FROM A HOLE IN THE GROUND
Jim Jacobs
Like the guy with the goofy grin said...."I think I done died and went to heaven!"
And what has caused this sudden attack of euphoria? No, not drugs. Certainly not! Think about it for a moment.
What would make a cowboy really happy? A free range, painted skies, and a good horse under his butt, right? What
does it for a painter? A great idea, the perfect model, good light and nobody bothering him. Eh? And what causes
this editor to sleep like a baby and grin from ear to ear? Grotto members who love to write, write a lot, and write
like pros! That's what!
As mentioned in the June minutes, everyone will soon receive a copy of the "liability release". Please
sign one and send (or bring it) to an officer, after photocopying some for people who go on trips with you, of
course.
Do you have any pix of CAVE CRICKETS? Dennis Campbell will present the program at this meeting, entitled, "Cave
Crickets I Have Known", and needs some visual aids. Just bring the pictures, not the real bugs.
IN THIS ISSUE......
From the internet comes a report that the area in TENNESSEE where Camps Gulf Cave is located may be threatened
by the proposed mining of sulphurous coal.
BRUCE BOWMAN, speaking for the IKC, reports on the Sullivan Cave Purchase
TIM SICKBERT did an NCRC weekend!
DWIGHT WEAVER relates an amusing story about Mark Twain Cave Guides.
JULIE ANGEL tells about her Fogelpole trip.
BRETT BENNETT describes a great weekend of Indiana Caving.
TROY SIMPSON breaks into the lineup in a big way, with two stories about Indiana cave trips, including Wayne's
and Endless.
STEVE TAYLOR remains as prolific as ever, with reports on the vertical trip, Speleofest, Crevice cave and others.
THANKS ALL! You're making my job easier and easier! And the NEWS better and better-Ed.
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
May 22, 1998
Called to order at 7:15 by President Brian Braye. Present: Jim Jacobs, Dennis Campbell, Phil Vandebur, Brett Bennett,
Angi Bennett, Troy Simpson, Len Storm, Lara Storm, Rich Bell, John Marquart, Dave Carson, Angela Carson.
Rich Bell gave his report on the upcoming vertical training weekend early, since he had to leave early.
OFFICERS' REPORTS: The previous minutes were approved as published in the May Near Normal News. The treasurer's
report was delivered by Brian. We have a current balance of $395.60. T-shirts and sweatshirts were passed out.
Brian will bring the shirts that are left to the next meeting. Please pick yours up as soon as possible. There
are two large t-shirts left.
OLD BUSINESS: John Marquart reported that the proposal to purchase the Foglepole entrance is off. The owner wants
way too much for otherwise useless land. The State DNR can do what they want. Business cards are available. They
are 75 cents per sheet (10 cards per sheet). Brian has three cougar tracks left. They are $5.00 ea. John M. reports
that we have not received a BlackBall permit yet for this year. Speaking for the Executive Committee, Brian told
us that an interim secretary will have to be appointed to replace Tonja.
TRIP REPORTS: Troy Simpson and the Bennetts went to Paoli, IN, near French Lick, and explored Bear Cave, which
is the former hideout for the "Archer Gang". In the evening, they went to Cave River Valley and visited
Endless Cave. Angi B. showed enlarged pictures of Troy's encounter with the Sweet's dog. Upcoming trips: Lara Storm
is going to Karst-o-Rama in Kentucky near Mt. Vernon. Troy and the Bennetts are going to visit Kevin Peters of
the Eastern Indiana Grotto June 13-14. Troy is arranging a rubber raft to do River Cave in Cave River Valley, July
4th.
The next meeting is June 26. The grotto BCI membership has been mailed.
Respectfully submitted,
Jim Jacobs, Secretary
[These minutes were read and approved at the June meeting]
June 26, 1998
Called to order at 7:18 by President Brian Braye. Present: Jim Jacobs, Greg Phillips, David Carson, Dennis Campbell,
Steve Taylor, Don Coons, John Walther, Brett Bennett, Angi Bennett, Richard Bell, Troy J. Simpson, Lara Storm,
Len Storm, Chris Dinesen-Rogers, Norm Rogers, John Marquart, Julie Angel, Mark Belding, Beth Reinke.
OFFICERS REPORTS: Jim Jacobs was officially named interim grotto secretary for the duration of the term. The minutes
of the May meeting were approved as read by Jim J. The Treasurer's report was approved as delivered by Beth Reinke.
We have $400.68.
OLD BUSINESS: Julie Angel. reported for the "Liability Committee". A sample form was presented. Debate
followed, and the form was approved. A copy will be sent to each member. Everybody photocopy a bunch and keep them
handy. Sign one for yourself and turn it in. Rich Bell commented on the vertical school. He said that there was
good feedback, and that we should plan to do something like knots for programs at meetings. Some expressed discomfort
at the liability aspects of the student/teacher relationship. Brian Braye gave us an update on the Sullivan Cave
fund-raising. It's going very well. They received our contribution, and now total about two-thirds of the amount
need to cover the purchase. More grotto shirts were passed out.
NEW BUSINESS: Norm Rogers talked about the upcoming Mammoth Cave Field Camp. There are still some spots open, probably
due to the fact that the NSS Convention occurs close to the same time, and people have problems working out vacation
time. The funds that have been approved to cover the expenses for the camp have not yet been transferred.
TRIP REPORTS: Lara Storm said that there were only three people at the Wayne's trip. They made it to Camp Two.
She is thinking about another trip fairly soon. There is a lot of cave there. Julie A. finished her internship
with the Geological Survey with a trip to Fogelpole [see article, this issue-Ed.] They took soil samples. She discussed
the results of dye-tracing from local springs. Indications are that there is still undiscovered cave around there.
Brett Bennett and Steve Taylor talked about their recent caving exploits. [see LOTS of articles, this issue-Ed
;-)]
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Norm says that there will be another Mammoth Cave weekend, the week of October 3rd. The next meeting
will be July 24. The program will be Dennis Campbell's "Cave Crickets I Have Known". If anyone has any
cave cricket pictures, please bring them! Meeting adjourned.
PROGRAM: Don Coons did a program on surveying. It was very difficult to get a compass to work down the basement
of the bank. Too many power lines, I guess, especially in one pole.
FYI, copied off alt. caving:
Subject: Cane Creek Gorge Karst Threathened in Tennessee
From: MLS <tusweca@twlakes.net>
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998
Due to plans by Skyline Coal in Van Buren County Tennessee to follow the low sulphur Sewanee coal seam into the
watershed of Fall Creek Falls State Park the following has occurred:
" On July 14 1995, 49 citizens, Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness
Planning petitioned the office of surface mining (OSM), United States Department of Interior to designate the watershed
and the viewshed of Fall Creek Falls State Park and Natural Area in Van Buren and Bledsoe Counties, Tennessee,
as unsuitable for surface coal mining operations."
The contention here, is that acid runoff from the mining operation would have a severe detrimental effect on the
ecosystem of this area as well as making the falls 'orange' from runoff, which would severely curtail tourism to
the area and the park as well.
"The five primary allegations made by the petitioners are... 2) mining the area would affect fragile or historic
lands...".
What constitutes a legal fragile land? 48 Federal Register, 42351 section 762.5, "fragile lands." "Geographic
areas containing natural, ecological, scientific, or esthetic resources that could be damaged beyond and operators
ability to repair or restore or be destroyed by surface coal mining operations. Example... Uncommon geological
formations..."
How would this affect caving? Citing the petition, under Allegations of Fact and Supporting Evidence; "12.
The presence of caves and cave-inhabiting species makes this a fragile area. The Cane Creek gorge is a karst region.
