Twenty Years of Owning Diamond Caverns

Home , Pit Cave, Show cave, Sump (cave)

2 CRF NEWSLETTER Twenty Years of Owning Volume 47, No. 3 established 1973 Diamond Caverns Send all articles and reports for submission to: By: Stan Sides, Partner, Laura Lexander, Editor Diamond Caverns LLC laura.lexander@cave-research.org 21551 SE 273rd Ct., Maple Valley, WA 98038 Twenty years ago, Wednesday, July 7, 1999 Mayo and Larry McCarty, Carol and Roger The CRF Newsletter is a quarterly publication of the Cave McClure, Judy and Gordon Smith, and Kay and Research Foundation, a non-profit organization incorpo- Stan Sides all met at Attorney Kevin Brooks' rated in 1957 under the laws of Kentucky for the purpose office at Bowling Green, negotiated final issues of furthering research, conservation, and education about with the owner, and closed on ownership for caves and karst. Diamond Caverns, becoming new owners at about 5:00 pm. Kay and I returned to the cave Newsletter Submissions & Deadlines: seven days later to assist Mayo and Larry in Original articles and photographs are welcome. If intend- running Diamond Caverns, as Judy and Gordon, ing to jointly submit material to another publication, please and Roger were in Idaho at the NSS Convention. inform the CRF editor. Publication cannot be guaranteed, Thus began our challenging and fun -filled years especially if submitted elsewhere. All material is subject to as cavers and spouses owning a commercial revision unless the author specifically requests otherwise. cave attraction. For timely publication, please observe these deadlines: Diamond Caverns was discovered July 14, February issue by December 1 1859. This means that the cave has now been May issue by March 1 known for 160 YEARS! The first tour given was August issue by June 1 on August 19, 1859, for the Kennedy bridal par- November issue by September 1 ty. We have many memories of National Caves Before submitting material, please see publication Association conventions we ’ve enjoyed togeth- guidelines at: www.cave-research.org er, the fellowship with past partners, social time NEWSLETTER STAFF: with the Vernon McDaniel family, our many Content Editor: Laura Lexander, business meetings, and enjoyable trips in the [email protected] cave. We are now moving forward with the Na- Layout/Photos: Ralph Earlandson, tional Cave Museum as the foremost collection [email protected] of historic materials from show caves. Mailing: Bob Hoke, [email protected] Owning and managing our show cave enter- prise has been an inestimable joy because of our ©2019 Cave Research Foundation treasured mutual fellowship as owners, excel- Cave Research Foundation Board of Directors lent ongoing management, and fine employees. President - Dave West, [email protected] Congratulations on our two decades of owner- Vice President - Kayla Sapkota, [email protected] ship, and that we still believe in this historic Secretary - Joyce Hoffmaster show cave. Hamilton Valley Director - Pat Kambesis Ed Klausner, Derek Bristol, Joyce Hoffmaster, Elaine Garvey, Bob Lerch, John Lyles, Ben Miller, Kayla Sapkota, Jenn Ellis On the Cover Operations Council Group photo before the hike to a Buffalo Scott House (Ozarks), John Tinsley (Lava Beds), Karen National River. Left to right: Cody Brooks, Willmes (Eastern), Janice Tucker (Carlsbad Caverns), Fofo Brent Wilkins, Matt Beeson, Kayla Sapkota, Co- Gonzalez and Jen Hopper (Sequoia/Kings Canyon) rey Maize, Mandy Harris, James Gould, Hannah Sanders, and Dillon Freiburger. Photo by Mark For information about the CRF contact: Brooks. Dave West 3418 University Pl. Baltimore, MD 21218-2831 [email protected] Donations to CRF should be sent to: Bob Hoke, CRF Treasurer 6304 Kaybro St. Laurel, MD 20707-2621 [email protected]

Exploration in the World’s Longest Cave By: Brian Williams

On December 2nd, 2017, the world ’s longest The state of Kentucky is underpinned with cave got a little bit longer. The Roppel 2017 karst (limestone), and driving across the plateau Sump Exploration Team discovered and surveyed the sinkhole karst plain is evident in the many new passage, extending under South Toohey depressions and swales. While Tennessee has Ridge through the Logsdon River Sump. This the most “dry” caves, Kentucky has some of the achievement was made possible through the ef- longest and at one time, 14 of the longest caves forts of a host of cavers and scientists working in the world were found in KY. Another inter- on this sump exploration project started over 30 esting fact is that the ninth longest cave in the years ago. world is the Fisher Ridge Cave System and the known passage lies less than two miles east of Mammoth Cave National Preserve is a World the Mammoth Cave Preserve boundary. It ’s a Heritage site near Bowling Green, Kentucky, “well-known secret ” that some of the passage in with evidence of use by man dating back 4000 Fisher Ridge is mere meters away from passages years. World renowned for many aspects of its in the Mammoth system. It is most likely that geology and history but without a doubt it is these two cave systems connect, but to date, no best known for the distinction of the longest one has made the connection. It ’s also a mapped cave in the entire world. It ’s longer by “known secret ” that the cavers working on the half than its next closest competitor. To date, Fisher Ridge system do not want it connected to as announced at the Cave Research Foundation ’s Mammoth as they will lose their place on the annual meeting in October, the length of sur- longest cave list because Fisher Ridge would veyed passage in Mammoth is 412 miles. To put officially become part of the larger Mammoth that into perspective, the second longest mapped System. (Project cavers that spend their lives cave system in the world is Sistema Sac Actun mapping caves can be a little ‘possessive’.) (Nohoch Nah Chich) in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Sometimes cave systems are connected via dry At 208 miles, Sac Actun is mostly all underwa- passage and sometimes by underwater passage. ter. The second longest dry cave is Jewel Cave Either way, years of effort and exacting survey in Custer, South Dakota at 182 miles and the often produce the data needed to understand longest dry cave outside the USA, Opty- where the connections may lie. Sometimes it ’s mistychna, in the Ukraine is number six on the through diligent caving and sometimes just list at 147 miles. lucky breaks. When Roppel Cave was connected

