Peronal: Jim Kennedy, Jody Horton, Jula Germany, Aimee Beveridge, David Turner, Derek Nash, Karen K Perry, Anne Murphee, Kristie Bennett, Joe Ranzae, Allan Wong, Chris Heuss, Butch Fralia, Benjamin Heuss, Keith Heuss, Sharon Mastbrook, Logan McNatt, Diane Ralph, Ron Ralph, Ed Sevcik, Colin Strickland, Evan Strickland, Jocie Strickland, Pete Strickland, Russ Johnson, Aaron Miller, Howard Haddock, Jonathon Wilson, Dale Barnard, Jay Jordan, Christy Quintana, Andy Grubbs, Al Reiley, Coby Arnold, Will Harris, Travis Scott, Julie Sandefur, Terry Holsinger, Jack Guinn, Mike Bittinger, Stephen Vaughn, Colin Berry, Ragan Green, William Russell, Gill Ediger, Justin Shaw, James Lopez, Trish Wilson, Dan Hogenauer, Pete Baron, Gerald L. Atkinson, Linda Palit, George Veni, Ed Sevcik, Robert Albach, and Carl Ponebshek.

Team one was Jim Kennedy, Jody Horton, Jula Germany. The proceeded to Close Shave in the third attempt to enlarge the entrance, so that normal sized people could enter. Untill this trip only Randy "Plastic Man" Brown was the only one to enter the cave, being stopped by a lack of rope at an unclimbable drop. This time Jim and Jody were able to move a large rock and proceed. Rigging from a tree aovethe entrance, they dropped the pit, finding the air quality only a litte "foul". Moving rocks from the crack in the bottom, they managed to get another 20 feet of passage filled with really bad air. The tem did not do any survey, but plan on returning next month to survey the cave. A few photos were take of this pretty cave. After leaving Close Shave, the team proceed to Pearsons Lost Cave. After shotting up the last photos on the roll they headed back to camp.
Total hours for team one: 24.0

Team Two was Aimee Beveridge, David Turner, and Derek Nash. Takeing advantage of the clenseing effect of the cold weather, they went to Blue Ribbon Cave to survey it. They were turned back from the final drop and the apperrant passage at the bottom by Bad Air. They reported that the cave is nicly decorated, and had many old cans, glass jar2s, and other broken glass.
Total Hours for team two: 12.0

Team Three was Karen K Perry, Anne Murphee, Kristie Bennett, Joe Ranzae, Allan Wong, Chris Heuss. This team decided that they wanted to do some type of restoration work. They headed of tho New Orleans Cave to continue the trash haul. After removing about 10 "5 gallon" buckets of broken glass and beer cans, they decided that wat was needed was a smaller person tho fit in the small crawl to retrive all the last of the trash.
Total hours for team three: 30

