Northern Rocky Mountain Newsletter

Issue 5

Tina Oliphant in Greenhouse - photo by M. Pedersen In This Issue Page

Grotto information 2 Calendar 3 Trip Reports Silvertip 4 Yakinikak #6 and Sluice Cave 8 Whittaker Sink (Satan’s Pit) Report 1 10 Report 2 10 Cave 12 Volcano Reef Cave 13 Split Top Cave 15 Wire Woman Pit 16 Vertical Techniques (Use of the Shunt) 17 Grotto Business 20

Issue 5 - September 2001 1 Northern Rocky Mountain Grotto

NRMG is a recognized chapter of the National Speleological Society

Who are we? The Northern Rocky Mountain Grotto (NRMG) is a caving club chartered by the National Speleological Society (NSS). It is our mission to provide a forum where people can learn about and participate in caving.

Meetings: Meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at the Missoula Fire Dept. Classroom at 625 E. Pine St. Meetings feature a video or slide show on caving.

Trips: Cave trips are sponsored approximately once each month. Any member of NRMG may sponsor a trip.

Training: Two times a year the grotto sponsors single rope techniques/small party rescue training. These events allow participation from beginner levels to more advanced training.

Project Caving: The grotto encourages its members participate in caving projects. Caving projects involve the exploration, survey, and documentation of new .

Interested in becoming a member? Dues are currently $10/year/household, payable to the Northern Rocky Mountain Grotto. Checks should be made payable to NRMG and be sent to:

Judith Chapman NRMG Membership 2420 Gilbert Ave. Missoula, MT 59802

Newsletter: Newsletters will be published quarterly. To reduce costs, we are publishing an electronic newsletter. This allows us to produce a high quality newsletter with color photos and maps at rock-bottom prices. If you would like to submit an article for publication in the newsletter, send your trip report via email to: [email protected] or [email protected]. If you would like to include a photo of your adventure, include a digital copy in jpeg or bitmap format. If you do not have scanning equipment, bring your photo to a meeting and we will scan it for you. The deadline for submission to the Fall 2001 newsletter is November 1st.

Issue 5 - September 2001 2 Caving Calendar

NRMG events

October 6-9, Grotto Trip to Lost Creek Siphon and West Boulder River Cave. Map, explore, and photograph some of Montana’s legendary caves. Lost Creek Siphon is over 700 feet deep and is a dangerous and technical cave. West Boulder River Cave is a non- technical horizontal cave. Both caves need to be mapped. It is a 5 mile hike to the entrance where we will be camping. Joe Oliphant will lead trips into Lost Creek Siphon, which will be rigged European Style (i.e., lots of rebelays/redirectionals). Jim Chester and David Baker will be doing Overland Survey and also be mapping West Boulder Cave. They welcome other grotto members to help. Contact Joe Oliphant for more information: [email protected].

October 27-28, Grotto Trip to Limestone Cave. This will be a Halloween caving camp out. Limestone is a horizontal cave near the head of Hungry Horse Resivour. Wet cave gear is recommended, but not necessary to enter the cave. Expect a 3-4 mile hike. Mountain bikes might be useful. Contact Mark Rabin for more information: [email protected].

November 22-25, Grotto Trip to Bighorn/Horsethief Caverns. Come join the Part- Time Grotto of . We will leave on Friday afternoon/evening and return Sunday night. Bighorn/Horsethief have over 30 miles of passage. Both are dry and warm. Bighorn requires vertical gear, but Horsethief is completely horizontal. A 4WD is required. Contact John Citta for more information: [email protected].

October – December, Yakinikak Cave Restoration. Mark Rabin is coordinating a clean up of the Yakinikak area caves. Trips may occur with short notice; contact Mark Rabin for more information: [email protected].

December 21, 2001 – January 20, 2002, Proyecto Espeleologico Cerro Ocote This is our 6th Caving Expedition to Southern Mexico. The caving area has many deep pits and has the potential for a 1,200+ meter deep cave system. Contact Joe and Tina Oliphant for more information: [email protected]

If you have a trip to advertise, contact: [email protected] or call 406-543-4563.

Issue 5 - September 2001 3 Trip Reports

Moonray Cave By John Citta; August 2001

Hans Bodenhamer, Jason Ballenski, Liz Yuhas, Joe and Tina Oliphant, and myself went to the South Cirque of Silvertip on a caving expedition. The technical details of this area, including cave maps, will be published by Hans Bodenhamer in Alpine Karst. The tale I relate here is about my experiences in one of Silvertip’s many deep caves. Due to a combination of the cave’s beauty and a series of mishaps, this became a trip to remember.