to Mammoth in 1983, Roppel itself was over 80 Ridge had been found and therefore no explora- miles long, but once connected to Mammoth it tion under this extensive area had been accom- was removed from the world’s long cave list as plished even though it held great potential, and it was now part of a larger Mammoth system. some suspected it could add over 100 more So that brings us to the project we have miles to Mammoth cave. All the members of the been working on for over ten years: the original sump team had since passed away and Logsdon River Sump in the Roppel Cave section no one had taken up the project. of Mammoth Cave. The first entrance to Roppel A word about the dangers of sump diving. was discovered by Jim Borden in the early Cave diving is inherently dangerous, and sump 1970’s, and the Roppel to Mammoth connection diving is exponentially more dangerous. A sumo was made by a group of dedicated cavers that is defined as a water filled passage inside a dry had been pushing exploration leads in both sys- cave that can be flowing out like a spring or in tems. Cave maps overlaid on topo maps showed like a siphon. The term “sump” is used to de- the relative position and possible connection scribe both flows. Advances in diving and area between the two systems. Through the equipment have made cave diving safer but combination of accurate survey and hard cav- sump diving remains a dangerous form of explo- ing, connections are made, and exploration con- ration due to the combination of factors that are tinues to reveal new passage. not found in sport cave diving. Of the 5 previ- Cavers have been working on connecting ous sump team members, 4 perished in cave div- smaller caves to the Mammoth System since the ing accidents. early 1950’s. Many smaller caves were con- Caving can be challenging and dangerous, nected through concentrated efforts of survey but safety is always a top priority. Explorations and digging projects. Exploration and survey in any virgin cave system can be dangerous due continues and is supported in part by the Cave to a variety of hazards and when diving is add- Research Foundation, Central Kentucky Karst ed, the extremes of the environment and de- Collation and the National Park Service. mands on the cavers are increased. The stress 2009: Our involvement in the project started of exploration, time constraints, rugged envi- over 10 years ago when our team was contacted ronment, cold, mud, climbing, rockfall, and by a caver that was interested in the South general fatigue are all factors that contribute to Toohey Ridge exploration that was started back the hazards of exploration and our team works in the early 1990’s by a team of sump divers to mitigate these factors through training, expe- that had made a breakthrough by “cracking” the rience and preparation. sump in the upstream Logsdon river in Roppel. The following is a brief trip report from the No other surface entrance into South Toohey December 2017 exploration. 5 Logsdon River Sump Expedition 2017 vey at S25 (the last station from the 2015 dive). DECEMBER 1-4, 2017 The new survey began with SS1 and continued with that naming convention. The team surfaced Expedition Leader: Mark Wenner. in one large air bell at SS8, just 379’ past the Dive Team: Matt Vinzant, Mike Young, Jon old end of line. This was a 20’ tall dome but no Lillestolen. way to exit the water. Matt continued the survey Back-up Divers: Brian Williams, Josh Shouse. and the team emerged in large dry passage. The Support Team: Mark Wenner, Brian Williams, passage continued underwater for a total of Stephanie Petri, Bill Walker, Brian Buchanan, 1304’ in 32 stations from the 2015 EOL. Visi- Britt Hardwick, Jay Young, Erin Young, Josh bility was a milky 5-6’ and walls were not visi- Shouse, Ryan Olsen, Ray Clark, Joe Heinrich, ble for the majority of the dive. The survey was Charles Walker, Dave Weller, Kyle Moschelle. accomplished with a Seabear H3 digital compass The 2017 Roppel Expedition successfully and depth gauge mounted to a slate. Matt was explored and surveyed 1680 feet of new passage lead survey and indicates he does not believe beyond Sump 2, which included both underwater there are any questionable shots in the data set. and dry passage. Previous survey stations were Total dive time through Sump 2 was 62 minutes. located, verified and tied in. A radio beacon The team surfaced at a breakdown pile that was placed in Swicegood Avenue and surface appears to act as a choke point during flood work confirmed the location of the beacon. A stage. There was a small creek carrying the variety of new karst features were located dur- same base flow we saw overflowing at Sump ing the surface survey. A crew of 16 cavers 2. The rebreathers were ditched at the exit hauled gear to and from the sump, performed point and a quick reconnaissance was made of surface survey and provided field station sup- the passage. A large breakdown room measur- port over a three-day period. The gear haul ing 89’ x 55’ and 33’ high. They subsequently both in and out went smoothly which allowed named this the “Brian Williams Birthday Break- for the dive team to make maximum use of their down Room”. There were huge coarse sand time and energy. The surface location provided banks with large ripples forced over the break- additional data and confirmed passage location down in many places indicating heavy flow. The on South Toohey Ridge. upper levels have a fine layer of mud and dark The majority of the expedition arrived sharp flat rocks. A number of leads were pushed Thursday night at the Hamilton Valley Research but the team had to be cognizant they did not Facility. damage a drysuit. However, Young tore a hole On Friday, the haul team consisting of 14 in his boot at the easternmost end of the break- cavers and divers moved gear to the sump. The down chamber, where the going passage was staging room was set up, the drop to the river low with sharp protrusions and the decision was rigged and tanks moved to the mud bank at the made to survey out from that point. sump. On Saturday, the dive team entered the Once back into the stream Vinzant climbed cave with a smaller support crew of 6 and made over a large mud bank into the flowing water final preparations at the sump. The exploration and encountered a crawl ~16”h x 36”w carrying team of Mike Young and Matt Vinzant would be what he determined to be the majority of the diving rebreathers while support diver Jon Lillestolen would be on open circuit gear. The team began entering Sump 1 in intervals beginning with Jon Lilliestolen at 11:30 am. Mike Young then entered at 12:00 with Matt Vinzant entering at 12:30 pm. The dive through Sump 1 was uneventful and the team reconned on the upstream side of the sump and moved gear to Sump 2. Young begin exploration in Sump 2 while Jon and Matt cleaned up the survey tie in at Sump 2. Jill Heinerth and Jerry Murphy’s 2007 line utilized the same tie off as Ron and Roberta in 1985 (T01 from the 2015 survey). Using Ron and Wes ’s original survey notes they were able to locate WS16 at the edge of Sump 2. They tied T01 into WS16 and reshot T01 to S1 where the guideline meets the water surface at (S1 from my 2015 survey). All of the underwater survey in Sump 2 is tied now into WS16. Mike Young was lead exploration diver add- ing 1300’ of new line in Sump 2 beginning with station S24 and broke into dry passage after Mark Wenner, Expedition Leader at the Weller 1300 ft. Matt followed and began the new sur- Entrance to Roppel Cave. 6 flow. It was clean-washed and very sharp. At While the null was being pinpointed, Stephanie this point the team was within 20 minutes of the Petri explored into the woods along the edge of predetermined turnaround time and called the the field and found an approximately 8 ft x 25 ft end to the exploration. Vinzant feels that it is deep pit. Steph, Mark Wenner, Bill Walker and possible that past this breakdown area we will Charles Walker donned vertical gear, a rope was be back in larger river passage again. He detect- rigged and the pit explored to a breakdown ed no airflow but there was a large volume of choke. “Ginger pit ” was located at: N37 09’ sticks and other organic material captured in the 20.52, W85 59’ 59.28”, elevation 895’. This has small eddies of the river. The team surveyed a strong correlation with the A23 canyon in 376’ of dry passage in 16 stations. (Note: un- Swicegood. According to Simmons notes it ends derwater survey was in FEET and the dry survey in a low mud crawl at the top. None of us have was in METERS due to the Disto settings.) climbed to the end of that canyon. Additional While the push team was working in up- karst features were located during a short ridge stream Sump 2, Jon Lillestolen proceeded into walk of the surrounding area including a small Swicegood Avenue to deploy the Cave Radio stream coming from the field pond with water Transmitter (beacon) near our predetermined sinking at various locations leaving the stream location at A23. This gave the surface team a bed dry further down the gulley. Smaller fis- possible open location in the field, and a high sures and holes were discovered along the con- level place for the transmitter. It was the shal- tact line around the ridge. The surface team re- lowest option possible. A23 could not be located turned to the field station at approximately 5:30 but A24 was identifiable with carbide. Jon lev- for dinner. The dive team returned to the field eled a spot and surveyed it into A24. Note: The station at 12:45 surface team located a strong null at: N37 The success of this expedition can be direct- 09.324, W86 00.038 (8ft accuracy) Elevation ly attributed to the leadership of expedition co- 883' using a Garmin etrex 30x - Datum WGS84 - ordinator Mark Wenner, the experience of the -12/2/2017. The estimated depth based on the dive team, the strong motivation of the support CRL was 269ft (+/- 15'). Jon also tied Brian team, and the generosity of Dave Weller and Williams resurvey of Sump 1 into Ron and other and private landowners. This expedition Wes’s original survey with a single shot from would not be possible without the survey ob- the new tie off in the middle of the passage to tained by previous explorations and the infor- the old tie off on the north wall of the passage. mation provided by Jim Borden, Pat Kambesis At approximately 3:20 the surface locate Dave Weller, the CRF and CKKC. We would al- team proceeded to a location off South Toohey so like to thank the CRF for use of the Hamilton road determined using GPS and Google Earth Valley research facility and all the support per- KMZ files. Kyle Moshelle operated the receiv- sonnel who hauled gear and cooked food. Spe- ing unit at 3:30 and the radio signal was picked cial thanks to PK cleaning up the Field station up immediately. Kyle began triangulating the while the support team was removing gear from location with assistance from Dave Weller. the cave.

