I N T E R C O M Volume 53, Issue 5 September — October 2017

Iowa Grotto P.O. Box 228 Iowa City, IA 52244 Grotto Website: www.caves.org/grotto/iowa

Coldwater Cave Project website: http://www.caves.org/project/ coldwater National Speleological Society P. O. Box 228 Iowa City, Iowa 52244 Membership Dues: due January 1, $15.00 per year, includes INTERCOM and Hotline sub- Chairman ------Ed Klausner scriptions. INTERCOM subscriptions only are Vice Chairman/Treasurer — John Donahue $13.00 per year. The Iowa Grotto reserves Secretary ------Elizabeth Miller the right to decline membership during or after a probationary period. Volume 53 Issue 5 Due Dates: for submission of material for publication in the next INTERCOM is Dec ______C O N T E N T S ______1st. Send material for publication, e-mail, Meeting Minutes - - - — ------63 disk or hard copy to: Trip reports: Editor and Typist: Jenny Hackman Graves Cave ------64 319-290-9282 18801 345th Ave Mammoth Historic Entrance - - - 64 Cresco, IA. 52136 Vulture Cave------64 E-mail: [email protected] Cedar Sink Shelter Cave - - - - 65 Coordinate photographs for publication in Old Timers Reunion------65 the INTERCOM with Jenny Hackman, the INTER- COM editor. Coldwater Cave------66 Jason Isgrig Cave ------66 Cave Rescue: Contact the Kentucky Disaster and Emergency Services Central Dispatch at Hidden Hollow Sink Cave - - - - 67 502-564-7815 for cave emergencies only in CRF 60th Anniversary & Survey - 67 the NCRC Central Region of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Diamond Cave------69 Ohio, and Wisconsin. Kneebacker Cave ------70

Iowa Grotto Meetings: are the fourth Van Dyke Cave ------71 Wednesday of each month, third Wednesday in Two Step Cave ------72 December at 7:30 p.m. in Room 125 or there- abouts of Trowbridge Hall on the campus of Twin Shelter------73 the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. Drip Falls Cave ------73 Three Forks Cave------73 Tumbling Creek Cave ------74 Cover Photo: Nick Schmuecker surveying in Coldwa- Cyclone Cave------75 ter Cave, Iowa. Cover and Photo by Scott Dankof. Mark Twain National Forest- - - 76 Werdens Cave------78

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Ozark National Scenic Riverway- 78 like to contribute a picture is wel- come to. Photo Gallery ------80 New Business: Nominations for of- ______CALENDAR______ficers for the upcoming year are open. Jenny Hackman is our new grotto November Grotto Meeting — Nov 22 editor. There was discussion of sub- Room 125, 7:30 pm, Trowbridge Hall jects for special articles for upcom- No December Grotto Meeting ing Intercoms. No decisions were January Grotto Meeting — Jan 24 reached. Room 125, 7:30 pm, Trowbridge Hall Announcements: Loren Schutt has February Grotto Meeting — Feb 28 suggested that the NSS might have Room 125, 7:30 pm, Trowbridge Hall slide or view programs for upcoming meetings. Lizzy will look into this. Minutes of the Iowa Grotto Regular The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 Meeting: September 27, 2017 PM.

The regular meeting was called to Minutes of the Iowa Grotto Regular order by Chairman Ed Klausner at 7:40 Meeting: October 25, 2017 PM. Five members were present. The business meeting was preceded by The regular meeting was called to slides of a recent mapping trip to order by Chairman Ed Klausner at 7:30 Mammoth Cave which included grotto PM. Three members were present. The members. business meeting was preceded by a The minutes of the July and August slide presentation of recent caving meetings were read by Lizzy Miller activity. and approved. Treasurer John Do- Secretary Lizzy Miller read the nahue’s report showed $6181.73 in the minutes of the September 23 meeting. general fund, $103.85 in the Coldwa- They were approved as corrected. ter fund, and $132 in petty cash. There was no treasurer’s report. Trip reports: A number of members Trip reports: Ed visited the His- visited caves during the August Grot- toric Area of Mammoth Cave with sev- to picnic. A large group visited Wet eral NPS interns at the Columbus Day Cave, Hoppe’s Cave, and Jessie James Expedition. Ed and Lizzy visited Cave; Ed and Chris Beck surveyed Tumbling Spring Cave and Ozark Under- Hoppe’s Surprise. The group planning ground Laboratory in October. Ed, on rappelling into Floyd’s cave were Lizzy, Phil LaRue, Jasen Rogers, Ca- unable to find it. die Coder, Jenny and Jamie Hackman, 3 Mark Jones and Chicago caver Nobo- kids and and 4 others visited ru Sato took a trip in Coldwater Cave Werden’s Cave. We had a very good on the third weekend in the month. family outing and saw bats as well as Mark, Mike Lace, Ed and Elizabeth a tiger salamander. spent time doing maintenance and Future Trips: There is a possibil- cleaning on the building and grounds. ity for visiting Kemling Cave with Future Trips: : Ed is planning to Chris Beck this fall. Ed is inter- organize a trip to Werden’s cave fo- ested in a ridge walking trip to cusing on new cavers and families Backbone State Forest and Joyce with kids. He will try to organize Spring. Bob Storlie would like Iowa one for late October or early Novem- cavers continue their surveying work ber. in Mystery Cave in Minnesota. Old business: Lizzy is collecting Old Business: Nominations for of- photos of Iowa cave life, focusing ficers are still open. first on vertebrates. Her list of New Business: The Dubuque Herald vertebrates includes snakes, deer newspaper did a telephone interview mice, raccoons, trout, suckers, and with Ed. tiger salamanders. Anyone who would The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 PM.

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Graves Cave Mammoth Cave. We were able to see Mammoth Cave National Park the Rotunda, Audubon Avenue, Raf- inesque Hall and Bunker Hill. Michael Edmonson County, Kentucky was impressed with the cave and we’d September 2, 2017 only scratched the surface. Total By: Mark Jones cave time was forty-five minutes.

