the Texas Caver OCTOBER 1983 the Texas Caver Vol. 28, NO.5,1983 CONTENTS TSA Logo ...... 91 Old Timers Report ...... 91 BOG Meeting ...... 93 ?Map? ...... 94 Grotto News ...... 95 TSS Mystery Map #1 ...... 99 Trip Reports ...... ···· 100 Camel Cricket Alert ...... 107
Cover Cartoon: Kristofferson strikes again with another super cartoon.
Contents Page Photo: "Pounding Cas cade" by Steve Robertson. This photo took 2nd Place Open Catagory in the 1983 TSA Photo Salon. Good work Steve!
Back Cover Drawing:A new staff member for the Texas Caver. This fellow has agreed to answer all complaints per sonally.
Editor: James Jasek Typing and Proofreading: Mimi Jasek Illustrations: Jay Jorden Layout: James Jasek Printing: The Spe\eo Press (Terry and Susie Raines) Distribution: James Jasek The TEXAS CAVER is a bi-monthly publication of the Texas Speleological Association (TSA), an internal organization of the National Speleological Society (NSS), and is published in February April, June, August, October and December. Deadline for submission of material is one month before publication date. SUBSCRIPTIONS are $5 year. Persons subscribing after the first of the year will receive all back issues for that year. Single and back issues are available for one dollar each postpaid. The TEXAS CAVER openly invites all cavers to submit articles, news events, cartoons, cave maps, photographs (any size black & white or color print), caving techniques, and any other cave related material for publication in the TEXAS CAVER. Address all SUBSCRIPTIONS and EDITORIAL material to the Editor: James Jasek, 1019 Melrose, Waco, Texas 76710. Evening phone is(Sl7) 776-1727. When sending in a change of address, please iJTclude you old address. Persons interested in EXCHANGES and FOREIGN subscription should direct correspondt!nce to the editor. TSALOGO TIMERS E JohnSpence P The resul ts of the T. S.A. 's logo contest ,laS decided at Old Timer's when the new o Logo above was adopted. Designed by John Spence, the design's similarities with our )ld logo was intended to make an identifi R ible transition and will al so use a red md yellow color combination. T Mike Walsh
The contest events at the Texas Old Timer's Reunion were the highlight of Saturday's activities. The events were changed to encourage cavers to partici pate. Each winner in the individual events was given points. The caver with the most points was the overall winner. The best way to win overall was to enter every event and place in the top five. The contests were skills every caver has: rope climbing, bowline tying, cable ladder climbing, carbide lamp assembly, and the speleolympics. Points were given to the top five win It was also decided that the T.S.A. ners in each event. The top three winners lIould sponsor sales of arm patches and also were given prizes. At the end of the iecals, to be made available next Spring. day each caver's points were added up.
30 METER ROPE CLIMB (WOMEN) SPELEOLYMPICS (MEN) (Judge: Peter Sprouse) (Judge: Mark Hinton)
1st Lisa Wilk, 59.1 sec. - 125 feet of 1st Allen Mitchell, 1 min. 2.4 sec. - PMI rope Lowe Pack 2nd Maureen Handler - Simmon's Roller 2nd John Spence, 1 min. 4.0 sec. - Cavers, Caves, and Caving 30 METER ROPE CLIMB (OLDEST) 3rd George Love, 1 min. 4.3 sec. - Baseball cap Harry Walker - Celebrated American Caves SPELEOLYMPICS (WOMEN) 30 METER ROPE CLIMB (YOUNGEST) 1st Lynn Thompson, 1 min. 22.7 sec. - Beth Cruse - Cave Exploring Lowe Pack 2nd Maureen Handler, 1 min. 26.4 sec. - BOWLINE TYING Cavers, Caves and Caving (Judge: Craig Bittinger) 3rd Patty Mothes, 1 min. 30.4 sec. - Baseball cap 1st Jack Horton, 1.27 sec. - Hammock 2nd Maureen Handler, 1.47 sec. - Cele SPELEOLYMPICS (CHILDREN) b rated American Caves 3rd Lisa Wilk, 1.74 sec. - Teeshirt 1st Craig Deal - Cave Exploring 2nd Chris Burnet - Cave Exploring CABLE LADDER CLIMB (WOMEN) 3rd John Muir - Cave Exploring (Judge: Roy Jameson) BEER CHUGGING (WOMEN) 1st Patty Mothes, 9.8 sec. - Wool shirt, Whole Earth Pack 1st Martha Meacham, 56.2 sec. - Water 2nd Maureen Handler, 10.8 sec. - Cele proof box brated American Caves 2nd Barb MacLeod, 1 min. 5.9 sec. - 3rd Lisa Wilks, 13.0 sec. - Teeshirt Empty beer pitcher 92 ijEER CHUGGING (MEN) 1983. This leaves the Caver $345 short for the year. There is lots 1st Robert Green, 8.04 sec. - Calcium of good rna te rial coming in. The carbide, 1 lb. grotto reporters are working well. 2nd Russell Dobson, 10.9 sec. - Cave We will have some guest editor Exploring ships next year. We have sixty 3rd Greg Edlen, 13.2 sec. - Empty beer two new subscriptions for 1984. pi tcher B. Jay Jorden looked into the cost of JALAPENO EATING having TSA patches made. He got an estimate of approx. $l.50 per Rayland Brown - Gas can with gas can of pa tch. John Spence al so checked jalapenos into prices: 300-600 3-color 3 inch pa tche s @ $2.80 each - we OVERALL CAVER could sell them for $3 and break even. Decal s - 250 3-color, up to 1st Maureen Handler, 20 points 3 inch @ $1.27 each, 500 for $0.69 2nd Lisa Wilks, 15 points each. Pins - up to 500 @ $1 each 3rd Lynn Thompson, 11 points pl us a one-time set up charge of 4th Patty Mathes, 10 points $200. 5th Jack Horton & Duwain Whitis, 8 pts IV. NEW BUSINESS: BOG MEETING A. Texas Cave Rescue: How is it done? Call Kreidler Answering Service in Jocie Hooper McAllen, Texas. Call collect and request Cave Rescue. (512)686-0234. TSA Meeting - Texas Old timer' s Reunion - Bill Ripley suggested having a Septembe r 25, 1983 rescue drill. Several people were also interested in another tech Officers present: niques session. There viaS a re Jon Cradit, Vice-President discussion of Texas' status in the Jocie Hooper, Secretary-Treasurer National Cave Rescue Commission set-up. No new decisions were 1. Minutes from previous TSA meeting made. approved. B. New TSA Logo and Patches: It was II. COMMITTEE REPORTS: vo ted to se t up a Patch Commi t tee with Jay Jorden Chairman. He will A. Safety & Techniques Jerry collect money and the names of Atkinson, Chairman. Not present people who - want them between now for report. and the TSA January meeting. Ap proximately the same number of B. Publications - John Spence, Chair people wanted patches and decal s. man. \-Ie have 25 Introduction to It was suggested that the TSA fund Texas Caves left. Since printing extra money not received in pre 100 more copies of Texas Cave payment, but it was decided to Humor, we have sold $112.60 of wait until the January meeting to them. Two copies of the latter assess just how much will be need we re dona ted to the NSS Lib ra ry. ed. Patches will be $4 and decals TSA members voted an "OK" on this $2. donation. There are approximately The design contest fa r the new 100 of these left which are $5 for TSA Logo had 3 entrants. John TSA members and $6 for non-members Spence haa the winning design. TSA members voted to keep the cur III. OLD BUSINESS: rent colors of Black/Red/Yellow with yellow as the outside border. A. Jame s Jasek gave an upda te on the status of the Texas Caver. Sixty C. A motion passed, after consider nine people did not resubscribe in able di scussion, to make TSA mem- 93 berships go from OTR to OTR (Oct. FINANCIAL REPORT: May 20-0c tober 12, 198) to Oct.) and the Texas Caver sub scriptions from January to Jan. Balance May 20 Bank $ 688.11 Petty Cash 1. 