On August 9, 2001, I entered Moonray Cave with Joe and Tina Oliphant. We were going to push leads at the bottom of the cave. Moonray’s entrance was an unimposing 3 x 3 foot hole. I could see my breath in the cold air and watch the moss toss about in the cave wind. The entrance section was narrow and snagged our vertical gear. Approximately 50 feet in, we came to the first drop. There was a small ledge to situate yourself on, before descending. Typical of this cave, the pit was round and -like.

We proceed down the first pit. At the bottom, the passageway went around a corner and we came to the second pit. At the bottom of this, we followed a narrow crawl. The passage opened into a long horizontal fissure. By chimneying along the fissure, you could reach the top of the third pit.

At the bottom of the third pit, we came to the “Neoprene Shredder”. This narrow crawl was originally pushed by Hans Bodenhamer and Doug Powell in 1983. The two were wearing tops, which were shredded by this short but tight vertical squeeze. We negotiated the Neoprene Shredder without incident. From here the passage led to the fourth pit.

At the bottom of the 4th pit, our trip became much more interesting. Here all must pass though the “Owl’s Bowels”. The Owl’s Bowels is a sinuous vertical passage that is approximately 10-15 feet in height. The only place a caver can pass is in the upper section. The walls are slick and if you slide down, you wedge yourself. The Owl’s Bowels was originally pushed by Doug Powell in 1983. I was the first in the group to enter the Owl’s Bowels. Hans Bodenhamer warned me that none of us might fit and that our knees would have to bend backwards. However, I was not worried. I have been warned about squeezes by many people in many caves. Generally, they are not as bad as they are portrayed. I have found that if I keep calm and relax, my body will usually fit. After all, I had already fit through the Neoprene Shredder and Hans Bodenhamer entering the Neoprene the Owl’s Bowels is only 20 feet long…. Shredder – photo by M. Pedersen About 8 feet into the Owl’s Bowels, my light began to blink. I use a light designed by Willie Hunt that blinks when battery power is low. I wondered if I should change the batteries or blow though the passage to change them on the other side. I decided to be conservative and tried to change batteries. Despite the passage being approx. 15 feet high, I couldn’t get my hand in my pack to reach spare batteries. I had one hand behind me and Tina passed spare batteries passed up to

Issue 5 - September 2001 4 me. My difficulty in changing batteries was only a precursor of the difficulty I would experience in this 20 foot long section.

I proceeded another 4 feet and my pack got wedged. I slid forward to try to pull on it from a different angle, but I couldn’t budge it. Neither could I back up. I twisted around and tried to keep pulling on it. I then slipped down and wedged myself. There was nothing to push up on with my hands and my feet were stuck around one of those sinuous curves in the passage. I finally managed to get one foot around the curve of the passage and promptly got it stuck near my ass. Of course, Joe asked how I was doing. I replied that I was pretty well wedged. Unbeknownst to me, Tina is the master of helping people in tight places. She slid in and asked how she could help out. I asked her to push on my stuck foot. When she got there, she saw my contorted body and said, “Your leg does not look good. Is it broke?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “No,” I replied, “just stuck!”. She gave me a push and I moved another 2 feet. However the Owl’s Bowels was not finished with me. On the last turn, I wedged my chest tightly. Somehow, I had to back up. There was nothing to push off of and using my arms only made my chest larger. The passage slopes downward and my feet were higher than my head. For the first time in my life, I was really stuck! Hans Bodenhamer in the bottom of Moonray – photo Many things go through your mind in a situation by M. Pedersen. like this. I was not worried yet, but asked myself how long could person survive in a 34 degree cave, when your chest is compressed, you can’t take full breaths, and your feet are higher than your head? For the first time, deep down, the implications of a being stuck in the cold and dark, over 20 miles from the nearest road, and more than 200 feet below the surface really hit home. At best, I could survive 6 hours. However, my strength would only last another 30 minutes. Furthermore, there was no backing out. I had to fit. Fortunately for me, Tina was still there. Tina gave my foot a pull at the right moment and I backed up an inch. This allowed me to go an inch higher (where my shoulder was right on the ceiling) and I popped though to the fifth pit. In total, it took me 40 minutes to go 20 feet.

Instead of going on, Joe asked me to crawl back through to guarantee that it I could do it. He was afraid that I would continue caving and then not have enough strength to get back through. I went back through the Owl’s Bowels to discuss our options with the group. With my intimate understanding of the passage’s secrets, I got back up without mishap. However, my escapade had everyone else worried. We didn’t think we could get the drill through and passing the Owl’s Bowels would not get easier as the day wore on. We aborted the trip.

This kind of thing makes me feel bad. I knew I could fit through the Owl’s Bowels, even if it was with difficulty. I really wanted to see the stream passage in the bottom of the cave. I knew I would

Issue 5 - September 2001 5 fret about our decision. I knew I would dream about the passage unseen. I knew I would be obsessed. The cave was beckoning to me. When I walked above on the surface, I could feel the dark emptiness below me. I could feel the cave, like a lead sinker in my stomach, going down and down.