I had invited Michael Lofthouse Vulture Cave to the Labor Day expedition of the Cave Research Foundation (C.R.F.) at Edmonson County, Kentucky Mammoth Cave National Park earlier in September 3, 2017 the summer and he was able to join us By: Mark Jones for the holiday weekend. Since he wouldn’t arrive until mid-day on Sat- I was assigned to more small urday Bill Copeland and I waited for cave work for the Labor Day expedi- him at the Hamilton Valley Research tion of the Cave Research Foundation Center to do some small cave work. (C.R.F.) at Mammoth Cave National By noon we were hiking along the rim Park along with Bill Copeland, Hilla- of Hunt Sink toward our first objec- ry Sadoff and Dave West. Bill and tive, Graves Cave. With a good GPS Dave would work on the Cedar Sink location we walked directly to the Shelter Cave while Hillary and I three foot square entrance. For this would attack Vulture and Amphitheater survey Michael was on point and read Caves. Bill led us down the stairway backsights and I kept book and read of Cedar Sink Trail and over to Vul- foresights. Meanwhile Bill was going ture Cave where we began our survey. to wander Hunt Sink in search of oth- This talus cave is off to the right er leads. of Smith Valley Cave a bit above the It only took three shots for a to- bottom of the sink. Hillary set sta- tal of twenty-five feet to finish off tions and read backsights and I kept this small cave. It dropped down ten book and read foresights. feet, leveled off and terminated in a Starting with a twenty foot shot we pancake room. Not much to see at this angled northwest over to a twelve cave but we did see a dozen cave foot vertical drop down to a pancake crickets (Ceuthophilus sp.), a fish- room. The next two shots doubled back ing spider (Dolomedes sp.), two orb to a lower entrance directly under weavers (Meta ovalis)and a couple of the first station. Off to the east we terrestrial snails (Inflectarius heard a waterfall that beckoned me to sp.). In addition we found two inter- brave a muddy bellycrawl that dropped esting historic clear bottles. Total down to a six-foot high, twenty-foot cave time was ninety minutes. Will diameter room. A small stream emanat- the recent rain Bill was unable to ed from a tiny crack, trickled over a address his concerns so that will beautiful flowstone mound and disap- have to wait until a later date. peared down through an insignificant drain. We ended in this room with ex- Mammoth Cave Historic Entrance actly 100.0 feet! This was a surpris- ingly interesting small cave in the Edmonson County, Kentucky park. September 2, 2017 Cave fauna observed included a By: Mark Jones pickerel frog (Rana palustris), doz- ens of cave crickets (Ceuthophilus With plenty of daylight remain- sp.), a fishing spider (Dolomedes ing Michael Lofthouse and I drove sp.), a couple of orb weavers (Meta over to the Mammoth Cave Visitor Cen- ovalis), some terrestrial snails ter to get a ticket for the Discovery (Inflectarius sp.), a terrestrial Tour. At only five dollars it is a millipeded and oodles of greenhouse great deal to get an introduction to millipedes.

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For the next half hour we wandered parts arrived and we spent the better about Cedar Sink in search of an elu- part of the day putting the pool up. sive lead but alas couldn’t find it. We also set up our shelter and screen Bill will determine the next step in house. Unfortunately on Sunday Brad locating this cave. lost the crown on his front tooth. There was nothing the med tent could Cedar Sink Shelter Cave do for him. Sunday night was the man- datory safety meeting. Monday we Edmonson County, Kentucky spent the better part of the morning September 3, 2017 looking for a dentist in town who By: Mark Jones could give him a temporary fix. We did find one and the fix lasted long Having addressed our two caves Hil- enough for us to get home. lary and I returned to the Cedar Sink One new item at OTR this year was Trail and followed it around to a the event tent. Various people gave flight of stairs that led directly to talks and there was an update meeting Cedar Sink Shelter Cave. Dave was on Convention 2020 which will be held deep in thought sketching the massive on site. I sat on a history of OTR, entrance to this shallow cave so we as well as a dig on a piece of prop- joined Bill in conducting the biolog- erty owned by a caver. Brad attended ical survey. We found a surprisingly the Root (Real Original Old Timer 40 wide range of cave fauna including a year or more) and Toots (Totally cave salamander (Eurycea lucifuga), Original Old Timer 60 years or cave crickets (Ceuthophilus sp.), a more) meeting at the event tent (He fishing spider (Dolomedes sp.), an has 42 OTRs and I only have 34 so he orb weaver (Meta ovalis), a harvest- is a Root and I am only a Coot Certi- man (Leiobunum sp.), a couple of fied Original Old Timer 20 years or aquatic isopod, a heliomyzid fly, nu- more). Another new thing is that the merous greenhouse millipedes and a sauna is closed from 4:00 a. to 10:00 glowworm larva along with a four-foot am This is because it has been impos- rat snake and a wayward bird near the sible to find people to go on duty in entrance. Numerous ferns were found those wee hours of the morning and scattered around the entrance area. the sauna gets cleaned every morning With an entrance spanning nearly two at 9:00. hundred feet it took Dave another Brad entered some contests—sleeping ninety minutes to capture the essence bag, cave pack, lantern and obstacle of the cave. Several hikers stopped course. We do not know if he won any- by to visit and Hillary tactfully an- thing because were have duty at the swered their many questions. sauna from 6-9 PM when the awards are announced. Old Timers Reunion We were supposed to go on a trip with SCUM Ridge to Sinks of Gandy but Randolph County, West Virginia we had other things to do and it was September 2-3, 2017 cold and windy that day. Also there By: Liz Robinson had been a lot of rain that summer in the area so it would have been most Our drive to OTR was uneventful uncomfortable even it we had been and we arrive Friday afternoon and able to go. At the SCUM meeting we checked in. We set up our sleeping learned apparently this was not the tent and then checked in with the best circumstances for others. sauna people. Saturday morning we The theme for this year was Christ- started the set up of the cool pool, mas. There was their share of Bad cleaning off the pool way and putting Santas in camp and a Chanukah decora- the basket in place. We prepared the tion as well. The Dooh Dah parade was ground for the pool, but were delayed hekd at night while we were on duty by the need for parts. Sunday the in the Sauna. Usually it has been on

