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Home , Glacier cave, Hidden Cave

the Texas Caver Vol.26, No.3, 1981 CONTENTS

Three Fingers Mapping Report ...... 35 Three Fingers Cave Map ...... 37 in Mex ico ...... 38 Robber Baron Clean-up ...... 39 in the Global Village ...... 40 Bits & Pieces ...... 41 Emergency Communication Invitation ...... 41 Coon Crap Cave Map ...... 42 Trip Reports ...... 43 The Clay Choke Cave Map ...... 44 Texas Caver Word Hunt No . 3 ...... 48

Cover Photo: George Veni crawls through a narrow passage in Inner Space. Photo by James Jasek.

Contents Page Photo: Steve Boehm crosses a deep on the way to the Volcano in Inner Space. James Jasek photo.

Th e TEXAS CAVER is a bimonthly publication of the Texas Speleological Association (TSA}, an internal organization of the National Speleological Society (NSS) and is published by James Jas ek in Waco, Texas. (817) 776-172 7

SUBSCRIPTIONS are $5.00 per year. Persons subscribing after the first of the y ear will receive all back issues for that y ear. Single copies are available at $1.00 each, postpaid.

Th e TEXAS CAVER openly invites contributors to submit: articles, reports, news, cartoons, cave maps, caving articles, and photographs (any size print black and white or color print) for publication in the TEXAS CAVER.

Address all SUBSCRIPTIONS and EDITORIAL material to the editor: James Jasek, 1019 Melrose Dr., Waco , Texas 76710. (817) 776 -1 727

Wh en sending in a change of address, please include y our old address. Persons interested in EXCHANGES or FOREIGN subscriptions should direct correspondence to the editor. THREE FINGERS CAVE Mapping Report Duwain Whitis

Near the bottom of a rugged canyon in During the course of the summer, Duwain he Guadalupe Mountains of New lies worked on the data reduction only to find hree Finger Cave. Since August of 1979 the that much of the survey needed to be ggie Speleological Society of Texas A&M re-done. The errors common to most surveys niversity has been involved in the survey had become so intwined that they were f this complex cave. Discovered in 1967 impossible to isolate. In August of 1979, y Bob Sarabia and Jim Peck of Carlsbad, the first week long expedition to the cave he cave has not yet been fully explored. was mounted. This trip concentrated on lthough much has been rumored about the resurveying the area between the Bell xtent of the cave, very little work was Room and the Temple of the Fiery Cave God. one previous to 1976. It was mentioned as This trip 'rediscovered' the Z survey area n addendum to several deep which appeared to be almost untravelled. ave lists as being about 500 feet deep. A large portion of the 'Mid Maze' was also o survey documented the depth, however. explored. This is a portion of the was began in 1968 by several where it is possible to get lost after emb ers of the Southwestern Region, but traveling fifty feet. Stories abound of ery little of the cave was surveyed and people who have been lost in the cave for o ma p was published. The survey extended hours. One pair of Aggies got lost in the . r om the bottom of the entrance drop, maze for an hour . hrough the Meador Pincher, and down the In November of 1979, the Aggies returned resent day Z survey. to the cave at Thanksgiving. Staying in I n 1976, the the cave for 66 hours, they concentrated :.gan a new exploration of the cave. on adding much detail to the Bell Room 'n:ough 1979, they mapped the Bell Room, Map. The Bell Room is about 400 feet long h~ Temp le of the Fiery Cave God, and Three and 100 feet wide at the widest point. It .• ng er Hall. Some surveying was done in slopes sharply from south to north and has 1:e maze below the seventy foot chimney an elevation change of almost 200 feet. ·''· i.c h drops out of the Temple. Unknowingly, The Room is filled with cemented breakdown . :te CRF teams tied some of the old SWR which forms a ridge down the length of the ~~a t ion s thinking that the tie stations chamber. Tall columns are numerous, the •2re new ones set by the CRF. During this most notable being the 'Bell Canopy' after 2riod, very little data reduction was which the room is named. Numerous holes .. ·::.·r:f ormed. Errors which would have been exist in the breakdown in the northern a.s y to detect became immersed· in other half of the room. These lead to lower areas e :: rors . of the cave, but most visitors only see I n 19 79, Jim Goodbar, who then worked as the Bell Room. Another trip in March of o cave specialist for the Bureau of Land 1980 produced the survey of the North Room :anagement in Carlsbad, was sent a copy of and the Lower Complex. The North Room is , ie data. He was asked by the project a lower extension of the Bell Room, but is Clo r dinators, Alan and Carol Hill, to see separated by breakdown. Further down is ·na t he could do with the survey. In May, the Lower Complex, a series of three large two cavers from Texas A&M University drop­ rooms which exceed the Temple of the Fiery ped in on Jim to visit. Duwain Whitis and Cave God in size. This area contains much Ba rb Vinson had just come from the moun­ virgin passage. The Caca Rojo Room only tains after doing some tourista caving, had one set of footprints on a red clay and Barb wanted to see Jim, who she knew floor. f rom caving in Mexico and who had also In May, the CRF held their annual received his degree at A&M. As a result expedition to the cave. Unfortunately , of that visit and Duwain's inquiries about only seven persons appeared, two of whom the cave, Jim agreed to send the Aggies a were Aggies. Since Carol Pill's mineralogy copy of the survey notes. work in Cottonwood Cave took precedence,