Support team and divers at “Crowbar Dome” prepare to move gear towards the Logsdon River sump. 7

Clockwise from upper left: Photos by Brian Williams except where indicated. Some of the team members getting ready to head in for diver support on Saturday. This is just one section of the 175 feet of ladders that must be negotiated in the entrance series to the beginning of passage zt the bot- tom of the Weller Entrance; Divers prep in the staging area above Logsdon River Sump; Matt Vin- zant prepares to enter Sump 1; Roppel 2017X divers Mike Young and Matt Vinzant head upstream toward Sump 2 after passing Sump 1 in Logsdon River. Photo by Jon Lillestollen; In the map room at the CRF research station. 8 This year’s team included: Mark Wenner, Matt 1:15: Support team exits cave. Vinzant, Brian Williams, Jon Lillestolen, Mike 9:15am- Radio locate crew proceeds to old Young, Joshua Shouse, Stephanie Petri, Brian radio locate position (2014 expedition). and Tiffany Buchanan, Kyle Moschell, Charles 11:30am: Radio locate team returns to Walker, Britt Hardwick, Bill Walker, Ryan Ol- Weller Entrance. son, Joe Heinrich, Jay and Erin Young & Pat 1:30pm: Radio locate team and support crew Kambesis. review KMZ files and determine approach to new radio locate position off South Toohey rd. November 30, 2017: 2:30 pm: Begin radio locate. Pinger signal Team Members begin arriving at CRF Field immediately detected. Station 1. Kyle Moshelle in charge of radio locate begin triangulation to determine null. Surface December 1, 2017: team spread out from field to edge of woods. 9am: Breakfast. Steph Petri located a pit entrance inside the 11-12: Team meeting, packing, logistics. wood near the contact – GPS: 37.1557, - 12:30pm: Arrive at Weller entrance. 85.9998. “Ginger Pit ” Pit was rigged and 1:30pm: Enter Weller entrance. Steph, Mark, Bill and Charlie enter pit. Ap- 3:30: arrive at sump with 18 bags of gear, proximately 30 foot drop to walking passage. 80lbs of lead located at changing room. Climb Passage ends in breakdown after approximately down to sump rigged with handline. All dive 30 ft. No survey. Kyle and Dave Weller locat- gear moved to sump landing. ed and marked null. Ridge -walking around edge 4:30: Leave sump. of field in woods revealed several other holes 5:45: Out of cave. and fissures. December 2, 2017: 5:00pm: return to field station for dinner 7am-9am: Breakfast and debriefing, distos (thanks PK). charged. December 3, 2017: 9:30am: Arrive at Weller Entrance. 12:40am: Dive Team returns to CRF Field 10:06am: Dive Team and support enter Station. Weller entrance. Support and film crew: Brian 8:00- 9:00am: Breakfast. Williams, Bill Walker, Charles Walker, Ryan 10:15 – Support team enters Weller entrance Olsen, Josh Shouse. for gear removal. 11:00am: Arrive at sump, diver prep. 12:55: Gear removal complete. All out, 12:00pm: Lead diver Jon Lillestolen departs. cave locked. 12:15pm: Mike Young departs. 1:15: Return to CRF to sort gear, clean field 12:30: Matt Vinzant departs, support team station, pack to leave. leaves sump area. 2:30: Majority of team members leave CRF.

Mike Young preps at the entrance to Logsdon River Sump 1. 9 REGIONAL EXPEDITION REPORTS

Lava Beds National Monument, Siskiyou County, California South Castle Flow Expedition, March 24-April 1, 2019 By: Scott House, Principal Investigator

Participants: Scott House, Don Dunham, Mark March 30, 2019 Jones, Dean Hill, Taavi Tajali, John Tinsley. Scott, Don, Mark, and Dean surveyed and inventoried: Work focused on an area in the South Castle S208: Ladybug Lair – 55 feet (but only Dean Flow but generally along or north of the old fire fit). -line road, now an unofficial trail.19 caves were S226: Every Which Way Cave - 90 feet but it surveyed and inventoried; the total survey foot- continues. age was 3,599 feet. S222: Western Front Cave - 380 feet: New cave. March 25, 2019 March 31, 2019 Scott, Don, Mark, and Taavi surveyed and in- Scott, Don, and Mark surveyed and inventoried: ventoried the following caves: S166a: Patpátli Tube – 229 feet. This cave went S165: The Stone Tent – 26 feet. under road and was connected to S166 by Jones. S166: Patpátli Tube – 168 feet. Total length of both was 397 feet. S239: Broken Blister Hole – 100 feet: New cave. S185: B. Grimm Cave – 182 feet. New cave. S235: Bushy Sink Cave – 177 feet: New cave. S182: Roadside Den – 59 feet. New cave. S220: Backdoor Bridge Cave 78 feet. April 1, 2019 March 26, 2019 Report writing, gear and clothes cleaning, Scott, Don, and Mark surveyed and inventoried: data entry, and other necessaries were done pri- S221: Short Grotto – 60 feet: New cave. or to leaving the following day. S230: Greenhouse Cave – 431 feet. Several potential caves previously located S232: Monkey Wrench Cave – 199 feet were too short and lacked other useful qualifiers S224: Pendant Portico Cave – 73 feet. for cave management. “Seldom Seen” (S202) is March 27, 2019 too short and insignificant to be considered a Day “o ff” (not in the field) for weather con- cave (it is a collapsed cave with 8 “entrances”), cerns, data entry, and gear cleaning. and we removed it from our list. We will continue to track it as a “lead.” March 28, 2019 Seven Townsend ’s big-eared bats (Coryno- The Three Musketeers surveyed and inventoried: rhinus townsendii) were found in various caves. S229: The Missing Link – 352 feet: New cave. Cultural and use descriptions were written and S228: Tilted Pillar Cave – 300 feet. the FileMaker database was updated during the March 29, 2019 week. All survey data was entered during the And the same three blokes surveyed and inven- field week. toried: Our thanks to the Monument staff (Katrina S210: Sheep Skull Cave - 300 feet. A new en- Smith and Pat Seiser) for facilitating our work, trance found the previous day was connected to providing housing, and loaning equipment, bed- this cave. ding, and boot repair materials. S194: Coralloid Crawl Cave – 200 feet. S198: Wide Tube Tunnel – 140 feet.