71 D. The OTR will dona te $100 to the $ 689.81 Texas Caver to help cover 1983 losses. A motion for a matching Credits to date: donation from the TSA passed unan l. Photo Salon refund 1.31 imously. 2. TSA dues and TSA Conven- 522.30 tion income E. A motion to increase cost of the 3. TSA dues 329.00 Texas Caver to $6 per year, TSA 4. Pub 1 i ca tion Sales 117.60 regular membership to $4 and a 5. Interest 11.1J family membership to $3 passed $ 981.31 overwhelmingly. This will take effect September 26. Debits to date: l. SWT Grotto - TSA Conv. 91.0~ F. James Jasek was the only nominee 2. Speleopress to print Texas 300.00 for Texas Caver Editor. He was re Cave Humor elected unanimously. 3. Donation to Texas Caver 100.00 4. Office Supplies 10.61 G. John Spence was veaffirmed as Pub 5. Texas Caver Subscriptions 15.00 lications Committee Chairman. Bob $ 516.74 Cowell will be Chai rman and Jay Jorden, Co-Chairman, of the Safety Balance to Date: $1,154.41 and Techniques Committee. Bill Elliott is still working with the ? TSS in conjunction with James Red ?MAP • dell. Question: "What Texas cave is about 3,100 feet long, has rooms up to 40 feet high by 75 feet wide, and is located in an H. Election of Officers for 1984: 0 Pres.-elect - Andy Grubbs area of 10 1/2 magnetic declination! Vice-Pres.-elect - George Love Answer: "Who knows?" Sec.-Treas.-elect - Jocie Hooper As a mat ter of fact, the cave may not. be in Texas at all, but its map sure is (see 1. The Southwest Texas Grotto thanks TSS Mys tery Map til). A recent reorganiza the OTR for changing the date to tion of the Texas Speleological Survey's the weekend of the 24-25 so thei r map files uncovered a package of six mys members can participate in the tery maps, all unidentified as to name, Chil impiad. location, draftsman, or any other identi fying signs except scale and north arrow. Cheers to the Oldtimer's Committee The maps were inked by an inexperienced hand and are at oddball scales (275, 19, for a great OTR, Pete Strickland for hot tub and slide screens, and 160, 260, 800, and 360 feet to the inch), Bill Mixon for the Longest Cave in as if they were traced from published Texas (and the best babysitter at maps. Mos t of the caves are large, with OTR'!) • st ream passages. How they got in our files only Oztotl knows! Minutes presented to TSA membership However, we are intrigued. See Mystery Jocie Hooper, Secretary-Treasurer Map 112. Thisone is on a scale about right for Texas (smallish). If you have any idea where these caves are located, who drafted the maps, or who TEXAS (512)-686-0234 we can ask, please write to: KREIDLER ANSWERING SERVo William R. Elliott CAVE McALLEN. TEXAS TSS, Assistant Editor 12102 Grimsley Drive RESCUE CALL COLLECT - REQUEST Austin, Texas 78759 CAVE RESCUE
94 Honey Creek Cave, which is 5 km away. It looks like SCC may have been part of CWAN, resurging on the Guadalupe River until Spring Creek cut through and pirated the stream. The Spring Creek Val ley may even be a collapsed karst feature. SCC was first visited in 1946. Later it was known to the Boerne Cavers as Blue Spring Cave. In 1956 the St. Mary's University Grotto went in for perhaps 5 km. In 1977 there was an abortive survey that was never recovered. The current project has mapped 2589 m with no end in sight. A line plot of SCC and CWAN over laid on the topo sheet is already avai lable thru the club. The exploration of SCC has involved sloshing thru water passages and diving and lowering a sump. Three teams pushed the cave during the latest trip on August 30. Wayne Russell and five divers dove a UTG:Wiliiam Elliott sump 900 m into the cave, then surveyed Austin cavers have been busy locally over 300 m of walking passage. They this summer, unlike the old days when stopped at a junction with a small in most summer caving was out-of-state. A feeder, but the main passage continued. number of people did go to the June NSS Another team composed of Wilk, McWhirter Convention in Elkins, W. Va. Apparently and Minton went upstream from the Shower the highlight of that was a kid breaking Stall, surveying 100 m in a low crawl, bis. leg when he fell off Bill Mixon's half full of water. The third team mapped ,"V/orld's Second Longest Cave", a wooden 150 m into a side passage, which conti ~aze. George Veni and Blake Harrison were nued, walking size, where they stopped. ~ade NSS Fellows, Veni got the Ralph W. More than 500 m were added to the survey Stone Research Award, and Al Ogden of San that day. Marcos won a medal for the best slide. Another inter-grotto trip was taken to In June, Mark Minton, Bill Russell, Langtry in mid-July. An additional 277 m ~aty Ahrens and Brian Burton mapped, pho were mapped in Langtry Quarry Cave, which tographed and dug in Rattlesnake Nose is now 81 m deep (the old depth was 83 ~ave, San Saba County. The cave has a 12 m). About 450 m were mapped in Langtry m deep entrance leading to walking fis Lead Cave, and some digs were done, but sure passage. An attempt to get through the cave looks like it is finished. A where the wind and water go was foiled by return trip to the area is planned for a hole only 5 em across. October. Earlier in the summer about ten cavers In July, Andy Grubbs and others retur ifrom the "Texin Speleological Club", a ned to Tarbutton's Showerbath Cave, loca group of Austin T.I. employees, went to ted partially under the Blanco River in Grutas del Palmito and Cueva del Car Hays County. They mapped the entrance ,rizal, near Bustamante, Nuevo Leon. Some room and one other area. Attempts at dye of the T.I. cavers regularly attend UT tracing the abundant water in the cave to meetings. known springs have been frustrated so Mark Minton, Duwain Whitis, Jerry far. Andy also recently took a group on a ,Atkinson, Carl Mueller, Mike McWhirter, tour of Ezell's Cave in San Marcos, only I, L'lsa Wilk, John Gilliland, Ken Byrd, Kurt to find two garden hoses tied in the :Menking, Scott Harden, Wayne Russell and cave. This is the latest example of local ' several divers have done four trips to yokels leaving trash in the cave after Spring Creek Cave in recent months. SCC climbing the fence to get in. Is hose ,resurges across Spring Creek from the stronger than clothes line? ' re In mid-August, Bill Elliott, Dale Pate, 'I' Surgence of the Deadman's Cave-Cave ' W'Blthout A Name Sys tem (CWAN) , near Mark Minton, Jerry Atkinson, Barb Vinson, ! oerne, Kendall County. SCC is similar to Duwain Whitis, Audrey Vinson and Troy 95 Klinika checked some small caves on a soon. Computer/word processors are crop ranch west of Georgetown. Wolf Cave as ping up among Austin cavers, so more mapped but was less than 50 m long. A publications may be the outcome. Recent young raccoon was seen in the cave. A UT meetings have featured Mark Minton's rock-filled sink was dug out but seemed slides of the latest work in Huautla, unpromisingly tight. A third cave, which Oaxaca (where there area now 