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CRF NEWSLETTER President’s Column Volume 43, No.2 By: Ed Klausner established 1973 As I mentioned in my last column, the CRF Send all articles and reports for submission to: Board of Directors elected me as president dur- Laura Lexander, Editor laura.lexander@-research.org ing our annual meeting on October 3, 2014. 21551 SE 273rd Ct., Maple Valley, WA 98038 That meeting was held in Sequoia / Kings Can- yon National Park. The CRF is governed by a The CRF Newsletter is a quarterly publication of the Cave board of Directors. Our by-laws state that there Research Foundation, a non-profit organization incorpo- shall be 7 to 9 Directors. These Directors try to rated in 1957 under the laws of for the purpose represent the various interests of the CRF. Each of furthering research, conservation, and education about year, the Directors elect the officers (president, and . vice president, secretary, and treasurer), opera- Newsletter Submissions & Deadlines: tions managers, and the Directors for the fol- Original articles and photographs are welcome. If intend- lowing year. CRF JVs don’t have a vote in this ing to jointly submit material to another publication, please process, but they do have a voice. If you have inform the CRF editor. Publication cannot be guaranteed, any questions, concerns, or suggestions you can especially if submitted elsewhere. All material is subject to contact any Director, operations manager, or revision unless the author specifically requests otherwise. officer. My email address is ed.klausner@cave For timely publication, please observe these deadlines: -research.org and I will attempt to address your comments. Don’t keep these to yourself, let us February issue by December 1 hear from you. Our next board meeting will be May issue by March 1 October 24, 2015 and the annual meeting August issue by June 1 (everyone invited) will be October 25 at Hamil- November issue by September 1 ton Valley. Before submitting material, please see publication guidelines at: www.cave-research.org NEWSLETTER STAFF: Content Editor: Laura Lexander, [email protected] Layout/Photos: Ralph Earlandson, [email protected] Mailing: Bob Hoke, [email protected]

©2015 Cave Research Foundation Board of Directors President - Ed Klausner, [email protected] Vice President - Dave West, [email protected] Treasurer - Bob Hoke, [email protected] Secretary - John Lovaas, [email protected] Hamilton Valley Director - Pat Kambesis Work in the archive is creeping along. We Derek Bristol, Joyce Hoffmaster, John Lovaas, Ben Miller, received several boxes of material from the es- Kayla Sapkota, Elaine Scott, Dave West tate of Phil Smith, in addition to what Phil Operations Council had donated about 10 years ago. Much of it Scott House (Ozarks), John Tinsley (Lava Beds), Charles concerns the formation of and early years of Fox (Eastern), Pat Kambesis (Hamilton Valley), Fofo Gon- CRF. CRF is a unique organization in many zalez and Jen Hopper (Sequoia/Kings Canyon) ways and this body of material illuminates how and why we are as we are. We are most grateful For information about the CRF contact: for the gift of this information. Ed Klausner On the subject of gifts… Please contact me, 1132 Hotz Ave. Joyce Hoffmaster, before leaving ANYTHING Iowa City, IA 52245-3318 for the archive. At the March expedition, I was [email protected] surprised by 8 boxes of items left in the archive Donations to CRF should be sent to: building, only one box had a single word note Bob Hoke, CRF Treasurer on it. There are several problems with unan- 6304 Kaybro St. Laurel, MD 20707-2621 ARCHIVE--Cont. on p. 3 [email protected] 3

Remembering Marlin Spike Werner, 1927-2015 By: David Deamer, with addendum by Roger Brucker

If you were fortunate enough to be present rations years before. Our fatigue forgotten, in the early days of exploration at Flint Ridge, Jack led us to the Salts entrance and five hours you would have met Spike Werner, and he later we crawled out into warm air of a Ken- would have left a lasting impression. Spike tucky night. made a living as an audiologist, but his first Most cavers live far apart and only see each love was getting down and dirty in Crystal other for a few days every year, and so it was Cave. His second love was to hang around the with Spike and me. But in 2010 I happened to campsite after a trip, spouting limericks about be on the Big Island of Hawaii and was able to the amorous doings of an amoeba with the visit Spike in Hilo, where he and his wife Carol Queen of Sheba, playing the banjo and compos- settled in 1987. Their home was up in the hills ing songs about his own love affair with a horri- at the end of a red dirt road, surrounded by Ha- bly hairy female yeti. Like I said, unforgettable. waiian jungle. Spike and Carol were a lovely I had the good fortune of knowing Spike as a couple who had enjoyed each other's company fellow caver and we shared the rare experience for many years. Both were in their 80s by that of finding a link between Colossal Cave and time with the usual physical problems of old Salts Cave, then two years later between Crystal age, but mentally as sharp as ever. We had a Cave and Salts Cave. The first linking trip is wonderful time talking about all that had hap- still clear in my mind even though I was just a pened in our lives, and there was a lot of ground skinny 19 year old at the time. Spike had found to cover because half a century had passed since a promising lead on an earlier exploration of we parted ways in Kentucky. Colossal, and this time we were honored to have Then just a couple weeks ago Spike called Jack Lehrberger with us, legendary in the cav- me at home. I asked how he was doing. “,” ing world for his solo (and clandestine) explora- he said, “I’m on my death bed.” Spike had pneu- tions in the caves of Flint Ridge. monia, and all through our conversation I could After several hours of crawling and squeez- hear him struggling to catch his breath. I ing through narrow passages we ended up in a learned that Carol had died six months earlier, cramped pit not much larger than a walk -in and Spike was alone in the house with hardly closet. We were tired and discouraged, ready to enough strength to climb the stairs. As we return to the Colossal entrance, but after resting talked, it became clear that Spike had made for a few minutes Spike decided to find an eas- peace with the end of his life. He died in his ier route back. I remember watching his muddy sleep on February 10, 2015. boots disappear as he chimneyed up out of the Spike asked me to take on the responsibility pit. It was quiet for a few minutes, but then we of writing an obituary, which I am glad to do. I heard his voice shouting something. It was hard am happy to share a bit of his life with anyone to understand because of echoes, but finally we who might be interested. I did the usual thing, understood what he was trying to tell us: Walk- looking for Spike in Google under his full ing cave! We scrambled up and found Spike in a name, Marlin Spike Werner. There was a lot of passage the size of a railroad , a passage information about marlin spikes, but almost that Jack recognized from one of his solo explo- nothing about Spike himself. He led a quiet life,

On the Cover ARCHIVE--Cont. from p. 2 On the cover is a portrait of an Ozark big - eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii ingens. nounced arrivals. One problem is that they may Photo taken and copyrighted by Matt Bumgard- be duplicates-or duplicates of duplicates-of ner, who has given permission for use by CRF. things we have. The bigger problem is that I need to know who donated the item and its his- It was pointed out that the cover photo from tory. An item may be priceless with its history, the February issue was from the and nearly worthless without. There will be Ozarks and not the Ozarks. We apolo- forms on the coffee table in the lobby of the ar- gize for the error! chive to fill out and attach to donations. Please use them, after you have talked or e -mailed me about what you are donating. Thanks to all of you for your generosity and patience. This ar- chive is a huge and amazing job. 4 enjoying it as it came, enthusiastic to the end. Spike was on the first trip across the top of Spike was a Fellow of the Cave Research Foun- Colossal Domes on the steel pipes. His vivid dation. There is a passage in Mammoth Cave description is in The Longest Cave. Spike and named Werner Trail and nothing made him Fred Benington had several limerick duels. prouder. These went on and on, neither running out of limericks about “Roger the lodger,” and dozens Roger Brucker added this addendum: of others. Spike Werner will be best remembered for Tom Brucker advanced the speculation that his participation on two connections -- Colossal Jack Lehrberger had already connected Salts to Salts Cave, with Jack Lehrberger and Dave Cave with Colossal Cave prior to the “first con- Deamer, and Unknown/Crystal to Salts Cave the nection.” Roger Brucker thinks this is un - following year. When he showed up on one CRF likely. Jack Lehrberger, whose memory would expedition he had an all-terrain motor bike with put Tom’s guess into fact or fiction, fell silent big lug tires. He rode it noisily down the trail and would not help Red Watson or me when to Austin Entrance and back several times, scan- writing TLC. He has since resisted numerous dalizing Joe Davidson, then CRF president. Joe requests for information by his friends, espe- told him never to bring the bike back to spoil cially Bob Parish, who knew Jack pretty well. the wilderness experience.