Research has demonstrated that sinking streams from Cane Creek flow through Davis Tire Cave and Rice Cave. These
streams join and this water is observed again in Dark River Cave and the Natural Bridge Sinks Caves. It then flows
through Camps Gulf Cave and Inspiration cave before resurfacing at Cane Creek Spring. (Exhibit JJ Synopsis of study
on karst hydrology of area caves.) Mining-induced degradation of Cane Creek could have an adverse affect on any
aquatic life in these caves. (Exhibit H, Letter from US Fish and Wildlife Service to TN Division of Surface Mining
about Eastern Minerals Permits). In addition, Myotis sodalis, Indiana Bat, which is listed on the Federal Endangered
Species List, is found in caves in this area, and could be adversely affected by changes to its habitat. (Exhibit
WW, Letter dated June 19, 1995, from Andrew Barrass, Ph.D, Division of Natural Heritage, Department of Environment
and conservation, to Shelley Wascom, SOCM) Underground mining usually results in subsidence (either planned or
unplanned). The subsidence could alter the flow of the groundwater and it may dewater streams, divert flows, etc.
Mining could alter these caves by causing water to be diverted from them."
Cane Creek Gorge is the primary drain for the Fall Creek Falls watershed. Acid runoff and toxic waste from the
mining operation would forever alter the pristine cave environment we now enjoy in the gorge.
In April, 1998 the Office of Surface Mining, Department of the Interior released their Environmental Impact Statement
(522 SMCRA Evaluation OSM-PE-13 and EIS OSM-EIS-32), the essence of which, showed no reason to set the watershed
aside as unsuitable for mining. They found nothing 'uncommon' about the karst development along the Cane Creek
Gorge and "the petitioner did not clearly relate the results of the study to their allegations"? "In
regard to the southern cavefish, "OSM is not convinced,...that surface coal mining operations could impact
the species." Further, "OSM"S experience with potential impacts to bats concerned the proximity
of blasting operations and the specific tree species that are utilized by the Indian bat during the summer months.
Neither of these activities associated with surface coal mining would impact the Indiana bat..."
How can the OSM state that no impact would occur when they admit in this report there would be acid runoff under
the best of conditions? To those of us who have caved in the Cane Creek Gorge we know that there will be a severe
impact from runoff. Not to mention that the changes in water flow and toxic waste, as well as acid runoff, will
harm the biota of the karst features along the gorge. Finally, can one imagine Camp's Gulf Cave flowing 'orange'
from the runoff? The Secretary has set July 30th, 1998 as the cutoff date for public comment. In December he will
make a final decision based on this report and public comment. To make your statement contact:
Beverly Brock, Supervisor Technical Group OSM
530 Gay St. SW Ste. 500
Knoxville TN 37902
(423) 545-4103 ex. 146
email bbrock@osmre.gov
SULLIVAN CAVE UPDATE
Bruce Bowman, President
Indiana Karst Conservancy
Folks -- Just an update on progress for funding of the Indiana Karst Conservancy's purchase of Sullivan Cave and
its 9 1/2 miles of passage. To date, we have raised nearly two-thirds of our eventual goal of $70,000 for the cave
purchase. This means we only need another $25,000 or so before the cave is fully funded. This is a great accomplishment
for only six months of fund-raising!
Of course, the last part is the most difficult. We are so close, it would be nice to receive a new influx of donations
to put us over the top. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cavers have enjoyed visiting Sullivan over the years; yet
only 100 or so individuals have made donations or pledges. Frankly, asking
for money isn't something I like to do -- I'd really like an excuse to shut up about this for awhile. :^)
For more information about Sullivan Cave, please contact Bill Tozer (WTozer@aol.com) or visit our web page at:
http://www.caves.org/conservancy/ikc
Also, a reminder that the Sullivan Cave auction remains open for bidding. We have a number of items available for
viewing and sale at: http://www.caves.org/conservancy/ikc/auction.htm.
If you don't have web access and need more information, contact our auctioneer at ikcauction@aol.com.
The IKC wishes to thank each of them for their contributions to the protection this important resource.
NCRC WEEKEND, Tim Sickbert
A couple of years ago, several NNG cavers took part in an NCRC Cave Rescue course at Illinois Caverns. I have been
jealous ever since. It sounded like everybody had fun and got some good education on what it takes to mount a cave
rescue. Having missed that weekend, I thought it would be years before I would have a chance to take the course.
But, I kept my eye on the NCRC Central Region web page, always keeping open the possibility that I would get to
one sooner or later. Halfway through the week of April 20th, everything fell into place and I made the trip to
Horse Cave, KY (a town) for an NCRC Cave Rescue Orientation Course the weekend of April 25-26.
With the help of the staff at the American Cave Museum in Horse Cave, I made arrangements to stay at Crystal Onyx
Campground outside of Cave City, about 10 miles south of Horse Cave. Because of the short notice, I did not have
time to get anybody to go with me and share the driving or keep me awake--I highly recommend books-on-tape for
the road weary. But, it is only about a 6 hour trip from Lincoln (although I spent a bit of time at Champaign Surplus
looking for carbide--they do not have any and are not likely to get any because carbide is now listed as a hazardous
material) and not a bad drive, although I recommend avoiding the loop around Indianapolis during rush hour. Saturday
morning, the class of about a dozen local/regional rescue personnel, about a dozen cavers from a bit broader area,
and one rescue dog, Buddy (with handler, Richard) gathered at the American Cave Museum in Horse Cave. Although
the classroom itself left a bit to be desired, Amanda, Anmar, Don, & the rest of the NCRC crew adapted well,
got everybody settled, and effectively got the classroom sessions going.
We started with Anmar explaining that he was going to give us the answer to all of our questions. Answer number
one: "It depends on the situation." The next several hours, he & the rest of of the staff went over
several situations in abbreviated "bullet lectures," and described how the answers depended on those
situations.
Did you know that the NCRC does not participate in cave rescues? It does not. Rather, it provides training and
a forum for volunteers to pre-plan for rescues; it also helps to coordinate the caching of some material resources
that would be needed during a rescue.
One lecture covered how NCRC had adapted what has become the standard model of "Incident Command." For
a cave rescue, as in the standard model, an Incident Commander is in charge. But he/she has to focus on coordinating
the above ground activity and access to the cave in support of what is going on underground. During the search,
the IC remains the center of control and attention. Once victims are found, however, the focus shifts to an "Underground
Coordinator," who keeps track of and controls activity around the victim(s).
Another talked about the need for logistical support. Cave rescues can be take a long time and involve many people.
Water, food, porta-potties, communications, and maybe some shelter need to be provided during the rescue effort.
Other bullet lectures touched on hypothermia, CPR protocols, dealing with the press, etc. After breaking for lunch
and a couple more bullet lectures, we started with some hands-on practice packaging a patient and transporting
a litter. We alternately used a ZED and an OSS (Organ-Spine Splint) as short backboards, and then made a taco out
of the practice patient in a SKED, a relatively soft and rollable litter that would be appropriate for relatively
low-risk transports with many tight obstacles. After that, we started over with the OSS and then a Ferno-Washington
litter, which is the rigid basket that provides a lot more protection and comfort for the patient.
Once we got the patient packaged, we set off slam-dancing through a course that the instructor group had set up.
We went down a steep narrow stairway, through imaginary twisting narrow passage down a real hill, through a sunken
walkway, up another hill and set of stairs and into the back of the American Cave Museum where they had had a haunted
house set up for last Halloween. There, we had more stairs, a maze, various corpses, a living head on a platter
centered on a well-laid table, spider-webs, and other obstacles. We finally got stuck in a narrow passage between
two old buildings, trying to get the Ferno-Washington through a window. It didn't work. Many thanks to Keith of
the American Cave Museum for his patience and good humor as we practiced moving him. And, although we never achieved
the flowing "ballet" of litter-handling that our instructors would have liked to reach, we did improve
and were giving Keith a smoother ride at the end of it. We finished the litter-handling practice by going over
the "Rules of the Mock." Instructors would either be playing roles or would be invisible observers. We
would be on our own for the rescue.