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Saturday morning at 10:00. Next year Klaunser, Elizabeth Miller and Gary the theme is Steam Punk. Engh arrived to assist us in our As usual I worked Registration. We work. We finished up by torching the were down slightly from last year, woodpile to clean up the area before mist likely related to the weather the snow flows in December. prediction which was from a lot of Noboru Sakabe was the only caver rain. The gas prices went up by about that arrived on Saturday morning so 50 cents after Harvey hit and I would it was just him and me dropping down presume that this may have had some to enjoy Coldwater Cave. With the influence. We still had reasonably droughty conditions in northeastern good attendance and I saw some people Iowa we weren’t too surprised to find I had not seen in many years, however the stream level at a clear, comfort- there were others whom I did not see. able 0.60’. This is a good indication Brad and I have the last of the that the upstream sumps could be open original cherry wood picnic tales this winter. Since Noboru hadn’t been from when the site opened in 1986. We in the cave for a couple years we offered it to the OTR Museum but it toured downstream to Cascade Passage was too large. Brad took the table where we detoured up this side- apart and we took it home for major passage another quarter-mile before restoration where we would have more doubling back. It should be noted time and electricity to get the work that much of Cascade has been scoured done. clean of siltation resulting in a Coming down the pike there will be passage with very little crawling and new facilities at the sauna including a lot of bobbing. new buildings and new pools as well Back at the platform we continued as a bigger and better changing area. upstream to North Snake for a quick The goal is to have everything done peek before a jaunt up to the Crinoid by the 2020 convention. I do not know Beds and Jumping Off Point. We spent all the details for the changes of three hours wandering about seeing 2018 and 2019 but the goal is to con- the mainstream. The only fauna seen vert to natural gas to run the saunas were six unidentified fish. and hot tub and confine the use of wood to the bonfire. The new build- Jason Isgrig Cave ings and pools will be moved away from the river and the stage and oth- Crawford County, Missouri er recreational facilities will be September 22, 2017 moved to where the pools and saunas By: Mark Jones are now. The goal is to make set up and operational less labor intensive Having missed over two decades of and easier as we are all getting old- MVORs I had the opportunity to recon- er. nect in Crawford County, Missouri for the Fall 2017 program. I was assigned Coldwater Cave to lead trips to Jason Isgrig Cave on both Friday and Saturday. On Friday Winneshiek County, Iowa Gary Gilula, Jason Hanewinkel and Io- September 16, 2017 ana Herte joined me at 10:00 a.m. for By: Mark Jones the hour drive from the campground headquarters. Since Kirsten Alvey and Mike Lace and I arrived early for I had flagged the route on Wednesday the September Coldwater weekend to it was an easy hike from the parking knock down weeds and prune back the area up a slight slope to an incon- overgrown trees in the lane to the spicuous sinkhole entrance. We’d also cave shack. On Friday I used the lubricated the lock and exercised the Brushhog mower to make quick work of gate so in no time the group had wig- the weeds and Mike attacked the trees gled through to a roomy canyon. The with a vengeance. Mid-afternoon Ed cave is nearly two thousand feet long

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that resembles a “T” with a decorated Clark, Charles “Mick” Clary, Jason trunk passage running east/west and a Finkelstein, Hannah Sanders and Mark bellycrawl going north/south. Our Whentley). Although we’d retraced the goal today was to see the trunk pas- same route as yesterday there was a sage. change in the cave fauna. There were Immediately a fresh Eastern woodrat less adult salamanders noted but we (Neotoma floridana) nest was spied on added a pipistrelle or tri-colored a ledge on the right. Although no bat (Perimyotis subflavus) and a woodrats were seen, a host of cave spring peeper tree frog (Pseudacris salamanders (Eurycea lucifuga) and a crucifer). In addition Justin, Hannah lone Western slimy salamander and I took a short detour down the (Plethodon albagula or glutinosus) crawlway of the base of the “T”. inhabited the greenery. We followed a Again we spent two hours enjoying the trail of woodrat and raccoon (Procyon refreshing cool environment before lotor) scat down a mud-packed slope exiting to the surface. thirty feet to a flowstone choke where a ten-foot downclimb dropped to Hidden Hollow Sink Cave a gravelly floor in a thirty foot canyon. Before too long we were back Crawford County, Missouri at the ceiling in an easy hands-and- September 23, 2017 knees crawl that opened back into the By: Mark Jones canyon passage. Dozens of larval salamanders (Eurycea sp.) filled a With plenty of afternoon remaining shallow rimstone pool. On top of a Nick Anderson, Justin Clark, Jason stalactite mound a pickerel frog Finkelstein, Hannah Sanders, Mark (Rana palustris) sat in judgment of Whentley and I stopped by to catch a our little group. An explosion of peek of Hidden Hollow Sink Cave. An formations filled the passage – soda obvious thirty-five foot wide mouth straws, stalactites, drapery, flow- sloped down a breakdown pile to a stone, rimstone dams, popcorn, arago- thirty-foot diameter foyer with long- nite crystals and stalagmites. In ad- dead columns with an easy hands-and- dition the mud-coated wall told the knees crawl in the back. Although the story of some of the cave visitors - width of the room expanded to over the obvious names and dates of past thirty feet the passage remained a cavers scrawled in the mud and the crawl along the right wall with a more subtle claw marks gouged by ani- foot-high ledge on the left. Oodles mals. Although it is almost impossi- of vandalized formations filled much ble to date the scratches Jason no- of this area. Twenty feet later we ticed that a ¼” coating of flowstone popped into a nice walking tube with covered part of the grooves from a nice flowstone walls. Many of these long extinct short faced bear species mounds had old graffiti covering (Arctodus simus) the largest bear them. In a hundred feet the flowstone species on the Earth (about 6 feet pinched the room down to a hands-and- tall at the shoulder and weighing knees crawl that continued seventy 1,400 pounds) indicating that it’s feet to a terminal choke. Two pipi- been a long time. A thousand feet in strelles or tri-colored bats the canyon closed down to a crawl (Perimyotis subflavus) were observed that eventually pinches down to a during our half-hour trip. wall of breakdown collapse. We spent two hours exploring this wonderful CRF’s 60th Anniversary & Survey Trip cave. Mammoth Cave, Kentucky September 23, 2017 October 7-8, 2017 On the second day I returned to By: Ed Klausner Jason Isgrig Cave with a team of six other cavers. (Nick Anderson, Justin The 60th anniversary of the Cave Re-

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search Foundation was held at Mammoth day because we wanted to get back for Cave over the regular October expedi- the banquet. tion. There were many of the founders On Sunday, Elizabeth Winkler, Tim and early members who were able to Green, and Elizabeth Copelin joined attend. On Friday evening, Diamond me for a trip to the Ruins of Karnak Caverns hosted a reception. There where a canyon seemed to be unsur- were some non-survey trips on Satur- veyed. This is just off the tour day and then a banquet on Saturday trail. We spent quite a bit of time night at the CRF facility at Hamilton trying to find a tie station while Valley. Roger Brucker, a founder of Eli rigged a rope for the pit in the CRF, gave the keynote talk and Super- canyon. We surveyed the small dome to intendent Barclay Trimble presented a the southeast and then surveyed into framed copy of a map presented to the the canyon. There is still passage park by the early CRF surveyors and above but it will require a second cartographers. rope (we only had one) and then pos- Since it was also a regular expedi- sibly an extension ladder to reach a tion, there were two days of survey visible lead about 15 feet up. This trips. On the first day, I took Rick will have to wait for another expedi- Olson and two interns (Katie Gorman tion. and Karina Anders) to Ina’s Hall to Finally, we headed towards Williams fix the map and look for a possible Dome to look at a lead just before passage through the breakdown. The the dome. It led to a small hole map was annotated and then we headed (less than a foot high) and then to a to Williams Dome by going back ledge. We surveyed this and were able through the restrooms at Great Relief to take a long shot to the other side Hall, through Fat Man’s Misery and to of Williams Dome to a station that we the Valley of Humility where we left had established the previous day. the tour trail and headed to Wil- All in all, it was a great trip liam’s Dome. It was not completely with 250 feet of new survey. This surveyed and we spent the rest of the added to the 412 miles of survey an- short day doing that. It was a short