This is a group photo with the late Spike Werner, taken around Thanksgiving of 1962. Spike is sec- ond from left, followed by Don Black and daughter Ruth. Red Watson’s VW bus is on the far left. Photo by Mickey Storts.

5 Yet Another Bogus Connection Claim By: Rick Olson

Recently there was a misunderstanding about hole and amazingly uniform in cross section. a casual claim by a Roppel caver to have con- This meant that Ed Klausner, the sketcher/book nected with Fisher Ridge Cave. The claim made keeper, could keep up with the torrent of data on an online forum was just a joke, but because coming his way. It was really possible that they other cavers reacted with only casual comments, could set a new record of mileage in survey data one way to look at it was that this really had acquisition while meeting the stringent quality happened! I was pretty sure this was not real standards. The survey shots were so easy that it because we have heard such things before from was possible to split off team members to do sources not very reliable, but was asked to cross sections and keep data so the sketcher check it out. I spent much of a day contacting could go even faster. Elizabeth Miller took data cavers in-the-know, including the joker himself, and Tim Green drew cross sections like a bat and verified that this was not real. out of hell! The trumpets sounded in their ears The 2015 President’s Day Expedition was as they knew collectively that they were on to cut short this year by an approaching blizzard the breakthrough of the century in cave explora- and so I wound up with time at home by the fire tion. Inclination data told them that they were a while snowed in. What better could I do than to little deeper than usual passages in Mammoth write my own bogus connection tall tale? This I Cave, yet it was dry with strong airflow coming put in the form of a memo as follows. from the unknown. Curiously, the air smelled of an odd mix of bat guano and cheap tourist February 15, 2015 perfume. Another strange thing later in the day From: Ickr Noslo, Cavernarum Recreatum Fu- were rumbling sounds similar to freight train nererium (CRF) Liaison Goon engines accompanied by swishing sounds and To: Bbboy Nosrac, Sciencium Resourcesum faint but distinct tones from deep bass horns. Managerium (SRM) Chieftain The caverrooters had heard trains pass over cave Re: SillyBilly Expedition Memo passages before, but these other sounds were totally unfamiliar. Dear Mr. Nosrac: Thankfully, the data was stored on hardened Our caverrooters found heretofore undiscov- tablet computers so paper was not limiting. Eve- ered passages in the Bottomless Pit area of rything was going swimmingly until a tablet Mammoth Cave this weekend. We hope we can slipped into a tiny little slot canyon. Oh no! find all this again, but chances are unknown due They could see it, but not reach it. Tammy Ot- to the presence of dark energy not encountered ten got out a string, tied a big knot in the end, before. Normally, passages in Mammoth Cave and smooshed a mud blob onto the knot. She stay put, but due to an unusual flux in the dark adjusted the gooeyness of the blob until it energy forces, passages were forced out and would stick to the tablet, and slowly raised it away from their usual locations. This may bode out of the slot. They were back in business! well in the long run, but due to our ignorance of However, even the most stoked caverrooters how dark energy affects cave passages, we have limits, and so they had to head back to really don't know. Roger Brucker, noted spe- their Hamilton Valley lair for rest, and espe- leoparanormalphysicist, has urged caution in the cially for the food they knew Rick Hoechstetter exploration of these unusual passages until Art had waiting for them. and Peg Palmer have the chance to make our After a sumptuous dinner of chicken and ignorance more sophisticated. Here is what dumplings, sinfully rich homemade biscuits, and happened: pineapple upside down cake, Bob Osburn and A team of caverrooters were taking survey Pat Kambesis did a quick download of the data data in the customary way in an otherwise nor- to see where in the world they had gone. The mal cave passage near Bottomless Pit. As Laura line plot blew them all away because they had Lexander moved ahead to set the next station, passed beneath the Mississippi River! This is she found a passage on the scale of River Hall! just the sort of thing that hurts Rick Toomey’s Granted none of them had ever seen this passage brain. Ever the scientist, he had this expression before and were in amazement that they could that was simultaneously puzzled and pained. have missed it. However, caverrooters being The engine noises, swishing sounds and deep caverrooters, they set a tie station and off they bass horns they had heard were from the huge went. This was booty like these caverrooters barges and tugs on the river (propellers pro- had never seen! The passage was a huge bore- duced the swishing sounds – like in a submarine 6 movie). Stan Sides offered the use of his latest your light needed water, and light in a cave was, cave radio to verify the survey. Making sure and is, king. So you did without. In Jewel would be wise before saying anything to the Cave, Jan Conn showed us how you could pre- outside world! This was an amazing story worth vent spilling while filling your lamp by putting being shared globally, and so Roger McClure the water in your mouth and then squirting it offered a big juicy advance from Cave Books to into the lamp. At the same time, you got a whoever would write the book with the under- mouthful of water even though you never got to standing that Cave Books would retain the swallow it. This helped get us through the movie rights. Charles Fox outlined a memo to miles of tortuous passage, but when you got out the park in his head as he got ready for bed. you were pretty much dehydrated. We really Sleep came easy for the exhausted caverrooters, were not camels, but did our best. and of course there were the customary com- At long last, the teams reached the work plaints sent in from various muscle and joint front - the end of previous survey and the begin- pain sensors. Nothing like vitamin I for all that ning of discovery. After flipping a coin, one (Ibuprofen – it’s what keeps old cavers going – team went ahead about a thousand feet and es- aka Marine candy). tablished an obvious station. This way the The next morning they felt like they had teams could “leap frog” one another and double been in an Indiana Jones movie as they stood in the rate of data collection. The passage was line for one of Buz Grover’s custom omelets. amazing in its singularity. There were no side Strong coffee and good food improved their per- leads or shafts as these caverrooters were accus- spective. Detailed trip reports completed and tomed to - it just went, relentlessly. With time the compass course run again to verify that their and distance, the cave got even drier than they instruments were still in good working order, were used to. Strange incrustations covered the they packed for a really big trip. “Nine candy walls that glittered in the light of their LED bars?” asked Tommy Brucker (aka Tommy head lamps. Mark Jones lamented the lack of Death). Man, I haven’t been on a nine candy water filled passages requiring wetsuits, but bar trip in a while. Need any help? Well, yes soldiered on. And then a really odd thing hap- they did actually. It so happened that Dick pened. The passage that had been so regular in Market was in camp and was ready for a real size began to become smaller due to occasional cave trip. Heather Levy and Bill Koershner breakdown and a coarse granular sandy fill that rounded out their dream team of distance graded up toward the ceiling. These caverroot- cavers. These were caverrooters who would ers had become accustomed to Big Cave, where cave until ordinary rooters gave out. you caved with dignity. No groveling in the Toward the entrance they went, loaded for gravel for them! One hundred foot shots had bear as they say. It was a busy weekend, and so become expected, and when the unthinkable Discovery Tour was running. This meant that happened - a shot less than 100’, the caverrooter there would be a Mammoth Cave Guide at the setting stations complained about this wimpy Historic Entrance explaining to visitors the shot. It turned out to be 86 feet. They all had rules of entry. The heavily laden caverrooters spent many hours in tortured places where you were eyed with curiosity and some concern by struggled to hand the instruments back and forth the visitors. “Do we need all that stuff?” asked for only two foot shots in terribly tight twisty a visitor. In jest, one of the caverrooters asked little canyons. OK, 86 feet was not really so the visitor “where's your gear?” and then bad, and they knew it. Gradually, the going got quickly smiled and said that they were on an- tough. But as we know, when the going gets other trip. “Where to?” asked the visitors. tough, the tough go ! So that's what they “Well, we are really not sure, but we'll be map- did. It got gnarly and it got awful. But there ping to find out.” They exchanged greetings was still that strange scent of bat guano and with Guide Keven Neff, who has been on many tourist perfume. The problem was that the exploration and mapping trips, and went down source of the air had disappeared and could not the stairs leading into the world’s longest seem to be followed. known cave. In a place where there appeared to be noth- The two survey teams quickly moved to Bot- ing but a blank wall, Dave West went to use a tomless Pit and into the newly discovered pas- whiz bottle and noticed that there was a kind of sage. A lot of time was spent in covering yes- optical illusion in that there was a fin of lime- terday’s discoveries, but they moved fast and stone concealing the entrance to a canyon. yet conserved water by keeping their mouths Caves are ever weird, and this kind of thing has shut and breathing through their noses. This happened before. The air emanated from here! “ship of the desert” behavior was a holdover And so on they went, taking bearings, inclina- from the days of carbide lamps. Back then, tions, passage dimensia (the plural of dimen- 7 sion), and of course making notes on all manner cover. When a roving Guide came up to the of cave resources. This was great, but head- teens, they asked who the people were below, lights were growing dim. These caverrooters but by then they had hid. The Guide knew there had packed the stuff for a mini-bivouac, and the would be nobody down there at this time, fig- wall had been hit. Before continuing in this ured they were just seeing things, and moved canyon, they knew rest was required. Teeny on. With time, the teens moved from the Bot- stoves for heat tabs came out and some had tomless Pit railing, and on to their lives. One canned heat, an alcohol gel. Tortillas with a of them though, was smitten totally by the cave. little cheese and some pouches of sauce The caverrooters hid until the lights went “requisitioned” from Taco Bell were heated on a out, and went back down their little hole to lid held with pliers. Viola! Quesadillas John bring the survey up. But up to where? Just Feil called them. When you are hungry and where the heck were they anyway? Dick Market cold, any hot food is good. and Tommy Brucker looked at the wall with After a few hours of slumber with minimal practiced eyes. They could layback this and padding, insulation, and the heat from “Hot jam crack that to get to a lower angle pitch Hands” warmers, the crews knew it was time to above, but with no climbing gear, this was go- move again before they would become so stiff ing to be really dangerous. In a brassy voice as to become useless. Not good in a remote for- Elizabeth Winkler said “do you think this rope ward location in a cave. So back into the can- would be useful?” She had found a rope hang- yon they went. But the going got rough. The ing down in an inconspicuous place. Using boot air inputs split up into tiny infeeders that no laces and pack straps, the caverrooters tried caverrooter could ever follow. Then Daniel cobbling together an ascending system, but the Greger, an aficionado of Emily’s Puzzle can- results were sketchy at best. Then Joyce Hoff- yons, found one that was promising, but that he master remembered her miniature “M1” nuclear just couldn’t quite fit through. It trended up- powered ascenders that were designed to hook ward to a sand choke but still had airflow, so onto the harness built into her surplus tanker they sent in Karen Wilmes, one of the smallest coveralls. Hubby Daniel had gotten these de- and toughest of caverrooters. She pushed hard luxe ascenders with built -in nuclear flashlights and set off a sand cascade that was kind of for her at a military surplus sale in Hershey, scary. The sand poured from above and fortu- Pennsylvania, and at this point she was so nately did not bury them but went down a hole happy to have them that she could almost for- to who-knows-where. give him for coming home with no choco- Caverrooters scooted through the opening up late! Because Joyce was the only one with a into a huge chamber. The ceiling was out of harness, she was the only one of the team mem- sight with even the brightest of LED headlamps! bers who could go up into the caves above. Then Heather said “I see a handrail!” Yes in- Again, caving is full of twists and this kind of deed, about 150’ up, the light from headlamps thing has happened before. was reflected back by a shiny stainless steel Once up, she followed the manicured trail to rail. Their LED headlamps were so bright that restrooms (in good time, too), and an enormous they did not notice there was a vague dim light lunch room! The fried chicken on the menu from above. About that time two people ap- board was not available at this hour, but the peared at the rail. They were a couple of teen- hugeness of the cave and the underground res- agers, a girl and a boy, who were moving with taurant could mean only one thing. They had their family from San Diego, to Pax- connected to Carlsbad Caverns!!! ton, Illinois. They saw the tiny figures below on This news could not wait, especially since the floor of what the sign said was “Bottomless she had already used the restroom, so she Pit”. They waved to the people with headlamps rushed back to Bottomless Pit and yelled down below, but the caverooters knew they were not the astounding truth. to be seen by tourists, so they scrambled for The End, and that’s the truth…