35 very little was accompl ished except for a Tom Bemis CRF surface survey to the high end of the Bell Steve Boehm ASS Room where surface organic debris has John Brooks ASS washed into the cave . A small fissure lead­ Bob Buecher CRF ing to the surface probably exists but will Debbie Buecher CRF likely be too small to make digging worth- Steve Cole ASS while (another entrance is of question- Rod Crowder CRF able desirability). The surface points Bill Davies CRF are about 25 feet above the corresponding Heather Fannin ASS point in the cave. Richard Flukerson ASS The last surveying trip to the cave was Jim Goodbar CRF made in August, 1980. The Aggies returned Scott Harden ASS once again, but this trip was less Alan Hill CRF productive than others. Another route down Carol Hill CRF to the Lower Complex was mapped, and the Larry Hill CRF Bell Room was carefully checked for other Del Holman ASS possible leads, a few of which exist. The Tracy Johnson CRF remainder of that trip was spent beginning Ann Lawson ASS a new survey of Hell Below where 2000 feet Pete Lindsley CRF was surveyed. John McLean CRF Three Fingers is a very complex cave. The Denis McQuillar CRF survey now encompasses 8340 feet of Hendrick Stokvis ASS traverse with 16 loops, 14 of which are Kevin Sullivan ASS interconnected. Because of this, and Barb Vinson ASS/CRF because of the certain continuation of the Cal Welborn CRF maze nature of the cave, the data is now Duwain Whitis ASS/CRF being processed with the aid of the computer program 'Ellipse' . This has made the Three Fingers is located on public land, silhouette profile which accompanies this is gated, and requires a permit for leg2l article possible. The profile only represents access. If you should visit the cave, the surveyed portion of the r;we. Much more exercise care to leave the cave as you cave exists and literally hundreds of found it. Also, help to prevent the suney leads are waiting to be checked. The cave markers from being destroyed. These are certainly goes deeper. The Z survey smoke dotes labelled with orange surveyors extends under a large ridge to the south flagging which will be removed when they which may be permeated with passage. Air are no longer needed. flow is detectable in many areas of the cave indicating that other entrances may exist. The next planned trip to the cave will be the annual CRF trip in May. This expedition will concentrate on exploring the maze area below the Temple of the Fiery Cave God and above the Three Fingers Ha ll . Leads in the Lower Complex and the Z survey will also be pushed. Three Fingers is only one of many pote ntia lly large caves in the Guadalupe Mountains. Many of these caves are not surveyed or completely explored, although they have been visited for many years. Most of these caves are going to require a gr eat amo unt of work and patience to explore. Three Fingers is a prime example. The following persons have participated in the present survey of Three Fingers. An £ :.;o9L-40N .1>

36 a. a. SURFACE SURVEY a. THREE FINGERS CAVE Profile: 285° view Eddy Co. , N.M. ASS /CRF SURVEY PLOT BY ELLIPSE D. WHITIS- DRAFT

(/} ·r-1 ;g-:-"' :--- ~ ·r-1

~ 351 rl co ()\ rl @

Z.-61 Glacier Caves in Mexico Scott Harden Around Christmas, 1976, Robert Henry and mentions a "cueva de hielos" on the I climbed to the crater rim on Popocatepetal Ayoloco glacier of Ixtaccihuati 17,343'). (17,887'). We had been on unsuccessful During his field studies Lorenzo camped attemps in past seasons, but this time we for a time in "la Cueva del Muerto" on the were in better shape and had spent more south side of Orizaba. The cave is formed time acclimatizing. in lava or pyroclastics but its extent is The crater of Popo may be the most unknown, and the old southern (non-glaciat impressive Pit in Mexico, having a width ed) route on Orizaba is seldom climbed of about 200 feet and a depth of over anymore. 1,000 feet from the highest point, but to While around any of Mexico's volcanoes, make a descent would be insane: rocks are cavers should look for lava tubes. While constantly dislodged by freeze - thaw cycles most of the lava on the big volcanoes is and the action of the fumaroles, or steam too viscous for tube formation, AMCS caver vents, in the crater wall. Whether the have explored lava caves at lower elevatio sulfur miners who used to go into the near the town of Orizaba. If lava caves crater were insane or just desperate is can be found at high enough elevations, a moot point. The remains of a winch some may be glacieres (caves with permanen platform can still be seen. ). Part of our time on the mountain was A note about glacier climbing; no one spent gaz~ng through binoculars at a hugh should try it without some training. cave entrance at the base of the main up to 50 meters deep occur on al glacier. We took the easy route up so we three of Mexico's highest peaks. Although didn't get a close look, but we could see many parties climb the standard routes monstrous crevasses on the glacier above unroped, this is definitely a bad idea. the cave that probably lead down into it. One of the climbers in our party on Recently I spoke to Russell Hill, who has Orizaba fell up to his armpits in an climbed Popo by the route passing near the obscure crevasse. The weather can be cave (the Ventrorrillo route). While brutal with near zero temperatures, nil staying in the hut at the 16,000 foot visibility and strong winds not uncommon level, they heard a terrific noise and saw at the higher altitudes. The altitude is "house - sized" blocks of ice fly out of another problem. There are big physio­ the cave entrance and crash into the logical risks is ascending mountains avalanche chute below. It's probably best over 15,000 feet high, the greatest of to keep the extent and character of this which are pulmonary edemas and various cave a mystery. cardio-vascular problems, not to mention During spri.ng break of 1978, I made a the great discomfort of "altitude sicknessr successful climb of Citlalitpetl or Pico The dangers are accentuated in Mexico where de Orizaba, (I enjoy bragging about it). climbers can drive to 13,000 or 14,000 From the summit (18,700') we could see a feet and often spend only a couple of days hugh distance out into the Gulf, over a acclimatizing. sea of clouds far below. Popo and Ixta One mountain easily visited, which is poked through the smog 80 miles to the a good place to "warm up" for the higher west. The crater is rumored to be 3,000 peaks (and look for lava tubes), is feet deep, but we could not safely de Toluca west of Mexico City. The peak is approach the edge, so we didn't see the about 15,000 feet high and is snowcapped bottom. We couldn't hear any impact of the two thirds of the time, and you can drive rocks we tossed. It would be hard to find up into the crater, from where the easiest someone to carry a rope up there! of several peaks can be climbed in a One glacier cave on Orizaba is much couple of hours if you are acclimatized. more accessible than the one on Popo. One If there are any experienced climbers of the climbers I was with walked over the out there who would be interested in a ridge to this cave, on the eastern tongue caving - climbing trip to the volcanoes of the Jamapa glacier, but only went in a next season (around Christmas), please short distance. Lorenzol includes a photo let me know. (Scott Harden, 8019 Riata Dr., of this entrance. (The same author San Antonio, Texas 78227) 38 ROBBER BARON CLEAN-UP Kurt Menking