Three days later, after mapping some other caves, Marc Pedersen, Joe Oliphant, and I agreed to push a lead in the bottom of Moonray and de-rig all the ropes. While my obsession had grown, my health had deteriorated. Since the last trip into Moonray, I had somehow wrenched my shoulder and was on a steady diet of ibuprofen. I decided to play it by ear and not commit myself until reaching the Owl’s Bowels. We proceeded down the previous drops without incident. The first omen that we in for a difficult trip occurred when Joe accidentally dropped his rack into a narrow section of the Neoprene Shredder. All three of us tried to crawl up to it, but couldn’t reach it. This included Marc, who is a skinny marathon runner. Finally, Marc tied a length of cord to an open Mallion screw-link. Using the screw-link as a hook, he miraculously fished up Joe’s rack!

Upon reaching the Owl’s Bowels, I decided to enter feet first. The passage slopes downward, so I thought gravity would help. Furthermore, this passage was easier to exit for me than it was to enter and going feet first left me in the right direction for heading out. Remarkably, I passed through without incident, as did the rest of the party. My shoulder hurt, but was not debilitating. Finally, I would get to satiate my obsession.

The fifth drop is only 40 feet. This drop leads to a short climb up and climb down over black limestone with blade-like projections. At this point, it was obvious to me that we had entered a different part of the cave. Here is where the water begins to become noticeable. First you begin to hear a few drips. Soon the water was dripping all over us and there were little rivulets of water flowing across the floor. Following the water, we came to the sixth drop. This is the grand pit of Moonray. An oval shaped well 137 feet deep and over 30 feet wide. The rope was rigged to a questionable looking rock horn that allowed a free- hanging drop. The pit was rigged with a donated Sterling brand rope. It was some sort of black assault rope that would later become known as the “rope of pain”.

The last drop is a short 20 feet into a pool of water. From here, we entered a low and muddy crawl that led to the main trunk passage. This passage has water entering from numerous places. We proceeded downstream to meet with Hans and Jason and then proceeded to the climbing lead. Two bolts were placed into the rock and Marc Pedersen accomplished a very interesting traverse. He rappelled sideways as he climbed. At one point, he created a handhold by sticking his fingers in the mud. He then explored new passage. This particular lead did not result in any breakthroughs, but we located numerous other leads on the way back (the details of these leads will be published in Alpine Karst).

Now the real work began. We had to de-rig a deep cave. We proceeded up the 137 foot deep pit. Marc and I had trouble getting up the Sterling rope (the rope of pain). The rope was very soft and swollen with water, so it did not feed through our ascenders. It also bounced like a dynamic rope. I had to pinch the rope between my feet to get it to feed. Despite this, I found the climb magical. While climbing, I noticed aspects of the pit that I missed on the way down. Cocking my head back, water dripped on my face. This was one of the most beautiful pits I have ever encountered.

Joe was the last one up and he couldn’t get the rope to feed at all. His croll (chest ) was making clicking noises and did not appear to work correctly. Nothing worked well, except manually feeding the rope through his croll. It took approximately one hour for Joe to climb, during which, Marc and I got really cold. To warm up, I coiled the rope while Marc climbed the next pit. Everyone was cold and tired. We worked as a team and passed ropes through tight spots and traded-off coiling duties.

Issue 5 - September 2001 6 When we reached the Owl’s Bowels, I again passed through without mishap. My shoulder hurt, but was manageable. Marc proceeded next. He found that he entered the squeeze the wrong way and would not fit. He backed-up and twisted around to try again. While backing up, his dislodged from his head and fell down the crevice into a pool of water. His light was waterproof and lit-up the pool. I passed Marc my spare light and he positioned himself in a wide section to pass gear back and fourth. After passing gear, I passed Marc his Mallion screw link with the cord attached to it. Marc snagged his helmet on the first try and was elated! Then Joe proceeded into the passage. Despite not experiencing difficulty before, he found he couldn’t fit. We waited a half-hour for Joe to figure out how to negotiate the passage. Afterwards Joe remarked that he did not get stuck, he just couldn’t figure out how to fit. He felt like a dog in a cage, looking through the bars to freedom. The look on his face confirmed this. The Owl’s Bowels had bitten every member of the team.

After we all passed through the Owl’s Bowels, we found the Neoprene Shredder to be easy. As we continued to climb, our load of rope became heavier and heavier. The Sterling rope of pain was particularly problematic. It soaked up water like a sponge and weighed more than all our other ropes combined. Furthermore, it was always getting snagged somewhere. At one point, Joe crawled past the Sterling rope and it attached itself to his cowstails. We all decided the Sterling rope was jinxed. We finally exited the cave around 2:30 AM; fifteen hours after entering. The sky was clear and Silvertip peak was lit in ghostly in moonlight and two large shooting stars streaked across the sky. Caving experiences like this are too few and far between.