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nounced this weekend for the length Everything fell in place as I moved of Mammoth Cave. around the room working several 3-D puzzles simultaneously. After three Diamond Cave hours all but a couple pieces were matched and marked for repair. When Newton County, Arkansas this room is finished it will regain October 7, 2017 some of its former glory. By: Mark Jones Crawling back into the main passage I noted how Chris had transformed the After a day of gulaging for Scott flowstone slope from a dingy ashen Dankof and Mike Lace in northwestern gray back to a more natural white. Arkansas I was excited to drive down His method of scrubbing, sponging and to Diamond Cave in Newton County for rinsing got results without compro- the continuation of our cave restora- mising a sensitive rimstone pool tion project. The beautification of downstream. In addition he had this former show cave has been a high cleaned up the pool by removing half priority when we’re down in Arkansas. a dozen broken speleothems that were Local recruits included Lex Pruitt, obviously thrown into the water after Cynthia and Chaz Angle, Mark Miller they were vandalized. Chris would and Mike Nelson (a former Iowa cav- carry on cleaning this area for the er). Out-of-state cavers included rest of the day. Chris Beck, Scott Dankof, Mike Lace Seeing that he was progressing well and myself. At 9:15 a.m. we hiked up I moved over to The Graffiti Columns the old tourist trail past the old by the Calcite Pool to continue the ticket office to the gated entrance. restoration of the row of massive From here we descended 113 steps down columns and associated flowstone to the main level where Chris and I slopes. These formations were coated continue all the way past the duck- in a thick layer of brown mud from walk to just beyond the Calcite Pool. past visitors who had penciled their Chris began his day cleaning a names on the flowstone. Once again flowstone slope on the right while I before and after pictures were taken crawled over to work in an alcove on to document the change. Rather than the left. In April Dennis Novicky and use Chris’ more subtle method I opted I had cleaned this room and found nu- for the more direct method of scour- merous broken speleothems. My task ing the rock and pouring on the wa- today was to match up as many as I ter. It was fortuitous that there was could, mark them for later work and a vast supply of water in two pools photo-document the process. It stands on either side of columns. For the to reason that most cave vandals next four hours I scrubbed and washed don’t carry the formations too far so to reveal the hidden beauty covered I began by looking for obvious match- by decades of abuse. es around the pieces of stalagmites. By quitting time we were ready to The diameter of the broken stalag- head toward the entrance. Since there mites in this area ranged from two to were still pieces of rotting lumber six inches. Four chunks were found in near the duckwalk we each grabbed a a shallow pool with many more scat- section to take on out. The others tered along the water’s edge. In no had a productive day doing all sorts time I had aligned six fragments with of cleaning and hauling. We clocked each other. A scan of the floor re- out at 4:15 p.m. and celebrated a job vealed three stalagmite “trunks” that well-done with pizza in Jasper. once supported these pieces. Along the wall another pair of two- October 8, 2017 foot stalagmites were reassembled, For the second day of cave restora- flagged and photographed. In the mid- tion at Diamond Cave Chris Beck, dle of the room fourteen pieces were Scott Dankof, Mike Lace, Mike Nelson reunited to build six formations. and me assembled at 9:00 a.m. with

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big plans. Yesterday Mike had iden- scrubbing formations for an hour be- tified and matched several vandalized fore picking up the magnet to collect speleothems along the tourist trail more wire along the trail. Eventually past the duckwalk that would be the the wire will be gone but it seems to focus of today’s effort. Instead of magically appear each time I walk the gradually working up to the behemoth trail. On my way toward the entrance formations we began with a monster all the gear and buckets of debris two hundred pound section of stalag- were collected and brought out. Near mite on a steep slope. Chris mixed up the entrance we swept the passage and a batch of epoxy and soon we had were surprised to find a dozen light lugged the piece into position and bulbs as well as other large pieces had it back in its rightful place. of junk that had been bypassed. As Scott capped it off with the top Chris had commented at the end of the piece resulting in an impressive six- day “The excitement of the cleanup is foot stalactite in place of an ugly waxing and the tediousness of the two foot stump. restoration remains.” In spite of Since we were on a roll Mike led us this assessment I’m sure that we’ll down to an even larger piece of stal- have another group of eager cavers agmite that we hoisted back home. returning to Diamond Cave very soon. With the two biggies out of the way Addendum: The cave fauna observed we left Chris and Mike L. to their during the past three days at Diamond epoxying of more manageable pieces included three pipistrelles or tri- for the rest of the day while Scott colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) shot pictures and Mike N. and I con- and three cave salamanders (Eurycea tinued cleaning up. (The highpoint of lucifuga). the day for Chris was when he matched nine pieces to assemble a four foot Kneebacker Cave stalagmite.) It’s hard to believe that there was Newton County, Arkansas so much debris left to be picked up October 12, 2017 after all the previous trips but it By: Mark Jones never seemed to stop. Once again most of the trash consisted of broken An eager group of five cavers light bulbs but there was plenty of (Derek Bristol, Jim Harmon, Kayla miscellaneous litter to be found. Sapkota, David “Bear” Wright II and When I got bored I picked up the ten myself) set out at 9:00 a.m. to sur- pound magnet and swept the trail for vey Kneebacker Cave in the Buffalo wire and nails. (This method works National River of the National Park well for ferrous metals but I still Service. The sketchy information that had to bend down to get the copper we had mentioned a thousand feet of wire.) With each day of restoration wet passage but not the appropriate we’re bringing the cave back into gear so we hoped for the best and balance. We ended the day with anoth- didn’t bring wetsuits. A fifteen mi- er seven hours of cave restoration nute hike on the Buffalo River Trail under our belts. brought us to a hillside that we climbed up to the mouth of the eighty October 9, 2017 -five foot wide by twenty foot high For the last day at the Diamond Cave entrance. Unfortunately the entrance restoration it was down to Chris area funneled down quickly to a cob- Beck, Mike Nelson and me. Chris spent bly watercrawl. a majority of his time using the With five people we split into two “geezer grabber” to clean out the nu- groups – Kayla, Jim and Bear would merous pools along the trail. Mean- start at the dripline and survey in while Mike cleaned up the staging ar- while Derek and I would crawl to the eas and hauled out debris. I returned back and survey out. Two hundred to The Graffiti Columns to continue feet into the crawl the ceiling