Saturday night, after dinner, we spent some more time practicing packaging people in the litters and moving them
in and around some obstacles. We also got to practice using military surplus field phones. They really work, and
came in handy on Sunday when the mock rescue became real.
Sunday, we all gathered back in the classroom ready--more or less--for the mock rescue. To make it somewhat real,
the instructors released us by ones and twos over about an hour so that we would not all show up at the rescue
at the same time. Once out of the room, we could not come back. Fortunately, somebody realized that we had all
the equipment in the room and we had better be taking it with us when, one-by-one, we went out. As we waited, instructor
Don entertained us with a couple of puzzles to kill the time.
I was about the fifth or sixth person out. Fortunately, the incident was a report of cavers overdue at Green River
Cave, on which the American Cave Museum sits. Alan was playing the role of sheriff and doing an excellent job of
being upset, worried, pushy, ambiguous, and unhelpful. Leonard, a fellow student, had the bad luck to have been
stuck in the job of Incident Commander. (Don't ever do this to somebody you like unless you are willing to be their
gopher. It is a hard job, a nasty job, and I don't think you ever really get a break. But somebody has to do it.
Thanks Leonard!)
While the sheriff was pushing to get people into the cave and many of the rescuers were hot to trot, we didn't
have a map of the cave; nor did any of the rescuers so far on site know the cave. The first party of searchers,
including Buddy the rescue dog and his handler, went into the cave with pretty general instructions to follow the
main passage and to mark their trail so later search parties would not be covering the same ground.
I was getting ready to go with the fourth search team, heading downstream, when the first search team made it back
with one walk-out victim and news of an injured victim with a leg trapped under rubble. We quickly disbanded the
fourth search team and reorganized as an IRT (Initial Response Team). Surprisingly, of all the students, I was
the only EMT. And, fortunately, the victim was really not that far into the cave.
Jacob had become Underground Coordinator, and my compliments to him for a job well done. He was basically in charge
of coordinating with the litter team leader, IC at the surface, underground "medical," the relief litter
teams, and ongoing search teams going deeper to look for more potential victims.
Our first mock-victim with an injury presented a challenge. Mike Priddy with T.R.A.C.E.R. (Technical Rope and Cave
Emergency Rescue) played the role of Ray, a caver with limited experience and explosives in his pack. He had been
trapped by rockfall in narrow crawling passage with trauma to the right femur sufficient to cut off circulation
to his foot. In addition, he had apparent bruising to his right abdomen. It took us an hour to assess, begin initial
treatment, splint, and package Ray. Aside from wishing I had more heat packs to try to alleviate his hypothermia,
and never calling in the pretty ladies that somebody had promised him would come to his aid, we did a pretty good
job. Once we got him packaged, we got to moving. We started out a little bit slowly, picking up some speed as we
became more comfortable with the task and with each other. After moving for about half an hour, we had reached
the first relief litter team and I had made one medical report by field phone. Shortly after that, with an ETA
of 15 minutes to the entrance (which we were probably going to miss by 10 minutes), our mock rescue became real:
one of the rescuers collapsed.
About 20 feet in front of the litter, there was a sudden commotion, some calls for help, and a bit of a crowd.
We set "Ray" down, and I went forward to find that a rescuer was in the process of passing out. Thank
you, Amanda, for being there. Our most local invisible angel/observer and EMT, Amanda Clark was right there to
take charge. We "DC"ed (discontinued) the mock rescue and made it "for real."
I believe that the litter team had our mock-victim "Ray" out of the Ferno-Washington inside of 30 seconds,
and we had our real victim in the litter in about 3 minutes. Amanda was right at the head of the patient, watching
closely, so she was able to give the command to "roll him [over]" when he started to vomit, thus preventing
potentially deadly aspiration and/or choking. And she stayed right there with him all the way out.
Once we had the real victim packaged, we boogied. I was amazed that so many people could move so fast so closely
together. Without further incident, but using almost every technique we had learned the previous day, we got to
the entrance. This is where the field phones really paid off for us. The person on the phone underground had called
ahead to inform IC that we had a real rescue. At the entrance, the ground crew had rigged for a rope-haul up the
steep slope, avoiding the narrow and winding stairs. Local EMS was on sight at about the time that we got the patient
to the street. After a bit of time, the patient seemed to come around pretty well and declined further treatment.
Later, during our debriefing to close out the weekend, he was losing consciousness again and so was transported
to a local emergency room by car. After hanging around the ER for a while, I hit the road for the long, lonely
trip home.
Many thanks to the NCRC instructors: Amanda Clark, Jim Johnson, Allen Hutchison, Anmar Mirza,Wendy Wente, Phil
O'dell, and Don Paquette. And thanks also to my fellow students--the cavers and the local rescue personnel. Altogether,
it was really a great experience. Good people, good training, and, except for the intrusion of a real emergency,
a good time. I recommend an NCRC orientation course to anybody who likes to spend a lot of time underground.
MARK TWAIN CAVE by Dwight Weaver
Here is some interesting trivia regarding Mark Twain Cave. As many of those who
have read my writing and been around Missouri caving for awhile know, back in the old days of the 1970s, I was
on the staff at Mark Twain Cave as an Assistant Manager. This was 1975 through 1978. The guides were one of my
responsibilities, hiring, training, firing, etc. One of the first things I did my first week on the job was to
stand out and listen to every guide's introductory talk at the entrance. In summer, they have about 10-15 guides.
I discovered that no two guides gave the same year as the caves discovery! That lead me to follow every guide on
at least two tours and I discovered that inconsistency was just as bad inside as out. So, I developed a guide training
program and guide materials. Did wonders but took a lot of monitoring, not so much to make them all sound alike
but to make them consistent with facts. What was unique about Mark Twain Cave was that I could move around through
the inner network of the system, since the tour follows a more or less rectangular route through the network, leaving
a big chunk of interconnecting passages between, and listen to every guide at every significant station and hear
every word without ever being heard or seen. You can imagine how that kept the guides on their toes!
Paul Johnson and I mapped the cave in 1963 and so I used that map to paint the first one outside the entrance.
The guides found it a marvelous tool. It was also a good place for people to take family pictures and to get people
interested in touring the cave. Later, Scott House not only remapped the cave in more detail than Paul and I did,
but he also used my entrance area map as an example in a paper he did on the use of cave maps.
At the time, we ran tours up to Cameron Cave but they had no specific route for the guides to follow or tour material.
I produced the first guide training manual for that cave. I found in interesting to find a piece of that cave map
with guide stations on it from the manual also showing up in Scott House's article.
Of course, Cameron is a more complicated network. One day a fairly new guide left the Mark Twain Cave administration
building with a group of about 8 people to tour Cameron Cave. Two hours later he wasn't back so I sent a guide
to see what happened. The second guide knew the cave very well and went to six points. When he returned to the
administration building about 30 minutes later with the missing guide and people I asked what happened. He said
he heard the guide coming so he stepped back into the dark and watched him go through six points talking away.
A few minutes later he came back going a different direction. The poor guide was hopelessly lost and going in circles
and at least had the savy of mind to keep talking and talking so that none of his tour would know! The guide that
rescued him was pretty savy too. He stepped out and said "Hey, you're spending too much time. They need you
back at Mark Twain Cave." The guide looked at his watch and said "Wow. I got so busy showing the cave
I lost track of time." I have buckets of cave guide lore from that place.