Left to right (standing): John Citta, Liz Yuhas, Joe Oliphant, and Marc Pedersen. Left to right (sitting): Hans Bodenhamer, Jason Ballenski, Blaze, Ocote, and Tina Oliphant. – photo by M. Pedersen.

Special thanks go to Marc Pedersen for providing the first photo documentation of the cave. Marc hauled camera equipment through the cave and provided the photos for this article and on the cover.

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Issue 5 - September 2001 7 Yakinikak #6 and Sluice Cave By Mark Rabin; July 2001

Bill Arnold (my brother-in law) and myself were hiking Yakinikak Creek when we found #6. There are multiple entrances and most of them are water filled. There will be more investigations to find out if some of the other entrances are accessible during winter months. The original find consisted of a pit with a stream flowing rapidly across the bottom. The cave was rather confined so I asked Bill to stay out until I could assess the situation. I managed to wriggle my way down the pit into the stream where I was forced to lay in the water and squirm down the downward sloping passage. The water was cold and I was not dressed for this type of adventure. I exited with my heart racing. Bill was standing over me as I climbed the 10ft drop and smiling. Bill had found another cave with a fissure-type entrance. We decided to hike further up the creek with high hopes. [On a later trip, Bill Arnold, Duane Herriges, Andy Belski and myself would return to explore both the fissure pit and #6. “Fissure ” was navigated through breakdown a short distance and pinched off. Number 6 led to a -covered wall with the stream flowing through a small hole. Both caves might have a sum total of 100 ft of passage. However, the main entrance to #6 appears to be submerged (as noted in “The Caves of Montana”).]

Map of Sluice Cave – due to size limitations, it is difficult to present the map in the newsletter. Contact Mark Rabin for a full-sized map.

Issue 5 - September 2001 8 We decided to hike further up the creek. Sluice Cave proved to have a very well hidden entrance. Bill Arnold noticed it first. There had been someone in this cave prior to us. Why was it not reported? Bill Arnold named the cave Sluice Cave. The logs that had washed up inside the cave astonished us. Bill and I quickly started to dart down the passage. We first went east and the cave dead ended (our hearts were racing). We then went more northerly and found a formation – cool. Then we backtracked and headed down the main passage. The cave widened and I was in bliss. This cave resembles other Yakinikak caves but showed signs of more water flow. In places, the walls, ceilings, and floors were tightly scalloped. We eventually found our way to the pantry past the Middle Room. This is a flowstone and ribbon chimney that was more than we expected to see. The cave continued west and downward on clean rock floor. We investigated all the walking passage and headed back home. On a later reconnaissance trip, Bill Arnold, Duane Herriges, Andy Belski, and myself started to investigate the large log jam in the rear of the cave. We had come equipped with saws incase we needed to disassemble the logs. This did not yield any new passage. I started to work a high lead in the room while the rest of the party investigated to small passages off of the Back Room. The high lead was a conglomerate mud/rock mix. Digging was necessary and the passage was tight. After 30-40 min., I finally was able to work my way up into a room that I could stand in. It was approx. 45ft tall and had no exits. We called this room the “Peanut Butter Pleasure Dome”. The title was fitting because of the mud’s consistency, and the pleasure of standing on horizontal floor instead of slipping out of vertical muddy passage. Duane Herriges and myself revisited sluice cave later to survey and map. There are still un-surveyed portions in this cave and some potential leads.

Andy Belski, Duane Herriges, Mark Rabin, and Bill Arnold, near Sluice Cave – photo by Mark Rabin.

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Issue 5 - September 2001 9 Whitaker Sink / Satan’s Pit Trip By Mark Hannah; May 26, 2001

Following the BCCR small party self-rescue training that ended at Lick Crk. Cave on the weekend of 5/19-20, Dave Plummer and I traveled farther east to the Satan’s Pit area. We found a nice place to camp up the north fork of Running Wolf Crk. and spent several days hiking around the area looking for holes. We found several but none turned out to be significant. We met Rick Brinkman on Sat. at the parking area near the pit at about 2:00. After waiting a while to see if others would show up, we rigged the top drop and went in around 3:00. This was the 2nd time for Dave and myself, and I believe about number 7 for Rick. We Rick Brinkman rigging the second drop in Whitaker Sink – photo by M. got down to the staging area Hannah. for the 2nd drop and Rick rigged for that. At the bottom of the 2nd drop we spent some time checking out the lower room. This is not a highly decorated cave but the bottom room does contain areas with various formations of flowstone, ribbon rock, and popcorn. There are also quite a few bats down there, but don’t ask me what kind as I’m not familiar with the different species. I decided to ascend first while Dave and Rick were still exploring since I figured it might take me a while. I was right. If you don’t do 150’ of rope on a regular basis, you may find yourself taking frequent breaks on the way up as I did. Rick came up next and as soon as Dave got to the top, I headed for the 1st drop to gain another lead on them. We were all out by around 7:00 and headed back to our camping site for a night around the campfire.