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dropped down to within eight inches would recommend neoprene socks and of the water which would require us gloves as well as a wetsuit bib with to be partially submerge. Rather a dry top for beyond the ear-dip. than risk an extended crawl in energy Cave fauna records included raccoon -sapping water we opted to set a bomb (Procyon lotor) scat, scads of flies -proof station (Station B1) and sur- (Diptera sp.), some aquatic isopods vey back toward the entrance. Derek (Caecidotea ancyla), two dozen orb kept book and read the Disto-X and I weavers (Meta ovalis), a dozen cave set stations and read backsights. In crickets (Ceuthophilus sp.), a dozen no time we’d retraced our way out to cave salamanders (Eurycea lucifuga), tie into the other group. six Oklahoma salamanders (Eurycea During our lunch break Kayla decid- tynerensis), three Western slimy sal- ed that we should push beyond station amanders (Plethodon albagula or glu- B1 to continue the survey. Although tinosus),a dark sided salamander I was not excited about the prospect (Eurycea longicauda melanopleura), a of wallowing in the watercrawl I was Ozark zigzag salamander (Plethodon on lead. Although five of us entered angusticlavius) and a pipistrelle or Jim and Bear retreated before the tri-colored bat (Perimyotis subfla- chest dunk leaving Kayla, Derek and vus). me. From station B1 the passage took a sharp right turn and ran a hundred Van Dyke Annex Cave feet of watercrawl to an easy ear-dip pinch that continued in a gravelly Newton County, Arkansas bellycrawl for thirty feet before October 13, 2017 gradually opening up. I was very By: Mark Jones surprised when I popped into a for- mation-rich stoopwalking passage that Dave West wanted to get back to Van extended off to the left. Realizing Dyke Cave in Cecil Cove after being that we’d not complete the cave today denied last winter so Matthew Snyder, we tied off in the middle of the Julie Turhune, Karen Willmes and me stoopwalk (Station C1) and surveyed accompanied him on his quest. While out. For this section Kayla sketched Dave, Julie and Karen would continue and recorded information, Derek shot that survey Matthew and I would slip foresights with the Disto-X and I over to nearby Van Dyke Annex Cave to read backsights. finish work on it. The obvious six- While admiring the formations we teen foot wide by six foot high bluff discovered five different salamander -face entrance is evident from Cecil species – the cave salamander, the Creek. A dry, silty floor angled up Oklahoma salamander, the Western into an easy hands-and-knees crawl. slimy salamander, the dark sided sal- Krista Bartel had begun the survey amander and the Ozark zigzag salaman- last year but had run out of time so der. This area was soon aptly named we would simply tie into her last the Salamander Room. Several other station and survey on from there. critters, both trogolobitic and epi- Matt would be on point and reading gean, were found indicating there is backsights and I would be sketching a nearby surface connection. and reading foresights with the Disto The Disto-X made short work of the -X. Our first shot took us along the bellycrawl, ear-dip pinch and the back wall into a narrow hands-and- long watercrawl that tied into Sta- knees crawlway. A shot to the left tion B1. We exited the cave in short and two to the right was all it took order and broke into the entrance to finish off this cave. Total cave foyer at 3:00 p.m. with a total of time was an hour. 560.3 feet of survey. One more trip Cave fauna observed included an with two teams should make short work Ozark zigzag salamander (Plethodon of the back of this cave provided angusticlavius), camel crickets that they are suitably dressed. I (Ceuthophilus gracilipes), fishing

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spiders (Dolomedes sp.), orb weavers was surveyed in November of 2016. (Meta ovalis) and terrestrial snails Two more shots defined the Beaver (Inflectarius sp.). Sticks Room and connected to our ear- lier survey with very nice loop clo- Van Dyke Cave sure. The BC Survey netted 166 feet Following lunch with the others at of survey. Total cave time was four the entrance of Van Dyke Cave Dave hours. had Matthew and I start surveying the Additional cave fauna spotted on mucky stream section with the Disto-X our survey included pipistrelles or while they continued mopping up the tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subfla- dryer crawlways near the entrance. vus), a pickerel frog (Rana palus- The plan was for his survey to con- tris), dark sided salamanders nect to ours. With little rain this (Eurycea longicauda melanopleura) and fall the water wasn’t very deep alt- a Western slimy salamander (Plethodon hough my boots still sank six inches albagula or glutinosus). into the mud. In addition the floor Note: Julie recorded the day’s entire was covered in tree limbs gnawed and bio-inventory for the cave. hauled in by industrious beavers (Castor Canadensis). Obviously this Two Step Cave is now the Beaver Sticks Room. Be- fore we even took our first shot Ju- Newton County, Arkansas lie (who had wandered over from the October 14, 2017 other party) caught a glimpse of a By: Mark Jones banded sculpin (Cottus carolinae) in the shallow water. Soon we’d added It was down to Matt Baumgartner and four more of these little fellas. me for the final day of caving in the Slopping around the mixture of mud, Buffalo National River. Kayla Sapko- rotting wood and organic debris ta had a list of a cluster of small raised a stench that wafted about for caves that needed to be surveyed and the remainder of the trip. inventoried that we would attempt to Using the survey designation of BC address. On a previous ridgewalking we wrapped around the left wall in a trip these caves had been located and room with an eight foot ceiling to a GPSed making our work much easier. floor level hands-and-knees crawl After a half-mile hike along the Buf- that trended south. Twelve feet lat- falo River we walked right up to the er we were standing up with a boxy first objective which was Two Step canyon continuing south and a narrow Cave. For today’s operation Matt canyon going west. Matt reconnoi- would be on point and shooting back- tered both and determined that each sights while I would be reading fore- ran another thirty feet. One more sights with the Disto-X and keeping shot was taken to the south before book. Dave recalled us to tie into Station This cave is at the base of the VD12. Evidently there was a lot of bluff with an obvious five foot wide crawlway to inventory and we didn’t by thirteen foot high entrance. Just want to leave a hanging survey. inside the entrance is a trickling Retreating to the Beaver Sticks five foot waterfall on the right. As Room we surveyed north fifty feet to I was poking around the mud I spied a Station VD12. Back at BC1 we fol- fishing spider (Dolomedes sp.) on the lowed the right wall to the southwest wall but was more surprised when I where the stream disappears under a saw a four-inch ringneck snake low ledge in a twelve inch water- (Diadophis punctatus) tucked into a crawl. Thankfully we didn’t have nearby crack. Just below him was wetsuits so this lead will have to Western slimy salamander (Plethodon remain unexplored for now. It should albagula or glutinosus) climbing up be noted that the water reappears in the waterfall. Overhead were the re- the anteroom thirty feet away that mains of several organ pipe mud daub-