Team four was Butch Fralia, Benjamin Heuss, Keith Heuss, Sharon Mastbrook, Logan McNatt, Diane Ralph, Ron Ralph, Ed Sevcik, Colin Strickland, Evan Strickland, Jocie Strickland, and Pete Strickland.
 Three years ago, Logan McNatt, Archaeologist, Old Time Caver and now Texas Parks and Wildlife Employee participated in an Archaeological Survey of Colorado Bend State Park. That survey team was made up of ten people who worked on the project for 157 man-days or three weeks. During the process of this intense "Ridge Walk", Logan found time to note cave and Karst features he happened to pass by and mark their locations on a park map.
  Logan was able to attend the February work trip and bring his notes from the Archaeological Survey. A team of cavers was formed to relocate and gather data on as many of the sites as possible in the time allowed by a single weekend. The data gathering was to consist of taking GPS locations and if possible without vertical gear, enter the feature at least far enough to determine if it would meet the minimum requirement of five meters to be considered a cave. The GPS location data would be taken with a Garmin 12XL using 10 minute average samples (600 readings averaged over ten minutes) and a military GPS unit. The military unit would be operated by Keith Heuss and the Garmin by Butch Fralia.
 The day began with Butch, Keith and Ron Ralph, working with the military GPS to 1) set it up for the proper calibration, and 2) figure out if they could even use it without having to attend a military class "C" school. They were successful on both counts though it was touch and go for awhile. The military unit was set to use the MGRS (Military Grid System) that is supposed to be it’s most accurate mode. MGRS is the equivalent of UTM with the first two digits of the easting and northing measurements removed.
 After setting up the Military GPS, Butch, Keith and Logan reviewed Logan’s marked up topographic park maps. Those locations that coincided with known caves were omitted from the list to be checked on this day. The intention was to locate features that didn’t coincide with the location of a known cave or feature.
 The group left camp and went to their first stop - the gravel pile. SAB256 - Gravel Suck Hole#1 is right beside the gravel pile. It has the distinction of being one of the caves located with a precision DGPS system several years ago. Keith took a reading with the military unit and noticed it was about twenty meters off from the precision measurement taken a few years ago.
 After examining the map and determining the approximate distance and direction SAB256, the team walked to the designated area and located the first karst feature. Keith took a location measurement with the Military GPS while Butch did a ten minute average using the Garmin 12XL. Jocie Strickland entered the cave and reported there were three passages leading off. The depth of the cave was measured at 5.8 meters. The TSS has designated that a cave will have five meters of horizontal or vertical passage or a combination of both. The cave must be humanly enterable. With the depth already at five meters and passages leading off, that constituted CAVE! The Cave was flagged, tagged as SAB284 then photographed. As yet, the cave has not been named. The distance and azimuth from SAB256 was calculated as .14 miles at seven degrees. That will help those without the benefit of GPS for ground navigation to find the cave.
 Leaving this new cave, the team headed for another location Logan had recorded near Gorman Creek. On the way, they stopped at SAB210 - Fern Pit. Pictures were taken of the entrance and Keith once again took a reading with the Military GPS to compare with precision measurements taken previously. The measurements were twenty and thirty meters off from the previously taken precision measurements. They completed that task then moved on to Logan’s find.
 Logan’s find turned out to qualify as a cave and was tagged SAB285. The cave is a deep fissure, not enterable by normal sized people. Colin Strickland entered the cave and guided the tape measure to the floor. The entrance depth of the cave is 12.1 meters with probable passage from there. The entrance length is 3.6 meters trending to 28 degrees azimuth. The entrance photographed, then GPS measurements taken with both the military GPS and Garmin 12XL.
 On the way back to the gravel pile and vehicles, Vine Pit was visited. Although digging is possible, this entrance does not lead into a cave at this time. The entrance was photographed and tagged as K13 (Karst feature #13). Keith took Military GPS readings and the team returned to the cars and enjoyed a short lunch before moving on to the next location.
 The next location was in Gorman Pasture, thought to be about 300’ from the corner fence post. It turned out to be a bit further than that, more like 750’. The entrance is 2.2 meters long, 1.2 meters wide. It was entered by Jocie Strickland, determined to be 3 meters in depth with about 2.2 meters of passage. The cave was tagged as SAB286. Jocie reported the cave as having a dirt and (fist sized) rubble floor, and will need digging to go any further. The walls are banded with green moss. The entrance was photographed and GPS recorded from both GPS units.
 Two more karst features were visited and tagged as K14 and K15. They were photographed, and GPS’d. K15 was entered by Jocie Strickland who reported a live skunk in the entrance. The skunk was curious about Jocie but not intimidated enough to offer up a smelly surprise.
 Comparing the Military GPS with the precision measurements indicated it was not in the precision mode. The measurements were discarded as without the Y signal code to put in the GPS, it’s accuracy is comparable with Civilian GPS. It was determined that the Garmin 12XL with it’s built in averaging feature was statistically more accurate and retaining the Military readings only confuses the issue.
 That ended the volunteer work day, the team started at 10:00 AM and returned to camp at 5:00 PM logging 84 hours volunteer time.
 