For those of you that missed the Robber There were also several teams who went on Cave clean up, you missed a very into the cave to help pick up the many ccessful project. There were more than a years of debris that has accumulated in­ zen cavers who contributed during the two side the cave. Five bags full of cans and event even some out of town cavers who bottles were collected over the week end the article in the CAVER. Also there and the cave is becomming noticeably e over two dozen local residents who saw cleaner although there is still more trash a rticle in the local paper and decided to be collected, mostly in the more 0 gi ve us a hand. To help get the garbage traveled sections of the cave. of the sink we built a 20 foot long Many thanks goes out to all those who participated in the Rober Baron clean up. And for those of you that didn't, don't worry, there will be other efforts on this historic cave in the future.

R~ nd y looking through the Gate from the ou tsi de of the cave. Photo by Kurt Menking. r amp and extended the ramp into the pit ~he r e we loaded trash cans full of assorted Garbage and then used ropes to pull the cans up the ramp. The ramp proved to be very useful and after we quit Sunday after­ Sign that can be seen through the hole in noo n many tons of garbage had gone up that the gate. Photo by Kurt Menking. ramp and lay in piles on the surface. Much of t he garbage was bagged and boxed and set (512)-686-0234 ou t f or normal garbage pick up. But although TEXAS KREIDLER ANSWERING SERV. we were successful in getting the garbage McALLEN, TEXAS out of the sink we have been quite CAVE unsuccessful in trying to get the city to CALL COLLECT - REQUEST haul it off. RESCUE

39 Caving in the Global Village William Russell

At the recent dea th of Marshall McLuhan of miles of dirt in the Mammoth-Flint Ridg1 commenta tors decided tha t the global System. The bones preserved in caves like villa ge h e forecas t has not yet arrived. Friesenhan give clues to the past history Ma r shall Mc Luhan predicated that the of a region. But it takes cavers checking electronic media would turn the world into many small holes to find a bone cave or a Global Vill age wh ere everyone wo uld b e a Tooth Cave. Much is learned from the instantly informed of events over the entire systematic study of the caves in an area, worl d . For most people that g loba l village even if none of the caves are large or has n o t yet arrived, but fo r cavers it is unusual. And of course any small hole here. could be a rival to Mammoth Cave - there ' s New discoveries in the Pyrenees, the lots of limestone in Texas. Pennines , of Provetina are reported But cavin g is not all big finds or forthwith to the entire caving world. World­ science- most cavers don't expect to find wide lists rank all caves. Those lucky the wo rld's longest cave or even a new e n ough to be working in wo rld class caves species. They go because they like caving. have rivals 10,000 kilometers away. But And Texas cavin g is real caving. A trip h ow does this affect the rest of us ? What into the hills, sitting a round the camp­ h appe n s wh e n the longest cave in Texas fire, pushing the wa tercrawl, then coming doesn't make anybody's list? Do we ge t out into the hot Texas sun a nd feeling t he discouraged or go t o Mexico? Or just mud dry on your skin, then washing it of f g ive up and decide that a ll caving in with water from a s tock t a nk, the delight s Texas is jus t spelunking and not worth­ of introducing a n ew driver to tha t unique while? west Texas i nstitution - the Bump Gate. AL Let's hope not. Th ere is more to a cave of this, along with conservation and tha n its place on a list. Yo u wo nt f ind conventions, politics a nd publications a r e Ezel s , Friesenhan , Zesh or Tooth on any what makes Texas cavin g . Take pri.d e in list of big, deep or long , yet these caves Texas our caves are unique. And Texas are significa nt. More dif ferent kinds of cavers have earned their place in the Gl ob; t errestrial a nimals live on the 60 foot Village. long floo r of Too th Cave than the hundreds