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er (Trypoxylon politum) nests. Mean- Further down the Buffalo was the while Matt had ascended into a narrow last cave of the day, Drip Falls canyon where he encountered two rac- Cave. A roomy nine foot wide by coons (Procyon lotor) sitting above twelve foot high entrance sloped up him on a ledge! In all my years of steeply twenty-one feet to pinch out caving I had yet to spot a live rac- at the ceiling in terminal breakdown. coon in a cave let alone two. All That’s about all that can be said for I’ve ever seen had been their scat or this cave other than the presence of possibly their bones. They appeared abandoned eastern phoebe (Sayornis to be less than interested in us so phoebe) and organ pipe mud dauber we decided to continue the survey. (Trypoxylon politum) nests. Total The walls in this area were covered cave time was thirty minutes. All in with camel crickets (Ceuthophilus all a very nice way to finish up the gracilipes) and silverfish weekend in Arkansas. (Thysanurans sp.). In twelve feet the canyon narrowed to four inches Three Forks Cave precluding us from continuing alt- hough a strong cool breeze indicated Adair County, Oklahoma that there was passage beyond. A October 16, 2017 cave salamander (Eurycea lucifuga) By: Mark Jones and Oklahoma salamander (Eurycea tynerensis) were found in this area. Jonathan Beard and I drove over to At only 38.1 feet this turned out to Oklahoma to meet with Clayton and be a very faunal-rich cave. Cynthia Russell for the continuing survey of Three Forks Cave. At over Twin Shelter a mile (5,767.4 feet) in length we’re hoping to add another thousand feet Newton County, Arkansas to the books over the next couple October 14, 2017 days. Using the Washtub Entrance we By: Mark Jones scooted over past Grand Junction to the Waterfall Junction where we broke Downstream two hundred feet from out the survey gear. For today’s Two Step Cave we climbed up a steep survey Cynthia searched for cave slope to Twin Shelter. This inter- critters, Jon was on point and read esting karst feature consists of two backsights with the Disto-X, Clay shelters under the same dripline sep- took foresights with the Disto-X and arated by a fractured wall. The I kept book and sketched the map. northern shelter entrance measured Tying into Station T24 we set off twenty feet wide by nine foot high to the southwest in easy stoopwalking while the southern shelter was nearly passage. After eighty feet we turned fifty feet wide and nine foot high. 90° to the northwest for another Both shelters had a horizontal depth eighty feet before settling on a of twenty feet. Eastern woodrat westerly course for sixty feet to a (Neotoma floridana) scat and the re- “T” intersection. Staying to the mains of organ pipe mud dauber left we soon popped into the Second (Trypoxylon politum) nests were the Parachute Room, a thirty foot alcove only signs of cave faunal usage. It on the left. Several nice dripstone took an hour to put this one into the draperies lined the walls of this records. room. Clay told us of the extinct short-faced bear (Arctodus simus) Drip Falls Cave bones and teeth that he’d discovered in this area. Some of these remains Newton County, Arkansas are now housed in the Oklahoma Museum October 14, 2017 of Natural History at the University By: Mark Jones of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. From the Second Parachute Room we

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wound around clockwise through a bel- in this room are coated in a deep lycrawl pinch into a hands-and-knees brown mud giving it the name the gravel crawl. We surveyed another Chocolate Room. This thirty foot di- 180 feet back through Pat’s Crawl to ameter room may also be the way past tie into Station U12 at the “T” in- the Guad. Along the walls the mud tersection. A couple of paleo-bear floor seems to have sloughed away beds were noted along the way with leaving a narrow slit that drops down claw marks etched deep in the lime- eight feet to the unknown. After stone above one of them. An unsur- plotting the passage a preliminary veyed crawlway remains northwest of dig trip would give us a better idea the Second Parachute Room. In six of connecting to the Octopus Room. hours 497.9 feet of passage was in- The passage opened up to a stoop- ventoried. walk for the next eighty feet to the Cave fauna observed during this northwest before abruptly ending in a trip included two pipistrelles or tri narrow canyon. Resigned to the fact -colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus), that our best chance to the Octopus five cave salamanders (Eurycea luci- Room was back in the last room we re- fuga), a few fishing spiders treated to Station N4 to continue (Dolomedes sp.), some orb weavers surveying the remainder of this area. (Meta ovalis), several camel crickets Turning to the north we pushed a (Ceuthophilus gracilipes) and a cave hands-and-knees crawl forty feet to webworm (Macrocera nobilis). Plenty its terminus. Our final lead to the of raccoon (Procyon lotor) scat was northeast ended at a flowstone choke also noted. in a tall, narrow canyon or so it seemed. Clay wallowed down in the October 17, 2017 mud to find a squeeze that returned The second day of survey at Three to canyon passage. Intrigued with Forks Cave had Jonathan Beard, Clay- the possibilities Jon pushed Clay ton Russell and me trekking out past aside to have a look for himself. the Muddy Maze to define the western Soon he was on the other side with extent of this passage and perhaps the hopes of more booty. Alas thirty find a more civilized route out to feet beyond another flowstone choke the Octopus Room rather than slogging prevented any further exploration. through the infamous never-ending Satisfied that we’d pushed the extent Guad. From the Washtub Entrance it of this area we set a casual pace for was less than twenty minutes out to our exit trip. our starting point at Station M44. The day’s survey totaled 422.9 Again Jon was on point and read back- feet for a running total of 920.8 sights with the Disto-X, Clay took feet. foresights with the Disto-X and I Cave fauna included three pipi- kept book and sketched the map. Us- strelles or tri-colored bats ing the N designation we trended (Perimyotis subflavus) and four cave southwest fifty feet in a formation- salamanders (Eurycea lucifuga). Once laden crawl to a 90° jog to the again plenty of raccoon (Procyon northwest for another forty feet of lotor) scat was noted. crawling before opening up. At this point (Station N4) the pas- Tumbling Creek Cave sage continued northwest another twenty feet over a stalactiflat floor Protem, Missouri but we were able to bypass impacting October 18, 2017 this area by going around to a room By: Ed Klausner on the left. Several odd formations were found in this stretch including As part of the National Cave and a double stalactiflat, a reattached Karst Management Symposium in Eureka stalactiflat and a rock fin with soda Springs, Arkansas, there were several straw columns. All of the formations field trips. Elizabeth and I signed