I recently finished an independent study in hydrogeology at the Illinois State Geological Survey under the direction
of Sam Panno. We spent quite a bit of time in the field this semester, but one of the biggest thrills for me was
our June 2nd trip to Fogelpole Cave.
Father Paul Wightman returns once a year from Sitga, Alaska to visit family in Waterloo, IL, and makes an annual
trip to Fogelpole with his geologist friends, Sam P. and Pius W. Father Paul was the first to explore Fogelpole
back in the mid 1940's, and is a well known caver and cave radio expert. I was honored to be able to go to Fogelpole
with Fr. Paul and the gang. You can tell he's at home in the cave; and is a wealth of information about when each
section was discovered, what passage goes where, etc.
We entered the cave at 11 a.m. and a short distance from the entrance encountered a sudden 10 foot drop off. There
was a lively debate as to which side of the pit was easier to free climb (Steve Taylor preferred the right side,
Fr. Paul the left.) So, I did my usual and made everyone happy. I went down "Steve's side" and later
climbed out "Fr. Paul's side". My fear of heights made me dislike BOTH sides, so no side won the debate
with me.
We continued down the sloping passage until we reached what has to be the biggest passage in the state of Illinois.
Pius must have noticed the glazed look in my eyes as he leaned over my shoulder and said "No Dorothy, you're
not in Kansas anymore!" I knew I was still in Illinois, but just couldn't make myself believe it. We stood
at a junction with huge passage running in all four directions (they tell me I still didn't see the "big"
stuff.) Fr. Paul must have gone crazy with delight the first time he saw this room. How would you ever chose which
way to go first? I wanted to go every direction first!!!!
On this particular day we chose to initially go downstream. Sam had his eye on sampling soil in a silt filled passage
he had been to on a previous trip (a passage Fr Paul tried to dig out years ago and finally gave up the fight.)
Sam will be sending the soil samples to the lab to be dated, which will help determine when the passage silted
in. We then headed upstream where we stopped at Dome Passage. Fr. Paul likes this spot, because he can sit and
listen to people moan and groan and grunt as they squeeze through the 10 ft. long narrow slit in the wall. It was
definitely worth all the huffing, puffing, and cursing. We popped out to see a beautiful 50' x 20' dome with water
trickling in from above. Rock in Fogelpole is thinly bedded, so the dome had many different rock layers dissolving
at different rates; forming fascinating patterns from top to bottom.
We continued upstream with water running shallow and swift across a smooth bedrock floor. When we turned around
to look behind us, it was quite obvious that we were moving up a sizable gradient. Sam said we may actually have
been on the side of the Waterloo anticline! We came to a gorgeous 5' waterfall, where most of us became very wet
trying to climb. After plowing through thigh deep water, we came to the "Big Room", where we climbed
to the top of a tremendous pile of breakdown and looked out in to the darkness of the cave that lay beyond. Time
was running out, and after a short break we decided to head back. We saw just about everything a cavers heart desires;
beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, huge chert nodules, coral fossils of various kinds, soda straws, draperies,
rimstone dams and lots of neat cave life (including a huge green frog.) I was also amazed at the thick coating
of manganese on the rocks in the cave stream. Gorgeous cave!!
Sam, Pius and I took vertical elevation measurements on our way out; beginning at the stream passage in the first
junction and measuring our way out of the cave and to the top of the hill above the Fogelpole sinkhole. Elevation
changed ~145 ft. from stream bed to hill top. We will use this date to verify the cave depth we estimated on our
Fogelpole cross section maps.
Exited the cave at 4:30 p.m. wet, tired, and hungry!! Saw approximately 2 - 3 miles of cave today. I'm ready to
go back!
p.s. What was that I said about this being a "shorter, sweeter article?" You shouldn't have cheered so
soon. It's hard to keep a "windy" person down!!
LET'S GET VERTICAL
by Brett Bennett
This trip was conceived the second weekend in April during our trip to Small Dull. That is when I met Kevin Peters
from the Eastern Indiana Grotto. After talking with him all afternoon about vertical caving, we decided to plan
for June 13th to be dedicated to being a yo-yo. Over the next two months Kevin and I exchanged several e-mails
about what was to happen.
Kevin is involved in the Boy Scouts, so he took their motto of "Be Prepared" to heart. He not only searched
out a variety of pits to bounce, but took into account our groups limited experience. He got permission from Mrs.
Lawson for the 100 foot Green Eye I pit, the permits for Hoosier National Forest Swallow Hole at 42 foot, and Shaft
Pit 76 foot. He also got the key for Grotto Cave (about 100 yards from Shaft) for those who wanted to bypass shaft.
It was arranged to meet at the gas station on RT. 37 and RT. 50, just south of Bedford, Indiana. Being as Marc
Tiritilli and I were coming from Paoli, Indiana, we wanted to get there early. Dennis Campbell was waiting for
us already. This was before 6:30 a.m. when cavers are supposed to be still dreaming of virgin passages and huge
stalactites. With what Kevin had planned we needed an early start.
Lara Storm rolled in just before 7 with a smile on her face. (HaHa). She also survived the thunderstorms that rolled
through Southern Indiana on Friday. My tent and sleeping bags were soaked due to leaving the tent open. You know,
it was sunny and 85 degrees when we went to Capers Friday nite. (Oh Well.)
A little after that Kevin and Marcia Denny arrived with Kevin's sister Brenda in tow. Also along was Dave Mason
and Laura Lowden (also from IEG.)
Once intros were made we piled into Dennis' Explorer and followed them to Hoosier. We had to hike through the forest
about a mile to get there.
After some more discussions the pit was rigged with 2 ropes and appropriately padded we started in. Dennis was
first to go followed by Lara and me. Quite and impressive little hole. A small waterfall at the bottom. One by
one we bounced the pit and packed up to go to Carcass Crypt. This pit was the hit or miss in the bunch. Unfortunately
the owner was not home. Maybe next time. Next on the agenda was Green Eye. This pit is located about a mile behind
the owner's home in a cow pasture. Some comments were made about the bodily functions of cows as we walked past,
dodging the cow pattie mine field as we went.
The entrance is located at the bottom of a shallow sink in the midst of a grove of trees. The opening was large
enough to rig two ropes here also. Some discussion was carried out as to how to rig it safely. After about an hour
and rigging one drop at least 3 times, we were ready. We did this pit in pairs. One on each rope. Rappel down,
ascend back up no problem. Lara and I were up first. I wanted to go down together and get some pictures along the
way but Lara had other ideas. I waited for her to negotiate the lip before I started down. By the time I was able
to look down the pit, Lara was at the bottom, so much for pictures. You know how youngsters are, always in a hurry.
Once I stepped off the lip and started to make my way down, I noticed it. The whole side of the pit where this
rope hung was all flowstone. 100 foot of Flowstone. Just beautiful. About half way down I locked off the rack and
started to take pictures. What took Lara a short time to do, I took 3-4 minutes. Enjoying the beauty on the way
down because I knew I would have to work on the way out. Took some pictures at the bottom looking up. Now I know
why they call it Green Eye. The trees are all you see.
What took 3-4 minutes to get down took about 20 to get back up. Damn that frog system. Lara and I again started
off together but she soon out paced me and was kind enough to wait for me. It helps to have someone to talk to.
Also I had the Flowstone to worry about. Not wanting to damage it. Lara, on the other hand, had a free drop, about
5 to 7 feet away from the wall. My methods involved pushing off the wall and being able to get two steps in before
the wall approached again. 2 steps, look for the wall, steady myself and push off again.