8 REGIONAL EXPEDITION REPORTS Balcony-Boulevard, Lava Beds National Monument, October 6-10, 2014 By: Dave West

On October 6, Dave West and Elizabeth survey another seven stations and obtained a Miller proceeded out to the work site to accom- cross-section of one of the entrances, closing a plish necessary surface survey, obtain a couple major loop with the surface survey. Most cross of missing cross-sections, and get more detail of sections in Shark's Mouth Cave will be obtained the JD Howard labeling in Balcony Cave. They in a later trip after the plan view is nearing first focused on getting the Upper Cavern sur- completion, due to the maze-type development vey tied to the rest of the work, observing that of the cave. (8 hours x 3 = 24 hours) the trench leading south from Upper Cavern October 9 saw Dave accompanied by Karen would also require survey as a relevant part of and Mark. The focus for the day was the closing the project, as well as some small associated of loops, and the party was able to close three tubes off it. As they proceeded on their survey of them with eighteen shots. These included a to Shark’s Mouth Cave they found a pit entrance loop from one trench entrance to the other, a on the opposite side of the road from Shark’s loop in the breakdown area between the two Mouth. Finishing that leg of survey, they ob- main entrances, and a survey line through the tained a short surface survey above the upper pit found by Dave and Elizabeth the first day level crawl in East Boulevard Cave and a sur- which was tied to the surface survey. More face survey above Boulevard Cave before enter- loops remain, so drafting of Shark’s Mouth will ing Boulevard Cave to obtain a cross section wait a while longer. (8 hours x 3 = 24 hours) near the location of JD Howard's second “The October 10 was dedicated to packing up, and Bulevard” label. Then on to the south entrance cleaning up the Research Center to prepare it of Boulevard Bridge, where another cross - for a group arriving that afternoon. section was obtained. A quick trip to the sky- light in the main Balcony Cave passage allowed Dave to get more detail on JD Howard's labeled rock there. With more time available in the day, they returned to Upper Cavern and began the survey of the trench south for a few stations be- fore coming back to the Research Center for dinner. (8 hours x 2 = 16 hours) At around 3 PM, Ed Klausner, Karen Will- mes and Mark Jones arrived from their earlier work in Post Office Cave and added another six stations to the Balcony before they also returned for dinner. (3 hours x 3 = 9 hours) Dave and Elizabeth returned on October 7 and continued the trench survey to its ends, leaving a few permanent stations for later tie in to the tube surveys. Determining that what they later found to be Rotunda (B280) would require only a single shot, they did a quick sur- vey of it. Wanting to actually get out of the sun and underground, they stumbled upon a small tube south of the parking area, made note of it for future reference, and then entered Shark’s Mouth Cave to continue the survey there, adding four stations to the survey in it. (8 hours x 2 = 16 hours) On October 8, David and Elizabeth were ac- companied by Karen. The party began the day by obtaining a surface survey above Rotunda Grotto and finishing a profile of it before going Permanent ice in the Ice Room of Crystal Ice to Shark’s Mouth Cave, where they extended the Cave. Photo by John Tinsley. 9 Work remaining includes the completion of south of Upper Cavern, and examination of the Balcony Cave and Shark’s Mouth Cave, the sur- continuing associated trench(es) beyond that. vey of a tube remnant in the Shark’s Mouth We greatly appreciate the assistance of trench, the survey of the remaining tubes in the Monument personnel in our efforts and look for- trench south of Upper Cavern, survey of another ward to our next visit. associated trench and natural bridge further CRF Lava Beds Expedition, March 11-13, 2015 Supporting a Videography of the Monument and its Ice Caves By: John Tinsley, Operations Manager The week of March 11-13 saw Ops Manager ing encyclopedia of lore concerning Lava Beds John Tinsley and Principal Investigator Bill and its ~800 caves. One of us (Tinsley) wit- Devereaux (ice monitoring project) journey to nessed Bumgardner’s interviewing of Devereaux Lava Beds National Monument (LABE) to aid in and can testify that Steve’s leading questions the filming of what will become a short 10 - and Bill’s articulate responses will ensure a minute video on the Monument and its ice great presentation to the public. Among the NPS caves, an effort supported by the Foundation’s employees interviewed was Ms. Katrina Smith Board of Directors in a vote taken earlier this of Resources Management. Spring. Commissioned by LABE Resources The videography will be edited to produce Management and funded by The Fund for People an 8-10 minute film on aspects of Lava Beds; it in Parks, Mr. Steve Bumgardner, a former NPS will be suitable for showing at the Visitor Cen- employee at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National ter to those who may not be able to venture un- Parks, and now self-employed as a free-lance derground owing to disability. We look forward contractor/filmmaker, was in charge of the to the release and screening of this effort. video production. Steve and his crew were con- The ice monitoring efforts at Lava Beds summate professionals and quickly conducted have resulted in at least two contributions to the the requisite interviews and filming chiefly dur- literature, an article by Fuhrman (2007) de- ing a three-day period. Specially featured in the scribes disappearing ice at Merrill and filmmaking effort were lava caves that contain Zern and Thomas (2014) address the entire data permanent ice, many of which show progres- set and consider several competing hypotheses sively diminishing ice volume during the past addressing why the ice generally is diminishing. decade or so. The photograph by John Tinsley (on page 5) Originally conceived of by Don Denbo, Mike shows the first substantial occurrence of perma- Sims, and Bill Devereaux, the monitoring of ice nent ice, the Ice Room in Crystal Ice Cave. This levels in perennial ice caves at Lava Beds has ice formation is located below the thermocline been ongoing since the mid-1980s. When the and precipitation that seeps through fractures in Cave Research Foundation commenced formal the lava freezes to form these ice draperies and operations at LABE in 1989 under the direction stalagmites. Bill Devereaux commented that of Dr. Janet Sowers, the ice monitoring project compared to ice observed during prior visits, was absorbed into a diverse array of projects the ice volume seemed to be diminished, conducted under CRF’s umbrella; these studies whether owing to recent extreme drought condi- included cave cartography, biological inventory tions or to warming. and monitoring of selected caves, and Aeolian dust studies and photo-monitoring of selected KERN Z. & THOMAS S., Ice level changes caves. from seasonal to decadal time-scales observed In the present activity, Mr. Bumgardner in- in lava tubes, Lava Beds National Monument, terviewed Bill Devereaux who has seen to it that NE California, USA. (IT ISSN 0391-9838, the ice monitoring measurements continue to be 2014). made at least annually and at times as often as FUHRMANN K. (2007) - Monitoring the quarterly. Bill is a long-time caver who has vol- disappearance of a perennial ice deposit in unteered at Lava Beds for decades, plays J. D. Merrill Cave. Journal of Cave Karst Studies, Howard during the historical Time -Line activi- 69, 256-265. ties convened annually at LABE, and is a walk-