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A crayfish trap at Ozark Underground Laboratory. Photo by: Ed Klausner up for the trip to the Ozark Under- cave water to be used if there is ground Laboratory run by Tom Aley. flood that has toxic chemicals wash- Tom and his wife bought the cave ing into the cave. Hopefully, there (Tumbling Creek Cave) about 60 years would be time to collect some of the ago to protect it. They also bought cave biota and put them in these the recharge area as well. The cave tanks so they aren’t killed. is home to two endangered species and You can find out more about the one threatened species. The cave is Ozark Underground Laboratory at used as a research laboratory and a www.ozarkundergroundlab.com learning environment for school groups. Cyclone Cave (MDDXXX) Tom and Mike Slay (The Nature Con- servancy) let the trip through the McDonald County, Missouri cave. With flooding due to a Corps October 20, 2017 of Engineers dam, crayfish have been By: Mark Jones invading the cave and eating the en- dangered snails. There are two meth- Returning from Oklahoma I was in- ods in place to remove the crayfish. vited to join Bob Lerch, Ben Miller First, there is a barrier on the bot- and Drew Thompson survey Cyclone Cave tom of the bat gate to prevent their in McDonald County in southwestern entry when there is flooding. Sec- Missouri. According to records the ond, there are traps baited with hot cave length is estimated to be four dogs to tram and remove the crayfish. hundred feet. The large shelter en- There are also emergency tanks with trance was located at the base of a

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bluff on a steep slope north of Big Mark Twain National Forest Sugar Creek. This survey found Ben and Bob sharing sketching duties Barry County, Missouri while Drew would set stations and I October 21,2017 would use the Disto-X for compass and By: Mark Jones inclinometer readings. Just under the dripline a twenty- Howling Cave (BRY202) foot long stoopwalking passage con- Following a day caving over in nected the shelter entrance with a McDonald County I met up with Jona- ten foot tall, thirty-foot diameter than Beard and Scott House to survey foyer with three options. The first and monitor a number of caves in the was a ceiling level crawl that ex- Mark Twain National Forest in Barry tended another twenty feet but soon County, Missouri. Our goal was to pinched down to a critter crawl. The visit caves south of Roaring River second and third were related, with a State Park previously found by Bran- balcony crawl situated directly above don Van Dalsem. Parking along a a stream level passage. Exploring ridgetop we hike south down a steep the balcony crawl we found that it embankment to a rock outcropping by a split into a twenty foot dead end on wet-weather waterfall where we began the right and an overlook of the our work. For today’s survey Scott stream on the left. was on book, Jon was on point and Retreating to the foyer we soon recorded cave fauna and I shot the found that the stream passage also Disto-X. split with an unattractive gravel Less than impressed with our bellycrawl on the right and a more first find we took two shots to fin- spacious breakdown stoopwalk on the ish off this seventeen foot cave. left. We went left. Within fifty Rather disappointed we glanced over feet the stream passage was filled see a more promising lead under the with a maze of breakdown. Etched on dry waterfall. Realizing that the the wall was the ominous warning M. GPS information was erroneous we re- KNOX DIED HERE 1956. If that’s the set to survey this much longer cave. case I’d sure like to hear the story. A twenty foot wide hands-and-knees A continuation of the balcony was ac- crawl ran forty feet to a “T” inter- cessible by an easy climb with the section with both arms extending sev- sinuous crawl mirroring the lower enteen feet. At 76 feet this would level. Four shots were taken before be the longest cave that we saw on reverting to the breakdown crawl be- this trip. Because we’d already sur- low. Another four reading were gar- veyed the short karst feature we nered before I bowed out at 6:00 p.m. christened this Howling Cave Annex. to make the hour drive to meet Jon Cave fauna observed included a cave Beard and Scott House over in Barry salamander (Eurycea lucifuga), two County. When I departed I estimate fishing spiders (Dolomedes sp.), that the survey of known cave was 50% eight orb weavers (Meta ovalis) with completed. two egg sacs, fifteen camel crickets Cave fauna included six pipistrelles (Ceuthophilus gracilipes) and numer- or tri-colored bats (Perimyotis sub- ous flies (Diptera sp.) flavus), a cave salamander (Eurycea lucifuga), a larval salamander Cobblestrewn Cave (BRY203) (Eurycea sp.), some camel crickets South of Howling Cave in an adja- (Ceuthophilus gracilipes), a few he- cent hollow was our second cave of liomyzid flies and a harvestman the day, Cobblestrewn Cave. The (Leiobunum sp.). Eastern woodrat first shot took us in to a nice 10’ x (Neotoma floridana) scat was also 15’ room full of desiccated flow- noted. stone. Two more splay shots ended in narrow canyons that brought the cave total to 54 feet.

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Cave fauna observed included a rat (Neotoma floridana) scat and some gravid cave salamander (Eurycea luci- nest organ pipe mud dauber fuga), two orb weavers (Meta ovalis), (Trypoxylon politum) nests were also some camel crickets (Ceuthophilus found. gracilipes), numerous flies (Diptera sp.) and a millipede. Loop Canyon Cave (BRY208) Fifty feet up the hollow from De- Wet Foot Cave (BRY197) scending Ceiling Cave we tied into Up the hollow from Cobblestrewn Cave Loop Canyon Cave. At only sixty feet was Wet Foot Cave, the most biologi- this was the most challenging cave of cally significant cave of the day. A the day. A narrow canyon crawl rocky bellycrawl stream passage ran wrapped clockwise around through a westerly for only 39 feet before ab- bellycrawl to a forty foot wide by ruptly ending in a wall of rock and twelve foot high shelter. That’s the soil. extent of this cave. Cave fauna observed included a Cave fauna observed included two green frog (Rana clamitans), a West- fishing spiders (Dolomedes sp.) with ern slimy salamander (Plethodon alba- eastern woodrat (Neotoma floridana) gula or glutinosus), three Ozark zig- scat and some nest organ pipe mud zag salamanders (Plethodon angusti- dauber (Trypoxylon politum) nests clavius), three fishing spiders present. (Dolomedes sp.), a harvestman (Leiobunum sp.), a terrestrial snail Squeeze Cave (BRY199) (Inflectarius sp.), beetles and a The last cave we visited was north dozen troglomorphic amphipods across the hollow from Loop Canyon (Stygobromus sp.). An eastern wood- Cave. A twenty foot bellycrawl rat (Neotoma floridana) midden and squeeze to the west pinched down to a associated scat were also noted. critter crawl but a light connection was made to the back of a forty foot Tilting Tree Cave (BRY148) wide by ten foot high entrance from Hiking up a draw over a ridge the south for a total of forty-five south from Wet Foot Cave we dropped feet. down on the other side of the hill to Signs of cave fauna included an old the base of a bluff where we found eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) and Tilting Tree Cave. An impressive some nest organ pipe mud dauber leaning oak tree near the entrance is (Trypoxylon politum) nests. the obvious reason for the cave name. After weaving up and down hollows Located on the north side of the all day in unseasonably warm weather slope this twenty foot cave terminat- (over 80° F) we headed west to hit ed in a rock wall. the highway and trek another mile Cave fauna observed included a fish- back to the parking area. It was a ing spider (Dolomedes sp.) and numer- very productive day in the Mark Twain ous flies (Diptera sp.). National Forest.

