, but
temporarily confused, every time we went to Buckner's. Until about the fifth
time, when we discovered that we now knew our way around pretty well, and could
make the tour in half the time it took us at first, well, it just wasn't quite
as much fun that way.
These are just a few of my favorite caving memories. How about yours? Trip reports
don't have to be recent to be interesting. I'm sure that there are a few folks
in the grotto who haven't already heard these stories. I hope!
Welcome back to returning member, Pat O'Connell! We had some great trips together,
but after the arrival of their twins, Pat and Kathy had to curtail their caving
activities for a few years. But now, there's hope again! We'll knock the shine
off of those helmets!
Also, it's time to nominate officers again. We'll nominate at the November meeting
and vote in December.
Down down underground…………..jj
MINUTES
OF THE MEETING
October 11, 2002
Called to order by President Troy Simpson. Present: Ralph Sawyer, Dave Carson (Treasurer) and Angie Carson (with Matthew and Justin), John Schirle (Vice-Pres), Marc Tiritilli, Larry Bird, Jim Jacobs (Sec).
OFFICER REPORTS:
--Secretary Jim J.: Correction to last Near Normal News. The photo of Larry
Reece on the cover and the one on page five of him sitting in his car were incorrectly
credited to J. Jacobs. Both pictures were by Brett Bennett. There were no minutes
for the September meeting. The meeting was very informal and took place at the
Utica picnic.
--Treasurer Dave C.: The Board has determined that the dues will remain at $10/year.
They will be due and payable at the December meeting. The Treasurer's report
was approved.
OLD BUSINESS:
--Marc T. reminded us that the Karst Conservency of Illinois is accepting contributions.
Contact Don Coons for information.
--There is an Equality Cave clean-up on November 16 sponsored by the Little
Egypt Grotto.
--Norm Rogers is moving to Minneapolis as a result of a job transfer.
--Troy will try to make the ISS meeting as our representative.
NEW BUSINESS:
--The U.S. post office has issued bat postage stamps.
--Troy discussed the possibility of a clean-up at Illinois Caverns. The management
seems to be open to the possibility, and we could stay on the grounds. They
need at least a month's notice. Maybe we ought to target this project for this
spring.
--Marc T. - NCRC is trying to schedule cave rescue training at Illinois Caverns
the second week in May.
TRIPS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
--Marc T. is organizing a TAG trip the weekend of November 2 & 3. Camp's
Gulf Cave will be featured.
--Matthew Carson gave a brief report on the picnic.
--Thanks to Mrs. Fredericks for the use of her land for the picnic. We signed
a card to send to her.
Adjourned.
Program - Larry Bird gave a wonderful
slide show on the history of coal mining in the Utica area.
Self-Rescue/Cave
Modification at Wet Cave, TN
by Dean Wiseman
Indianapolis, Indiana)
jazz_pilot@hotmail.com
On Thursday, October 10th, a party
of cavers including myself, Bruce White, Bri Wood, John Kern, and Benjy von
Cramon entered Wet Cave, near Monteagle, Tennessee, with the intent of doing
a pull-down through trip. 9-10 vertical drops, some big horizontal cave, some
crawling, some water, some DEEP mud--the ultimate TAG Combo Pizza! It was a
good day for caving... drizzly, dreary weather in general.
For those of you who don't know me personally, I'm a larger than average-sized
caver. I'm almost 6' 3" and, to my dismay, I'm pushing 225 on the scale.
People say I carry it well, but poundage is poundage, trust me. Bruce and John
had both done trips into this cave in the past, and they both knew that the
cave contained some tight spots. Both were of the opinion that I would manage
them, so I didn't worry in the slightest.
We found the cave, no problem, and even had the delightful company of two dogs
from the Full Circle B&B. They whined like crazy as the last of us climbed
down the first vertical feature of the cave.
After the first chimney climbdown, you enter a ~600 foot cobble and gravel-filled
stream crawlway, which had me exhaling, digging and shoving my big butt right
from the beginning. Seeing as it was tight here, I asked Bruce and John, "Fellas
does it get any tighter than this?
Bruce replied, "There are a couple of other tight spots, but they're not
any worse than that." Good answer, I thought. The rest of the crawlway
was inconvenient, but nothing a good set of kneepads and elbow pads won't solve.
We were all in polypro, so while wet, as long as we kept moving, it was not
a problem.
The rappels were just fine. Nice drops, pretty straightforward. Right up until
the 5th or 6th drop...
After this drop, in order to get to the next vertical feature, you have to squeeze
through some drippy, formation-studded, snaggy breakdown, and then through a
very awkward, tight triangular squeeze between three breakdown blocks. I was
dismayed just getting into the tight hole with all the snags! As I slither down
into the tight hole, I get a major ball squeeze, but it's manageable. However,
it was like hitting a brick wall when I got to my sternum. I say a few choice
words, and proceed to try every possible body configuration I can think of to
get my chest through this damned hole. It's really scary and frustrating, because
I can completely spin around in this hole, but I can't get my chest through.