Also on the way up, I had to readjust the position of my harness on my left leg. It shifted a bit during the ascent.
When I thought it was back in place I continued on, only to get a severe pain between my legs. Apparently I moved
it to far and was now pinching some areas that were not made to pinch. Lara was also complaining about a similar
discomfort. (Anyway, that's something better left to others to describe.) After making it out, I decided then and
there that the frog was to be dissected. It's a double bungee rope walker from now on.
Marc and Dennis were in next. Followed by Kevin and Marcia. Dave and Laura were last but Marc wanted to do it again
to take pictures and use Purisk knots to climb out. We have done lost of practice in my tree and Marc is almost
as fast with knots as mechanicals. Look out when he gets used to the mech.
We had said our good-byes to Dave and Laura when we left Green Eye. Dave said something about a steak calling his
name. I just donÆt get some people, giving up so soon when their stomachs growl. We also made a pit stop
for dinner then on to Shaft. We had to display the parking permits to the cars wouldnÆt get towed, and back
through the woods we went. As we stopped at the entrance to Shaft Pit, I made the decision not to do it and went
with Kevin, Brenda, and Marcia to Grotto Cave, but that's another story.
Marc, Dennis and Lara stayed to do the pit and were to meet us at Grotto when they were done. I'll let someone
else describe Shaft since I wimped out.
GROTTO CAVE
It was the end of a truly perfect day of caving. A couple of vertical pits, meeting new friends, and caving with
some friend for the first time. And the prospect of seeing 1000's of bats leaving the cave at sundown.
Grotto cave is protected by the Indiana Karst Conservatory, and you need a permit to enter, which Kevin arranged.
It is home to several thousand Indiana Bats and is closed to all between September and April.
The entrance is a perilous, muddy slope angled at about 45 to 50 degrees. We used my 90 foot rope as a hand line
and put a harness and rack on Brenda, being as it was her first cave trip. At the bottom of this slope was a 8
to 10 foot climb down. Kevin had Brenda ease to the edge as if to rappel down but her foot slipped and she disappeared
from sight. I was worried she got hurt when a muffled giggle whafed up from below.
From here we still headed down another slope, also muddy. I was told that there was a lot of vandalism years ago
in this cave. Not really much to see, the bats had already left for the night (oh darn). We soon came to a breakdown
pile we had to climb. Kevin pointed out the cave register housed in a PVC tube. I had to fill it out.
After a short time we came to a section of belly crawl that lead to an upper level, but unfortunately it was to
small for me, and Kevin went to check it out. I guess he found the bats as he got buzzed several times.
As we made our way out I noticed that some of the walls looked funny. Upon closer inspection, it looked as if someone
had whitewashed it with mud. Large sections as much as 20 feet high were like this. Maybe it was a way to cover
up the vandalism.
We made our way out to meet the other and head for home. What an end to a perfect day.
HOOSIER UNDERWORLD by Troy
J. Simpson
I have been a member of the Near Normal Grotto now for 3 months and have felt that I've survived my Baptism of
Fire. Not only did I crawl through the seemingly infinite amounts of Bat Guano, squeeze through portals of mere
inches, literally destroy a pair of hiking boots, and become friends with a herd of Dachshunds, I survived a weekend
with the Bennetts!! Seriously though, we had a great time visiting and caving in the Paoli, IN cave region. Our
trip began with me skipping out of work on Friday afternoon and meeting up with the Brett, Angie, Nick, and Annie
Bennett at the Perkin's in Champaign, IL. After the gang stopped laughing at my Plymouth Horizon (affectionately
known as the "Geology-Mobile") we were on our way.
Our first stop was at the booming metropolis of Paoli, IN where we met up with Skip, Barb, and Adam Sweet. Brett
and Angie had met them earlier at cave rescue training and it was decided that caving trip would be fun to do in
the future. We were welcomed into the home for the weekend (A key note to point out was we were planning on camping
on their land, but Skip said it would be too miserable outside to camp. As it turned out it was a picture perfect
weekend!!)
Skip had purchased some land outside Paoli and thought there might be some potential break-throughs in some of
the sinkholes. Without further ado we went to investigate. Even though we saw no clear cut openings, we could smell
a distinct sulfur odor and it looked that with a bit of elbow grease, a cave could be found. That evening we sat
around discussing the game-plan for Saturday. Skip told of the rumor that Paoli was literally sitting on a network
of caverns that had hidden entrances in the basements of the old high school and courthouse. Also the possibility
of an entrance just a few hundred yards up the hill from where we were sitting. Tomorrow though we would enter
the land of Larry Bird, French Lick.
After a hardy breakfast at a local diner and a quick repair of a flat tire, we were off to the resort town of French
Lick, IN. We traveled to a Mary Ellis' residence on the edge of French Lick to explore Bear Cave. While everyone
was getting ready, Skip and I chatted with Mary about Bear Cave and any other local caves. As it turns out Bear
Cave was a hiding place for the Archer Gang that terrorized the area during the 20's and 30's. It also is the primary
source of water for Mary's residence. Bear Cave is a relatively small cave less than 250' in length. The entrance
was easily accessible, but a bit wet. Brett and I found a crawl space approximately two feet in height and it narrowed
to about a foot when Brett and I felt we could go no further. This was the extent of the map we had and I could
see that it continued on for several more feet. I next section dropped off about a foot and the passage seemed
to open up to 2' again, but I was not sure I could get back up.
The cave was filled with a large amount of recent droppings and due to the small confines with large numbers of
people the breath condensation was beginning to build up, so we figured it was time to move on.
On a sad note, we took a "casualty" while searching for other break-throughs. Skip, Adam, and myself
went searching along the creek that runs through the area. As I was scaling the hill slope my 12 year old hiking
boots finally gave up as the sole tore off. I then inherited a pair Angie's boots to use for remainder of the weekend.
After bidding Mary ado, we traveled back to Salem, IN to pick up Barb and go on to Endless Cave in Cave River Valley.
Of course we had to stop by the railroad display on the way out of town. Angie was awestruck by the size of the
resort hotels and hopes to return to tour someday.
We arrived at Cave River Valley about 5 o'clock and geared up once again. For me I was really excited because I
had heard about this site the whole trip because it was the site of the cave rescue training. Brett, Skip, and
myself scouted out Wet Clifty while everyone else went on to Endless (Dry Clifty). Wet Clifty is a challenge basically
because a raft is needed to traverse the first section of the cave. My understanding is that this cave is basically
untouched because few take the time to bring a raft. Skip and I got our "Kodak Moment" and the three
of us proceeded to join the others.
Endless has a large, walk-in entrance which is nice for taking first-timers and the less adventurous. Immediately
we were welcomed to the cave by knee-deep cold water. The initial passageway looked like a giant bore hole that
winded through the limestone. It was rather easy to maneuver through with many smaller crawlways breaking off the
main chamber. Skip picked up the habit of pointing these crawl passageways and saying "There's a passageway
for you Troy!" Of course, I was inclined to investigate the passages. The highlight passageway for me was
talking Brett into following me into a 2 foot passage. This was fine until the sharp chert debris on the floor
started to inch towards my belly. I think I need to invest in a kevlar chest protector.
After exploring several side passages and deciding to take the left fork of the cave, we came to the section where
the core of the cave rescue training was located. In the middle of a fall zone, there lay a plateau of limestone
20+ feet above us and mere inches from the cave ceiling. This is where the "victim" was placed. Brett,
on a mission, sought out to see exactly where the victim was placed and how to get to the spot. The problem was,
there was not an easy, direct route. Brett chose to climb and squeeze his way vertically along a corner slot. In
a matter of minutes I could hear his voice above. I decided to take a more indirect route. I found a horizontal
passage that traveled underneath Brett and the plateau and crawled towards another vertical slot that led to the
top. I shimmied my way to the slot and attempted to "chimney" my way up. This seemed to work fine until
I noticed that I could feel solid rock on my chest and back simultaneously! I squeezed back down to the passageway
and found an opening that led to the place where Brett climbed.