13 caves in had a rattlesnake in the entrance, went the system); George Veni's slides of the 30-40 m to a dig that will require a re wild, wet and steamy Grutas de Tolon turn trip. tongo, Hidalgo, and of industrially John Spence and Cindy Agee traveled to polluted caves under Bowling Green, KYj Mammoth Cave and also visited NSS Head and a caver rummage sale by Logan McNatt, quarters and Shelta Cave in Huntsville. who is going off to Belize again, this Brian Burton recently checked three time for two years with the Peace Corps. sinkholes on the Thompson Ranch near We'll miss Logan, and also Jerry Burnet. The owner had lost sheep in them, Atkinson, who'll be working for Exxon in so maybe they go. Denver. Jerry will be back to Texas In late August Jerry Atkinson (who will periodically. Jerry has been one of the soon move to Denver), Jim Pisarowitz (who most active TSA Presidents in years and recently moved to Austin from Denver), deserves a vote of thanks. Good luck, Duwain Whitis, Mark Minton, Brian Burton, Jerry and Logan!! Bill Ripley, Bill Mixon, John Gilliland and Steve Boehm went to Quigg Sinkhole near Loma Alta. They set up camp near the ALAMO: April Herzig cave, then two of them rappelled in with two 100 m coils of polyethylene pipe. In ALAND ARM CHAPTER OF THE HSS four hours of work they re-rigged the rancher's water line to a windmill. This Slides of Bracken Bat Cave were t he required that Mark climb up a waterfall highlight uf the August meeting. Several to set a bucket, secured by chocks and of the members participated in a trip to slings. From the bucket they ran the pipe the cave the following weekend. across the top of a 30 m fissure to a Labor Day weekend, AAe cavers we re tank at the bottom of the entrance. The joined by one Galveston caver for a l ong windmill will be fixed this fall. Then drive to McKittrick Hill just north .of they looked around the cave before re Carl sbad, New r·1exico. Cavers from Al amo tiring. The next day they surveyed a loop gordo, New Mex ico, completed the group in the cave into the lower passage. This that enjoyed exploring and photographing new survey will be difficult to finish, Endless Cave and McKittrick Cave. A as there is much breakdown with which to porcupine and small rattlesnake in t he contend. twilight zone of one of the entrances to About the same time, Paul Fambro et al . t1cKittrick Cave added some extra excite took his 4X4 to the Iturbide, Nuevo Leon, ment. Slides of the New Mexico trip we re area. They went to Potosi Canyon, near then shown at the September meeting. Hualahuises Canyon, to check a large cliff entrance seen earlier. This turned out to be a shelter where a fold in highly fractured rock had caused slum SWT:Robert Green ping. They drove upstream, making 100 The grotto in San Marcos has been fai rlY stream crossings in 8 km. Past Los Ameri busy this past summe r. The club has been anos the road/streambed turned "feo", so invol ved in T SA pro j ec t s and even a few of they drove over to Potrero Prieto in a their own inside projects. neighboring drainage. There is a "Puente For starters, the club has had survey de Di os" marked on maps of this area, crew members at both TSA mini-projects at near Guadalupe, but a local said it was Langtry this year. Greg Edelen, Russell small, so they didn't go to it. Deciding Dobson and Robert Green were involved in that the whole area is geologically un the re-surveying of the mid-level passage promising, they went on to Huasteca of Langtry Quarry Cave. This team was led Canyon and Grutas de Garcia before coming by Joe Sumbera. On the return trip to the home. area, Dan King and Alan Cobb worked along The latest AMCS Activities Newsletter side Bill Elliott to try to tie up the was recently finished and will be printed loose ends left in that part of Quarry. 96 But more passage was discovered that had no t been included before. As a resul t, a Bill Bentley 3rd trip will need to be made to finish PERMIAN: tha t level. At the same time, John PERMIAN BASIN SPELEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Spence, Cindy Agee and Robert Green began exploring an untouched portion of upper The first organizational meeting of the l evel fissure passage found by Spence on Permian Basin Speleological Society was the previous trip. This proved to be very held in Midland. Club officers were se rewa rding as over 400 ft. of passage was lected and we set up a permanent meeting uncovered with 200+ ft. being virgin. The date. Vertical trips as well as novice ceilings ranged from 18 inches (.5 meters) cave trips were discussed. Slides were to about 60 ft. (18 meters). shown of the newly discovered Commanche Al so, this crevasse was lined with thin Springs Cave at Ft. Stockton. shee ts of gypsum crystals ranging from 1/2 It is our intent to pick up where 10-G to 2 inches thick. There are several 4 Grotto (Odessa) left off and progress inch dogtoo th spar crystal sand nume rous further. About 9 or 10 people attended little gypsum flowers ex truding from the and it went well. Further information can wall s and ledges. Along wi th the many be ob tained by contacting Bill Bentley at diffe re nt fossils sc en, these formations (915)563-4178. are f airly uncommon in this cave and it wa s re freshing to see them after such a challenging crawl. SAG: George Veni Also within the Grotto, there have ~een seve ral day trips to survey cave passage SAN ANTONIO GROTTO NEWS nea r the Blanco River and also a large bat cave ne ar Canyon Lake. From early July to mid-August 1983, most Bu t, saving the best for last, the main of the grotto's activities were centered fo cus for several of our Grotto members around my return to Texas to work on my ha s b een just a little well-known cave thesis. This thesis is studying how urban wi t hin the city limits of San Marcos. development, upon the Edwards Aquifer Tha t's Ezell's Cave of course. President Recharge Zone, may affect the aquifer's Jon Cradit, Equipment Chairman George water quality and quantity via the major Love, Jim Robe rtson and Fred Edmin have recharge caves in Bexar County. One of wo rke d long and hard in designing, draft the prerequisites in dealing with this i ng a nd getting approval for a vandal topic is for me to finally comple te the proo f , bat-accessible cave gate. This Bexar County Survey (BCS) for the Texas t ype of gate has been needed at Ezell's Speleological Survey (TSS). With this in since the fi rst time it was ever vandal mind, much of the accomplished field work ized . The exclusive design of the gate was either directly related to the thesis wEI prevent vandal s and thrill seeke rs or indirectly related through the BCS. L -om entering entirely. But, the gate Since most of the major, known, Bexar l
