USA January 10-14, 2011—12th Multidisciplinary Conference on And the Engineering and Environmental Impacts of . St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Web site: www.pela.com/sinkhole2011.htm or e-mail: [email protected] April 1-3, 2011—Texas Speleological Association (TSA) annual Spring Convention held at Fort Clark Springs, Brackettville, TX. The annual Spring Convention features presentations from cavers about developments in sciences, project updates, national and international exploration, and more. The TSA Spring convention is a great time to come together with family and friends to enjoy group meals, presentations, the map & photo salon, business meetings, and your favorite Aaron Atz speleovendors. For more info contact Ellie at Allison and Andrew Dubois in the Pothole Section downstream of the Mountain Room in (509) 899-0007 or email [email protected] Binkley in 2001 April 16-23, 2011—Cave Rescue Operations and Management Seminar, Guajataca Boy Scout Camp, San Sebastian, Puerto Rico. The seminar provides approximately 100 hours of instruction in cave rescue over eight days. Its classes are physically strenuous and participants must be in good physical health. Students should be prepared to work in difficult situations, both above Everton Dave and below ground. www..org/commission/ ncrc/national/2011seminar/seminar2011.htm REGISTRATION (includes meals lodging) $548.00. Please register ONLINE as it is much easier. May 13-15, 2011 — Western Region Speleo- Ed Seminar, Three Rivers, California.Held at Lodgepole Campground in Sequoia Natl. Park. For information: www.caves.org/region/western May 13-15, 2011—Mid-Appalachian Region (MAR) spring meet at Shade Gap Fire Department Fair Grounds, Shade Gap, PA., hosted by Franklin County Grotto. email: [email protected] There will be caving, band, food and vendor. May 26-30, 2011—Memorial Day Weekend: 40th Kentucky Speleofest hosted by The Louisville Grotto at the Lone Star Preserve, Bonnieville, KY.. Come and be sure to bring old pictures, stories and help us celebrate 40 years of wonderful caving memories with old and new friends. We will have a food vendor, on Rope 1, camping, warm showers, howdy party with DJ, banquet, band, kayaking, hiking, cave social and all caving will be based on the newest information from the Ky Fish and Wildlife. Lots of childrens activities. More info: contact [email protected]. June 16-19, 2011—Greater Cincinnati Grotto is hosting Karst-O-Rama at the Great Saltpetre Cave Preserve in Mt.Vernon, KY. Website: http:// karstorama.com/ July 18-22, 2011—NSS Convention in Glenwood Springs, Colorado June 25-29, 2012—NSS Convention in the Greenbrier Valley of West Virginia October 3 – 7, 2011—National Cave and Karst Management Symposium, Zermatt Resort, Midway, Utah. Web site: http://www.nckms. org/2011/ For more information contact Camille_ [email protected] or [email protected]. INTERNATIONAL July 21-28, 2013—16th International Congress of Speleology, Brno, Czech Republic. Web site: www.speleo2013.com

Send items for the calendar to davebunnell@ comcast.net at least 6 weeks before desired month of publication (i.e., by March 15 for the May issue). Pat Mudd in Geeding’s Dome, Binkley Cave, Indiana

2 NSS News, February 2011 POSTMASTERS OR MEMBERS: Send address changes to National Speleological NSS News Society, 2813 Cave Ave., Huntsville, AL 35810-4431. February 2011 NSS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President Volume 69 Number 2 Gordon Birkhimer 2807 Hogan Court Falls Church, VA 22043 (703) 573-4653 [email protected] Administrative VP Operations VP Geary Schindel Indiana Wm Shrewsbury 11310 Whisper Dawn st 124 4th Ave NW San Antonio, TX 78230 The 51 Year Under the Plain Largo, FL 33770 210-479-2151 [email protected] [email protected] After the Book: the Rejuvenation of the Exploration of the Binkley- 727-424-2901 Blowing Hole Cave System. Part One...... 4 Secretary/Treasurer Executive VP Peri Frantz Gary Roberson and Dave Everton John LaMar Cole 16345 Englewood Ave. 1196 Millcreek Dr Los Gatos, CA 95032-4621 Lexington KY 40517-2984 (home) 408-356-8506 859-245-3383 Cave Science [email protected] [email protected] Notes On The Geology And Meteorology of Sites Infected With National Speleological Society Office White-Nose Syndrome Before July 2010 in the Southeastern 2813 Cave Ave, Huntsville, AL 35810-4431 Tel: (256)852-1300; FAX (256)851-9241 United States ...... 15 e-mail: [email protected]; web: www.caves.org Christopher S. Swezey and Christopher P. Garrity Please contact the office for address changes or back issues.