Descending Ceiling Cave (BRY204) Mark Twain National Forest Continuing down the hollow we trekked another quarter mile south Barry County, Missouri across a nice limestone glade and October 22, 2017 back up another hollow to our fifth By: Mark Jones cave, Descending Ceiling Cave. High up on a south slope the obvious forty Left Turn Cave (BRY215) foot wide by twelve foot high en- A cold front settled into Barry trance pinched down in thirty-three County bringing an overnight rain af- feet. ter many days of unseasonably warm Fifty heliomyzid flies were the on- temperatures. Waiting for the weath- ly cave fauna seen but eastern wood- er to settle down we waited until

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10:00 a.m. to return to the Mark Little Cave (BRY215) Twain National Forest south of Roar- The final cave of the trip was just ing River State Park. In spite of up the hollow from Slab Spring Cave our efforts to avoid the rain it fell and the least interesting of the off and on throughout the entire weekend. A twenty foot wide by ten trip. Our goal for the day was to foot high entrance quickly pinched survey and inventory three more caves down to a twenty foot-long crawl over discovered by Brandon Van Dalsem back breakdown blocks. We concluded the in 2016. Parking on the ridgetop we trip with a hike up the ridgetop and trudged north and climbed down a a ¾ mile walk back to the vehicle. steep slope into a hollow where we The only fauna seen under the found the entrance to Left Turn Cave. dripline was a lone, green katydid, The twenty-five foot wide by ten foot not a common cave visitor, but a cave high opening quickly funneled down to visitor none the less. a cobbly hands-and-knees crawl that took a sharp turn to the left (hence Werdens Cave the name). The passage continued an- other sixty feet in a two foot diame- Jackson County, Iowa ter tube that pinched down to a crit- October 22, 2017 ter crawl. By: Ed Klausner Cave fauna observed included a cave salamander (Eurycea lucifuga), an Several people had been asking Ozark zigzag salamander (Plethodon about a caving trip and Werden’s Cave angusticlavius), a dipluran seemed like a perfect time to get (Campodeid dipluran) and numerous some new cavers involved (Sam Fast, flies (Diptera sp.). An eastern Jace Werderitsch, Sawyer Goetz and phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) nest, organ Jacob Thompson) plus get some kids pipe mud dauber (Trypoxylon politum) caving again (José Paxtian, Jackson nests and eastern woodrat (Neotoma and Julia Rogers.) We met in a light floridana) scat were also noted. rain at Eden Valley Nature Center and then headed over to the cave. Slab Spring Cave (BRY217) Phil LaRue has been taking scouts More than half a mile to the east to the cave for years and was a great (and thirty minutes) from Left Turn guide for the new cavers and those Cave at the base of the Pierson lime- cavers who had never been to Werden’s stone was the impressive thirty-five before (Jen Hackman and Jamie Hack- foot wide by ten foot high entrance man.) The cave has 960 feet of pas- of the second cave of the day, Slab sage with many tight squeezes. We Spring Cave. Tucked in above the spent a few hours exploring the cave Chattanooga shale this cave extends before heading back to the vehicles. nearly thirty feet in a thin, wide The rain had stopped and the sun was crawl confined by breakdown collapse. about to make an appearance. We’ll A trickling spring emanated from un- have to do more of these trips as it der the breakdown blocks meandering was very enjoyable to get underground down to a small pool at the dripline. in Iowa. This was the most biologically sig- nificant cave of the day with a cou- Ozark National Scenic Riverways ple of heliomyzid flies, scads of other flies (Diptera sp.), half-a- Carter County, Missouri dozen troglomorphic amphipods October 26, 2017 (Stygobromus sp.), a few aquatic iso- By: Mark Jones pods (Lirceus sp.) and a springtail (Collembola, sp.). Raccoon (Procyon Big Spring Anastomosis Cave (CTR024) lotor) and eastern woodrat (Neotoma and Big Spring Well (CTR001) floridana) scat were also noted. After a meeting in Van Buren with Kim Houf of the National Park Service

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I drove down to Big Spring to evalu- rolled there by the ne'er-do-wells ate Big Spring Well following the who had broken in previously. No ap- massive flooding of the Current River parent further attempts were made to last spring. The best case scenario access the cave after we’d removed would be if a little bit of touch up the rope found last winter. Measure- would fix any problems with the two ments were taken to prefabricate as foot square entrance. Driving up to many of the bars as possible. Hope- the parking lot it was immediately fully we’ll be back soon to knock apparent that although Big Spring had this off the to-do list. returned to normal the raging river Cave fauna hanging out at the en- in April had scoured the floodplain, trance included three cave salaman- rearranged gravelbars and changed the ders (Eurycea lucifuga), a fishing watercourse. spider (Dolomedes sp.) and some flies Sauntering along the base of the (Diptera sp.). bluff on the concrete sidewalk I walked behind the spring to Big Spring Anastomosis Cave, a thirty foot cave visited by nearly everyone who stops see Big Spring. Newly etched graffiti at the entrance is a testimonial to this fact. Jon Beard should have no trouble removing these unsightly blemishes. I observed a few camel crickets (Ceuthophilus gra- cilipes), a lone orb weaver (Meta ovalis) and some flies (Diptera sp.) in the cave. From here it was just a short climb up to the Big Spring Well entrance. While Big Spring normally gushes out an impressive 286 million gallons daily the additional April rainfall put enough pressure on the watershed that water shot out thirty feet above the spring resurgence through Big Spring Well carrying away the con- glomerated breakdown and quadrupling the opening that the gate once pro- tected. The cave closed sign was still prominently posted in front of the gate. Realizing that an entirely new gate would need to be designed I contacted Kim to set the wheels in motion to address the issue.

Lost Man Cave (CTR007) For the afternoon I drove down to Lost Man Cave to determine how to re- pair a breach that Ken Grush and I had discovered in late February. It was a beautiful day for a hike in the woods and it didn’t take long to find the rocky outcrop entrance to the cave. Chimneying down twelve feet I found a two-hundred pound rock wedged against the gate bar, evidently

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Photo Gallery

Top: Lead checking in Ina’s Hall. Bottom: Dark sided salamander at Tumbling Creek Cave. Photos by: Ed Klausner

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Top: Jenny Hackman in Werdens Cave. Bottom: Stopping for a snack. Photos by: Ed Klausner

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Top: José Paxton looks closely at a tiger salamander. Botom: Jackson and Julia Rogers explore Werdens Cave. Photos by: Ed Klausner

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Top: Bob Storlie at the Ozark Underground Laboratory. Bottom: Tom Aley at the bat gate of Tumbling Creek Cave Photos by: Ed Klausner

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