Left: Bob Osburn and Ed Klausner at Lava Beds. Right: Mark Jones and Miranda Allen at Lava Beds. Photos by Paul McMullen. 10 Lava Beds National Monument, April 22-29, 2019 By: Ed Klausner

The April expedition actually started two Next we headed to where we left off yester- days before Dave West and I arrived because day and finished the area. Finally, we headed Mark Jones was at Lava Beds doing volunteer back to an area that we found yesterday, but work and took intern Miranda Allen out to sur- didn’t finish. This turned out to be a rather vey. They surveyed two newly found caves in complex area and required dropping down about Elmer ’s Trench; Crown of Thorns Cave and ten feet in one area and five feet to a terminal Baked Potato Cave. shot. All in all, we got 247.8 feet of survey giv- Many of us arrived April 22nd and started ing 602.6 feet of total survey for Popcorn Pal- surveying on April 23rd. Dave West, John Tins- ace. The recon card said it was a measured 329 ley, and Liz Wolff are all principal investiga- feet. tors and will report separately. In the evening, intern Miranda Allen and On the first day, Mark Jones, Bob Osburn, Mark Jones went to two additional caves and park intern Miranda Allen, and I went to Drag- surveyed Dirt Floor Cave and Spidercorn Cave. on’s Head Cave to finish the survey started last On Friday, the 4th day of the expedition, year. We did with 425.5 feet of survey. We Mark Jones and Paul McMullen again joined me then went down flow to finish Sconchin Cave in Elmer’s Trench. We continued north of the and also Sconchin Well, finishing both of them. Fleener Chimney road by going to Rubble Trou- There were lots of ice stalagmites in Sconchin ble, found in 2018, but not surveyed due to the Cave and it was rather cold. presence of a bat. This is a cold cave and there On day two, Mark Jones and Paul McMullen was plenty of ice on rocks and a few ice mites. joined me in Elmer’s Trench. We started out It doesn’t seem like permanent ice. In all, we doing some of the caves recently found but not surveyed 198.9 feet. surveyed. Shattered Crate Cave was our first After surveying Rubble Trouble Cave, we stop and in half an hour we completed surveying checked several noted possible caves and found this 54.3 foot cave that had an old crate in it. none were longer than 25 feet in length. Eventu- Next small cave was Down and Dirty Cave ally, we reached a noted lead and found it to be which we again surveyed in a half hour. We got a legitimate cave. Since we found a tree frog 47.7 feet of survey. Next was a cave that turned inside, we named it Tree Frog Cave. It was 63.3 out to be Tight in the Middle Cave. This was feet in length. Next up was another potential estimated to be 40 feet in the recon cards. We cave and it was named Fleener View Cave. In found it to be 121.5 feet. We got the extra foot- three survey shots we got 53.3 feet of survey in age by finding an additional entrance that tied this new cave. into the tight spot. On the way back to the car, we passed Spi- Next was Popcorn Palace. We surveyed dercorn Cave. It seems like an alcove was 354.8 feet before we got too cold to continue. missed and we added to the survey for a total of We did add a new pit that was 14 feet deep but 58.4 feet. not free climbable, so we will have to return After work, Miranda stopped by and she, with a cable ladder. Mark, and Paul went to the Fleeter Chimney ar- Since we were cold, we decided to do a ea and surveyed a cave Paul found last year. small cave that would be warmer. We located a They named it Cerberus Cave and got 110.3 feet previously found, but new to the monument, of survey. cave. We named it Tree Frog Cave for the resi- On Saturday, April 27th, our 5th day of the dent at one of the entrances, but later found that expedition, Elizabeth Miller and Karen Willmes it was Ramieta Cave. The cave had three en- joined me on a trip to Elmer ’s Trench. Our first trances and a remaining, too tight lead that had objective was to survey One Cave, Two Caves. cold air coming out of it. 86.2 feet of survey We got 65.06 feet of survey with the three seg- before we headed to our vehicle and back to the ments of cave. Next, we went to survey another RC. known cave, Elmer’s Attic. It was estimated to Thursday was the day for a meeting with the be 100 feet in one place and 200 feet in another, monument. The Wolffs arrived the evening be- so our 154.83 feet was right in the middle. This fore so Liz could attend. During the meeting, is an interesting cave in that it had a nice pa- Mark Jones and Paul McMullen used the time to hoehoe floor with a low stretch of one foot high search for more caves in Elmer ’s Trench. They passage. It then broke out to nine feet high that, did find one. They returned to pick me up at the unfortunately, only lasted for about 15 feet. Research Center and we headed to Popcorn Pal- Finally, we went to survey Spiders, Snakes ace with a cable ladder. We did drop the small and Planks, Oh My Cave. We found the en- pit with the cable ladder and got six survey trance, but could not fit in the cave. shots in a rather unstable area. Anyone return- In the evening, Miranda stopped by to go out ing here should be really cautious about the with Mark and Paul and surveyed Pothole Cave loose rocks (ceiling, floor, and walls). at 60.7 feet of survey 11 On our last day, Elizabeth Miller and Bob Cave survey: Osburn joined me for a trip down flow of Dragon’s Head 139.2’ Sconchin Well. We started and Sconchin Well Sconchin 414.1’ and did a surface survey to Cellar Cave. Next, Sconchin Well 162.5’ we continued the survey down flow and found a Wren 140.7’ new cave that we did not survey. At the far end Crown of Thorns 220.1’ of the trench (which we surveyed) we found a Baked Potato 78.1’ 140 foot cave (also surveyed) that we named Shattered Crate 54.3’ Wren Cave. Finally, we searched down flow for Down and Dirty 47.7’ a while and found nothing before we headed Tight in the Middle 121.5’ back to the Research Center. Popcorn Palace 602.6’ Ramieta 86.2’ Our thanks to Katrina Smith and Pat Seiser Spidercorn 58.4’ for the support you’ve given to this project. Dirt Floor 44.2’ Rubble Trouble 198.9’ Participants: Miranda Allen, Bill Broeckel, Tree Frog 63.3’ Mark Jones, Arley Kisling, Breanna Kisling, Ed Fleener View 53.3’ Klausner, Elizabeth Miller, Paul McMullen, Bob Cerberus 110.3 Osburn, John Tinsley, Dave West, Karen One Cave, Two Caves 65.1’ Willmes, Liz Wolff, Jim Wolff Elmer ’s Attic 154.8’ Pothole 60.7’