10 Ozark Operations, Buffalo National River, December 2014-February 2015 By: Kayla Sapkota

December 13, 2014: as the cave finally ended (much more pleasantly Jon Beard and Matt Bumgardner surveyed than expected) in comfortable sitting passage at 440 feet in Mud Cave. a small infeeder. Ed Klausner and Scott House monitored and surveyed Corner Crawl and Tin December 17, 2014: Can Cave. Ed Klausner and Mark Jones surveyed 277 feet in Willis Cave to continue an existing sur- December 20, 2014: vey and monitored Three Dome Cave and Bart- Ed Klausner and Mark Jones surveyed 422.9 lett Cove Cave. feet in Willis Cave to complete the survey. Marty Brown, Jessie Bridges, Charles Brickey, December 18, 2014: Matt Bumgardner, Adrian James, Kayla Sapkota, Ed Klausner and Mark Jones monitored Dick Max White, and Charley Young visited Fitton -ens Cave, George/Vulture Cave, Fowler Cave, Cave. Charles, Charley, and Max worked on Pendant Cave, Copper Thru Cave, Rainy Cave, monitoring and counting bats. Matt Bumgardner and Race X Cave, sorting out GPS coordinates took some excellent photosynths near the Out and descriptive information. The team surveyed Room. Jessie, Marty, Kayla, and Adrian sur- Dickens Cave to about 100 feet. After returning veyed two leads in the Out Room. Marty and to Steel Creek it was determined that George Charles began the survey of a third lead before Cave and Vulture Cave were the same cave. the day ended. December 19, 2014: December 21, 2014: Bryant Galloway, Mark Jones, and Kayla Jon Beard and Matt Bumgardner surveyed Sapkota surveyed 572 feet in Tom Barnes Cave about 100 feet in Mud Cave, working in the to complete the survey. The team noted that southeast breakdown crawl area. Mark Jones must have been a good luck charm,

11 January 10, 2015: Jon Beard and Matt Bumgardner went to Mud Cave to continue the survey line there, and Matt did some photosynths. Max White, Charles Brickey, and Kayla Sapkota went to Big Hollow to document and monitor the caves and karst features in the area and sort out the existing leads. The team visited and documented karst features, surveyed two new caves (Surprise Tube and Sixteen Sink), GPSed a 35 -foot verti- cal lead, and monitored Leatherwood Sink. January 24, 2015: Kenny Akers and Kayla Sapkota visited six caves in the Dillard's Ferry area. Three of the caves (Crawlway Cave, Waterfall Pit #1, and Waterfall Pit #2) were previously known. Three new ones (Bat Hideout Cave, Woodrat's Dream Cave, and Goose Cave) were added to the data- base. All caves were monitored and surveyed. January 31, 2015: Catherine Becker, Kayla Sapkota, and Max White monitored and surveyed Wild Goose Cave near Tyler Bend. The crew also located and surveyed a new cave and gave it the name Mos- sy Root Hole for its obvious physical features. February 7, 2015: Jon Beard, Matt Bumgardner, and Joseph Jordan monitored Copperhead Cave; the crew additionally relocated Lost Cave. Krista Bartel and Kayla Sapkota visited Ice Box Cave and completed the survey there, counting over a hundred bats in the process. A breakdown-crawl potential lead remains. Max White and David Peterson posted signs at caves in Broadwater Hollow/Cecil Creek, among which were Devil's Den Pit, Sunshine/ Little Devil's Den Pit, and Willis Cave. February 18, 2015: Jon Beard, Matt Bumgardner, Max White, Krista Bartel, and Kayla Sapkota hiked from the Ponca low-water bridge up to Big Hollow. The team located Winding Staircase #2 and the tie - in to Winding Staircase #1 and left Jon and Matt to survey it. Krista and Kayla hiked to a vertical lead fro m January 10th, which ended up being about 83 feet of decorated survey. The team named the pit Turtle Shell Pit for some shells at the bottom of the drop. Max ridgewalked nearby in the meantime.

Top: Heliomyzid in Copperhead Cave. Photo by Matt Bumgardner. Middle: A spider in Winding Staircase Cave #2. Photo by Matt Bumgardner. Bottom: Eastern Tricolor Bt in Copperhead Cave. Photo by Matt Bumgardner.

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Clockwise from Upper Left: Catherine Becker and Max White ready to ridgewalk. Photo by Kayla Sapkota; Kayla Sapkota sketches in Waterfall Pit #1. Photo by Kenny Akers; Kenny Akers sits at the entrance of Bat Hideout Cave. Photo by Kayla Sapkota; Max White checks out the entrance to Mossy Root Hole. Photo by Kayla Sapkota; Kenny Akers ascends Waterfall Pit #2. Photo by Kayla Sapkota;

Joseph Jordan and Jon Beard take a break in Copperhead Cave. Photo by Matt Bumgardner. 13

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15 Ozark Operations Activities, November 2014-March 2015 By: Scott House

