Project Date:  October 8-11, 1999

Reported by:  Dale Barnard

Report Date:  October 27, 1999

Volunteer Hours: 232.25

Personnel: (51 folks)

Aaron Addison	Aimee Beveridge	Amanda Finke
Andrea K. Moore	Andy Gluesenkamp	Ben Wright
Brian Gaas	Brian McLaughlin	Brian Trowbridge
Chad Kocurek	Charley Savvas	Dale Barnard
David E. Gers	David Turner	Debbie Blackburn
Don Abercrombie	Eric Bubeck	Eric Flint
Felicia Vreeland	Howard Haddock	Jeff Farroni
Jeff Rank	Jena Honeycutt	Jonathan Wilson
Julie McGilvray	Julie Sandefur	Kimberley Davis
Kiran Aithala	Leticia Trowbridge	Melonie Alspaugh
Meredith Turner	Nicholas Abercrombie	Paige Baugher
Paul Trowbridge	Penny Taylor	Randy Brown
Roberta Snider	Robin S. Havens	Shrik Aithala
Steve Wear	Stevie Turner	Sunit Sikri
Teri Hart	Terry Holsinger	Tim Stich
Todd R. Seibel	Travis Scott	Val Sheppard
Wade Larson	Will Harris	Yvonne Schmiedecke

 
 

 Our first project weekend of the season turned out to be one of the largest ever. A great deal of work was collected from 10 teams. The weather made for perfect indoor/outdoor work, although it did cause a fair deal of bad-air situations in some caves.

Team 1: Howard Haddock, Wade Larson, Yvonne Schmiedecke, Jeff Rank, Jeff Farroni
Time: 6.5 hours * 5 people = 32.5 hours

This team looked for previously discovered caves to write descriptions. They never found SAB219 or SAB181. They consider that SAB195 is really more of a karst feature than a cave and should be tagged with a K-number. They noted the nice geologic features around SAB198, 195, 196, and 186. They wrote descriptions of SAB182, 186, 198, 195, and 196 in the Windmill Pasture.

Team 2: Jonathan Wilson, Eric Bubeck, Randy Brown, Roberta Snider
Time: 4 hours * 4 people = 16 hours

 This team entered SAB18 and started the survey in the big room below the vertical entrance (SAB192). They surveyed approximately 70 meters into bad air and exited out SAB18. They then reentered the vertical entrance and surveyed out to the surface and over to SAB18. They did report that the clinometer was sticky (it had TSA written on it) so the data may not be perfect.

Team 3: Dale Barnard, Ben Wright, Debbie Blackburn, Brian Gaas
Time: 6 hours * 4 people = 24 hours
 We found a new “cave” on the way to SAB252 and 253 that we tagged SAB292 and called “Grand Cedar Cave” because the tag is on a huge cedar trunk. It is an entrance about 110 degrees across the valley from the red gate, just before the crest. It needs a little work to open the entrance enough to get in. We then found SAB253 and 252 by doing systematic ridge walking. We tried to survey SAB252 (Elmo’s Hole), but did only two shots. Only Debbie fit into the cave and the air was too bad. We successfully surveyed SAB253 (porcupine Cave) in 3 shots and then tied it back to SAB292 (Great Cedar Cave) using surface survey in 15 shots. The notes for SAB253 are in Dale’s Book 2.

Team 4: Tim Stich, Julie McGilvray, Sunit Sikri
Time: 4.25 hours * 3 people = 12.75 hours

 This team was sent to locate and enter the caves SAB234, 235, and 236. They encountered bad air in the entrance of Red Gate Cave. It was even worse at -18 meters so they drew a sketch and photographed the entrance. At SAB235, they said that the entrance promises to really trap someone vertically since it is so small. They entered the crevice of SAB236 and easily climbed down, but the passage is too tight to get down on one’s stomach to crawl. The air quality was fine, though. Julie photographed this entrance.

Team 5: Will Harris, Julie Sandefur, Andrea K. Moore, Steve Wear, Jena Honeycutt
Time: 2.5 hours * 5 people = 12.5 hours

 This team began the survey of A.S.S. Hole from the surface and did 5 stations before the air was too bad to breathe. There is a lot more passage left to survey.

Team 6: Travis Scott, Amanda Finke, Chad  Kocurek, Todd R. Seibel
Time: 6.5 hours * 4 = 26 hours

 This team hiked to the Windmill Pasture to begin their descriptions at SAB186 (Nopalitos), then SAB196, then Dog and Butterfly Cave, then SAB194 (Sore Back Cave). They may have been to SAB193, but they were not sure. The then went to Don’t Fit Pit and found bad air as usual. They then went to Horseshoe Crevice, Gorman Creek Crevice, and Mystery Hole before returning to the car.

Team 7: Melonie Alspaugh, Robin S. Havens, Charlie Savvas, Andy Gluesenkamp
Time: 9 hours * 4 people = 36 hours

 This team removed a bunch of trash from Horseshoe in the east passage. The passage doesn’t currently continue, but it might be diggable. They surveyed back about 45 meters and there is a little more to survey.

Team 8: Aimee Beveridge, Aaron Addison, David Turner, Meredith Turner, Kimberly Davis, Val Sheppard
Time: 7 hours * 5 = 35 hours

 This team spent 3 hours searching for Beginner’s Luck (SAB213). They found a cave that fit the surface description of a previous map, but the SAB tag was mislabeled as SAB112. They surveyed the entire cave. They noted one bat on the ceiling and various bones on the floor, probably from a small rodent. Aimee said that she wants a lot more practice sketching. Her notes are looking better, though.

Team 9: Terry Holsinger, Teri Hart, Paige Baugher, Shrik Aithala, Kiran Aithala
Time: 3.5 hours * 5 people = 17.5 hours

 This team ended up at Stone Cactus Cave where Holsinger taught surveying basics. They completed the survey in about five survey shots. They then hiked down to Gorman Spring and Gorman Falls and the spring below the falls and rode back with Penny Taylor.

Team 10: Penny Taylor, Don Abercrombie, Nicholas Abercrombie, Stevie Turner, Felicia Vreeland.
Time: 5 hours * 4 people = 20 hours (does not include Penny Taylor)

 This team assisted Penny Taylor in carrying gear into and out of Gorman Cave and assisted her in her scientific experiments.

What Should Be Done Next:
· SAB219 and 181 need to be relocated and a described since Team 1 was unsuccessful at finding them this trip.
· Consider retagging SAB195 as a karst feature.
· Team 1 said that SAB195, 199, 193 don’t have tags.
· Team 2 mentioned SAB18 and SAB192 being the same cave. Is this true? Then remove a tag.
· Get the clinometer fixed that Team 2 said was sticking (said TSA on it).
· Team 2 said that the SAB192 survey should be resumed from the “rock with the rock with the stick near the rock.” Dale said that he has already surveyed this and the notes need to be located.
· Team 3 said to survey SAB252 (Elmo’s Hole) when the air quality improves. Only shrimpy people like Debbie will fit (really!).
· Team 3 said that SAB292 needs a little entrance work to become enterable and surveyed.
· SAB253 needs to be drafted.
· Team 4 said that SAB234 is promising.
· Team 5 said that A.S.S. Hole needs a tag (does it have a number assigned?) and the survey needs to be resumed when the air improves.
· Team 7 said that there is a little survey remaining in Horseshoe Crevice and a possible dig lead in the east passage.