Craters of the Moon National Monument, Blaine County, Idaho By: Mark Jones

Back in 2016 I had the pleasure of doing have been difficult to have the readings corre- some surveying at Craters of the Moon National late without great difficulty. Our first cave, Monument in Idaho for the Cave Research Foun- Flow Throat Cave clocked in at a little over one dation (C.R.F.). Fast -forward to the Fall of hundred feet. 2018 when I was approached to lead an expedi- Not far away was the next cave, Moonshine tion here. For the next several months I worked Cave, that still had quite a bit of snow in it. with Todd Stefanic, the wildlife biologist at the This survey totaled 63.7 feet. The third cave, monument, to coordinate a week of lava tube West Moonshine, was a stone’s throw from surveying. During this time, I also announced Moonshine Cave but there wasn ’t much to report the trip to interested parties as well as the local here other than slightly over twenty-five feet of caving grottos. By early April I had six cavers survey through breakdown blocks with plenty of committed to the project – Jenn Ellis from Tex- woodrat scat. Meanwhile Dave took Karen and as, Paul McMullen and Gabe Taylor of Washing- Paul out to the Antelope Cave complex to sur- ton, Craig Williams from Missouri, Dave West vey Screaming Jaws of Death Cave where they and Karen Willmes of Maryland, and myself recorded 137 feet. from Illinois. Arriving on Friday, the 10 th of May we met with Todd to discuss the objectives May 12, 2019 for the next seven days. We resided in and Eve Barnett, an intern at Craters joined Paul, around a yurt near the group campground for the Gabe, and me for the second day out in the lava week. to begin the survey of Nick Cave. A well - decorated crawlway was surveyed for over three May 11, 2019 hundred feet before we ran out of time. An Craig, Gabe, and I hiked out to a trio of sur- equal amount of survey remains. face tubes across undulating pahoehoe mounds, Dave returned to Screaming Jaws of Death aa flows, and cinder slopes. The magnetism was Cave with Karen, Jenn, and Craig to get another so pronounced that without the Disto -X it would 175 feet with one more day of survey remaining. 13 May 13, 2019 May 17, 2019 Jenn, Paul, and I returned to Nick Cave to The weather forecast for Friday wasn ’t too finish the survey with over four hundred feet for encouraging and proved to be an understatement a grand total of 745 feet. This survey was in with temperatures in the low 40’s, spitting rain much roomier passage but with much colder and blustery winds. We returned to Bloody temperatures. Knees Cave since it was relatively close. While Dave and Karen finished Screaming Jaws of Dave and Karen surveyed the upper level Paul Death ending with a total length of 535 feet. and I would be descending beyond a moss slope to the cellar. During our survey of this level we May 14, 2019 experienced THE worst compass reading that I Karen and I teamed up to address Rio have ever been associated with a 100° swing of Grande Cave while Dave took Jenn and Paul out the compass in just six feet! The survey for the among the sagebrush to sketch Bloody Knees day was over 400 feet for a grand total of 550 Cave. As we rounded a rocky crag at the edge feet. of the cinder cone, we spotted two great horned owls perched in a large rock shelter. Rio May 18, 2019 Grande Cave began as a breakdown crawl but The final day had Dave and Karen going out morphed into a fabulous crawlway with oodles to survey Sunglasses Cave while Paul, Eve, and of beautiful formations. Nearly 500 feet was I would be hiking out to nearby Three Rooms inventoried in this wonderful cave. Cave. The main cave was a nice shelter with a The Bloody Knees Cave survey was termi- hands-and-knees crawl to the north and a room nated after a hundred feet due to the presence of on the south. Over 200 feet was inventoried in a cluster of bats. Three Rooms Cave. Dave and Karen made quick work of Sun- May 16, 2019 glasses Cave with only a few shots to inventory Having taken Wednesday off Dave, Karen, its 70 foot length. Paul, and myself were ready to survey Holiday The grand total for the week was ten caves Cave. Although less than a quarter mile from surveyed with a total survey length of 2,925.9 the parking area we had to traverse 700 feet of a feet. frothy aa flow which slowed our progress con- siderably. The survey went well until we broke Another surveying trip is planned for late into a lower passage that was coated in ice that September. With over 500 known caves there pinched off access to the basement level. Per- are plenty opportunities to join in the fun at haps a fall trip will finish this survey. Craters of the Moon.

Craters of the Moon. Left: Paul McMullen on a cable ladder. Upper right: Karen Willmes inspects a lava bulge in a cave. Lower right: Jenn Ellis in a crawlway. Photos by Mark Jones. 14 Ozark Operations Activities, March-June 2019 By: Scott House, with reports by Kayla Sapkota