OZARK NATIONAL SCENIC RIVERWAYS Cave to perform a thorough winter biological December 13, 2014: inventory. Fortunately, as with Anderson Cave, As part of an ongoing biological survey of the mild weather allowed for a good wash-up certain stream caves, Mick Sutton and Sue outside the entrance. Hagan did a winter inventory of Wallace Cave, January 19, 2015: Shannon County. Meanwhile several teams Scott House, Richard Young, Spike Crews, mapped in SH Cave (see further down). Jon Beard, and Matt Bumgardner monitored five January 13, 2015: caves in Barn Hollow, Texas County. Two of the See further down for trip information on caves were NPS and the other three were MDC. Powder Mill Creek Cave (MDC). WNS was again noted. January 14, 2015: January 20, 2015: Mark Jones and Scott House counted healthy Richard Young monitored the entrance areas bats in Williams Mountain Cave, Shannon of three caves near the Powder Mill Research County. Center. January 15, 2015: January 21, 2015: Mark, Ed Klausner, Elizabeth Miller, Karen See Thompson Creek Cave trip detailed be- Willmes, and Dave West counted bats in low. Hill Cave and Meeting House Cave, Shannon January 22, 2015: County. Illegal climbing bolts were discovered Richard Young and Don Dunham monitored at Meeting House. Elsewhere, Jon Beard, Scott Liberty School Cave, Shannon County. House, and Matt Bumgardner met with NPS folks concerning ongoing interpretive projects. February 24, 2015: Later Jon and Matt worked on a continuous pro- See Cookstove Cave trip detailed below. ject of restoring Big Spring Anastomosis Cave, Carter County. February 25, 2015: Tony Schmitt and Scott House worked with January 16, 2015: Shelly Colatskie of Missouri Department of Two crews counted bats in most of Round Conservation, counting bats at Martin Cave, Spring Cave. The Left Hand Fork was counted Shannon County. A new sub-colony of gray bats by Mick Sutton, Sue Hagan, Ed Klausner, Dave was the major surprise of the trip. West, Karen Willmes, and Elizabeth Miller. The Right Hand Fork was counted by Scott House, February 26, 2015: George Bilbrey, Matt Bumgardner, and Jon Tony Schmitt led Tony Elliott and Shelly Beard. NPS terrestrial biologist Kim Houf and Colatskie of MDC into Mose Prater Cave, Shan- an intern swabbed bats, aided by Elizabeth and non County to attempt to count the bats hiber- Sue. Later, most of the crew posed along the nating in the cave. Scott House, George Bilbrey, Right Hand Fork for a photo synthesis project Kim Houf (NPS), and Shauna Marquardt being done by Matt. (USF&WS) made up the surface support team. January 17, 2015: February 27, 2015: Scott, Ed, Dave, Karen, Elizabeth, Jon, See Thompson Creek Cave trip detailed be- Matt, and Spike Crews counted bats in Branson low. Cave, Shannon County. Unfortunately, several February 28, 2015: bats had WNS. See SH Cave trip report detailed below. January 18, 2015: March 20, 2015: Scott, Ed, and Elizabeth counted bats in Tony Schmitt worked with several NPS law Anderson Cave, Dent County, before washing up enforcement rangers, removing about half of the in the Current River. Neither the wet and slimy illegal bolts at Meeting House Cave. cave, nor the wash-up were as bad as the drive down the “road” to the cave. Elsewhere, Jon and MISSOURI DEPT. OF CONSERVATION Matt monitored several caves and did a photo December 13, 2014: synth of Jug Cave. WNS-positive bats were In a cooperative survey project, on a cave seen. Lastly, Mick, Sue, Dave, Karen, and Spike lying within Ozark National Scenic Riverways braved the water and deep mud of Welch Spring but actually owned by the Department of Con- 16 servation, several crews mapped nearly 800 feet December 26, 2014: in difficult SH Cave in Shannon County. Par- Chad McCain surveyed Devils Backbone ticipants included Dan Lamping, Tony Schmitt, Cave, Oregon County, 11 Point District. The Spike Crews, Derik Holtmann, Mike Tennant, cave taped out to about 100 feet and featured a Natalia Tennant, Josh Hafner, Michael Brad- fresh bear print. ford, and Kyle Rybacki. January 16, 2015: January 13, 2015: A crew of Mark Jones, Shawn Williams, Mark Jones and Scott House assisted in a bi- Dennis Novicky, and Brenda Goodnight contin- annual bat county in Powder Mill Creek Cave, ued the survey of Still Cave, Oregon County, 11 Shannon County. Like SH Cave, this cave, Point District. They also found two new caves owned by MDC, actually lies within the author- in the same area. ized boundaries of the Ozark Riverways. January 17, 2015: January 19, 2015: Andy Free, Jessica Self, and Jacob Self See Barn Hollow trip, Ozark Riverways. mapped 280 feet in two new caves in Pulaski County, Rolla/Houston District. These are in a February 28, 2015: rugged area adjacent to Fort Leonard Wood. Braving the weather, Dan Lamping, Tony As part of an Irish Wilderness winter back- Schmitt, Joe Sikorski, and Derik Holtmann put pack trip, Mark Jones and Max White did a long in 400 feet of survey in SH Cave. They came ridgewalk in Oregon County, 11 Point District. out to an icy snowstorm and carefully made Meanwhile, Jim Cooley led a team of Shawn their slow way back to Powder Mill Research Williams, Rita Worden, Dennis Novicky, and Center. Brenda Goodnight to finish a cave survey March 14, 2015: nearby. Dan Lamping, Bob Lerch, and Tony Schmitt January 18, 2015: surveyed more than 200 feet in Wallace Cave, Chad McCain surveyed two small caves and Shannon County. started a third in Howell County, Willow

Springs District. Along the way, Chad checked PIONEER FOREST another small cave in the bottom of a drainage January 21, 2015: and discovered that it had collapsed, leaving In a cooperative project with Ozark River- nothing but a fresh . ways, Scott House, Mark Jones, Richard Young, Continuing their hike, Cooley, Williams, and Don Dunham mapped over 600 feet in Worden, Novicky, and Goodnight located sev- Thompson Creek Cave, Shannon County, while eral new caves in the Irish. One new entrance also inventorying the cave. The project was ini- was blocked by ice and after an hour of chip- tiated because of an upcoming cooperative pre- ping, well, the thing was almost long enough to scribed burn aimed at glade restoration around be considered a cave. Not far away, Jones and Jerktail Mountain. White located several new caves in a promising February 24, 2015: side hollow. In yet another cooperative effort, Scott January 19, 2015: House and Tony Schmitt helped with a bat count Jones, Novicky, and Ken Grush hiked for six at Cookstove Cave, Shannon County. Shelly Co- miles without locating any new caves, but elimi- latskie and Tony Elliott of MDC did the bulk of nated a large area from future consideration. the counting. Neal Humke of Pioneer Forest’s parent organization (L-A-D Foundation) came January 20, 2015: along to learn more about the cave and its life. Grush and Cooley put in additional survey into Still Cave, getting thoroughly slimed with February 27, 2015: clay in the process. Meanwhile, Jones and No- Tony Schmitt and Scott House finished up vicky surveyed 120 feet of wetsuit passage in the survey of Thompson Creek Cave, aided by Sycamore Bliss Cave. Neal Humke of the Forest and five of Pioneer’s seasonal fire crew, all young natural resource January 21, 2015: professionals who were interested in learning Cooley, Grush, and Novicky inspected and more about caves. measured a cave in the 11 Point District that was being considered for a gate; the cave is a MARK TWAIN NATIONAL FOREST medium-sized hibernaculum. December 13, 2014: January 23, 2015: Eric Hertzler and Max White continued the Mick Sutton, Scott House, and Craig Wil- survey of R. L. Taylor Memorial Cave in Chris- liams spent the day meeting with several Forest tian County, Ava District. 17 Service personnel about ongoing and future pro- February 9, 2015: jects. Mick Sutton, Sue Hagan, Nicole McKenzie, and Haley McKenzie monitored a large bat cave January 25, 2015: in the 11 Point District and found, sadly, obvi- Jim Cooley scouted an area of Butler Hol- ous WNS. Bat numbers were down as well. low, Barry County, Cassville District for ap- proaches to an upcoming gating project. February 14, 2015: Jon Beard, Craig Williams, Jessie Schoen- January 26, 2015: weis, and Sam Fisher perfomed archaeological Jim Cooley and several FS employees trav- investigations at several caves in the Butler eled to several caves in the Cassville District to Hollow area, Barry County, Cassville District, evaluate routes to the various caves and mines as a required prelude to gating work. Mean- that are to be gated. Some of these caves were while, in another part of the same area, Ben Mil modified by , while others represent fea- -ler, Katie Ingram, and Matt Bumgardner ridge- tures where, if there was once a cave, the origi- walked a long hollow and located new caves. nal walls are completely gone. On the Rolla/Houston District, Phelps February 15, 2015: County, a large group of Scott House, Don Ben, Katie, Matt, and Jon surveyed one Dunham, Spike Crews, Garrett Wood, Mike smallish cave in the area ridgewalked the previ- Rouleau, Dan Lamping, and Tony Schmitt re- ous day. mapped Hanley Cave and tied the survey to March 9, 2015: nearby Western Turkey Cave. A few miles away Jim Cooley worked in the Silver Mines area Mick Sutton and Joey Castrilla did a bio - of Madison County, Fredericktown District, inventory of Zorumski Cave. Another cave, re- testing methodologies for an upcoming mine ported collapsed, was checked and found still to gating project there. be unenterable. March 12, 2015: February 7, 2015: Mick Sutton and Sue Hagan accompanied Ben Perkins and Dirk Bennett took a moni- Missouri Department of Conservation and toring trip into The Gulf, Wayne County, Poplar MTNF personnel in a bat survey at a cave in Bluff District. The Gulf is a cave with sub- Iron County, Salem District. Unfortunately, bat mersed portions and very deep (~200’) water. numbers were down with visible WNS and fresh Ben and Dirk are certified cave divers with the corpses. Ozark Alliance who work with CRF on suitable projects. March 14, 2015: Spike Crews led Craig Williams, Jessie February 8, 2015: Schoenewies, Krista Marshall, and Stefanie Jim Cooley and Pic Walenta hiked for some Voss to Hamilton Cave, Phelps County, Rolla/ miles in Piney Creek Wilderness Area looking Houston District where they investigated char- for reported caves. The success is that they af- coal markings on the walls and other cultural firmed that old locations were not correct. This signs. area is in Barry County, Cassville district. March 28 2015: Jon Beard and Matt Bumgardner led Craig, Jessie, and Krista to Carter Cave, Barry County, Cassville District to do cultural evaluations in advance of the gating project. March 31, 2015: Jon Beard and Hal Baker relocated a couple of caves in Christian County, Ava District.