ICS ART

I I - - - - I ' EXHIBIT

An invitation to submit art work inspir..·d

~ . by caves & for exhibition at the i:ith ( '------__ 1 \ ---- International Cong ress of , J u y '- - · ~ 18-24 at Western Kentucky University, I vHn - · - __/ Wilson Center for Fine Arts Ga llery, Bo\'­ ling Green, Kentucky. For submission fo r ~ writ e : Jan Knox, 305 Chippenda l e , Austin , " OK, SOl'S , U::..HE 'S T::L BOITC ~: . ... :; rc-:: P;.s::;Ao:;::; G.ADI :iG t: AS1' . CO·:!: ON DO'JN!• Texas 78745. Cartoon t ake n from May 19 63 Tex as C2v~r. 40 Emergency Communication Invitation Greetings Texas Trogs! I have been volunteered to be the Texas \egi onal Correspondent for the NSS News. IB eing in this position requires that I have Paul Johnston, KA5FYI ~ c ce ss to caving activities across the ~ ta te with input from all . If you know of something interesting for the NSS I would like to invite you to consider IN ews , by all means drop me a line and let emergency communication possibilities of ~ e kno\.J . If you do not think it would fit amateur radio (Ham Radio) in caving ioto the NSS News, how about sending it to emergency situations. Also, I invite all t he TEXAS CAVER? It is your publication - caving hams to send me your radio capabil­ a0t 's keep it healthy. Sending in your ities; this ~ill be discussed shortly. $ ~ fo r the TEXAS CAVER was a good start, Ham radio has the capabilities of world but it takes articles to fill the pages. wide communications, portability, phone ~ n i dea would be to assign one caver after patches, and over 400,000 U.S. hams and every cave trip to write at least a trip 300,000 foreign amateur radio operators are r :··port. It does not matter how brief it is. available for the passing of emergency L ma tters that the TEXAS CAVER receives communications. i ::. Le t's get serious and keep the TEXAS The effectiveness and importance of C.1VE R a live. Lack of material does make amateur radio in emergency situations as t ·te TE XAS CAVER late for publication so hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, sinking I ) :L no t complain about late issues unless ships is proven fact not myth. There is Y'''l have sent in your share. If you know no reason why this mode of communication cannot be incorporated into remote caving D some cavers not subscribing, see that ~ ~Y do . I am sure you know of at least sites. o .. · per son interested in the TEXAS CAVER The only cost for the amateur radio license is a little study time put in on ~: 0 i s not now a subscriber. Money is t ·i :ht nowdays, but the TEXAS CAVER costs rules and regulations, basic electronics, and Morse code. There are various levels r :~e rs less than SOC a month. The poor r. " even afford that, believe me I know, of licenses issued by the FCC. Basically s·. ch ere is really no excuse. The TEXAS the higher the license, the more frequencies C \.SR is what you make it. So, let Jim and and operation privileges one has. Operation in a foreign country is governed n ~ he ar f rom you. It is your move. Randy 1i ' ers, 24 0 Rosemary, San Antonio, TX by the communication regulation of that i '09 . (512) 826-4103. particular country. However, in emergencies, red tape can be minimized by getting in touch with the COON CRAP CAVE proper authorities. Randy Waters The easiest way to get started is to l.o cat ed 20 meters up in some cliffs near contact a local amateur radio club which ,. ·:; led Schertz-Cibelo Cave in East Bexar is conducting radio classes. If you have C\,u nty is Coon Crap Cave. It is a small any difficulty, contact me. I'll get you r,. ·l_ t ientrance crawl cave, the floor of which started in the right direction. J. ~ covered with fine dust and racoon left­ Now if you are a ham interested in help­ o v~ rs . The passages contain no formations, ing in radio communication for caving h ct ~ a r e abundant in small fossils. In nearby emergencies, send me the following : 1-!l'n tetop Cave, a 10-inch diameter ammonite 1. Name, address, phone number. ~ a~ discovered in the ceiling. The walls and 2. Call sign. :·elling of Coon Crap Cave are rotten and 3. Rig and antennae. t he two good leads in the back would be 4. Power. ha zardo us to dig. Nearby in the cliffs are 5. Mobile capabilities . .~ ev era 1 ot h er small caves, all becoming too In the near future, I will publish this Jarrow or low to fully check out and too in the TEXAS CAVER. Paul Johnston KASFYI , jangerous to dig. See map in this issue. 207 W. Crestland, Austin, TX 78752.

41 ' \ ' Coon CraJ:2 Cave ' L ' \ ' \ 0 \ Bexar CountY-, Texas \ \ w \ ' ' Survey: Kathy Ballard 12 August 1979 ' George Veni \ ' Randy M. Waters U n i Is: Suunto Compass a Clinometer 27- Meter Fiberglass Tape Draft: R.M.Woters 27 September 1980 Length: 32m., 105' Depth: 3.8m.,l2.5'

Cove Formed In Pecan Gop Chalk '' ® '- 1...,--'--,-'~ ' L '' \. 0 w ' \

' ' ~-- -

y y

y t

N.mog .