j Mi chael and Roman Goye t te j oi ned me the ter pushed in about 40 meters to where bst day of July to check leads in the they'd have to start digging to continue I _ Wurzbach Bat Cave area of far western onward. On 13 August 1983, the cave was B~ xa r County. After touring Wurzbach, we surveyed only 9 m to fill. Located on the surveyed tiny, trash filled, Niche Cave bank of Helotes Creek, a lot of organic and tried to survey Braken Bat Cave but deb ris and soil has been washed into it, were again thwarted by bad air. (Contrary filling the cave over the years due to in to the impression this report is giving creased land use and resul ting soil ero ab out Hexa r County, the re really a re some sion upstream. nice caves here that are longer than 10 m, A trip to Bexar County is not complete all ow some walking, and can be visi ted without saying hello to Robber Baron Cave. wi ti10u t the aid of special breathing ap The 7 August trip was attended by Blyth para tus.) Shifting over to the Helotes and Kurt Batey, Joe, Randy and 1. This are 8. again, we relocated and explored trip vlas for grins, however, for relief Yo ung Cave s III & 2. Ca rmen and Joe re from a number of work trips out to San ; t!J med wi th me a week la te r to su rvey. Antonio Spring, Kills and Dales Pit, Bet YpU ilg Cave 111 has a fair size room and ex Ya-Can't-Find-It Cave, Blowhole of San i ~nd s ~out 80 m towards Young Cave #2, a Antonio, Elm Springs Cave and Fair Hole, 10\01 10 m diameter room, but doesn't con to prepare them and my thesis notes for 'rie c t. the study to follow in the coming months. Joe and I surveyed Di rtwa ter Cave, an With all that done, it was time to return otne r "ba rely-big-enough-to-be-a" cave, on north, well satisfied with the work ac 2 Augu st 1983 and, 8 days later, surveyed complished and with the assistance I had received.
TSS MYSTERY MAP #/
99 Dean had to get back to Midland that night so we headed to the Cavern City air termi nal where we met his copilot and saw him off. Too tired to return the 60 or 70 miles back to Dark Canyon we decided to try to climb to Deep Cave from the plain side up the Southeastern escarpment. In seven to eight hours of climbing we never even came close to Deep Cave.
MONTGOMERY CAVE, TERRELL COUNTY, TEXAS
Date: December 1982 Cavers: Joe Collins, Dennis Doherty and Bill Bentley Reported by: Bill Bentley
The weather for this trip was perfect i n the mid 60's and no wi nd • We entered the cave and rigged the drops--Joe had never been in this cave before. The descent in to the cave went smoothly. We showed Joe GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS, N.M. all the beautiful white gypsum flowers and ropes. Attempts to free climb some shafts Date: November 1982 had been futile, but we pushed on up to Cavers: Patrick Hill, Terrence Hill, Dean the ceiling and found several other rooms Jennings, Dennis Doherty, Joe Collins and more shafts and gypsum crystal s. Den and Bill Bentley nis and myself were resting and good old Reported by: Bill Bentley Joe managed to climb into the ceiling . on one far end of the cave and there we all Early preparations had been made for got to see some clear crystal gypsum for Deep Cave Permits; however, someone had mations. When we were on our way to the already made prior reservations for the rope to climb out and in the bottom we same Saturday that we had wanted. So we found a tunnel someone had been digging. settled for Sunday. This left a problem (It wasn't until a few months later that wi th what to do wi th Saturday. A quick we met the cavers from Ft. Stockton, Tx., phone call to Lincoln National Forestry who dug the tunnel.) I can't remember why Service and Jerry Trout had secured per they dug it now. Exit of the cave went mits for the Entrance section of Cotton smoothly and I can safely say now that I wood Cave and Hidden Cave. We arrived at have seen all of Montgomery Cave. about 10: 00 PH at Dark Canyon lookout. It was cold and the infamous Guadalupe Winds were hard at work. It was lucky that we 1-10 CAVERNS (MCKENLIE CAVE), INTERSTATE had brought Dennis's Camper. That night 10, TEXAS we paid a quick visit to Cottonwood Cave's entrance Section. Early the next morning Date: January 1983 and mid-February 1983 we had no trouble at all finding Hidden Cavers: 1st Trip: Mike Wharton, Joe Col Cave. It was almost too easy. After a lins, Dennis Haynes and Bill Bentley; quick visit into the Mad Russian (Hidden 2nd Trip: Terry Hill and Bill Bentley Chimney) Cave I succeeded in losing my Reported by: Bill Bentley back pocket from my jeans. Once down the 70ft shaft-crack of Hidden Cave we got our Our first trip into the cave was to first chance at rappelling over a knot start a survey and make a decent map of since the only rope we had was 2-50ft sec the cave. Dennis Haynes from Ft. Stockton tions. It was not until later that Joe me t us on the highway and took us to the was walking around and stumbled onto the man-made entrance. Once we squeezed entrance Door Gate to Hidden. After hav through the tight crawlway tunnel down in~ ing photographed and visited both levels to the main portion of the cave, we start~ of the cave we headed back to the Campe r. ed surveying and picked a passage. The 100 lentire cave is a maze cave with attic and some spectacular pinnacles. ib asement levels. Dennis showed us the old Bo th of the canyons we vi si ted we re in I ', entrance and how they had caved it in and good, thick limestone and locals told us a spot where ex tremely small passages led of caves higher in the mountains in both Ito the surface and sucked in air, thus places. This range is very close to Texas !I being nicknamed ai rcondi tioning room. In and could develop into a good caving area. the 8 hours that all of us spent in the icave Joe managed to ge t lost and was found 'a short time later. A total of 1km of WIZARDS WELL CAVE, TERRELL COUNTY, TEXAS Ipa ssage was mapped and closed wi th 2 or 3 l oo ps of tunnels surveyed. Date: March 12, 1983 The second trip into the cave was just Cavers: Mike Wharton, Dale Childers, Bill t wo of us and we managed to ge t confused Bentley, Pat Hill, Dennis Doherty, Eric and spent about 3 1/2 hours trying to find Short, Ken Byrd, Dave Bolton, Steve? our way out. Te rry Hill managed to ge t Reported by: Bill Bentley stuck a t the entrance and it was decided tha t some digging was in order before he We a rri ved a t the camp si te a t a round eve r ge ts into the cave again. 