The winter’s wet season continued through better part of the cave is entrance or twilight, a spring, but despite the flooding rivers and caves grotto salamander was found in the rear. affecting our field work we continued to make good progress on several fronts. The unsettled June 3, 2019: weather, however, has played havoc with our Mick and Sue monitored Williams Ford sanity – never knowing whether a simple rain Cave, along the middle Current. Like other riv- storm will turn into a tornado. erside caves, this one ’s visitation is well down, attributed to both educational /enforcement ef- OZARK NATIONAL SCENIC RIVERWAYS forts but also to the burgeoning vegetation CRF Ozarks works with the Ozark National Sce- along the river banks and the continuous floods. nic Riverways (NPS) under a cooperative cave June 4, 2019: management agreement. Trips usually originate Mick and Sue monitored Twin Rocks Cave, from the NPS/USFS shared field office at on the upper Current which proved to have a Winona. good assortment of stream fauna; less visitation March 9, 2019: also helps. The weather being awful again (~2 inches of June 5, 2019: rain), Scott House, Jeff Crews, Ken Grush, Don Scott House, Mark Jones, Ken Grush, and Dunham, Dennis Novicky, and Isabella Crews Andrew Porter worked all day on facilities at spent the day variously working on cave data, Winona, cleaning, moving, and straightening, as gear maintenance, and other facility work at the well as working on the cave files. One set of the Winona Ranger Station. MSS paper files are moving to Winona. March 13, 2019: June 10, 2019: Dennis Novicky and Scott House met with Scott House, Andrew Porter, and Ken Grush NPS facilities personnel concerning improve- began doing a profile survey of Round Spring ments to the office at Winona. Cave. The goal is to not only provide a profile March 22-28, 2019: with the geology on it, but to provide better Dennis worked on rearranging walls and rec- digital data than we could have with the older reating office space in the Winona office. This data (from the early 1980s). included tearing out walls, rebuilding them, re- June 11, 2019: moving doorways and recreating them, drywall Scott and Andrew floated a short chunk of work, and painting. The park staff was very ap- the upper Current while monitoring four caves. preciative; now the office has secure space for The caves are not receiving nearly as much un- ranger offices plus an expanded office for CRF authorized traffic as previously noted. Getting use. to some of the caves was difficult – even know- May 29, 2019: ing where the cave is did not diminish a strug- Jim Cooley and Julie Cottrell monitored sev- gle to get through the greenbriers, stinging net- eral caves along the Current River. One cave tle, and poison ivy. Meanwhile Ken Grush ran could not be found owing to a lesser location the shuttle and worked on cave files at the and severe amounts of vegetation. As with other Round Spring contact station. trips, crawling through the veg was required – June 12, 2019: the caves are easier! Scott, Ken, Andrew, and Mark continued the June 1, 2019: work in Round Spring. Things went slowly with Two crews consisting of Scott House, Dan slightly mis -behaving DistoX’s until they were Lamping, Ken Grush, Don Dunham, Tony sacked, and the work continued with standard Schmitt, and Mark Jones continued mapping in (old fashion!) survey instruments (which speed- Sycamore Cave, right at the park boundary. ed things up). 800+ feet were surveyed, giving the cave a June 13, 2019: length of about 1300 feet. The cave does in- Scott and Andrew floated downstream of clude spectacular speleothems, one very large Round Spring, monitoring Courthouse Cave, room, and about 80 feet of relief, which is a rar- which was in good shape. Ken ran shuttle and it y in those parts. continued his work with the cave files in the June 2, 2019: interpretive reading room. As part of a biological survey project, Mick June 17, 2019: Sutton and Sue Hagan inventoried Walter Lipps Scott, Ken, and Andrew continued to work Cave, a short but exceedingly lively cave on the on facilities, organization, and files; elsewhere upper Current River. Despite the fact that the a determined team of Tony Schmitt, Derik Holt- 15 mann, Kirsten Alvey-Mudd, and Jim Mudd mon- Stack Cave, Wallow Cave, and Wee Cave, near itored eight caves on the upper Jacks Fork. Rush Landing. June 18, 2019: May 18, 2019: Tony, Derik, Kirsten, Jim, and Korey Hart Mark Brooks and Hannah Sanders continued kayaked the highest reaches of the Jacks Fork the survey of Lower East, bringing the survey River, monitoring eight caves along the way. under and to the far side of the Roundhouse The river was running fast, giving the trip extra Room. excitement. Meanwhile, Ken, Scott, and Andrew Kayla Sapkota and Brent Wilkins surveyed greeted the arrival of new Missouri Speleologi- four leads in the Tennouri Passage, connecting cal Survey file cabinets which will now hold two of them back to the Roundhouse Room. one of the hard copy sets of the Missouri cave Dillon Freiburger, Cody Brooks, and James files. Gould continued the survey of Double -Drop Pit, connecting it north to Lower East via a small June 19, 2019: and winding canyon passage. Kirsten and Jim monitored three caves near Matt Beeson, Mandy Harris, and Corey Powder Mill on the middle Current while as- Maize surveyed from the Roundhouse Room and sessing use from a newly-moved trail. Some into the Jurgen's Leap area. miles upstream, Tony, Korey, and Matt Bliss Matt Bumgardner and Brian Sauer monitored monitored four caves on the upper Current in- Fitton Spring Cave. cluding a pit cave near another new hiking trail. Scott and Andrew spent the day detailed to Rol- May 20, 2019: la and Salem, working with other agencies. Kenny Akers and Kayla Sapkota finished the survey of Bat Cave (Marion County), bringing June 20, 2019: the survey through a series of breakdown climbs Tony, Matt, and Mary Schmitt returned to until the passage ended. the upper Jacks Fork and monitored another batch of caves, some of which are heavily visit- June 1, 2019: ed (despite closures). Dillon Freiburger, Aaron Baggett, Mandy Harris, and Kyle Moore surveyed from the Alter June 21, 2019: Rock in Tennouri Passage south. Tony, Mary, Matt, and the Lampings (Dan, Kayla Sapkota, Claty Barnett, Jessica Wal- Val, Margaret, and Henry) floated from Akers den, and Shiloh Walden surveyed from Tennouri Ferry to Pulltite. They monitored a few caves, Passage into Helictite Passage. two of them new finds, before a very bad storm Matt Beeson, Brandon Van Dalsem, and Ben hit (despite only a 20% chance of rain). Trees Damgaard surveyed in the Jurgen ’s Leap/Grand blew down into the river during the 60 mph Central area. windstorm but our crew, at least, made it to their take-out point safely. Others were not so MARK TWAIN NATIONAL FOREST lucky and a park user was tragically killed when CRF work on Mark Twain National Forest (U.S. a tree blew down on a boat. Forest Service) is performed through a pair of cooperative agreements covering inventory, sur- BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER vey, monitoring, and gating. The Mark Twain CRF work at Buffalo National River (NPS) is covers 1.5 million acres, and the bulk of it con- facilitated through a cooperative cave manage- tains caves. Much recent work has been focused ment, survey, and bat monitoring agreement. on three forest districts: Ava, Cassville, and Report by Kayla Sapkota Eleven Point. Most trips are based at the April 6, 2019: Winona office but the Timbers Resort in Shell Matt Bumgardner, Corey Maize, Treavor Knob MO has been home for several remote Bussard, Ben Spitz, Ben Damgaard, Carter trips. White, and Lindsey Martin traveled to Slick March 7, 2019: Rock Hollow to locate some older cave loca- Scott House stopped by The Gulf (Wayne tions, using LiDAR. The crew located and sur- County, Poplar Bluff District) to assess the site veyed Second Guess Cave, but were unable to and evaluate the potential removal of the fence find a few of the others. They did, in fact, lo- from around this deep, water-filled sinkhole cate a copperhead, as well as get in a good day cave. of cardio. Kayla Sapkota, Mark Brooks, Crystal Grif- March 10, 2019: fin, Stacey Scherman, Cindy Darrow, and Han- Matt Bumgardner and Jon Beard monitored nah Sanders resurveyed most of Bat Cave several small caves on the Ava District, Chris- (Marion County), per the Park's request. The tian County MO. They also surveyed Hard Rock cave was mostly undisturbed and was home to Cave for its length of 68 feet. quite a few eastern tricolor bats. Aaron Thompson, Claty Barnett, Jim Har- March 11, 2019: mon, and Danny Vann completed the survey of Matt Beeson and Scott House finished surveys of two caves and monitored several more 16