To Cibolo Creek-____

...... Meters , 0 2 3 4

Son Antonio Gr ollo ®copyroght Randy M Waters Sept 27,o 380 1 Demon Drop to two new passages. A rope was rigged from the last trip to make access ~asy, but the nature of the pit made survey­ lug to the passages a bit time consuming. At the bottom of the Demon Drop, Robert and Steve began to realize how low on sleep they were and so they started out taking some extra gear we had brought but didn't need. Randy and I then surveyed 35 m to the limit of my last exploration. The passage ended atop a thin wall (03m) that separated the two as yet unexplored rooms. To the left it dropped 3m into the smaller room and to the right, 5m into the larger. A scale for measure can change perspective, so expecting to watch Randy shrink away into the chamber, I instead saw the chamber shrink around him. It measured 13m by 6m. At it's far end, a 30m+ dome had four levels of passages that will require some technical climbing to reach. Another passage 2.5m up in a wall led to a clay constriction that enlarges after lm of not yet dug, too-tightness. SORC ERER'S CAVE, Terrell Co., Texas The second smaller room was Bm by 3m with a 14m dome that contains three offgoing March 14-15, 1981 leads. Free climbing 7m up into one, a Cavers : Steven Barnes, George Veni, Randy crawl was found with some dificult "Z" Wat ers, Robert Zoecher angled turns. After collecting some Repo rted by : Geo r ge Veni interesting bugs for identification, we headed out finally exiting the cave at 5 Af t er exchanging hellos at 8 am on Sat. am. Including the room sprays, 138m of cave morning , we decided t o start late into the was surveyed. cave . Robert ha d been up driving most of the Before going home on Sunday, Randy, Robert ni ght and needed some sleep. As he dozed, and I surveyed the new cave called the Randy and I showed Steve the sites which Clay Choke because it's partly developed in i ncluded the two entrances to the cave, the Del Rio Clay and because we choked on i ndian sit es , fossil sites, the Crack which its dust. Though a Coke and 7-Up can told us we weren't the original discoverers, blows a ir , some be autifully carved karst we were surpised that this obscure hole, l andscapes and the cliffs up Eight Mile Draw. Though the area was previously located in such a remote and desolate area, ch ecked, we still wat ched for any new holes. had graffitti over the entrance "William Luck was with us. Resuon, Will Bishworth, Jan. 20, 1907". No t expecting to find anything , we had brought no lights with us. Armed with a Bic CAVE OF THE BEE SPIRITS l ighter and a long stick, I flicked and t apped my way into the crawlway. About 14 February 28, 1981 m back , I s houted that the floor sloped Cavers: Greg Fritz, Eric Short, RandyWaters steep ly do wnwa rds and the others were soon Reported by: Greg Fritz on my heel s wanting to push further. Onward we pressed down the dusty passage, keeping On an early February Saturday morning, t he Bic f l ame on high, past a sheep skeleton Randy and Eric showed up for a look at the to the bitter end, a dust . cave along with me. We arrived at the cave We enter ed Sorcerer's at about 2:45 pm. and Eric cleared away some debris that Progress wa s smooth as we approached our collected in the entrance pit, meanwhile survey area at the Demon Drop. The only Randy and myself rigged up a cable ladder problem me t thusfar was at Poltergeist that would be used for descending the second. p·lt when Robert's camera refused to work After getting everything ready , I quickly anymo re, but this sort of thing has come descended into the muddypit. After reaching t o be expected. The last trip to the cave the bottom of the pit, and finding a safe in August '80, I had traversed across the place to avoid falling debris, I signaled 43 THE CLAY CHOKE SURVEY: 15 March 1981 george veni, DRAFT Terrell County, Texas randy m. waters robert zocher

Suuntos & 26m Tape

lA LENGTH• 36. 3 m VERTICAL EXTENT • 9m D

L~"g

-_jo ___DEL ~y SANTA ELENA--- LIMESTONE---

Depth~ below datum (m) -l-6

9

@Coavrlghl George Venl. 17 March 1981 oo 16 for the next caver to come down. Last time parallel with the entrance and surrounding t ha t we had visited the cave, there was bad sinks (2), I looked around, and figured air, but this time it was fine. the passage was about three feet wide at the Eric helped Randy survey the pits while largest point, and six feet at the highest I peeked at the parallel passage below me, point, and ended directly below one of the and tossed a few rocks into another pit sinks. I let Don look around while I poked Randy and I had discovered on the last around below him, he soon joined me and I t rip . When Randy finished surveying the let him go into a little room that was full U r s t and second pits, he took my place of flow stone and crystal formations and he and began chisling on limestone which noticed bird feathers on the floor of the gvar ded the third pit. Finally when he was cave, and assumed that a snake must have f ~ n i s hed he allowed me to have a look, and drug it into a hole that we were going to I ;va s amazed at it's beauty and depth chisel in, but we decided to wait until a (30 -40 feet), I soon wiggled through the further date. j ;;:ged walls, cutting my arm slightly, b<:t letting Eric see the pit. had started up the pit when Eric came o· · of the crevase leading to the third p ~t happy of our find, but we all knew t i ..' t.. we would need more gear and more e .r?rt s before we could come back. ~ in a l ly Randy and Eric emerged from the ~ ::r an e e tired, but inspired. Randy keeps s ;ing this cave has great potential, b L~u se of the many sinks near and around ~ · ~ cave, and it's not even one mile from " · ,,1 Sp rings Cave" which is the deepest in B· .: r County .... for now.