10:30 Friday night and set up tents and sta rte d cooking a late meal. It wasn't l o ng before Pat Hill arrived and everyone ,MSLC HOR MUZQUIZ, COAHUILA else was already there. The next morning found the weathe r a li ttle colde rand Da te : Feh ruary 25-27, 1983 breakfast soon was to follow. At this Cavers : David Honea, Peter Sprouse, Terri time the bre akfast was cooking fast and S? rouse , Jeanne Williams furious when out of the weeds and bushes Kepor t e d by: Pete r Sprouse walked 3 Mexicans that didn't speak any English. Sign language worked well enough The purpose of this trip was to attempt to make them understand that we didn't to collect a rare blind catfish near Muz want them hanging around long. They left ;qui,z, and to investigate the Sierra Santa and we started into the cave around 10:45 ' Rosa fo r caves in general. As we drove AM. The group got strung out from the en ! towa rd Eagle Pass Friday night, a steady t ra nce to the Big Room and ga the red up at dr ~ zzle began which was to last most of the Big Room for a small meal with "wine" ' the weekend. After crossing into Mexico Ha! We pushed on to the tight constrict we l ocated a muddy campsite south of ing crawl nicknamed "Joe Collins birth Pal au. canal" because a trip of the eli scove ry of Sa turday morning we a te a ridiculousl y this crack found Joe trapped for 35 min chea p breakfast in Palau then turned south utes. Some chipping and chiseling wi th a on a mining road toward the mountain. pick and hammer let everyone through where This road was so muddy we 4WD'ed sideways we found 2 more good 50 to 60 foot pits muc h of the time. At the entrance to a and the cave goes ·on. Fatigue was start mounta in canyon we located Pozo de El i ng to take its to 11 so we 1 eft at thi s Po tre ro, the only known habitat of the point. Total time in the cave was 17 fi sh in question. The spring was flooding hours. due to the recent rains, so prospects for collecting seemed dim. Nevertheless we did rig up our net for an hour or so while PARKS RANCH CAVE SYSTEM, EDDY COUNTY, N.M. we drove further up the canyon. An inter BORDER CAVE, CULBERSON COUNTY, TEXAS esti ng thing was that al though the spring Was discharging rec ent rain floodwater at Da te: March 26, 1983 one cubic meter per second, the water was Cavers: Terrence Hill, Dennis Doherty and the rmal, 28 degrees Celsius. Bill Bentley Driving back to the highway and the town Reported by: Bill Bentley of Muzquiz, we investigated another canyon on the no rth side of the Sie rra Santa This was our second attempt to locate l{o sa . The Canon el Aparicio goes perhaps Deep Cave in Carl sbad Caverns National five kilometers back in and a mining road Park and we did not find it, so we visited climb s most of the way up to the top of Border Cave and Parks Ranch Cave System. the mountain, which reaches 1500 meters ' We first went into the main sinkhole and eleva tion. We camped along this road near largest entrance to Parks Ranch and fol- 101 lowed the high walking passage to the Monday. Wayne wanted to get in some sur~ fi rst "Y" and decided we didn't feel like vey work during the trip but since it was crawling so we left. Later that afternoon Rodney and Patsy's first trip to the cave, we entered Border Cave and about halfway most of the time was spent sightseeing. through we met a group of students and a teacher from Kermit, Texas. We went back to the lake room and then left after about SPIDER CAVE, CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONM 1 hour. PARK, EDDY COUNTY, N.M.
Date: May 6-7, 1983 COW CAVE, GEORGETOWN, TEXAS Cavers: Mike Wharton, William Bentley, Patrick Hill, Terry Hill, Donna Giannan~· Date: Harch 26, 1983 tonio (Cave Specialist for National Cavers: David Dodge, Victor Parker, James Park), and a girl from Capulin Mountain Wells, Jeffrey Quiesenberry and Rodney National Park Visiting Leist Reported by: Bill Bentley Reported by: Rodney Leist We arrived at the KOA Campground around Another trip was made to Cow Cave. A 8:30 PM and set up camp and ate a late new lead was investigated in the first dinner. The next morning we arrived ilt room but abandoned after the passage the visitor center around 9: 15 AM and got closed to a 6-8 inch hole. A strong cur off to a late start and then drove out ~ rent of air came from the hole, probably the cave. A short hike of 15 minutes and f rom a small surface opening found on a we were at the cave entrance. The en previous trip. There are still indica trance is a manhole-type manmade concre te tions that the cave continues for some structure. Once down the small ladder in distance past the last room but no negoti the entrance we went down a long crawl able passage has been found to ge t past about 30 to 40 feet and about 1 1/2 feet the tight constriction. Since most if not high littered with kne ebreaking cobble all of the leads have been checked, it's stones. This crawlway leads to the mai n time to begin collecting some data for maze-type po rtion of the cave. Seve ral mapping the cave. This cave is not listed hours we re spent in the cave, photograph on the TSS Williamson County Survey. Total ing and exploring. The cave hadn't time in the cave was about 4.5 hours. changed much since some 1934 pictures I This cave is a great cave for beginners so had seen. anyone wanting to go should contact one of the TSC officers. MADONNA CAVE, AIN'T DEAN'S CAVE, McCAL LAUl1'S PIT, THREE FINGERS CAVE, SITTING CARRIZAL, MEXICO BULL FALLS CAVE, uTHER CAVES AND LEADS, N.M. Date: April 9-12, 1983 Cavers: Rodney and Patsy Leist, Wayne Date: May 27-30, 1983 Russell and Mike Glover Cavers: John Hrooks, Todd Wilson, paul Reported by: Rodney Leist Vittelaro, Jay Jorden (Dallas-Fort Worth Grotto); Duwain Whitis, Barbara Vinson, We had a great trip to Carrizal. The Mark Minton, Lisa Wilk, Chris Kerr, John trip down was made Saturday night wi th a Gilliam, Brian Burton (UT Austin Grotto) painless border crossing around midnight. Reported by: John Brooks and Jay Jorden We camped in Bustamante Canyon for what was left of Saturday night and Sunday The journey by car to the Guadalupe morning drove through the desert for sev Mountains of New Mexico began after Jorden eral hours to some nice Indian pictograph left work at midnight Thursday and drove sites. We visited another cave on the to meet Brooks and Wilson in University road between Villa Aldamo and Sabinas Park. All then loaded gear, food and mapS Hidalgo and then headed for Carrizal. into Jorden's truck for the drive to Ar Rodney got his first cave diving experi lington to rendezvous with Vittelaro. The ence at a shallow short sump in the warm crew departed from Arlington at about 2 water spring. Wayne and Mike did more AM, and d rove all nigh t to Ca rl sb ad, a r diving and underwater picture taking on riving there at the predicted time of 9:30 102 ~ MDT. All made the obligatory pilgrim But not before several last minute age to Pete's restaurant to gorge them sketches were made in Ain't Deans' of sel ves on eggs and pancakes and fortify small "leads" in the rear of the cave and themselves with great quantities of hot a ceiling height estimated. It was a1 so coffee. While at Pete's, members of the mentioned that where the entrance was in Hole-in-the-Wal1 Grotto of Wyoming were relation to a tree on the ridge should be encountered. They coincidentally were noted because ready-made artwork could be going caving too, through securing permits acquired for a later map. The escape to Madonna and Three Fingers, and possibly route from the storm led directly to the other caves. All compared notes and ex entrance of another cave. Jorden and Kerr changed business cards. The same cavers rigged the entrance drop while the others were encountered again at the U.S. Forest in the party, lacking vertical gear, Service office where permits were ob scrambled to clear the ridge top before tained. the precipitation intensified. As can be noted from the list of person After recuperating from the chilly rain, nel, a cross-section of cavers was repre Jorden made the 55-foot-plus rappe11 into sented. An Aggie tradition was continued the pit. The base