MISSOURI STATE PARKS November 22, 2014: Jon Beard, Phillip Taylor, Roy Gold, Christi Brackeen, and Matt Bumgardner finished the overland survey of Bennett Spring Natural Tun- nel and monitored five other caves in Bennett Matt Bumgardner uses NPS camera with tele- Spring State Park. photo lens to get close-ups of otherwise uniden- tifiable bats on the ceiling of Branson Cave. November 28, 2014: Photo by Ed Klausner. Jon and Roy made the trip to Carthage Bat- tlefield State Historic Site where they surveyed 18

19 one complicated cave which was a mix of bed- March 21, 2015: rock and talus. They also removed some other Jim, Cliff, and Alex surveyed the first 135 cave locations as being duplicates or too short feet of Pin Oak Cave, Camden County, LOSP. to qualify as a cave. They then did some surface survey to tie in a non-enterable “entrance” to the same cave. Else- January 11, 2015: where in the park, Ken and Dennis surveyed Dan Lamping, Jim Ruedin, Bob Lerch, and Honey Run Cave, Camden County. two state park folks monitored two caves in

Cuivre River State Park, Lincoln County. Bat ELSEWHERE numbers were way down. December 4, 2014: March 16, 2015: Scott House traveled to the city of Perryville Jim Cooley, Ken Grush, Dennis Novicky, MO to meet with city officials about an upcom- Brenda Goodnight, and Cliff Gill spent the day ing Missouri Speleological Survey/CRF project on Lake of the Ozarks in, well, Lake of the to relocate, survey, and inventory caves lying Ozarks State Park, relocating reported caves and under the city. finding new caves, all from motorboats. December 10, 2014: March 17, 2015: Don Dunham accompanied a variety of bat The above crew spent another day on the researchers into a mine in northern Missouri. lake meeting with good success for their efforts. The trip purpose was to continue experiments Sadly WNS had spread even to a very small relating to the spread of WNS. shelter cave on the lake. December 11, 2014: March 18, 2015: Scott plus Paul Hauck, Bob Osburn, and Continuing work at Lake of the Ozarks SP, Stan Sides took part in a meeting in Perryville Jim, Ken, and Dennis surveyed Mosquito Cave with representatives from US Fish and Wildlife in Miller County. Amazingly, despite its short Service, Missouri Department of Transportation, length and ease of access, the cave had never Federal Highway Administration, City of Perry- been surveyed before. ville, and Missouri Department of Conservation. The meeting was to discuss impacts and mitiga- March 19, 2015: tion of a road project lying over Crevice Cave, Ken and Dennis surveyed Gar Cave, Camden the state’s longest cave and one of the homes of County, in Lake Ozarks SP for 150 feet. the endangered grotto sculpin. A field trip to March 20, 2015: the site followed where it was quickly deter- Jim, Ken, Cliff, and Alex Gill surveyed Fort mined that the proposed route needed adjust- Cave, Camden County, in LOSP. Ten-year-old ment. Alex, whose favorite subject is math, learned to January 28, 2015: read instruments and made good progress. Later, Scott, Ed Klausner, Elizabeth Miller, Andy Dennis and Ken surveyed Camp Hawthorn Cave, Free, Ken Grush, Don Dunham, and Paul Hauck same county, same park. acted as guides, note-takers, and counters for a bi-annual count of the bats in the northern Mis- Preceding page, clockwise from upper left: souri mine. About 25 other people from a vari- Chad McCain and Paul Hauck check elevations ety of agencies were involved as well. with MODOT technicians at the entrance of Crevice Cave. Photo by Scott House ; Large crew February 4, 2015: of CRF and Pioneer Forest personnel at Thomp- Scott, Stan, along Richard Young and Don son Creek Cave on a not -very-warm day. Photo Dunham spent the day relocating cave entrances by Scott House; Joe Sikorski and Dan Lamping in Perryville. compare notes in SH Cave. Photo by Derik February 11, 2015: Holt mann; Mark Jones takes notes while Tony Paul Hauck, Chad McCain, and Richard Elliott of the Missouri Department of Conserva- Young suited up and carried a cave radio trans- tion counts bats. Photo by Scott House ; Tony mitter into Crevice Cave to locate passages un- Schmitt hanging on a rope with NPS ranger der the proposed road. MODoT personnel set Chris Figge hanging beside him while NPS elevation points while Stan Sides manned the ranger Lindel Gregory watches from below. The surface watch, located the radio transmitter and event was the removal of illegal bolts from an performed calculations. Scott House went into unauthorized climbing site at the entrance of an the city and continued work on relocating en- Ozark Riverways cave – NPS Photo ; Richard trances. Young, Stan Sides, and Scott House examine an unmapped cave entrance in the City of Perry- ville. Photo by Don Dunham. 20 Mammoth Cave: Thanksgiving Expedition, November 24-29, 2014 By: Dave West, Expedition Leader Buz Grover, Camp Manager Our 2014 celebration of Thanksgiving was Cave, while Dan Greger led efforts on a dig in attended by 39 people. They took about 341 the Watermelon Patch in Hamilton Valley. hours driving 17,668 miles to attend the expedi- The third and last day of expedition caving tion. Karen Willmes and I arrived a few days again had seven parties head out. Dan Greger early to ensure that we got some caving in our- continued his dig in the Watermelon Patch. selves. We found Hamilton Valley occupied by a Lynn Brucker and Bob Osburn led parties to group from Texas A&M University, but space East Bransford in Mammoth to continue the re- was readily available for us. On November 24 survey there. Rick Olson led a party to Alexan- we got the assistance of one of the Aggies to go der's Pit to retrieve more dye traps. Tom to Cathedral Cave to continue the survey there. Brucker led a party to Crystal Cave to finish up On November 25 a park intern joined us to as- the loop between Denison and Union Station. sist in the detailed survey of the Austin en- Jim Greer led a party to Echo River in Mam- trance to Pohl Avenue for Kurt Helf’s cricket moth to retrieve more lights. Dave West re- studies. On November 26 Bill Koerschner joined turned to Austin and Cathedral Caves to finish us to survey in Hidden River Cave in the Whis- up surface work there. key Way section. Expeditions are always the result of the ef- On November 27, the expedition proper forts of many people. Huge thanks to Buz started and five parties went into the field. Rick Grover, Phil DiBlasi and Jan Hemberger, Bob Olson led a party to Shelly Avenue in Mammoth and Judy Parrish, Rick and Chris Hoechstetter to retrieve dye traps. Mick Sutton led a party to for their efforts in the kitchen. Everybody in Salts to pick off leads along Mummy Valley camp pitched in to help, and it is always appre- trunk. Jim Greer took his party to Ralph Stone ciated. Hall in Austin for some re-sketching. Bill Koer- schner led a group into New Discovery to map a Cathedral Cave: 1) Dave West, Karen Willmes, William lower component of the U survey beyond the Kelm; 2) Dave West, Matt Mezydlo; Austin Entrance: 1) Dave West, Karen Willmes, Shannon Woolfolk; 2) Dave Great Wall of China. Dave West returned to West, Rick Toomey; Hidden River Cave: Dave West, Austin to continue the detailed survey there. Bill Koerschner, Karen Willmes, Elizabeth Winkler; Everybody made it back and enjoyed a wonder- Shelly Avenue: Rick Olson, Lynn Brucker, Elizabeth ful turkey dinner prepared by Buz Grover. W inkler; Salts Cave: 1) Mick Sutton, Sue Hagan, Henry Grover; 2) Mick Sutton, Karen Willmes, Tim Green, Dick Our second day of expedition caving saw M a rket; Ralph Stone Hall: Jim Greer, Karen Willmes, seven parties head out. Mick Sutton took an- Nathan Grover; New Discovery: Bill Koerschner, Fr. other party into Salts Cave, this time to con- Venne r; East Salts: Bill Koerschner, Ben Hutchins, Matt tinue the X series of survey for more mop up. M ez ydl o; Ingall’s Way: Jim Greer, Tammy Otten, Fr. Venne r; Sophies Avenue: Bob Osburn, Andrew Bill Koerschner also headed into Salts, to East McMichael, Ryan McMichael, Elizabeth Winkler; Rive r Salts to map domes in the A58 -A70 area. Jim St yx: 1) Rick Olson, Dave West, Sue Hagan; 2) Jim Greer returned to Austin to replace FSB 416 Greer, Ana Greer; Adwell Cave: Roger Brucker, Nathan from Ingalls Way to the F survey junction. Bob Gr over; Surface Hamilton Valley: 1) Daniel Greger, John Feil; 2) Daniel Greger, John Feil; East Bransford: Osburn led a party to Sophie’s Way off of 1) Lynn Brucker, Tammy Otten, Rick Hoechstetter; 2) Marion Avenue. Rick Olson led a party to Echo Bob Osburn, Dick Market, Chris Hoechstetter; S oli tar y River in Mammoth to retrieve some light fix- Cave : Rick Olson, Tim Green, Elizabeth Winkler; Cr ys - tures for cleaning and maintenance. Roger tal Cave : Tom Brucker, Bruce Hatcher, Jeremy Reedy. Brucker continued his digging efforts in Adwell Mammoth Cave: New Year’s Expedition, December 31, 2014-January 4, 2015 By: Ed Klausner and Elizabeth Miller, Expedition Leaders Matt Goska, Camp Manager We had an unusually large turnout for the On the first day there were seven trips. Bill three caving day expedition. Fifty cavers par- Copeland led Seth Spoelman, John Kirk, and ticipated in all or part of the expedition. Matt Matt Goska on a ridgewalking trip. This was the Goska ably served as camp manager. The first opportunity for Bill and Seth to talk in per- weather mostly cooperated with only the last son. They are both leading the small cave pro- day being affected by rain. ject in the park with Bill organizing what is