Cave Location Data

K13 - Vine Pit (karst feature) (taken while returning to vehicles)

DGPS +/- 4 meters:  XXXXXX XXXXXX

K14 - (karst feature)

Garmin 12XL (10 minute average) XXXXXX XXXXXX

K15 - (karst feature)

Garmin 12XL (10 minute average) XXXXXX XXXXXX

SAB213 -Beginers Luck (taken while returning to vehicles)

DGPS +/- 4 meters  XXXXXX XXXXXX

SAB210 - Fern Pit (taken on the way to SAB285)

DGPS +/- 4 meters  XXXXXX XXXXXX

SAB216 - Two Fissure Cave (taken while passing looking for other caves)

Garmin 12XL (10 minute average) XXXXXX XXXXXX

SAB256 - Gravel Suck Hole#1:

DGPS +/- 4 meters:   XXXXXX XXXXXX

SAB284 - (Unnamed Cave)

Garmin 12XL (10 min Avg)  XXXXXX XXXXXX

Description: The cave was first entered by Jocie Strickland. She entered the cave and reported three passages leading off. The depth of the cave is 5.8 meters and climable. The cave was flagged, photographed (entrance) and tagged. The cave is located .14 miles from SAB256 at seven degrees azimuth.

SAB285 - (Unnamed Cave)

Garmin 12XL (15 minute avg.) XXXXXX XXXXXX

Description: Located by Logan McNatt during an Archeological survey. The cave can be entered by very small people. Colin Strickland was lowered into the cave by his dad Pete. He guided the tape measure to the floor and the entrance depth was measured at 12.1 meters with probable passage. The entrance length is 3.6 meters, trending to 28 degrees azimuth. The entrance was photographed and the cave tagged.

SAB286 - (unnamed cave)

Garmin 12XL (10 minute avg) 1XXXXXX XXXXXX

Description: Located by Logan McNatt during an Archaeological Survey. The cave is in Gorman Pasture, about 750’ from the NW corner post. The entrance is 2.2 meters long, 1.2 meters wide. It was entered by Jocie Strickland, determined to be 3 meters in depth with about 2.2 meters of passage. The cave was tagged as SAB286. Jocie reported the cave as having a dirt and (fist sized) rubble floor, and will need digging to go any further. The walls are banded with green moss. The entrance was photographed, tagged and GPS data recorded.

NOTE: All location data referenced to NAD27.

Team Five was Russ Johnson, Aaron Miller, Howard Haddock, and Jonathon Wilson.
I reported to camp with hesitant enthusiasm for what lay ahead. A trip into the dreaded Gorman Creek Crevice. Mr. Holsinger's enthusiasm was much more upbeat (as is easy from the comfort of camp). "We'll get you a team," he explained, "just take a right, then a left, and you are at the pit." Fair enough. I recalled a conversation at the Posse when I mentioned to Terry Whitfield that "they" said there was a pit in the far reaches of Gorman Crevice. Her response was quick..."So THAT was how they convinced you to go." This had weighed heavily on me for several days, I imagined a slot far too narrow for my considerable girth as the reward for my pain. Saturday morning, I prepared for the inevitable whilst lamenting the previous evening's lost battle with beer and prickly pear. Upon arriving at Terry's "office," that is, his van, he happily read off the names of the suckers who were to accompany me. Later, "Nice knowing you," was the last farewell we heard as we drove off to our fate.
 Team Members: Russ "Haunted by the knowledge" Johnson Aaron "Terry must hate me" Miller Howard "The ASS caver" Haddock Jonathon "Pooper Trooper" Wilson
 Obligatory cross-pasture wanderings brought us to a nice entrance in the side of a wash. Howard went in, and when he did not immediately return, I followed. The hole led to the entrance fissure of GCC...well, that is one way to find it. Soon we were crawling and crawling. Later we were crawling and crawling. It did not seem half as bad as I remembered. Beautiful chert nodules hang from the (very low) ceiling, I particularly like the circular ones. I was surprised when we made it to the first intersection, the harsh part was over, and the crawl, so horrible by the standards of memory, had seemed easy. The other members of the team weren't like minded. I had the advantage of knowing of and preparing myself for what I was getting into. Howard was lugging a camera and associated gear in a large steel ammo box. I'm sure he was wondering why. Jonathon was already listing the favors he would require before ever returning. The first turn rewarded our labors by allowing some regular hands and knees crawl, then a bit of water (now we were getting somewhere). Before we knew it we were walking, but not far, as the pit replaced progress with delight. A real pit dropped off in front of us. The pit was smooth walled, very vertical, sort of star shaped, and had a trickle of water dropping down it's 30+ foot depth. A muddy funnel filled the room in which the pit was located. Here Howard took some photos, lowering a slave unit and flash down the drop on a piece of muddy accessory cord that we found right next to the lip. I believe this was the means of Kevin Stafford's legendary gearless descent and ascent last year. A few more pics were shot in a neat little side crevice (and possibly a dome lead) near the pit. This crevice showcased more spectacular (at least in my mind) chert layers and protrusions. At last we crawled back toward the entrance, and picked up our previously dropped field book on the way. The crawl out reminded me of why people don't like this cave, it was very tiring, slightly masochistic, excruciatingly long, bordering on torturous, you get the idea. Each time I thought I was near the entrance, I would turn a corner only to see more crawl as far as my illumi would nate. But it won't deter me from going back, because the survey badly needs completion, and I hear tell that there is a dig at the bottom of the pit. I hope a good time was had by all. I do know that we all enjoyed the catfish dinner, (thanks to Carl Ponebshek) that awaited us at camp, and kudos go to Jonathon for entertaining many a caver with beautiful vistas of Saturn through his telescope.
Total hours for team five: 25.0