of the pit was in a over the weekend, since the Dallas and high-ceilinged room developed along a Austin contingents included former Aggie faul t. The downhill route ended after Speleological Association (ASS) cavers. several hundred feet, but the passage the After acquiring the proper keys from the other direction continued down a breakdown Forest Service, we were off to the Guads. slope, then up a formation-studded slope In Dark Canyon, we found the Austin con again and across a tricky traverse to the tingent in a 4x4 Spe1eobus awaiting our top of a large room. Here, Kerr used arrival. The arduous journey up Three Jumars on slings to construct a handline HUe Hill began. Camp was estab1 ished on for a cliubdown. He reported that the a pine-covered ridge near the caves we passage went back about 200 feet before were to visi t. pinching down to the point where he could Our first objective was to locate Cave see roots protruding through the ceiling. of the Madonna, a large grotto deep within But up until that point, Kerr saw only the wilderness of the Guads. Laden with 8-meter-wide passage. Total length of the heavy packs, we ventured forth. A long cave is approximately 0600 feet. and grueling search was carried out. The La te r , af te r eve ryone re tu rned to camp ca:vern was eventually located at an ob and rested for a few minutes, a motion was scure point on the ridge. made to hike down the road for a nightcap The entry drop was rigged and the drop at McCallaum's Pit. The 60-foot blind pit was negotiated by the majority of the par was negotiated without incident. ty. Once inside, a tedious maze leading Sunday, everyone awoke to receive a to the longer drop, a 220-foot pit, await report from Whitis and Minton on a Cave ed. Again, most went the distance. But Research Foundation trip to Hell Below and the hot, tiring day with little rest was Cottonwood for a clean-up there. Then, proving to get the better of the cavers. preparations were begun for a sporting After some mapping/photography was done, outing to Three Fingers Cave. The mob was the pa rty re tu rned to ba se camp. divided into three survey parties. The Saturday morning, our objective was to survey parties dispersed into various des locate Ain't Deans' Cave. Gallantly, we tinations in the lower bowels of the hiked out various ridges, hoping to spot cave. All survey parties were successful the vast entrance. But' the entrance was in accomplishing the objectives set. The located and we scrambled down the ridge, team composed of Wilk, Wilson, Brooks and which featured 45-degree grades and loose Jorden set 37 stations with several hun rock. Assorted cacti and Spanish daggers dred feet of passage surveyed. After 12 added to the delights. Approaching the hours underground, all exited the cave opening, we envisioned vast virginal cav into a dark rainy night and a two-hour erns, but we were burned. It was discov hike back to camp. ered that the spectacular entrance defi Monday morning, we scrambled down the nitely "ain't deans' cave." A survey was ridge and drove to Sitting Bull Falls for quickly done of all 20 feet of the bore a swim. The water was extremely cold, but hole passage. Suddenly, thunderclouds ap we went swimming anyway. Si tting Bull peared on the horizon. Panic ensued as Falls Cave was also visited by swimmers all present scraub1ed for the ridge top. who climbed up part of the falls. The 103 freezing water made the clim sporting. BUSTAMANTE, MEXICO The grotto was cold and, without lights, we ventured as far as the twilight zone Date: Memorial Day Weekend, 1983 would allow. Cavers: Rodney and Patsy Leist, Richard, After our swim, we encountered former Billie, Edith, and Elizabeth Harbordt, grotto member Jim Goodbar, and notes on Mike Glover, Katy ? various leads were exchanged. Then we Reported by: Richard Harbordt drove rapidly into Carl sbad where we par took of a nourishing hot meal. We again We had a ve ry eventful trip to Busta ran into Jim at the Sirloin Stockade and mante, Mexico. The trip down was smooth, he told us he had bought a home in Carl s with a fairly quick border crossing. AND bad and that we were welcome to stay there THEN IT ALL STARTED. The Mexican customs' anytime in our travels. took mo s t of the gea r ou t of the truck. Then began a long drive back to Dallas (There was a lot of gear, 6 people worth.) and Arlington, after saying goodbye final When it was loaded back, the @!/t%IJ@!*II% ly to the crew of the four-wheel-drive person helping load, loaded a jug full of bus. An incredible dirt storm reminiscent tea upside down. It was not discovered of the dust bowl days was encountered just until about an hour later, and bedrolls, across the border in Texas. It rained and etc. were soaked. This should have warned then mud stuck to Neal's car. Visibility us, but being the fools we were, we was nearly zero at times. As they say, pressed onward. We arrived in Bustamante the most dangerous part of a cave trip is Canyon about 3: 00 in the morning, Friday, on the highway ••• pi tched camp, and had a pre t ty good sleep. Got up around 8:00, took a bath in the stream, and had a good breakfast. STEVENS GAP PIT CAVE At about breakfast time, a Mexican came and kept pointing at the truck tires, and Date: June 21, 1983 saying some thing (?????). Finally it was Cavers: Mike Walsh, Bill Ripley, Jon discovered that he had a flat and needed a Cradi t, Russel Dob son jack. So Rodney and Mike got a jack and Reported by: Russel Dobson, SWTSU went to help them. Thirty minutes later they came back (jack would not work) and After a visit to the N.S.S. Headquarters got another jack. Thirty minutes later in Huntsville, Alabama, we took a trip to they came back (no air in spare tire) and Stevens Gap Pit Cave which is approximate got the air pump. We finally made a ly 30 miles from Huntsville. A thirty friend for life in Bustamante Canyon. minute hike up the side of Stevens Gap led As we we re going in to the de se rt to see us to the cave. We rigged our ropes and the pictographs, we packed up camp, all did a 120 foot rappell into the cave. got into the truck for our new adventure - Dropping into the cool pi t was a relief the bat te ry wa s dead...... Luckil y, Mike from the humid and hot weather. Standing had driven up, and we got a jump start for a t the bo t tom of the pi tone coul d see the the truck. two entrances. One which is a walking en Now \ve started on our great adventure!! trance and the other which is vertical. A Two and one half hours later (in the spring forming into a waterfall made the middle of the desert, in the middle of setting look very tropical. Overall the nowhere) we arrived - only to discover pit provided an excellent drop for verti Mike had put a hole in his oil pan and rul cal training and playing. After de-rig his oil was leaking out. After everyone ging and hiking back to the vehicle we had a GOOD cry, we tried to pa tch the leak discovered Wild Bill Ripley didn't have wi th tape and bubble gum, and made a the keys to our vehicle. After a search SPEEDY 1 hour trip back to town (I will through our gear with no luck, Jon