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Caving with the Poles in Whitaker Sink By Joe Oliphant; June 30, 2001

Background From The Caves of Montana:

“Whitaker Sink is about 20 miles southwest of Stanford, on the Dry Wolf-Running Wolf divide… The cave lies on claims originally called the Whitaker Iron Mine… Norman Whitaker discovered the cave and explored part of it in the early 1950’s but it was not completely explored until 1962… The cave formed in Mission Canyon Limestone that here strikes due north and dips 7 degrees west. A single joint, trending 60 degrees east seems to be the major feature along which the cave developed… Malachite and limonite

Issue 5 - September 2001 10 stains were observed on the cave walls. Because the cave is only 200 yds from a sizable iron deposit, pyrite and other sulfide impurities in the ore body may have contributed sulfuric acid to the ground water to help excavate the cave more rapidly than normal.”1

In attendance: Andrzej Ciszewski - Instructor and Chairman of the Polish Alpine Caving Commision Ewa Wujcik – Instructor for the Polish Alpine Caving Commission and Andrzej’s wife Marek Wierzbowski –Instructor for the Polish Alpine Caving Commission Michal Ciszewski (Andrew's son) John Citta Joe Oliphant Tina Oliphant Rick Brinkman

The Poles flew into Salt Lake City around June 23, 2001 and spent their time rock climbing until we met up with them near Stanford, Montana.

The Little Belt Mountains hold a number of significant pits. This time we decided to hook up with Rick Brinkman and have him show us Whitaker Sink. The Poles explore some of the deepest caves in the world and their rigging is complex, hence our goal was to have them show us how they would rig a similar cave in Poland or Austria. At the entrance, they discussed the rigging in Polish, German, and French. They finally rigged natural rig from Marek and Andrzej in the entrance of Whitaker Sink – photo tree and then immediately Marek used the by J. Citta. hammer drill and set up a rebelay just below the lip to keep the rope from rubbing on the rock.

Whitaker Sink has two pits; each is about 150’ deep. The entrance pit is well-shaped and about 20-30 feet in diameter at top and then bells out some.

About ½ way down, Marek placed another rebelay which was offset and out of fall zone from the top rebelay. Next Andrew came down and then I followed. At bottom of first drop I watched as John Citta and Tina came down. Last to come down was Ewa. She passed the rebelays really quickly and did not look like she stepped in the rebelay loop at all.

At bottom of first drop is old bunch of wire that Rick said was used on initial descent of pit.

1 Caves of Montana by Newell Campbell 1987

Issue 5 - September 2001 11 From here, you climb down the breakdown for about 40 feet and then climb up a short section of breakdown blocks or flowstone to reach the narrow opening that leads to next drop in cave. The second drop of cave does not have a good rig point so the poles placed two bolts in ceiling of the crawlway.

Once inside this crawlway Marek was first to descend and then again about ½ way down he placed another rebelay. This drop is about same length as entrance drop but diameter is smaller. At the bottom of the pit, passages take off in many directions. Several go to nice undamaged formation areas. Standing at bottom of this pit one can feel some air but I could not locate where it was going. The deepest point in cave is filled full of breakdown and does not look good.

The Poles found down trending virgin passage off the bottom of this drop and pushed into tight spot and then turned around. Later Rick Brinkman pushed himself past this same constriction and said passage kept going around a corner in tight quarters. We left it for another day. Andrjez rigging the second pit in Whitaker Sink – photo by J. Citta We de-rigged the hardware as we exited the cave. This was a great trip into a classic Montana pit/cave.

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Limestone Cave – The Adventure Continues By Mark Rabin; July 16, 2001

This summer has led me to Limestone Cave three times. However, there may be a forth prior to the publishing of this report. Each attempt has ended in a very dissatisfying that recedes further into the cave. The last trip was made with Bill Arnold (brother in- law) and myself. I was already in Spotted Bear Wilderness working on Aquanaut when the whim overcame me. We left from the Silvertip Trailhead and headed across the Spotted Bear River to the rock field slope. The rock field in the summer sun is dehydrating and we consumed a lot of our water before ever reaching the cave entrance. Once at the entrance, as always, I gasp at the cave’s majestic presence. Bill and myself sat quietly for nearly a half an hour and looked at the vistas. Then, after consuming some calories, we entered the underworld. The main passage was completely dry this time (unlike all prior trips I have taken). Because this passage was new to me and I was used to working my way though the worm-like mazes to get around premature sumps, we quickly became disoriented. There were certain landmarks that eventually The entrance area of Limestone clued me into where I was in relation to prior trips. After gaining Cave – photo by M. Rabin. our bearings we worked our way to what I believed to be Camera Lake. However, the lake was dry this trip. I was sure we were in