Team Six was Dale Barnard, Jay Jordan, and Christy Quintana. The first order of busniss was to show Team Seven the way to the Lost Petzl System. After this they headedout to the Livly Pasture to try and finish up some loose ends. However they"got distracted" by a copuleof "new" features that were visable from the hiking trail. They surface surveyed from SAB 194 to the newly tagged SABK21 and then on to SAB291. They then surveyed SAB291 and thenreturned to camp. They feel that this area needs some more work to be sure all the caves and features are documented.
Total hours for team six: 16.5

Team Seven was Andy Grubbs, Al Reiley, and Coby Arnold. They visited the Lost Petzl System and photographed a portion of the cave. If these come out they will help with the visual documentation of the caves.

Team Eight was Will Harris, Travis Scott, and Julie Sandefur. They went to SABXXX (A Mother Pit) to start the survey. They completed the survey, but need to return to improve the plan detail.
Totsl hours for team eight: 13.5

Team Nine was Terry Holsinger, Jack Guinn, Mike Bittinger, Stephen Vaughn, Colin Berry, and Ragan Green. This team went and GPS a few cave locations near camp that had not yet been located.
Total hours for team nine: 12.0

Missing sLink XXXXXX XXXXXX

small lead nead pond XXXXXX XXXXXX

Snake Charmer  XXXXXX XXXXXX

sab255 G-String Cave XXXXXX XXXXXX
datum is NAD27.

Team Ten was Linda Palit, George Veni, and Robert Albach. They returned to SAB185(Ricotta Razor Rift) to finish the survey. This cave had been surveyed in 1991, however the notes have been "lost" through a copule of moves. The survey has been finished and next step is to finish the map. While in the cave, George Veni noticed the folloing critters: 3 types of snail, cicurina varians, 2-3 other types of spider, cameala speoeia, ceuthophilus cunicvuris and c. Sceretus, springtails, rejuvid beetle, staphalind beetles, and mesquitoes (some spellings may be incorect).
Total hours for team: 12.0

Total hours for the weekend: 229.0

This weekend the TSA-CBP hosted the TSA winter meeting. As such there were a few others who showed up Saturday afternoon just for the meeting the next morning. They are:
A team went to Gorman Cave on saturdaynight for a trip to check the air quility behind the gate. When they reached the gate it was noted that the lock was in need of replacing, the years in the humid cave air and the time it spends underwater during floods, has reduced it to most marginal. The gate itself is also in need of repair as the hinges have rusted so badly that it will almost not open. It is felt tha the next trip behind the gate will reselt in the braking of the hinges. A simple reppair eill be to remove the gate and install a copule of tabs to replace the hinges. This and a new lock should restore the gate to its proper function. One note,Justin Shaw, well know skinny Austin caver, managed to squeeze throught the bars of the gate (5 ¾ inches). We had a key to try and open the new gate to SAB XX (Gorman Falls Cave) to see if the reports of "trash" in the entrance drop sires had any relevance. And to check the air quility in prepration for taking some water samples. However we were unable to make it over to the cave (behind the confrance center) due to the shortness of time. All in all a productive weekend.