and not describe the trip back in deference to Bill decided to back track to the cave those weak at heart, but at least one per looking for the mysterious missing keys. son got a little sick.). I might also The keys were found at the bottom of the mention that as soon as we reached Busta pit sitting perfectly on top of a fairly mante Canyon, it started RAINING. (To large rock. We were all relieved at find those of you who do not know the differ ing the keys and we were soon on our way ence between RAIN and rain, do you knoW again to the N.S.S. Convention in West the difference between a spring shower and Virginia. a HURRICANE?) Anyway, we found a mechanic 104 and 6 hours later the car was fixed. dry section of the cave is about 21 feet : We went back into Bustamante Canyon and high to a crawling passage that leads to set up camp. In case you don't know, it the new man-made entrance by the street. is impossible to set up a tent in the RAIN It consists of several 55 gallon drums and keep eve rything dry. We even cooked placed together with metal rungs that are supper in the RAIN. I told you we were welded in place about 1 1/2 feet apart. fools. We went to bed early, with every The climb down these barrels is about 20 thing damp. Mike's tent was so wet he feet and opens into a crawlway only 1 foot r;;lept in the truck. Richard's tent was high and this extends for about 30 feet. brand new. It worked OK at first, but Then you are in the main passage of the later it made no difference if you were in cave itself, and the first opportunity to the tent, or out in the RAIN. It was a stand up leads you into a crawling passage 'Ie ry we t nigh t. back to the sump entrance on the left and The nex t mo rni ng, we we re so we t, mi se r a sloping passage crawl leading up to a abIe, etc., that we decided to go home. dome directly over the entrance passage. ~e thought none of the other people had This dome is very difficul t to get to but shown up (they we re camping in a dry -sob once inside you can stand up and hear cars abandoned restaurant by the cave, and they and trucks passing on the street estimated had looked for us but we crossed paths in about 3 feet overhead. There are about 5 Bustamante town), so we packed up and went sumps with the deepest estimated around 60 into town. We sta rted to go to the cave, to 70 feet deep. The water is crystal but it looked so muddy, that we went on to clear and calm at 72°F. I guess there to the border and home. (The other people be close to 1/2 mile of passages. There who went had a good trip in the cave, and is still some potential for more cave to also in Monterrey.) We did not see any be found. Also the City of Ft. Stockton caves pic tographs, NOTHING. Oh well, try has asked that only the local Ft. Stockton ing again on July 4th. Wish us luck!!! cavers and the group from Midland-Odessa enter the cave at this time. As soon as the ci ty OK' sit, mo re cave rs from othe r
McKEl~ZIE CAVE, 1-10, PECOS COUNTY, TEXAS; areas will be let in only under directions COM/.NCHE SP i.U NG CAVE, FOl{T STOCKTON, TE XAS from the Haynes brothers.
Date: July 2,3,4, 1983 Cav-ers: William Bentley, Glen haynes, and YUCATAN PENINSULA, MEXICO a local gi rl named Judy Reported by: Bill Bentley Date: July 14-August 4, 1983 Cavers: Doyle Mosier, James Reddell Nume rous phone call s to Fort Stock to n Reported by: James Reddell found Denni sHayne s on vaca tion and onl y a ~im chance of catching his brother Glen The purpose of this trip to the Yucatan at home. So I decided that since no one Peninsula was primarily to collect catfish here could go wi th me I would do some solo of the genus Rhamdia from caves and ce ca ving in HcKenzie Cave (1-10 Caverns). I notes for use by Doyle in his dissertation arrived there around 12:30 PM and went research. This genus of fish includes into the cave and started sketching a map blind species from caves in Chiapas and to help me more understand the maze of the Belize; and the Acatlan, Oaxaca, and cave and after 3 hours of chasing myself, Zongolica, Veracruz areas. I departed the cave leaving the entrance Our first real stop was at Tulum, with a register. Dirty and grimy I went Quintana Roo, where we explored a cave into Ft. Stockton and showered at a motel. under the main temple (El Castillo). This There I met Glen and he discussed the cave cave is a single 5-7 m wide crawlway ex ,beneath the city of Ft. Stockton. tending over breakdown for about 60 m be i Glen Haynes first showed me the natural fore becoming very low. A slope along the . entrance Saturday night and he explained left wall leads down to water. We drove : how they had pumped it down to a level along the coast to X-cacel, a beautiful ! that made exploration possible without beach open for camping, where we stayed Iscuba gear. The entrance passage normally while in Quintana Roo. On July 19th we first visited Caleta de 1 stays submerged in water and it is about '1, 180 feet long to the first part of the Xcaret, a beautiful infrequently visited cave that is above the water level. This lagoon. A beautiful cenote a short dis- 105 tance from the lagoon opens into a long commercial Cenote de Xkeken west of Valla underwater cave partially mapped by Sheck dolid. The cave contained catfish but \Ie Exley and others (see International could not ob tain pe rmission to collect &J Caving, No.8, pp. 38-41, for a map and we returned to Valladolid for the night. description). That afternoon we rediscov In the morning after a quick tour of the ered Cueva del Fermin, a wet cave visited ruins at Chichen Itza we collected catfish in 1976 and loca ted in the tho rn fo re s t in Cenote Xtolok and explored the cave near Rancho San Martin. We spent the next there. This is an interesting cave COn two days in trying to trap and net catfish taining several hundred me ters of crawl here, with only one being caught, and in way. We then went to Lib re Union where \Ie visiting other likely sites but without fished in the Cenote de Libre Union. The luck so far as fish were concerned. owner of the cenote (and the Cenote Bari On July 22nd we drove to Coba, toured al so owns Cenote Xtohil, a commercial ce the ruins, and then went on to Valladolid, note four kilometers south of Libre Union. stopping at several cave entrances on the Cenote de Lib re Union is about 8 m in di way to check for possible collecting ameter at the surface and drops approxi si te s. In the af te rnoon we vi si ted the mately 20 m into a large water-floored spectacular Cenote Zaci in Valladolid. chamber with deeply undercut wall s. It This cenote is commercially operated and was reported by the owner to have been contains steps and trails circling the explored by Cuban cave divers. That night wa te r. At the back unde r the ove rhanging we went to Merida. ledge is a 1-2 ill high passage up to 10 ill On the 27th we went to Ruinas de Ake to wide, which extends for 45 m to a junc look for fish in the cenote there but had tion. Straight ahead a low passage was no luck so went to Telchac Puerto on the unentered, but a wide, 1-2 m high passage coast. We visited Pozo de Santa Elena, a