The place lacked height, but there seemed to be plenty of room horizontally. Brett tried to imagine how the team
managed to secure the victim and transport her from this isolated place. Another unique feature was the amount
of clay build-up that was present on the ledge. There was 4-6 inches of compacted clay pressed to the rock, which
led him to believe that we might be relatively close to the surface.
After scampering down with the help of Skip, we moved on and came to the next section. This would become our "satellite
camp." Ahead of us was a stretch of 2-3 foot high passages that were half-filled with water. The Bennetts
chose to set up camp and let the kids rest, while the Sweets and myself would press on. This watery section lasted
for what we estimated 75-100 feet and it was starting to get a bit tiresome. Just as I was about to call it quits,
the passage opened up into large corridor. This continued on until we reached another fall zone that encompassed
the entire corridor. Skip motioned to me another one of those "famous" crawlways and told me that he
thought it opened up into a formation room. Me, being a bit crazy proceeded into the crawlway. It was definitely
the smallest passage I had been through to this point, at least this one was somewhat dry. After squirming my way
through the 20ft long passage, it opened up. I could hear Skip ask me if I saw anything. I looked up and around
and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I decided to scout ahead for few more feet just in case, and when
I turned back to address the rest of the party I saw it. There tucked behind the fall zone were 3 stalagmites protruding
from the slope. I yelled out to Skip, Barb, and Adam "Holy Cow! You got to see this!" With that they
crawled through a slightly more roomy passage by the water (which Skip did not inform me about) and were silenced
by the singular formations with hundreds of soda straws acting as a backdrop. We took a couple of pictures and
noticed a short path that led up to the ceiling. I proceeded up the slope and was awestruck by what I saw. Dozens
of columns seemingly supporting the ceiling, literally thousands of soda straws - many nearly a foot long, short
draperies outlining the joints of the limestone ceiling, and a massive inactive flowstone acting as a divider between
the fall zone and the formation room. Many of the formations were still active and we remained just awed for a
few moments. We took the last two pictures of my film, decided that it was worth the effort and to proceed no further.
Renewed by the sight we headed back to meet up with the Bennetts. When we arrived they had MRE's warmed up and
ready for the eating. After filling our bellies, we meandered our way out of the cave. On the way out Brett spotted
a frog sitting quietly on limestone slab. At the entrance a lone cave salamander guarding portal that soon became
a photo shoot opportunity.
That evening we shared about our various adventures, conjuring up possibilities for the land that Sweets' own,
and started dreaming up plans to explore "Wet Clifty" some day.
Sunday came, and it was a day of celebration. Not only was it Mother's Day, but it was also Nick's birthday. We
had a cake and ice cream, and admired the pictures that we got developed at the 1 hour shop at Wal-Mart. We left
Paoli with stronger friendships and future plans. After a short detour to the Texas Steakhouse I was soon driving
home in my "Geology-mobile" with lots of good memories and the excitement of creating new one in the
future.
WHY DO I GO CAVING? by Troy J. Simpson
Many of my colleagues and friends look at my office and see pictures of places I've been and adventures (of which)
I've been a part [of]. One picture stands out [to] (the) most, and it is a picture of myself crawling through passage
of Bronson Cave. Their comments often are "There is no way you can get me down there," or "Aren't
you afraid you'll get stuck?" My response is "I get to see some really neat formations!"
Well, a few months ago Brett Bennett talked about Wayne's Lost Cave and how fun it is to explore. I quickly picked
up on the tales of the cave from the "short" crawlway near the entrance of the cave, the "Elevator"
that is located somewhere around Camp 4, and of course if there really is a Camp 2. Lara Storm informed me that
she was getting a group together to go to Wayne's Lost Cave. I thought to myself here is my chance to find out
[what] (which?) tales were true and [what] (which) were figments of over-active imaginations. Lara had mentioned
that there were a couple of neat rooms with "soda straws" and helictite formations growing untouched
from the ceiling. That was enough for me.
I met up with Lara and Mark on Saturday morning after spending a couple of days camping along the Knobstone Trail.
Note: not a good idea to attempt Wayne's after hiking in the backcountry a few days. Anyway, we soon learned that
there would only be three of us going into the cave. We arrived at Bent Arrow Caving Supplies, dropped off the
cars and proceeded to the entrance.
After a little difficulty opening up the gate we clambered down into the cave. We "duck-walked" the first
few minutes and then the "short" crawl began. At first, I thought that it would be just a boring crawl
winding deeper into the cave. After 10- 15 minutes I stopped ( ,) [and] turned on my side ( ,) and spied a cascade
of calcite in the form of [a] flowstone. I had seen flowstone in large chambers, but never in a 2-foot passageway.
Just beyond it was a ceiling covered with small "soda straws" and the beginnings of helictite formations.
Neat formations!
Well, we made it through the crawlway in about 30 minutes or so. Of course the crawlway had one last shot at us.
Before we could walk, it was necessary to straddle a chasm that deepened to approximately twenty feet. This provided
an extra challenge, where I tested a slightly unorthodox technique. I reverted to my old grade school days and
(cautiously) rolled across the chasm perpendicularly [cautiously]. Success!
The next passages were large breakdown rooms with 50 foot ceilings connected by short crawlways amongst the fallen
debris. We crawled up, down, and even through the breakdown[s] hoping to reach Camp 2. Then we reached the room
that was dubbed "Ray-o-Vac Hall," due to the large 6-volt battery found perched on a ledge. [Here is]
(That was?) where we made the fateful decision to take a passage that dropped below the breakdown and to the left.
We climbed through several up(s) and downs until we reached another large breakdown room. I then heard the words
that sent a nerve through my body. Lara said "This doesn't look too familiar." We decided to take a break
to rebuild our energy and I then decided to explore a passage at the end of the chamber.
This passage was a fairly walkable section that intersected another passage in a "T." This passage had
a shallow stream flowing through it and seemed to continue on in both directions. I walked through it making sure
to keep track of where Mark and Lara were, and it seemed to circle around this large breakdown chamber. I went
back and got Lara and Mark and we checked our map. This passage didn't seem to be on the map and we weren't sure
where we were. I was getting a bit worried and threw out the idea that we probably should go back the way we came
and get our bearings. When we got back to this "unknown" chamber we then realized that we weren't even
sure how we got in [their] (there). Mark took lead and we followed him through a couple of crawlways and ended
up in the stream passage again. We went in a circle! We tried another passage and in a matter of minutes we were
back in the "Ray-o-Vac Hall." Mark suggested that we go ahead and try (a) passage to the right. If it
didn't lead anywhere, we'd call it a day.
After a few minutes, there it was as big as day, [T] (t)he "Natural Bridge!" Here we were only a few
minutes away and yet we had no idea where we were for an hour and a half. I was amazed at the size of the room
with this bridge crossing the chamber like an archway. Mark and I climbed up the bridge and cleaned up some camp
trash left by a previous group. Lara called over [to] (from) where she was across the room. Here there [is] (was
a?) beautiful formation room. Thousands of "soda straws" hung from the ceiling [;] (,) still dripping
calcite saturated water. Stalactites with fragile helictites forming looked like the frozen roots of plants. Some
of the stalactites connected and formed mini-draperies. On the floor rose stumpy stalagmites with the occasional
sections having "moon milk" oozing from the base. We had to carefully maneuver around the room (so) as
[to] not (to) bump any of the delicate structures. These were some pretty neat formations.