21 known about the small caves, keeping track of vey the old F survey and drop the pit at F25 to areas that have been ridgewalked, producing Gypsum Avenue. They got 106 feet of new sur- detailed reports on new caves found, and devel- vey and 484 feet of resurvey. oping lead packets so the caves can be sur- Spike Crews led Joey Castrilla and Craig veyed. Seth is working on the GIS and database Buschkoetter to Mather Avenue in Unknown aspect of this project. Cave where they went to Rick’s Cutaround Rick Toomey, Rick Olson, Kirk Helf, and Crawl and surveyed toward Andy Free’s survey Tim Green went on a trip to Bridge Avenue via crew. They got 171 feet of resurvey. A second the Doyle Valley Entrance in support of the crew, led by Andy Free, included Andrew Wil- Cumberland Piedmont Inventory & Monitoring kinson and Mike Conover. They went to Cam- Network project. They set up five transects for mer Hall and surveyed towards Spike’s crew. cave aquatic biota monitoring. They got 256 feet of resurvey. Charles Fox led Elizabeth Miller, Rachel For small caves, Bill Copeland and John Bosch, Samantha Bosch-Bird, Heather Levy, and Kirk ridgewalked in Woolsey Valley but could- Karen Willmes on a trip in Mammoth to produce n’t locate Emerson Cave #341. Roger Brucker a new safety and resource protection video. returned to Adwell Cave with Aaron Bird to They used a high definition recorder lent to us work on the south end. Dave West led Karen by the park. Willmes and Joyce Hoffmaster to Cathedral Dave West led Aaron Tester and Fred Wil- Cave. They got 13 feet of survey in one tight kinson to the Omega Trail in Bedquilt where lead plus 207 feet of surface survey. they surveyed a virgin pit at OM28 and sur- Finally, Ed Klausner led Tom and Petra Byl veyed a canyon. They got 224 feet of new sur- plus John Bowen to Cascade Hall. Tom is a vey and 248 feet of resurvey. USGS scientist working on a research permit in Roger Brucker, John Feil, and Dan Greger the park. They were collecting water samples, went to Adwell Cave to attempt to find a way getting data on various parameters, and getting past breakdown to a continuation of the trunk ready for a dye trace. After Cascade Hall, we passage. Aaron Bird met with a neighboring went to the Cataracts for more data collection. landowner who was a cave owner. On the third and last day of the expedition Bill Koerschner led Mike Conover and the weather turned nasty. Despite the rain, sev- Tammy Otten to New Discovery where they eral trips went out to ridgewalk and survey completed a replacement of the D and V survey small caves. Bill Copeland and John Kirk went plus dropped the pit in Big Avenue at F1. This to Hissing Turtle Cave (aka Hidden Stream completed a loop with 692 feet of resurvey. Cave) where they got entrance pictures. They Lynn Brucker led Andrew Wilkinson and also got entrance pictures of Pagoda Cave. Mark Ralph Hartley to East Bransford where they Jones, Bill Baus, and Connie Temm went to completed 656 feet of resurvey to replace the P Jam, Jelly, and Clayton Caves in Strawberry and V surveys. Valley. There is some confusion as to which is Finally, Mark Jones led Elizabeth Winkler which, but they did find a new cave with a 40 and Tama Cassidy to Dynamite Rock where they foot pit where they started a survey. They sur- completed the survey of this cave by adding 73 veyed two other small caves whose names have feet of new survey. This cave can now be to be worked out. Finally, Bob Lodge and Rick drafted. Hoechstetter went to Shockley Ridge to ridge- On the second day of the expedition Rick walk. They found a new cave, but it was too wet Toomey returned to Bridge Avenue with Rick and slippery to get to the entrance so this will Olson, Kurt Helf, and Mark Jones. They contin- be saved for dry weather. ued work on the cave aquatic biota monitoring Dave West led Karen Willmes, Tammy Ot- project. ten, and Joey Castrilla to Crystal Cave where There were two trips to Roppel Cave. Eliza- they went Left of the Trap to Union Station. beth Winkler led Tama Cassady and Fred Wil- They got 216 feet of new survey. kinson to Pete’s Puzzle to survey some of this Lynn Brucker led Matt Keller, Fred and An- complex area. Aaron Tester, Dick Market, and drew Wilkinson to East Bransford where they Ralph Hartley went to West Lexington Avenue did a tie in the RR survey and replaced the U to survey some of the leads noted in previous survey for 422 feet of resurvey. surveys. Rick Olson led Aaron Bird, Dick Market, Charles Fox continued working on the video and Ralph Hartley to Cyclops Gateway to show with Dan Greger, Mary Kate Keller, Matt Kel- them the route to the pit lead. Aaron, Dick, and ler, Tsai Hong, and Laura Shultz (a park intern). Ralph surveyed 271 feet of new survey and left Bill Koerschner returned to New Discovery a good going lead heading to a blank spot on the with Rachel Bosch and Tammy Otten to resur- map. 22 Charles Fox continued his video project with Charles Fox, Matt Goska, Roger McClure, Rick Toomey, the help of Matt Goska, Roger McClure, Rick Tama Cassidy, Aaron Tester; B e dq uilt : Dave West, Aaron Tester, Fred Wilkinson; Adwell Cave : 1) Roger Toomey, Tama Cassady, Tsai Hong, and Aaron Brucker, Daniel Greger, John Feil; 2) Roger Brucker, Tester. Besides the video part, they also re- Aaron Bird, Zach Bosch - Bird ; New Discovery: 1 ) Bill trieved a rope from the Maelstrom that was used Koerschner, Tammy Otten, Mike Conover; 2) Bill Koer- for a water sampling project. schner, Rachel Bosch, Tammy Otten; East Bransford: 1) Lynn Brucker, Andrew Wilkinson, Ralph Hartley; 2) Bill Koerschner, Andy Free, and Craig Lynn Brucker, Matt Keller, Fred Wilkinson, Andrew Wil- Buschkoetter went to Roppel to check some kins on; Dynamite Rock Cave : Mark Jones, Elizabeth leads. Joyce Hoffmaster, Dan Greger, John Feil, Winkler, Tama Cassidy; Roppel Cave: 1) Aaron Tester, and Elizabeth Winkler went to Great Onyx Cave Dick Market, Ralph Hartley; 2) Elizabeth Winkler, Tama Cassidy, Fred Wilkinson; 3) Andy Free, Bill Koerschner, to survey a lead that turned out to be too small Craig Buschkoetter; Rick’s Cutaround Crawl: 1) Spike once the passage turned a corner. Crews, Joey Castrilla, Craig Buschkoetter; 2) Andy Free, Andrew Wilkinson, Mike Conover; Cathedral Cave: Thanks to all who helped out (Tsai Hong, Dave West, Joyce Hoffmaster, Karen Willmes; S illim an, Rachael, Rick Hoechstetter) and a special Catar ac ts : Ed Klausner, Tom Byl, Petra Byl, John Bo- thanks to Matt Goska for being an excellent wen; Woolsey Valley: Bill Copeland, John Kirk; Cyc l ops Gate way: Aaron Bird, Dick Market, Ralph Hartley, Rick camp manager. Ols on; Jam Cave, Jelly Cave, Clayton Cave : M a rk Taylor Coates Hollow: Bill Copeland, Seth Spoelman, Jones, Bill Baus, Connie Temm; Hissing Turtle Cave, John Kirk, Matt Goska; Bridge Avenue: 1) Rick Toomey, Pagoda Cave, Surface, Hidden Stream Cave : Bill Cope- Rick Olson, Kurt Helf, Tim Green; 2) Rick Toomey, Kurt land, John Kirk; Great Onyx Cave: Joyce Hoffmaster, Helf, Rick Olson, Mark Jones; Vide o: 1) Charles Fox, Daniel Greger, John Feil, Elizabeth Winkler; Cr ys tal Elizabeth Miller, Rachel Bosch, Sammi Bosch -B ird, Cave : Dave West, Karen Willmes, Tammy Otten, Joey Heather Levy, Karen Willmes; 2) Charles Fox, Daniel Castrilla; Shockley Ridge: Bob Lodge, Rick Hoechstetter Greger, Mary Kate Keller, Matt Keller, Laura Shultz; 3)