to the left was explored for about 70 m, small dug well hitting an underwater cave but the end was not reached. That night passage. We saw a blind eel and brotulid we drove to Tizimin. there but could not catch them. We also The next day we first went to Cenote de made a quick trip into the single-cham los Pinos, a small cave containing a deep bered Cueva de Santa Elena. We spent that clear lake, and made a good collection of night in Motul. catfish. From here we drove to Dzonot In the morning we went to Cenote de San Presentado where we found six well s open Bulha in Motul. This is a popular commer ing into what must be a vast water-floored cially operated swimming pool located chamber. A second well some distance away about 30 m back inside a cave. A great also dropped into a water-floored room. deal of effort among 6 or 7 swimming boys On the return to Tizimin we stopped at a finally netted six fish. well in the village of San Pedro. This On July 29th we visited the Departamento well also opens into a water-floored cave. de Acuacul tura and Biologia Marina of the Finally, we drove north of Tizimin to the Universidad de Yucatan. This group, head village of Kikil where we collected cat ed by Sr. Jorge Zamacona Evenes, is co n fish in Cenote de Kikil, a large open-air ducting detailed studies of the caves a~ ceno te fl 00 red wi th ve ry dee p wa te r. cenotes of the Peninsula and were very The next morning we drove northeast helpful. In the afternoon we attempted to through newly cleared ranchland to the locate caves I had visited in southern village o~ Dzonot Carretero where we found Merida but without luck due to the i n a cenote 4 m in diameter, dropping only 2 creased urbanization of this area. So we m to a pool of scummy water. On the re d rove sou th to Tel chaquillo whe re an in turn to Tizimin we stopped at the village spection of Cenote de Telchaquillo re of Yohactun and checked the village well. vealed no fish. We then went to Grutas de It dropped about 3 m to water about 2 m Tzab-Nah, a large attractiv~ cave south of deep. Crevices extended out under water Tecoh. We found no catfish but made a col and Doyle was able to catch three Rhamdia lection of blind eels and brotulid fish. with a hook and line. A trash-filled sink On July 30th we first visited Ce no te near the cenote reportedly once led into a Xtojil south of Libre Union. This is a small cave. A second visit to Cenote de very large open-air cenote and the owne r Kikil netted more fish. offered to let anyone use it as a center On July 25th we drove to Cenote Xtacabi for study in the area. This is an area of ha near Valladolid, where we collected numerous caves and cenotes and the area several pale catfish. Then we went to the around the cenote would be ideal f or a 106 =rmanen t camp si te. We then drove to Yax We left San t1arcos around 7: 30 ~'riday !lba where we visited Cenote de Yaxcaba. night with the typical caver time delay. his is an impressive opening about 100 ill After a quick drive across to Ciudad Acuna n circumference anti dropping vertically for bottles and beer, we arrived at the or 20 m. It is possible to descend by camp with Robert navigating without too teps to within 5 m of the water where a many problems. Saturday morning we, along adder "lllows access to the water. A with Bill Elliott and Cindy and John mall 20 m long cave passage produced a Spence, headed for Quarry Cave to do some u rpri. singly good te rrestrial collection surveying. Robert, Cindy, and John formed hne Doyle was ahle to hook about 20 cat one team to map the new passage John had ish as fast as he could ge t his line into located last trip. Bill, Allan, and I re he wa te r. We then re tu rned to Ce no te de surveyed the entrance and the main crawl ii;re Union where Doyle managed to collect way because a more correct map is needed 0 "8 additional black catfish and one since there was much left off the first ;l'1nge specimen wi t;l whi te head, fins, map. After a full day of caving, we exit . r ~ · pale m"lrkings. Others were seen but ed into the light for a welcome beer. The (; Ld no t he coll ec ted. Th~ owne r of the evening was highlighted hy an approaching :IJte let us stay in an unused h::>use he lightning storm with a beautiful light ,\ ~·d across the road from the cenote. show, which thankfully died out before it lly 31 st we fi rst looked at the en could rain on us. :: Ice of an impressive cenote about 1.5 The next lOoming everyone packed up with :' ~ est of Lib re Union. A 20 m in diame some going back to Quarry Cave for some _, (~ Tltrance drops vertically for about 20 last minute surveying and rock collecting. Ito a large water-floored chamber. 'We He headed cHIt last from camp only to res , went to Ceno te de Sihunchen east of cue Bill Russell and Katie Arens frolIl 1< da where considerable effort resul ted walking to Langtry with a flat spare. Af [, the collection of two catfish with ter a quick stop in Langtry, we headed for rl ced eyes and piglllent. A quick trip Lltterbarrel Cave. The quick romp through L Genotl~ de la Gulehra resulted in a the walking passage to escape the midday 51' J. inverteh['ate colle,::tion hut no heat was a welcome treat, hut the swim at :;.: Lsh. Lake Amistad was even better. Then back "e next }uorning 'we again visited Jorge to Acuna for some shopping and beers be 7,., ~ ona and he sent two students IIIi t 11 us fore heading back to San j·1arcos. i : earch of caves in southern Herida. We ,j j )Ve red tha tone, Cueva de Luch il, is ilion the !Ilil ita ry base. The owne r of a CAMEL CRICKET sl ld cave was on vacati.on. Finally, we 1, ted Genote de San Jose on the grounds ALERT ol:ile He rida airport 'ind were able to C ic l two fish with reduced eyes and pig- me:- • Afte[' visiting further with Zamacona Peter. Sprouse a t preparing the fish \le headed out of About a year ago, Ted Cohn of the i'ie ria. About 20 km from tOwn 'Ne realized University of Michigan wrote to David th the book containing all of Doyle's McKenzie about his need to obtain speci da had heen lef t at the labo ra to ry so we mens of camel crickets (genus Ceutho re rned to find it locked. We spent an philus) from caves allover Texas. In ot; r night in Merida. order to make proper identifications of ';2 next day we ['eturned di rectly to Liese crickets, mature males must be col Au s t in, finally arriving late the night of le.-:ted and their genitalia extruded. Au gu st 4th, after a moderately successful These prepa['ed specimens were lacking from trip. early collections, so crickets neeti to be recollected from caves all across West Texas. TSA LANGTRY t1INI-PROJECT Dr. Cohn has indicated there may be some grant money available to pay gasoline ex Da te : J'J.l Y 16-17, 1 983 penses for cavers willing to go on col Cavers: Robe rt Green , Allan Cobb and Dan lecting trips. Anyone interested please King wr-i te: Theodore J. Cohn, Insect Division, ~ported by: Dan King Huseum of Zoology, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48109. 107 the BULK RATE Texas Caver US. Postage PAID 1019 Melrose Dr. Waco, Tx . 767 10 Waco,TX 76710 Permit No.1423