Issue 5 - September 2001 12 luck. We made our way across this previous stopping point to a junction of two passages and one thin lead. The eastern passage quickly sumped. After penetrating another 100 feet, the western passage also sumped. We returned to the lead. This was definitely a fresh lead as it required digging. The floor of the lead consisted of mostly loose rock and mud. The angle was upward and the passage was very tight. This was a major endeavor (to put it mildly). We worked our way into a passage 40 or 50 feet long. Our motivation seized as we rested. We then exited the cave. Bill Arnold did find some helectites and we photographed them. The lead is still open and going if anyone wants to continue the dig. The Column Room, as we call it, is on the Western side of Camera Lake, after Broken Bridge Pit and the clean rock “Double Shotgun Mini Bore” holes. The lead is interesting because it is moving upward and away from the general tendency of the cave.

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VOLCANO REEF2 By Joe Oliphant; July 2001

Background Caves of Montana provides some of following background information:

“The cave is 25 miles west of Bynum and north of Blackleaf Canyon… Volcano Reef Ridge is composed of Mission Canyon Formation… The name “Volcano Reef” was given to the mountain because moisture condensing from warm air can be seen rising from the cave entrance in cold winter months. The cave is not in an area of volcanic activity.” 3

I was intrigued with statement that it moved air and so we planned trip to Eastern Front of Rockies.

July 6-8, 2001 Bart Nott, Cherly Nott, Mindy Nott-Indiana Red and Patti Jo Watson-Montana Joe and Tina Oliphant Blaze and Ocote

Red and Patti Jo, Tina and I drove down Friday night and experienced fierce winds coming off the Eastern Front. At times during night I woke up to the truck rocking back and forth from these winds that I would estimate blowing at 50 mph.

The next morning our friends (the Notts) from Indiana met up with us. It was Saturday morning and the plan was to backpack up to the saddle just west of reef. The hike in was about 4 miles and 1000 feet elevation gain.

The hike in starts at 5,700 feet and cuts through the spectacular Blackleaf Canyon. Blackleaf Canyon is managed by Montana Fish Wildlife Parks and is a Wildlife Management Area. The hike to the cave goes through the canyon and then opens up to spectacular view of Mt. Frazier and some other limestone peaks to south. Mt. Frazier rises to 8367’. I have heard of no caves on top of this mountain.

2 EDITOR’S NOTE: What is a “reef”? The term “reef” is commonly used throughout the western states. It is derived from sailors, who viewed oceanic reefs as obstructions to travel. Early pioneers borrowed this term and applied it to sheer cliff walls that obstructed overland travel. Walling Reef in Montana and Capitol Reef in Utah are other examples. JC 3 Caves of Montana by Newell Campbell 1987

Issue 5 - September 2001 13 Another mile or so past trailhead is a turnoff. It is not well marked and it took few minutes of searching to find it. As soon as you turnoff from Blackleaf Creek the trail begins to gain elevation at a rather pleasant and steady pace. We winded around until we finally reached the saddle. At the saddle we located a non-karst depression and set up camp so we would not experience the full force of winds coming off Mt. Frazier. It was a nice camp setting. Once camp was set up Bart, Red, and I set off to begin searching Volcano Reef for the cave. We did not have a location for cave so a full-scale search would be necessary. The residual of this was that we were going to search the whole reef for other caves and karst.

We searched the southern-most knobs of the reef first and saw no signs of caves or karst development. The view from reef was spectacular overlooking the plains towards Great Falls. We finally gave up Saturday evening having searched most of reef’s obvious flat spots.

Saturday night a study of the topo map showed some possible at the southern end of reef. We had not checked this earlier so we decided this would be the first place to look on Sunday. We had good meal and fellowship and went to bed early. Next morning we loaded up the caving gear and rope and set off to find the cave come hell or highwater. This time everyone joined in so we had a good number of people to cover the reef. We checked the obvious sinkholes marked on the map and discovered they were not sinkholes at all just depressions where water ran off the reef.

Finally, after searching almost the entire reef we headed to the northern most part of reef -- low and behold a fault appeared on surface with some correlating sinkholes. Bingo, we found the pit. It was intimidating small hole about 2 foot wide and 10 feet long. It appeared to follow a fault.

Tina and I quickly rigged up rope around a small brush tree and I suited up to go down. The only purpose of the descent was to check for airflow, rock character, and to see if it would be worth coming back to map. I went down to the dripline and spotted a rock chalked in wall. I took 20 feet of 1 inch webbing and rigged a rebelay from this rock and then continued my descent down to about 60 feet. At this point the rope needed a pad or another rebelay. I noticed significant airflow and then headed out.