After a quick break we decided to head to Camp 3, having finally been successful in reaching Camp 2. Here (we)
winded our way through a stream cut passage and after about 20-30 minutes we reached a small room labeled Camp
3. At this point my previous 2 days had finally caught up with me. My body was telling me to go back. I rationalized
the thought of turning back by saying "oh, this gives me incentive to return some day." In reality I
was a bit disappointed in not making it to Camp 4.
The trip back was uneventful and we took many breaks to keep our spirits up. Lara was excited for making it to
Camp 2 and felt pretty good about reaching Camp 3. She tried to encourage me with the fact that few people ever
make it to Camp 3, especially on their first trip. That was enough for me. Then (came) the moment I had tried to
psyche myself up for, "The Crawlway." I quickly remembered my track and field days where we used to try
to convince our minds that our bodies weren't tired. It almost worked. Mark humored us with his caving stories
about how the British beliefs of 3 sources of light were "you got one, you got one, I got one, that's three
sources!" Anything to keep [your] (our) minds off the crawl. We managed to make it through "The Crawlway"
in about 45-60 minutes with plenty of breaks in between. After a little difficulty getting the gate locked up,
we changed and [we] were on our way. Before I would put Wayne's behind me, the Caving Gods had one last reminder
for me. My stomach decided to get back at me for putting my body through such an ordeal.
So let's recap. We crawled 1500 feet, saw some neat formations, scrambled up, down, through breakdown[s], got "lost",
saw some neat formations, became very tired, then crawled back through the 1500 feet, and my stomach declared its
own revolution. So, why do I go caving?
Did I mention I saw some really neat formations?!
Epilogue: despite the sometimes grueling environment, Troy plans on being a part of the next trip to Wayne's.
HUNTING CRITTERS AND VERTICAL
THRILLS by Steve Taylor
On June 3rd and 4th I had the good fortune of being able to attend an event near Corydon, Indiana, sponsored by
several government agencies. The event was titled "Impacts of Forest and Wildlife Management Practices in
the Karst Area of Southern Indiana: A Field Workshop." We had one and a half days worth of distinguished speakers
and slides, interspersed with an evening of mistnetting for bats on the Blue River and trapping bats with a harp
trap at the entrance to Wyandotte Cave during the same evening. At the harp trap, we had ample opportunity to view
four or five species of bats up close and personal, with the interpretive assistance of several bat experts. The
afternoon of the second day, we were treated to a special biology tour of Wyandotte Cave to finish off the event.
At Wyandotte, we got to see several troglobitic species that were originally described from Wyandotte Cave. There
were perhaps 70 people present, primarily various agency folks, mainly from Indiana.
On the afternoon of the 4th, after the workshop was over, I went with Jerry Lewis (an independent biospeleologist
who does a lot of contract work for the Nature Conservancy), Ellen Jacquart (a US Forest Service employee), and
Diane Tecic (Illinois DNR District Heritage Biologist) to look for more cave life in nearby Sibert's Well Cave,
where the undesirable crawl/walk ratio was made less painful by finding two species of cave crickets, several salamanders,
and a troglobitic snail. Following this, Jerry, Diane and I moved on to Harrison Cave Spring, where we found more
troglobitic snails. As the day dwindled into darkness, I had time to run up the hill to Harrison Cave for a quick
peek at the large but short borehole that tempts some cavers to dig onwards with dreams of going passage.
We finished the day off by checking out the springrun of Harrison Spring, Indiana's largest spring. This spring
is odd in that it resurges in the middle of an otherwise flat corn field. The springrun is a river, comparable
in size to those of the large Missouri springs, but with more silt in the water. That evening, Diane and I caravaned
back to Illinois in the darkness through heavy rainfall. By 11 pm, I was exhausted and pulled over to sleep at
a rest stop.
The next day, Friday, I completed the long trek back to Chambana, where I swapped the government vehicle for my
own, packed up my camping and vertical gear, and headed back south and west to Illinois' Lincoln Hills.
By the evening, I was nestled into the Near Normal Grotto campsite at Pere Marquette State Park, in the company
of the Brett and Angie Bennett and their two kids, Kevin Rasmus and his two children, Beth Reinke, Julie Angel
(who slept with John Marquart's 'equipment'), Dennis Campbell, Phil Von DeBur, and Richard Bell. Around the campfire,
Julie demonstrated her ability to extinguish burning embers with spit, whilst the children hurled molten marshmallows
in random directions. The next morning we all convened at a pavilion for presentations on various aspects of vertical
caving. Others arrived as the morning wore on: Mark Valentine and Marc Tiritilli were among the late arrivals.
I'm missing a couple of names here, but there were others. In the afternoon, we went to a nearby quarry where descending
rope was discussed and the practiced till late in the afternoon.
That evening, we all (about 14 people) went out for dinner in Grafton. Everyone had a good time telling lies and
tying knots. I may have sustained the only injury of the weekend by scraping my elbow on a brick wall while going
in and out of the bar/restaurant as I switched dance partners (Julie and Beth) for the outside entertainment (a
live country band of limited skill). Another campfire featuring several people trying to outdo themselves by telling
tasteless jokes.
On Sunday (7 June 1998), we continued our vertical nonsense at the quarry, with most folks now ascending as well
as going down. For me, the high point was executing a pickoff of a simulated 'stranded fool' (in this case, Dennis,
who was only simulating being a fool), and successfully lowering him to the ground. Everyone, including the instructors,
seemed to be learning a lot and having fun at the same time. Richard Bell did a lot of work to make this whole
vertical thing happen and run so smoothly, and I think we owe him a big thanks. By four o'clock, most people were
on the road to home. Dennis, Phil and I formed a little caravan that drove north and east, stopping for supper
in some small town that was having a big parade. It was here that I saw the truck of my dreams, a big new Dodge
4x4--with a full load of cheerleaders in the bed! Ah well, reality set in rapidly as I began the rest of the awful
drive up into the central Illinois
wastelands.
On Friday afternoon, Genie Schropp (a Little Egypte Grotto caver) and I could be found rolling down the road towards
Speleofest, which was held near the small community of Temple Hill, east of Bowling Green, Kentucky. That evening
we were nestled into our campsite amongst several hundred cavers from Missouri to Florida and Vermont. After briefly
consulting the guidebook, we signed up for a vertical trip the next day. Our neighbors in the campground were from
Pine Mountian Grotto (PMG), and turned out to be really great folks. Some of them signed up for the same trip,
and we soon became good friends, our camps merging into one. A very modest bonfire that evening, and visits to
vendors rows (well populated with vendors), then to bed with visions of pits in our heads.
Up early, breakfast of pancakes. Then sorting gear. Soon we were in a small caravan of four by fours, and drove
up northeast of Mammoth Cave National Park and out into the country. We roared up a short but very slippery four
wheelin' road (some had to take several shots at it to make it up the hill), then parked in the woods. Our party
now included eleven cavers from Kentucky (PMG: Mike Stanfield, Thor Bahram, Jim Helton), Florida (Mike List), Illinois
(Genie and I), Georgia (four guys-one of whom was a smoker in spite of the fact that he was born with one lung!)
and somewhere else (Holly). We geared up and made the grueling three minute stroll to the pit, where two ropes
were rigged. Frenchman Knob Pit (Hart Co., KY) is considered to be the largest open air pit in Kentucky (not necessarily
the longest entrance drop). The map indicates that the short side is 125 feet, the high side 145 (the guidebook
said 170, but I think 145 is closer to fact). We rigged one rope on the high side and one on the low side - both
routes had a nice free drop for at least the bottom two thirds of the distance. The pit is some 30 feet across,
with a slight funnel to overhung walls that drop straight down the rest of the distance. The pit is really a beauty.