17 in the Cassville District, Barry County. The April 20, 2019: eponymous sinkhole of Sinkhole Ridge was fi- Matt Beeson and Wyatt Spralding began the nally checked and while deep, it was cave -less. survey of Stockton Cave, Barry County. They And a discussion with long -time adjacent land- got 108 feet surveyed after finishing the resto- owners revealed a lead for a long -missing cave; ration of the occluded entrance. the wife of one landowner said her maiden name was Stockton, which is the name of the missing April 24, 2019: cave. Stay tuned! Jim Cooley and Ken Grush worked with a FS Elsewhere on the district, Ken Grush, Don tech at evaluating Estes Cave (Potosi District, Washington County) for a cave gate. The abused Dunham, and Aaron Thompson monitored and inventoried four already-mapped caves and also cave has suffered ATV traffic over the past tracked down a spring lead. Meanwhile, Mick years. Sutton and Sue Hagan did monitoring and bio - May 6, 2019: surveys of two other already-mapped caves on Mick Sutton and Sue Hagan performed an the district, both of which were fairly lively and inventory and monitoring trip at Sugar Silver actually had some pipistrelle bats in them Cave (Cassville District, Barry County). They (although WNS had hit three of the bats). Far also pushed through a low spot and discovered a from the Cassville district, Jim Cooley and small dome beyond the end of the map. George Bilbrey did maintenance work on welding generators used for the Butler Hollow pro- May 7, 2019: ject. Mick and Sue did bio inventory on Plan B Cave on the same district. They also revised the March 12, 2019: incorrect location. Ken Grush and Matt Beeson visited with additional landowners adjacent to Forest lands in June 5-8, 2019: efforts to further document the history of the Mark Jones worked for several long days on caves and get better directions to the missing cleaning, rehabbing, and moving gating gear Stockton Cave. Don and Scott worked on an up- from one location to another at the Winona field coming journal article on the project. station. The gear had been kept in a garage that Far away (at Winona), Jim and George was on the damp side resulting in mold and mil- moved the generators and worked on additional dew; it has now been moved to an airier and dri- maintenance of welding gear. er location and completely reorganized. At various times others helped out including Dennis March 24, 2019: Novicky and Andrew Porter. After a search, Matt Beeson and Roman Thomas finally located the missing Stockton June 8, 2019: Cave, or at least the entrance. Leaves and debris Matt Beeson and Wyatt Spradling finished over the years had piled up into the shallow sink up the survey of Stockton Cave on the Cassville and made it completely unnoticeable. A re - District. Far away on the Potosi District, Tony excavation then ensued but the lateness of the Schmitt, Korey Hart, Matt Bliss, Kelly Bliss, hour left them with no time to enter the cave. and Joe Sikorski monitored the vertical and ex- cessively muddy Chimney Cave in Washington March 25-27, 2019: County. Jim Cooley and Aaron Thompson worked at fixing two cave gates at Butler Hollow. Matt MISSOURI DEPT. OF CONSERVATION Beeson also showed on one of these days to help CRF work on lands administered by the Mis- swap out and secure new locks. souri Department of Conservation is done March 31, 2019: through a series of special use permits to CRF Tony Schmitt, Andreu Gazquez Casals, and and the Missouri Speleological Survey. Kyle Mann monitored Brazil Pit (Potosi Dis- March 21, 2019: trict, Washington County) and also cleaned Dan Lamping, Derik Holtmann, and Ben trash out of the heavily-visited cave (it is sup- Miller met two MDC personnel to continue the posed to be closed). They plan another trip to mapping of Saloon Cave, on the Meramec River do more restoration in the cave. in Crawford County MO. Nearly 300 feet were April 16, 2019: surveyed, enough to get the cave completely Ken Grush and Tyler Skaggs monitored Buz- finished. zard Cave, near the Big Piney River on the Hou- March 24, 2019: ston District, Texas County. Ken Grush and Tyler Skaggs followed up on Jim Ruedin’s previous searches for Rattlesnake April 17, 2019: Ken and Tyler returned to the same area, Cave and others on the Gist Ranch, Texas Coun- working to solve some mystery locations, while ty. Although they did not find the thing, they also monitoring for visitation. did get into a likely area, and an MDC agent thinks he knows where the cave is hiding.

18 April 17, 2019: Tumbling Creek Cave, Taney County MO Ken Grush and Tyler Skaggs relocated Rat- May 3, 2019: tlesnake Cave on the Gist Ranch, Texas County, In conjunction with Ozark Underground La- and mapped the elusive cave – found six miles boratory, CRF and MSS cavers began a new from its given location. map of two mile long Tumbling Creek Cave. Scott House, Don Dunham, Jon Beard, Tony April 19, 2019: Schmitt, and Ken Grush mapped about 720 feet Ken and Tyler surveyed Rattlesnake Cave of the entrance to the stream. for 137 feet of highly decorated passage. May 4, 2019: May 5, 2019: The same crew as above continued the main Joe Light and Craig Williams, along with line survey to the Big Room, about 320 feet of other CAIRN members, monitored Doss Cave, very large passage. Meanwhile, Mick Sutton, Crawford County, and evaluated cultural re- Sue Hagan, Rita Worden, and Dillon Freiburger sources. They looked hard but no bats were seen picked up from the Big Room, surveying down in this nice cave. part of the East Passage and into Hibernation June 22, 2019: Hall. Dan Lamping and a crew of Jeremy Weih, Jim Cooley, Julie Cottrell, and Ginny Frie- Nicole Ridlen, Brandon VanDalsem, Kirsten drich surveyed several hundred feet in Onyx Alvey-Mudd, and Hannah Sanders continued Mine Cave, Camden County, despite the com- from the junction with Hibernation Hall on plaints of nearby immature turkey vultures. The down the East Passage. crew managed to get done before the daily bad May 5, 2019: storms hit. Jon Beard and Hannah Sanders returned to the cave to clean caver mud off of the trails and L-A-D FOUNDATION, MO handrails. CRF works with L-A-D Foundation and their wholly-owned arm, Pioneer Forest, to help Berome Moore System, Perry County MO manage caves on their lands. Owned by the Missouri Caves and Karst Con- June 3, 2019: servancy, this project is headed up by Chad At the Winona field station, Mark Jones and McCain. Dennis Novicky spent the day gathering materi- March 23, 2019: als in preparation for gate repairs the next day. Mark Brooks, Samantha Wentz, Brian Biggs, June 4, 2019: Derik Holtmann, and Matt O’Neal split into two Mark, Dennis, and Krista Bartel worked teams with Mark and Sammy sketching. They with six people from Pioneer Forest to repair surveyed a total of about 980 feet in the area of gates on Cookstove Cave and Holmes Hollow the Walker Section. The crew made interesting Caves in Shannon County. Pioneer provided lo- observations of cave life on the trip. gistical help and manpower, while all the welding was done by our folks. After ten hours of Interstate 49 Corridor, McDonald County MO work, the two cave gates were repaired and re- April 13, 2019: inforced. A new interstate construction project brought several new caves to the attention of ELSEWHERE the MSS. With funding provided by the Mis- Bull Shoals Lake, Taney County MO souri De1partment of Transportation, Matt April 5, 2019: Beeson led a crew of Matt Bumgardner, Aaron Jim Cooley, Aaron Thompson, and Dillon Thompson, and Dillon Freiburger to map and Freiburger met with a representative of the Ar- inventory the caves and assess the impacts to my Corps of Engineers to discuss the projected the caves by the construction. Three caves were mapping, inventory, and gating of Beaver Creek surveyed for a total of about 300 feet. Another, Cave, Taney County. A rescue at this cave last larger, cave was also examined but it lies out- year made national news. A brief reconnoiter by side of the corridor and was not mapped. Dillon showed that the two entrances do not connect and are in fact two separate caves. Onyx Cave, Howell County MO April 15, 2019: April 27, 2019: Mark Brooks and Sammy Wentz surveyed Dillon and Jim surveyed the smaller of the several hundred feet more in this privately - two caves, Beaver Creek Cave #2, on Bull owned cave. Mark and crews have now surveyed Shoals Lake lands in Taney County, MO. This over 2000 feet of the cave, which comprises the was before the incessant rains raised the water old historic section. Now, on to the newer sec- level in the lake. A later trip attempt with Dil- tions. lon and Jon Beard was abandoned because not only was the road to the cave underwater, but so was the cave.