We took some entrance pictures and then de-rigged and headed out with all of our camping and caving gear. On way back Red Watson wanted to take a short cut straight down mountain. We did this and got into a bushwacking situation where we were fighting the Joe Oliphant in the entrance of landscape. We finally netted the trail and found our way back to the Volcano Reef Cave – photo by B. Nott. trailhead.

Issue 5 - September 2001 14 July 20-22, 2001 Hans Bodenhamer, Eve Wills, John Citta, Tina Oliphant, Jason Ballensky, and two friends of Hans’ from Cut Bank joined up at the Blackleaf Canyon trailhead to explore and map Volcano Reef. Our group did not camp on mountain instead opted for car camping at the trailhead. We left Saturday morning armed with lots of ropes, a hammer drill, and enthusiasm.

We found pit in middle of day and John Citta did the lead rigging of the pit. He set up 2 rebelays in the cave. This was a good experience and opportunity for John to use the hammer drill. It meant he would have to take lead on if and when to set bolts. The rigging took awhile and finally we reached bottom of pit that is discussed in the “Caves of Montana”. I noticed a upward climb of about 10 feet that bypassed the termination point, so I chimneyed up and over the constriction and squeezed through small spot in passage. To my surprise the passage continued on down 30 feet or so and then went out of sight. However, it was only 4 inches wide and not passable for me. Air movement was noticeable.

On our way back up we met Jason Ballensky. Jason had come down so he could see a fault-style pit. He had to leave early to meet his family.

We then exited and Hans, Liz, and Tina came in to do mapping. They mapped cave and found a side passage not mentioned in Campbell’s book. The depth of Volcano Reef is over 260’. A detailed exploration report, with maps, will hopefully be published in Alpine Karst later this year.

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Split Top Cave By Mark Rabin; July 2001

After a day of caving at Yakinikak, Duane Herriges and myself decided to take off and do some surface caving. We hiked a few miles and found an area likely to have caves. Our instinct held true and we discovered a cave we named “Split Top”, as the cave entrance appears to be dissecting the top of a knoll.

The first issue involved with Split Top is getting inside the cave. We found that the entrance pit can be free climbed. There are entrances into the cave from all sides of the knoll and lots of debris has washed into the cave (even logs). The cave entrance appears to be very similar to an exfoliation or fissure type cave. Once inside it becomes apparent that there is water flowing in an accessible stream near the bottom of the entrance pit. At the bottom of the pit, the passage is fairly horizontal. This passage ends in a small hall of comfortable size. The hall at first appears to end in a rock wall, but after further examination we discovered that there is a downward tending passage here. The cave seems to round a corner and head downward. After assuming a very jeopardizing and uncomfortable position I could see a passage about 1 ft high and 1 ft wide by 15 ft long. The walls of this passage resemble fissure like cave again. We still had plenty of cave to explore elsewhere, so while this lead was passable, we did not push it. There was also a stream lead that could be dug out, however this would be a wet, cold, and confined dig. Just writing this trip report makes me want to go back! We will visit it within the next month - although this is not a large cave, yet. In my wet dreams! [Note: Bill Babington collected survey data on another a later trip]

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Issue 5 - September 2001 15 Wire Woman Pit By Hans Bodenhamer; August 10, 2001

Jason Ballensky and Hans Bodenhamer discovered and surveyed a small pit on the plateau which flanks Sargeant Mountain. The approach to the pit involved a very steep hike (near crawl) through plentiful downfall, followed by an exposed, but relatively easy rock climb. The area still has grand potential to yield more. It is clearly the insurgence area for Limestone Cave and has a depth potential of over 1000 feet. A map of the pit is included (below). For more information contact Jason or Hans. Happy hunting!

Map drawn by H. Bodenhamer.

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Issue 5 - September 2001 16 Vertical Techniques

New methods of rappelling and passing rebelays By John Citta and Joe Oliphant

On July 7, I went into Whittaker Sink with Joe and Tina Oliphant, Rick Brinkman, and three Polish cavers (Andrzej Ciszewski, Ewa Wujcik, and Marek Wierzbowski). This trip is described by Joe Oliphant elsewhere in this newsletter (p. 10). Joe and I were so struck by the expertise of the Poles that we spent the next two days having the Poles give us impromptu instruction in Joe’s barn. One of the more useful things the Poles taught us was how to use a Petzl Shunt to aid rappelling and to pass rebelays.

The Petzl Shunt is a rope grabbing device that will slide on the rope freely while the user retains pressure on the cam housing. If the user lets go of the Shunt or pushes the Shunt away, it will lock onto the rope. The Shunt has Figure 1. The Petzl no teeth and will slide under shock loading, thereby avoiding anchor failure Shunt or cutting the rope. The Shunt is advertised at $38 (from Inner Mountain Outfitters).