Cumberland Gap Project: October 2014 Expedition, October 25, 2014 By: Bob Alderson

Ten cavers spent 109 hours underground. found near the end of the passage last April. Three teams surveyed 861 feet of new passage. Karen was able to push into it for a ways, but it Two cavers traveled down from Baltimore became too tight. Their other objective was to Maryland, two traveled from Roanoke Virginia, work on completing profiles of the section that four came from Blacksburg Virginia, one from had not been done during the survey. They con- Knoxville Tennessee, and one from Cumberland cluded that some of the passage needs to be re- Gap. There were no injuries or other reportable surveyed to correct discrepancies in the walls. incidents. They had a short trip of 8 hours. Bob Alderson led Dave Socky and Philip Charles Finney and Joe Settles did cultural Schuchart to the furthest upstream extent of the inventory in the area around Quarry Cave. cave to continue the survey in the stream. 509 The survey notes were scanned into the com- feet of survey was done in a tributary side lead puter at the O’Dell house and photos were that intersected the main stream passage. It downloaded. The originals and the completed headed ESE and became too tight or low to fol- form were left in a folder on the table for Joe to low further. The main stream remains to be sur- pick up and take to the NPS. veyed. The travel time into the lead was 4.5 The sunntos have been repaired and re- hours each way. The total trip time was 17 turned. We thank the Park Service for taking hours. care of that. It made it possible to field the Bill Koerschner led Nick Socky and Joe Cal- number of teams we had with complete gear. derone to survey leads in the Lost Joop Passage. The Alderson team saw one bat about 300 They surveyed 352 feet through a variety of feet past the tourist trail on the ceiling. They breakdown and canyon. They scouted the end of saw approximately nine of them high in the ceil- the passage that Hazel Barton had reported as a ing fissure at station LC27 and approximately tight lead over flowstone and verified that the five near LC50 in the Blue Monolith Room. prospects there were not good. In all they com- Bill’s team saw approximately nine isolated bats pleted three leads and left several to return to. along the stream passage on the way to their They spent 14.5 hours in the cave, 2.5 hours lead and later one bat flying. All the bats ap- travel in to the leads, and three hours out peared to be tri color. The next planned expedi- Dave West and Karen Willmes went to the tion is November 28-30. Rimstone Riviera to look at a tight lead that was

23 Obituary for William “Bill” Hulstrunk From the Star Ledger of March 15, 2015, with additions by Roger Brucker

Bill Hulstrunk, of Millburn, JV, was an en- and tiny holes in each end. He then pounded gineer, cave explorer, volunteer firefighter, steel phonograph needles into the end holes to brother, and husband. He died at the age of 88 impinge the cables. The needles were stressed in on March 1, 2015. Private funeral arrangements shear so had several hundred pounds of yield were made by his wife, Sallisteen Hulstrunk. A strength. Those ladders were used in the trium- lifelong New Jersey resident, Bill grew up in phant final scene of the film. A portion of this Kearny, NJ and had lived in Millburn since vintage film was included in the National Geo- 1960. He served in the Army as an graphic documentary, Mysteries Underground. X-ray technician during World War II at the Bill was involved with CRF during its pioneer Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Hous- days and he participated during some of the ton, Texas. Bill graduated from Upsala College very first trips organized by it. in East Orange, NJ, in 1948. He entered the His passion since 1960 was to help people - workforce as a research chemist at Pittsburgh he was a first responder, a volunteer firefighter Plate Glass Co., Protective Coatings Division, with the Millburn Fire Department. Bill was and he retired from RCA in 1980 as a solid state sought for his talent in solving vexing engineer- design engineer, with several patents. ing problems and always obliged with assistance Bill was an avid caver in his early years and in a timely manner. He was an emeritus member he was instrumental in producing The Spelun- of the American Chemical Society and the Soci- ker, the first wild cave exploration filmed in the ety Club. He was also a life member and fellow United States in 1952. Before the era of single of the National Speleological Society and an rope technique, he built several hundred feet of exempt member of the New Jersey Firemen’s cable ladders using a technique of his own in- Relief Association. Mr. Hulstrunk was the hus- vention. He used galvanized steel aircraft con- band of 53 years of the late Odena (nee trol cables and solid aluminum rungs. He built O’Brien). He is survived by his wife, Sallisteen, a jig to drill the cable holes through each end, sister, Elaine, and brother, Alfred. 2015 EXPEDITION CALENDAR

Before attending any expedition, you must contact the expedition leader as trip sizes may be limited. Failure to contact the leader may prevent you from attending the expedition as the trip may be full.

Eastern Operations - Mammoth Cave Schedule last full weekend of each month except December. Contact: Mike Memorial Day, May 22-25. John DeLong, Crockett, [email protected]. [email protected]. Independence Day, June 27-July 5. Dave West, Ozarks [email protected]. Contacts: Scott House, [email protected]. Friendship Day, July 30-August 3. Roger and Lynn Brucker, Mick Sutton and Sue Hagan, [email protected]. [email protected] or [email protected]. California – Lava Beds Labor Day, September 4-7. Bob Osburn, Contact: John Tinsley, [email protected]. [email protected]. Before participating on any of these expeditions, please contact the Columbus Day, October 9-12. Rick Olson, [email protected]. Operations Area Manager, John Tinsley, at least two weeks before Thanksgiving, November 25-29. Dave West, the expedition. Please do not just show up as there may be limits [email protected]. on the number of participants we can accommodate. New Year’s, December 31, 2015-January 4, 2016. Ed Klausner, [email protected] or Elizabeth Miller, California – Lilburn [email protected] Some basic rules of engagement for California expeditions: Con- tact the expedition leader preferably two weeks ahead of time; All Eastern Operations CRF JVs who have not attended an expedi- please don’t spontaneously show up. We have to deal with head tion safety orientation must do so before participating in expedi- count limits, particularly on our Lilburn trips, so we need to know tion activities. The safety orientation is scheduled at the beginning who is planning to attend. Contact John Tinsley; 650-329-4928, of each expedition after the morning meeting. Those who have [email protected]. attended a safety orientation are not required to participate in an- other. New JVs should arrange to be at the expedition early HSS/CRF Hawai’i Caving - Big Island enough to attend the orientation. Those who do not attend will not Contact Pat Kambesis, 309-762-3860, [email protected]. be allowed to participate in expedition activities. Contact expedi- Carlsbad Caverns tion leader for more details on the orientation. Contact for all expeditions: Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Barbe Barker, [email protected]. Expeditions for Cumberland Gap National Historical Park are the William and Tammy Tucker, [email protected]. CAVE BOOKS Publications Affiliate of the Cave Research Foundation www.cavebooks.com ISBN: 0-939748 SAN: 216-7220 Rev.12/13

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