P ~ TURE FRACTURE I

M· · 11 8 , 1981 c. -.: s : Don Aburn, Greg Fritz R, · ·ted by: Greg Fritz

·~ e in the evening of this fine Sunday, D• :, ppeared from nowhere, and was all g 0d up for Cave of the Bee Spirits, HONEY CREEK CAVE wl .· :1 I didn't know of the trip that Randy W. · ~ rs had planned, and cancelled without Comal County,Texas i rming Don or me. I called up Randy and Feb 20-22, 1981 h. ·1 as at home "working" and saying he just Cavers: Scott Harden, Mike McWhirter, Kurt c, j_d n ' t come but suggested I introduce Don Menking, Gary Poole, Eric Short, U ·mother of my caves that I had discovered Kim Thomas, George Veni r ~ 2nt l y . I agreed to this, and Don and I Reported by: Gary Poole s; ::ted off. i spoke with the owner of the cave and Winter had changed its frostbitten mind h .. ·:; a id "You're going now?! ! ! ... In the and laid some heavy weather down for d; ' ''? ?? " I chuckled and assured him we the trip. Those of us fortunate enough to w ~. ·.:l. cl n 't be long. be here for the Fifth Semi-Periodic Honey ~p o n entering the cave, I noticed a big Creek Melange considered ourselves lucky. d1;ference without the large masses of the Breaking the frozen photon crust on the cave cnve crickets, which swarmed the cave in the stream appealed to none of us. So we greated w ~r me r months, with this we made a new the overcast, drissly and cool days with, dJscovery, but now with most of them gone, if not elation, at least a jocular accept­ I 6lanced up and found a brand new upper ance. passage. Mike "Doc Savage" McWhirter and Kim I showed Don and he thought it was neat, Thomas arrived at the campsite early Friday and gave me a foot up, the new passage went evening while most of the rest of us landed 45 later that same evening. Kurt miraculously strearnchannel in this passage looks like , made it to the site the next morning - alone. conglorneritic linoleum composed chiefly of That's the first miracle to be chalked up bones ·and a little clay. Almost all the to Our Lady of Honey Creek. bones are broken and look as if they have Friday night was calm and laid-back. We undergone considerable transport. entertained ourselves by feeding carbide Back in August we had surveyed almost ll to the puppies in George's Porto-Kennel rn of this passage so this trip we had to 1 while Scott discovered chords on Kim's back that far to get to virgin cave. It's guitar. Mike wandered around carrying an just as well that we had to for the juant Autolite hardhat while ~ric the Consumer introduced Kim to but another example of looked for something to eat. I was still "walking" passage in a Texas cave. It r eal feeling the edge of a Bill Miller Poorboy was walking passage but it was a kind of Plus I had eaten earlier and was trying to metastable walking passage, like being on hide the effects by sitting in the shadows. pipe that has a small radious of curvatw Groundcloths, tents and camper van pop-tops and has been greased with STP Oil Treat­ were put into functional positions as the ment . You would usually walk in it but sor members of this latest expedition opted both times it was more comfortable to lie on yc for sleep and the speedier arrival of belly in the water and push/pull yourself tomorrow. along. The passage size was good being , Tomorrow carne armed with threatening skies in most places, 2.5rn in diameter. But the so after Kurt's arrival we headed under­ small stream on the floor meandered back ground and to safety. It was 11 a.m. and forth and where it was not, large mud/ Our plan was to explore and survey a clay slopes were. couple of the large side passages off the The going was convoluted and my sketchin main trunk. Specifically, Mike Kim and I began to assume the coherence of a tele­ would work in the passage off the third pathic scavenger hunt. After several hours waterfall while the others would survey in and thirty-one stations we called it quits the passage off the Rocky and Bullwinkle We had surveyed a little over 375m and th1 Room. made this passage 367 rn long. And still "Our plan" wasn't really our plan, it was going. The passage beyond - 2 rn high and my plan. Even a rat brained, drug crazed convulsed by erratic combinations of cl ay survivor of plutonium ingestion experiments slopes and stream channels. We exited Paso knows that it isn't safe to swim 2.3 miles Con un Piso de Hueso. into a cave, survey 3000 feet and swim out I was burning up by the time I finall y to emerge in the dark of early morning in crashed into deep water in the trunk winter. "Here lies the body of Gary Poole passage. I unzipped my top and flushed whose fingers are only now thawing." I've water through my suit in an effort to r emo wasted too much of my life to commit myself dirt and heat. I could almost feel the to the goal of suicide now. So I made the pressure of the ammonia rich gases in my decision that the push of the trunk wetsuit bottoms and I knew that one stn y passage would wait at least spring and I'd lightning bolt would probably synthesiz?. had time to graft three or four pairs of life. An awesome responsibility for one Jacques Causteau legs onto my body. unused to parenthood. The swim in was uneventful. No one hurried We took a break at Crayfish Falls, t a ~ b and we moved like a diminutive school of time for a meal and carbide changes. We strung-out troglobitic trout. The usual were unable to change the carbide into pile-up occurred at Whistler's Mother, the anything so we just replaced it. While ·.J e first low airspace in the cave. Here helrnits were just sitting around the other sur \ ~ carne off and gear was passed through as each team come downstream. We briefly conve' .;ed caver employed his or her own style of some about our respective passages witl passage. George mentioning that they got 155m We finally arrived at Crayfish Falls 2.2 surveyed. They didn't get to the end. krns back in the cave. Here we divided into We slid into the water once more and . our two parties with George taking his crew each at his/her own speed, exited the cave the additional 150 rn to the Rocky and Bull­ The only excitrnent during this phase oi th winkle junction. trip carne at Whistler's Mother where t he Mike, Kim, and I cached most of our gear water level, ·to the author, seemed higt,.;r at the falls. Then, after putting shoes on, than when we had entered. A chill wind .., as we entered Paso Con un Piso de Hueso . As screaming through the low airspace threat· you might guess from the name most of the ening George's and my carbide. We both