The Poles used the Shunt as (1) a rappel brake and (2) to pass rebelays in an effortless manner. While the Poles used the Shunt with a Petzl “Classic” bobbin, it can be used with any decender that leaves the left hand free (e.g., a rack). It cannot be used with the Petzl Stop, because the left hand must tend to the Shunt and not the Stop’s brake lever.

Rappelling The Shunt is attached to the user via the long cowstail (of your frog system) and is attached to the rope above the descender (Figure 2). One hand is placed on the Shunt to keep the rope running smoothly and the other hand is used as a brake for the rappell device. The Poles always used the Shunt as a safety back- up to their rappel device.

Passing a rebelay on decent 1. With the Shunt attached to the rope above the decender, the caver approaches the rebelay (See Figure 2).

2. Once at eye-level with the rebelay, the caver lets the Shunt lock.

3. The caver then pulls

Issue 5 - September 2001 17 themselves towards the rebelay and locks the from the short cowstail into the carabiner of the rebelay (Figure 3).

4. The caver then transfers the decender to below the rebelay (Figure 4). The descender should be locked off. Leave just enough rope above the descender to attach the shunt, but no so much that you will weight your short cowstail.

5. The Shunt is released with a sharp tug. This transfers weight from the Shunt to the to the locked-off descender.

6. The Shunt is then removed and re-attached to the rope above the descender (Figure 5).

7. Finally the short cowstail is removed from the rebelay carabiner and descent continues.

Advantages of using the Shunt 1. The number one advantage is the increase in safety that comes from having an emergency rappel break. The Shunt has no sharp teeth and will not damage the rope – even under shockloading. It also completely stops the caver’s descent; where autostop descenders often only slow a caver’s descent.

2. The Shunt can also serve as an emergency ascender. This is especially important for frog users, because they generally only carry two

Issue 5 - September 2001 18 ascenders and do not have a backup.

3. Another advantage is that the Shunt greatly simplifies passing rebelays. It holds the caver’s weight until it is transferred to the locked-off rappel device (step 5). With traditional techniques of passing rebelays, cavers transfer weight to their short cowstail and then must stand up in the rebelay loop to release the short cowstail. This requires substantial effort. First, not all rebelay loops are the correct length for either very short or very tall cavers. Second, standing up in rebelay loops is particularly difficult for female cavers, who have less upper body strength than their male counterparts. Transferring weight from the Shunt to the rappel device requires only a tug.

4. Last, the shunt allows rigging with smaller rebelay loops. Because you don’t have to have a loop that is large enough to stand in, long rebelay loops are not necessary. This results in added saftey; if a rebelay bolt fails, there is much less shock loading if a rebelay loop is short. The poles informed us that the shockload from a one meter fall could easily overload other bolts.

Disadvantages of using a Shunt 1. The Shunt can be difficult to release once loaded. Both Joe Oliphant and I had trouble releasing the Shunt with a one-handed tug. At first, the Shunt required much effort (i.e., two-hands) to release. This is especially true on swollen wet ropes or when the Shunt is shock-loaded. However, by giving a sharp tug and simultaneously rotating the hand away from the rope, we were able to release the Shunt with little effort. Hence, with practice, the Shunt will operate as advertised. 2. If a caver’s cowstails are too long, then a Shunt may lock-off out of a caver’s reach. Take special care to check the length of your cowstails before going underground!

Conclusions We watched the Poles pass rebelays safely and effortlessly in less than 30 seconds. With practice, we were able to do the same thing. We also found that the piece of mind associated with the added safety while descending was worth the $38.

Issue 5 - September 2001 19 Grotto Business

• Jay Kennedy (author of “Jay’s Journal” in the NSS News) attended our vertical workshop in May. He generously donated brand new for a grotto fund raiser. We are going to auction off this equipment this fall. All bidding will start at 30% of the item’s listed value. Items include:

è A pair of SRT ascenders (valued at $110 – bidding starts at $33) è SRT auto-stop decender (valued at $65 – bidding starts at $20) è Princeton-Tec Solo headlamp (valued at $30 – bidding starts at $9) è SRT belay plate (valued at $20 – bidding starts at $6) è SRT 3 bar micro rappel rack (valued at $30 – bidding starts at $9) è Petzl Tibloc ascending device (valued at $18 – bidding starts at $5) è 85 meters of new 5/16” EZ-BEND, PMI rope (valued at $130 – bidding starts at $38) Details on how to bid will be sent at a later date and will be discussed at the next meeting.

• The Executive Committee (EC) passed a resolution that all grotto members may attend EC meetings. From now on, all EC meetings will be announced by email and in the newsletter (see the Caving Calendar).

Hans Bodenhamer in Moonray Cave – photo by M. Pedersen.

Issue 5 - September 2001 20 David Plummer descending into Whitaker Sink – photo by M. Hannah.

This newsletter prepared by J. Citta; 9-20-01.

Issue 5 - September 2001 21