The Panic Demon is starting to build up in my mind because we're doing a pull-down;
there's NO retreat. Either I get through this hole, or I figure a way to keep
warm for the many hours that it would take to get someone to extract me.
Benjy, Bruce and John, who can see and hear me struggle, try valiantly to coach
and coax me through this hole. I strip down to bare skin, trying to find some
greasy mud to grease me up. I'm swearing, exhaling, even reaching up with my
fingers to try to pull skin that's catching on the rock.
By the time I'm done, I've got seriously sandpapered skin and I'm no closer
to getting through... I can feel my ribs literally butting up against the rock.
My language turned so foul that I'm sure, somewhere, two or three priests suddenly
had heart attacks.
I finally give up, wishing to God that I'd brought a hammer with me. I figured
5 minutes with a good rock hammer would make a hallway out of this mouse hole.
But all we have is a Leatherman tool and rocks. From above, I start beating
on any spot in the tight hole that I figure can be knocked off, but the going
is slow and awkward. John agrees to sacrifice his Leatherman tool, and using
a rock as a hammer, we use the screwdriver tool to shave and split the solid
rock as we can. However, it's not long before the Leatherman gets pretty much
destroyed by the abuse. I bet, after 15-20 minutes of almost continuous work,
we manage to get MAYBE 1/8 of an inch shaved off the worst rock.
I suggest that we begin to think about treating this as a rescue situation--not
that we should conclude that it is, but that we should begin to take that into
consideration. My thinking was that 4 people would exit and go for help, with
one other person remaining with me. But everyone still had some fight in them
as it concerned enlarging the hole. I've known a person who actually broke ribs
while doing a nasty squeeze, and knowing those risks, I had no intention of
that!
Part of my problem was that I didn't have a decent rock to beat on the pinch,
and the Leatherman was shot. So I asked someone down below for a really solid
hammer rock. I'm not sure who picked it out, but this big, 20-pound rugby ball-sized
rock was handed to me. Maybe, just maybe, I could just beat this hole into submission.
With everyone cleared below (I'd already dropped debris on Benjy a couple of
times), I slam this rock down on the rock that seemed the most workable. It's
a 3' x 4' x 18" thick slab that I guess was 300-400 pounds. I hit it a
couple of times with some wicked shots, and then I notice something. The rock
quivers and vibrates when I hit it. It's loose, or at least it's not completely
cemented or wedged in. I lay back and give it a massive blow, and BOOM, it moves
3-4 inches! BIG Problem: It just made the hole 3-4 inches SMALLER. Benjy doubted
even Nancy Aulenbach could have made it through that hole at this point.
The really, REALLY bad thing about hammering rocks in breakdown is the whole
"kneebone connected the thighbone" kind of scenario, and there are
some rocks in the immediate vicinity that would make excellent widowmakers if
encouraged. So, following the initial mind-shock of the slab moving, I do an
inventory of all the other rocks in the area to see if any others have shifted.
Thankfully, none of the other rocks moved so much as a millimeter.
I also coax Benjy into coming up under the hole and pulling any smaller rocks
out from behind the slab that just moved. He carefully pulls several rocks from
softball to football size out from behind and away from the slab.
While this is happening, Bruce swears that he will worship the ground I walk
on if I can get this rock to drop.
With really nothing left to lose, I give this slab some more love with my trusty
hammer-rock. Two or three hits later, the whole slab just drops right out, with
me almost surfing it down into the space below. The whole caving crew yells
at the top of their lungs!! Benjy grabs me in a big bear hug, and I'm screaming,
"Who da' MAN???!!?" I don't think I've ever seen a group of cavers
so deleriously happy in my life. After the fact, I realized that I had my digital
camera with me, and I should have photo-documented the whole thing. But everyone
including myself was getting cold. Bruce and Bri had already donned garbage
bags in an attempt to keep warm. And I just wanted to get the hell out of the
cave in one piece.
The rest of the cave trip was fine, and we walked out through big, well-decorated
borehole (allowing for a side trip through the Mud Room).
Thinking about it now, I can't tell you how many really bad things could have
happened while we were doing what we did. The breakdown could have collapsed,
hypothermia, broken bones, rescue. I'm really happy that I didn't have to inconvenience
a whole bunch of people (not to mention how news media would have handled it).
It was comforting to know that, literally, hundreds of cavers were massed quite
close at the TAG Fall Cave-In. We as a caving community really lucked out that
night. Other than having a hammer with me, I'm not sure I could have done anything
differently to avoid this situation other than to cut out the cheeseburgers
and eat more tofu. Even if I did weigh 25-30 pounds less, I was hitting bone,
and I'm not sure the outcome would have been any different.