Clockwise from upper left: Scott House and Jon Beard both sketch (plan and profile) in Tumbling Creek Cave. Photo by Ken Grush; Krista Bartel and Dennis Novicky weld on the Cookstove Cave gate. Photo by Mark Jones; Kenny Akers stands in the entrance to a karst feature. Photo by Kayla Sapkota; Dillon Frieburger sketches while Mandy Harris and Aaron Baggett look on. Photo by Kyle Moore; Charlyn Dyson monitors Eden Falls Cave. Photo by Corey Maize; Mark Jones in the new and expanded CRF workshop at Winona MO. Photo by Scott House. 20 2019 EXPEDITION CALENDAR Before attending any expedition, you must contact the expedition leader as trip sizes may be limited. Failure to contact the leader may prevent you from attending the expedition as the trip may be full.

Eastern Operations - Mammoth Cave Schedule Cobb Cave, September 26-October 3. Jim Cooley, Kid’s Caving, August 1-5. Aaron Bird, [email protected], and [email protected]. Rachel Bosch, [email protected]. Mary Lawson Cave, October 5. Matt Beeson, Labor Day, August 30-September 2. Bob Osburn, [email protected]. [email protected]. Mary Lawson Cave, October 12. Matt Beeson, Columbus Day, October 11-14. Mary Schubert, [email protected]. [email protected]. Buffalo National River, October 18-20. Kayla Sapkota, Thanksgiving, November 27-December 1. John DeLong, [email protected]. [email protected]. Buffalo National River, November 29-December 1. New Year’s, December 27-30. Ed Klausner, Kayla Sapkota, [email protected]. [email protected] and Elizabeth Miller, Ozark Riverways/MTNF, December 2-22. Scott House, [email protected]. [email protected]. All Eastern Operations CRF JVs who have not attended an expedi- These individuals also lead expeditions, trips or projects: tion safety orientation must do so before participating in expedi- Kayla Sapkota (Buffalo National River survey and bio- tion activities. The safety orientation is scheduled at the beginning inventory), [email protected]. of each expedition after the morning meeting. Those who have Dan Lamping (Pioneer Forest and Ozark Riverways surveys), attended a safety orientation are not required to participate in an- [email protected]. other. New JVs should arrange to be at the expedition early Tony Schmitt (Pioneer Forest and Ozark Riverways surveys), enough to attend the orientation. Those who do not attend will not [email protected]. be allowed to participate in expedition activities. Contact expedi- Jon Beard (Mark Twain NF in SW MO) , [email protected]. tion leader for more details on the orientation. Matt Bumgardner (Mark Twain NF in SW MO), Ozarks [email protected]. Ozarks Operations trips and expeditions take place on a variety of Jim Cooley (Cave gating and Mark Twain NF Irish Wilderness), government and private lands; the trips are based in a variety of [email protected]. locales and may include staying in NPS buildings, campgrounds, Craig Williams (Mark Twain NF archaeology) , or even motels. Ozarks trips are held year round, but are often [email protected]. scheduled (or cancelled) on short notice due to the vagaries of the Jeff Crews (Mark Twain NF Rolla/Houston area), weather. If interested in attending an Ozarks expedition your first [email protected]. stop is the operations manager. However, contact any of the fol- California – Lava Beds lowing for information on upcoming trips or check the CRF web- Contact: John Tinsley, [email protected]. site. Before participating on any of these expeditions, please contact the Buffalo National River, August 2-4. Kayla Sapkota, Operations Area Manager, John Tinsley, at least two weeks before [email protected]. the expedition. Please do not just show up as there may be limits Tumbling Creek, August 5-7. Scott House, on the number of participants we can accommodate. [email protected]. California – Lilburn Crevice Cave, August 18. Alex Litsch, [email protected]. Some basic rules of engagement for California expeditions: Con- Ozark Riverways, August 22-28. Scott House, tact the expedition leader preferably two weeks ahead of time; [email protected]. please don’t spontaneously show up. We have to deal with head Mary Lawson Cave, September 1. Matt Beeson, count limits, particularly on our Lilburn trips, so we need to know [email protected]. who is planning to attend. Contact John Tinsley; 650-329-4928, Buffalo National River, September 6-8. Kayla Sapkota, [email protected]. [email protected]. Berome Moore, September 14. Chad McCain, HSS/CRF Hawai’i Caving - Big Island [email protected]. Contact Pat Kambesis, 309-762-3860, [email protected]. Mary Lawson Cave, September 14. Matt Beeson, [email protected]. Carlsbad Caverns Ozark Riverways/MTNF, September 18-25. Scott House, Contact for all expeditions: [email protected]. William and Tammy Tucker, [email protected]. Mary Lawson Cave, September 21. Matt Beeson, [email protected].

ADDRESS CORRECTIONS THE CRF WEBSITE If you have changed phone number or e-mail , or www.cave-research.org have moved, please send your information to: Contact your operations manager for the user Phil DiBlasi id and password for the members-only section 110 S. Campbell St., Unit 204 Louisville, KY 40206-1863 [email protected]