I fired off several camera shots on rope - I hope they turn out! The Georgia guys were down first, and bopped much
of the cave passage at the bottom by the time the whole party had descended. Some of the rest of us (self included)
only did a little bit of exploring before coming back up the rope. A third group (much of the PMG contingent) went
off for more extensive explorations. Back on the surface, the Georgia guys became restless waiting for the last
group, and decided to head back to the Speleofest site. We agreed to bring their rope back to them that evening,
and waited on the surface for the third crew.
After a long time, we started to be concerned as to their whereabouts, and I decided to go down to look for them.
On the first time down I used my Petzl Stop, but this time I borrowed a rack for a bit of variety and because the
Stop was so slow on the muddy 11 millimeter. One of the people in the third party (Holly) didn't have her own gear,
and Mike List (from Florida but a PMG member) had planned to loan her his Mitchell setup. So Mike showed me his
set up and I took it down the pit with me. I'm not real keen on gear passing, but at caving events like this, you
can't expect everyone else on a trip to hold to the same standards as you do, and I felt I had to compromise mine
a little. I didn't really like his Mitchell setup, so I decided to wear it myself and let Holly use my safer but
slower frog system. I geared up in the Mitchell and added some saftey features like chicken loops and a teather
from the upper ascender to my sit harness. Eventually, the third party arrived back.
After a short scolding (for being so long in the cave with everyone waiting on them), I got the frog on Holly and
she and I climed up together (seprate ropes). Holly did real well considering her lack of experience. I took advantage
of her slowness (inevitable on ones' first ascent) to catch my breath and admire the view (the pit and Holly both
were nice to look at). We made it up with no real problems. I think she plans to go vertical again - a good sign
of potential vertical caving addiction! At this point, some of us headed back to Speleofest while the rest climbed
out of and derigged the pit. It was a real satisfying day of caving. That evening featured the usual mix of caving
comradre, dining, campfires, vendors, beer, etc.
The next morning after breakfast I joined a group going to Payne Cave (Barren Co., KY), a horizontal cave which
has been known since the 1780's. I hitched a ride in the bed of one of the pickup trucks going, and soon we were
caravaning down the road. A short ten minutes from Speleofest we were at the parking spot, and suited up for the
quarter mile walk to the cave. The group this time was mixed - Windy City Grotto cavers, Kentucky cavers, a girl
from Vermont, and numerous others - probably 20 people ended up being in the cave at any one time. The cave was
a major saltpeter mining site, and prior to that it was a major indian site (lots of excavations were made many
years ago). The cave featured easy dry walking passage with some graffitti and beer cans. Six entrances and some
mazy areas made for some interesting navigation. I hung out with a Kentucky caver and the girl from Vermont, and
the three of us saw nearly all of the two mile cave. The high point of the trip came at our point of furthest penetration,
Histo Hall, where the three of us came upon a colony of more than 6000 Myotis clustered on the ceiling. Our presence
caused them to take flight (and, simultaneously, urinate all over us!) in a huge swirl of bat wings, screeches
and fluttering. It was very, very exciting - I can't begin to describe the experience, but none of the three of
us would have missed it for anything*. Some of the bats (a few thousand) scattered down passage, where other cavers
encountered them. On our way out of the cave, one person found a perfect 2 inch long arrowhead.
That evening featured banquet, guest speakers (with a slide show by well-known cave photographer John Van Swearingen),
and a fine door-prize drawing that include a Petzel Mega, a Pelican case, and 275 feet of rope. Of course, I didn't
win a thing in spite of the pretty good odds. Later that evening I participated in a cave dig that was within walking
distance of the Speleofest site. We never broke into big passage, but had a fine time hauling rocks out of hole
blowing cold air.
Monday morning we finally got our obligatory heavy rain, just in time for all our gear to get totally soaked prior
to packing the car. Then came the drive home. I ended up driving 920 miles over the course of the weekend, but
I wouldn't have wanted to miss all the fine caving and socializing!
*Note: A couple weeks later, I talked to John MacGregor - a bat guy with Daniel Boone National Forest - he told
me that what we had seen was a known Gray Bat colony, and Payne Cave should not have been featured at Speleofest.
I wouldn't have gone to the cave if I'd had that information.
On the morning of the 17th of May, I met Genie Schropp (LEG) in Waterloo, Illinois and we drove west into Missouri
(with only a minor diversion off of our intended route). By noon, we were in Rolla, just in time to miss the Missouri
Speleological Survey meeting. We chatted with the heated speleopoliticians as they came out of the meeting, then
everyone drove out of town to a nice park in the country for a picnic that was supposed to be for people who helped
with NSS convention. There was plenty of food, and mooching etiquette required that we show up and help eat and
drink beer, even if we didn't do a whole lot at convention. It was a beautiful day, and all ate well. Joe Walsh
showed some slides, and Rob Tayloe got some graduation presents. It was nice to have some time to talk with the
various Missouri cavers. Genie and I wanted to go in a cave, so we got directions to nearby Hog Pen Cave from Rob
Tayloe. The usual, go down the road, turn here, turn there, park by the trailer, hike down the draw, you can't
miss it. Rob's directions were fine, with the minor detail that the trail we were supposed to park by no longer
existed, and a cable across the road blocked the route to the parking spot. We decided that the change in circumstances
called for a trip abort, especially since we were in someone else's caving turf.
Instead, we drove east to Meramec State Park, where we camped with huge hoards of people from St. Louis. Our immediate
neighbors were the worst of the lot - they seemingly could not conceive of life without a radio station, and blared
out tasteless music late into the night through a tiny radio featuring poor reception and bad acoustics. We finally
asked them to turn off the radio at 10:30 pm. Later in the night, I was awakened by the sound of one of these lovely
people vomiting - too much bud light I guess. Anyway, before dinner, we hiked off in the darkness in search of
Sheep Cave, which I had been to some five years earlier. It was widely scattered dark, and we didn't find the cave.
The next morning, we were greeted by a bunch of 13-year cicadas (Brood XIX, if you care), which were crawling up
trees, grasses, the tent, just whatever they could find, and emerging from there nymphal skins. After a tasty breakfast,
we walked over to Indian Cave, which is really not to bad considering its proximity to gobs of citified campers.
We hiked around a bit before breaking camp, visited the gated entrance to Fisher Cave, then went over to Sheep
Cave, which I found almost immediately. Its amazing how easy it is to find a cave when you can see. Sheep Cave
is bigger than Indian Cave, and makes for a very easy tourist trip in surface cloths. We toured the entire cave
and took more pictures.
Next stop was a 'real' cave, Hamilton Spring Cave (not too far from Hamilton Cave and Hamilton Spring). For this
cave, we put on real cave gear. Ducking through the small funnel-like entrance, we were immediate in a large room/passage.
We poked about, letting our eyes adjust to the darkness, then headed further into the cave, squinching through
sticky wet mud and admiring the pretties. A few stoopwalks and a crawl or two later, we were at the edge of a large,
sticky, wet mud field that spanned the width of the passage. After a false start, we worked our way into the boot-sucking
mud (knee deep in places), and managed to cross over to a breakdown pile without any serious problems. A few more
stoops and crawls brought us to the end of the cave. On the way out, we stopped for more photos of the formations.
We washed up a bit at Hamilton Spring in the sunshine before loading back into the car.
The drive back to Illinois was marred by a traffic accident somewhere up ahead of us that had the interstate traffic
reduced to a very slow crawl. We finally were able to ditch the interstate for backroads, and made it back to Waterloo
in good spirits. Here we parted ways, and I drove another three hours back to my home here in the corn desert.