So, in Wet Cave, the only tight stuff remains near the uphill entrance, and
most of that can be dug out because it's gravel and cobble. It may still be
a bit narrow right above the area that we opened up, but that tight triangular
hole is now a slot big enough to accommodate Fat Albert. If you're planning
a trip in the near future, I'd keep an eye on the breakdown in the area, but
I don't think anything else moved. Safe caving,-Dean
AN
INTERESTING E-MAIL
by Troy J. Simpson
One of the unique things about being
the President of a Grotto is the fact I am usually the contact person for people
interested in more information about caves and cave exploration. I have received
several e-mails over the past 9 months asking everything from grotto meeting
information to cave formations to cave locations. I reply to these e-mails with
the pertinent information or lead them in the right direction to get more detailed
information. Often I haven't a clue what happens when the sender receives my
message. Some probably make good use of the information or others are upset
when I inform them I cannot tell them a specific location of a cave entrance.
There are those times though, when a connection is made and that was the case
when I received an e-mail from a gentleman in the western part of Illinois this
summer. He was planning to write an article on cave exploration for a children's
magazine and was seeking assistance.
There has been much debate among cavers about publicity and cave exploration.
I followed closely the debate of assisting a major car manufacturer in creating
a commercial that featured caving. Reading the bulletin boards and caving news-mails,
there was heated debate and eventually the caving community was not part of
it and the commercial now has glaring red flags of poor caving practice. As
I read this e-mail, I thought about our Grotto's mission and how the focus is
strong in education and conservation. I saw this e-mail as an opportunity to
educate and share the safe, conservation oriented caving message.
Mike Roux is a writer and editor for an outdoors magazine. He wanted to write
an article focusing on two youths cave exploring for the first time and their
experience underground. Mike and I kept in close contact via e-mail over the
next month making sure we were on the same page in terms getting the necessary
gear and what he wanted for his article. We chose Illinois Caverns outside of
Waterloo, IL as the site for the article to take place. Illinois Caverns offers
a unique blend of cave formations, a variety of passages ranging from crawls
to large rooms, and the possibility of seeing cave adapted life. The caverns
also give new explorers the opportunity to see the sharp contrast of safe cavers
and those less conscience of safe caving practices.
The August day of our trip finally approached and we confirmed the last minute
details. Mike would be bringing his stepson, Parker, and one of his friends,
Alex. My fiancée, Amy, and I would make the 4-hour journey to the caverns.
We met up with Mike and his group at the local McDonald's and then headed together
to the cave. One of the things that really stuck out with me was Mike's attention
to safety. He instilled in the boys a sense to make sure to do things the right
way. This was noticeable almost immediately as we went through the checklist
of what we needed to have. When we arrived at Illinois Caverns, I check us in
that the ranger office and we began gearing up for our journey. Mike asked if
I would do an interview for his syndicated radio show before and after the trip
and I filled in his radio audience, the possible wonders we might experience
underground. Our group checked and double-checked that we had everything on
our checklist and then proceeded down the steep, steel staircase of the cave
entrance. The coolness of the cave immediately relieved us of the 90 + degree
temperatures that hovered outside. A double check of our lights and we begun
our trip along the stream-cut main passage.
Our journey would focus on a few key places of the caverns. We began by looking
at the beginnings of the caverns as we saw the original stream channel incised
on the ceiling of the main passage. A nearby, shallow pool revealed the near
microscopic world of cave dwelling amphipods feeding on tiny organics. Above
us perched the occasional bat, resting for evening's hunt. Our group proceeded
down towards the formation filled "Lunch Room." Here we examined abandoned
rimstone dams, gleaming stalactites, sparkling soda straws, and majestic columns.
After a few photos and quick bite to eat, we were on our way past the "T
- Junction" and heading to Illinois Caverns' signature formation, "Capital
Dome." "Capital Dome" is a sizable stalagmite that dominates
one of the larger rooms along the main passage. It is often photographed because
of its size and its kaleidoscope of colors. We took a few shots of the majestic
stalagmite, Mike decided to take a short break while Amy and I took the boys
to check out "Cascade Canyon." This passage is highlighted by a series
of stair-like waterfalls, where a misplaced foot could result in a bone-chilling,
armpit deep bath. Checking my watch, I knew it was soon time to head out. Our
journey out of the caverns brought us to the realization that not everyone explores
with safety in mind. The boys were astonished to see three college age guys,
walk past us in shorts, a couple of flashlights, and wearing sandals. I had
two thoughts race through my mind. First, Alex and Parker had come away with
the knowledge of recognizing what safe cave exploration was. Second, I hope
that I'm not involved in any rescue later on this day.
We reached the base of the steel stairwell that leads up through the sinkhole
entrance. The outside heat hit me like a load of bricks and how I wished that
I could stay in the coolness of the caverns just a little bit longer. We changed
out of our caving cloths and Mike gathered us around to do a post-trip interview.
It was exciting to hear the two boys talk about the neat formations that they
saw and the chance to see rare cave adapted amphipods. As Mike continues with
his radio interview, I found myself thinking that this is what being part of
a Grotto is all about. Here I am seeing and hearing, first time cavers share
the thrill of exploration, understand the importance of safety, and the value
of caring for such unique environments.