46 nct ed up dunking our lamps so George, Kim BLACK CAVE, THREE FINGERS CAVE, Guadalupe , d I limped the rest of the way out of National Forest, New Mexico oney Creek on electric. He exited the cave at various times January 1981 etween 10 and 11 p.m. Kurt had to leave Cavers: Joe Muston, Linda Muston, Alan mediately for San Antonio and the rest of Faragher, Randy Cutts, two more just sort of wound down. The clouds were El Paso cavers, and the Del City 8 Kid. 1i nously dark and occasionally there would e a brief flurry of raindrops. We weather­ Reported by: Linda Muston r oofed ourselves and our gear as well as e could and then went to bed. Taking advantage of the New Year's ",y Sunday morning a stiff wind had replaced holidays, we decided to organize a trip to 1 2 rain. The sky was partly clear. Kim the Guads. Arriving in Carlsbad later than , !ill some in the pool below the spring. expected, we finally got our cave permits . rest of us slowly gathered our gear and camped at the bottom of three mile ether. Soon we were on our way home and hill. now knew that the cave beneath us was at Upon arriving Friday morning our group .; t 4.49 kms long. And still going every- drove on up the hill to set up camp at the top. Joe, Alan, Randy, and myself then headed off to Black Cave armed with our cameras and gear. After all the cave had been seen we headed back to camp for supper . . t trick Hill, New Mexico We spent the evening around the campfire, trying to make the time pass. After drop­ ,_·uary 28 - March 1, 1981 ping off to sleep, the rest of the cavers ->. r s: Abilene : Michelle Trull, pulled in at 4:30 am and as usual made just Jack Ralph, Jonathan Justice, Jeff enough noise to wake everyone. Carson, Perry Carson, Freedom Noble Saturday morning we drove out the trail Joe Muston, Linda Muston, Joe Shoup to Three Fingers parking spot in an El Paso Mary Jo Shoup, Joey Shoup, and vehicle, which we were thankful for members of the Pecos Grotto because otherwise we would have had a long ,r ted by: Michelle Trull hike. Hiking out the ridge I led the others to the cave. After rigging the drop, ·· he first Abilene group arrived without adjusting carbide lights and padding the .ap at McKittrick Hill late Friday rope, we headed on in to the recently map­ .Lng . Other groups trickled in by shifts ped cave. Many thanks to the cave mappers, ng the night and early Saturday morn- as we found our way through part of the Those of us who had arrived earlier cave, without any difficulties. After six al ready spent several hours in Endless hours of cave exploring we climbed on out we were met by successive groups of of the cave, and made our weary way back to rs . By early evening most were ready to camp . . x while some hardy souls went on to Sunday morning our group split again, t trick. Saturday was graced with with part of us heading to the Pinks, and rmittent showers, but never-the-less the rest of us going to Hidden Cave. of us managed to enjoy a burrito Hidden was nice as usual, and was enjoyed t that night. by Randy, Alan, and the Del City kid, and ·unday the group split again with half myself. Making it back to camp about 2 pm oring McKittrick and half going back we hastily packed for the long journey :ndless. The specific purpose for going back to Abilene. -~ to Endless was to take photographs. On the way back, Randy made the comment . r standably, a great deal of time was that: "Man, it's nice to finally go on a S : c1 t in the War Club Room. Again, Endless cave trip with people who found all the ) · ied true to its name. Not that it really caves they had permits for". : ~ n dless, but it just seems that way i •1 you're constantly getting lost in 1 ' mazes. Even some of our most ~ Y:• e r ienced cavers discovered "new" ground! By supper time the gang was ready to eomplete the weekend with a raid on Cortez's in Carlsbad for another Mexican feast. 47 the BULK RATE US. Postage Texas Caver PAID 1019 Melrose Dr. Permit No.1423 Waco,TX 76710 Waco, Tx. 76710

BE FAMILA~ T o Ll sT. !-low r=..v E.~ , THI::.Y' AR.E. t-.lCT IN t:\ .ST~A.IC?tHT LI!\IE" THEYTWJSr THI!y rUf\1\1 TH~Y C..t~C L E J I I AND BEN D, BUT THt=:Y 'PO NO! C~OSS Ef-\C:H DTHE.R.How nANY CAN YotJ FIND?(

'w'oR'P Lt ST ;, BE:. T c H o~N r ERLA.Cl-\'E.~ CA..Vf.. s. l o. Hr LL Cou C\4 TR.Y ICC . 'P.::.n~o(j LYP Hs 11.Sour 1-1 :e.x~ F t No I r G. Ftow.SToNF_ II. HO~ FC:N CA.VE. I 7. pI c. T 0 ~ R.A 'P 1-1 S '2 !>,SPt:. LEA : . FAU 2. . 'B " E. R "-\ F.. 7. C1 ~ODE.S 12..1-J UA. T LA. CAVE. /'b. PooH BEAR_ CAYE z~ .s uBSTR. ~ ru~·l 3 . BOI'-.1 ~ s Z. (1 ROTTO /3 .JAME:S JASEK. 19.'R.oc.t< oF AqEs lS.ToAP ( ; vE 1 L 4-.CAM F A 'Z~ fi\ ~ ~. HALL OF THE. I !f. M 1111 JA.S E 1<,. .S CA.VE. u"', co R..~s (!', 0LMO.S CI?,E.E.K 2..t.Soro L ·, "AD TSA News

At the last BOG meeting during the May will receive discounts for various events 2-3, 1981, TSA Convention, the motion that and items. Conventions, BOG's, Projects, the TSA become a dues paying organization anything that may have a registration fee, was voted upon and approved. Discussion will be at a discount to TSA members. prior to the vote centered mostly on the Patches, T-Shirts, Publications, anything benefits of dues and how to best use them the TSA sells will also be at a discount and the status of membership to serve the to members. The committee for the Old cavers of Texas. Though opposition to the Timers Reunion has agreed to give TSA members motion was minimal, it did bring to light a financial break. Chances are good that if some important issues that may become a you attend a function or two, maybe buy a problem as a result of having dues paying Patch, etc., you will save more than you members. spent. Deleting the details, the main fear is \-That if you don't attend functions and i n alienating non members from TSA and don't buy T-Shirts and other items, what causing a division among cavers in Texas do I get out of my money? This question which might prove highly detrimental to is more into aesthetics (or lack of a TSA and Texas caving. better word), you will provide a financial Ironi ca ll y ~ the main reason for dues is support of the TSA and Texas caving. You t o better unify the TSA. Dues would provide didn't attend the TSA• tonvention, but your a clearly defined membership upon which the money helped push that convention. You organization can be based and a strong could not make the Project, again your financial foothold to better serve the money helped make it a success for those caving community - members and nonmembers. that did go. For any organization to exist and function If you don't want to be a member of the effectively, its members must have a feeling TSA you can still subscribe to the TEXAS of unity and belonging. As illdefined as CAVER, and you are welcome at all TSA the TSA membership was, many cavers never functions and can feel free to speak your real ized they were members, let alone how mind but you will not have a vote. All to use it for their benefit. Hith a limited members will have one vote at the BOG. finacial budget, those benefits were Grotto delegates will no longer be used usually kept to a bare minimum and often for voting. the Texas Caver and TSA functions would All membership dues are to be sent to suffer due to those scarce dollars. the TE~AS CAVER; 1019 Melrose, Waco, Texas The dues for TSA membership have been 76710. Do it today! George Veni set at $8.00. This includes a subscription to the TEXAS CAVER. A family membership can be included for a total cost of only $10. As long as I have been editor of If yo u already receive the CAVER, then send the TC, I have never liked the TSA only $3 or $5 depending on membership helping the TC financially. The desired , and like the TEXAS CAVER your only time this is necessary is when membership will be postdated to Jan. 1981. cavers fail to subscribe to the TC. Membership cards will be issued and like Every subscription is necessary the NSS , there will be numbers. In order for the success of the Caver. So, t o be fair to those wishing low numbers, those of you that already support send in your dues by August 1, 1981. All the TC with a subscription must tvho are members by that date will have get all your friends to do so. If numbers assigned by lottery. New members we can ever get to a point where after that date will be sequentially given most cavers do support the TC, the----·-· ·::...,-. a number. publication will get better. The Editor lffiat will you get for the 3-5 bucks? Since money is a major concern, TSA members FOR SALE

T- Shirts with TSA logo i n one color (Specify size) ~! e mb ers ...... 4. SO@ Non-members ...... 5. 00@ (postage . 70~ any number of Shirts)

... ,

TSA Patches - 4" in diameter - 4 colors Members ...... 2 . 50@ "There We Was" by Bill Helmer. A classic Non-members ...... 3. 00@ cartoon caving adventure. Very f unny and Po stage - First Class - true to caving. 24 page booklet. 1-2 patches ...... 28~ Members ...... 1. 00 ~ 3- 6 patches ...... 45~ No n-members ...... 1. SO@ 7-10 pat ches ...... 63~ (Postage . 70~ any number of books)

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