NSS NEWS EDITOR Society News Dave Bunnell Box 879 Celebrating our Success in Serving our Science Mission: The Angels Camp, CA 95222 [email protected] Journal of Cave and Karst Studies...... 28 Louise D. Hose Please include “NSS News” in your subject line when e-mailing material to help me sort it from the spam. Thanks! Questions about submitting features and photos? Please see the style and submission guidelines:on the NSS web site: www.caves.org/pub/nssnews/style.html

ADVERTISING Complete advertising information, including ad costs, deadlines, and Underground Update...... 26 News and Notes...... 29 guidelines for preparation, are on the NSS wesite at: www.caves. org/pub/nssnews/ads.html Payment info, contact: President’s Message...... 27 Reading...... 30 Advertising Accountant: Society News...... 27 Classified Ads...... 31 Bert Ashbrook 107 Avonbrook Road, Wallingford, PA 19086 (610) 627-2378 evenings [email protected]

DEPARTMENT EDITORS Conservation NEWSletter Review Front cover: Rand Heazlitt at the Teardrop in the Upper Flood Route in the South Jim & Val Hildreth-Werker Kim Gentry Branch of Binkley Cave, Indiana. Photo by Dave Everton. PO Box 207 110 Beechwood Lane Hillsboro, NM 88042-0207 Mt. Washington, KY 40047 (575) 895-5050 [email protected] Back cover [email protected] Right: Kevin White and John Harris outside the main entrance to Binkley Cave, spelean spotlight In the Media Indiana. Photo by Dave Everton. Ron Zuber Bill Klimack [email protected] 23 Monet Bend Place Left: Rafting up the Virgin River in then-newly-opened Baelz Section of Binkley Safety & Techniques The Woodlands, TX 77382 Cave 1970. Photo by Dave Des Marais. [email protected] Aaron Bird (281)-362-5001 [email protected] Bottom: Kevin Smith in Big Orange Country in the Baelz section of Binkley Cave, Indiana. Photo by Dave Everton.

Deadline: Ads, articles and announcements should be sent to the editor by the 15th of the month, six weeks before the month of issue (e.g., material for the March issue needs to be in by January 15).

The NSS News (ISSN 0027-7010) is published monthly with This issue contains a lengthy piece on WNS-infected sites in the Southeastern the Members Manual and American Caving Accidents published as U.S. Normally when I get a science submission with two full News pages of refer- additional issues by the National Speleological Society, Inc, 2813 Cave Ave, Huntsville, AL 35810-4431. Periodicals Postage Paid at Huntsville, ences alone, I figure it is more appropriate to submit it to the Journal. But since Al and additional mailing offices. Tel: (256)852-1300; FAX (256)851- things can take a year of more before getting published there once submitted, I agreed 9241, e-mail: [email protected], web: www.caves.org Regular membership in the NSS is $40 per year. See http://caves. to publish it given the importance of getting the data out quickly. I do not want to org/info/membertypes.shtml for descriptions of other membership generally encourage people to publish scientific work in the News, lets keep such categories. Subscriptions to the NSS News are $27 per year; individual copies are $3.00 each. Contact the Huntsville office for membership things for the Journal. applications, subscriptions, orders, or for replacement of issues missing On another note, the normal Conservation issue is being delayed from March or damaged in the mail. Moving? Please report changes of address to the office promptly or online at: www.caves.org/info/changeinfo.shtml to April this year, allowing more time for the editors to gather articles and to be able to run Part 2 of the Binkley article. Coming up in May, our first-ever special issue Copyright ©2011 by the National Speleological Society, Inc. devoted to caving in Alaska, and in June, exploration in New York’s Thunderhole.

NSS News, February 2011 3 The 51st Year Under the Sinkhole Plain: After the Book—the Rejuvenation of the Exploration of the Binkley- Blowing Hole Cave System, Part One Gary Roberson and Dave Everton

Background & Early Exploration The modern exploration of the Binkley Landmark and Cave Country Canoes into George Jaegers and I were sitting well Cave System had begun in 1958 as the first regional recreation areas, other aging ISS back in the crowd of over 1,000 cavers project of the newly-formed Bloomington members were busy building businesses at the closing banquet of the 2007 NSS Indiana Grotto. The next year (2008) would or broadening their horizons beyond cave Convention in Indiana, which was being held mark the 50th anniversary of mapping and exploring. However, in the second half of the in the Marengo Underground Warehouse - surveying in the cave, so I decided the book 1990s, the local ISS contingent (now enter- formerly a limestone rock quarry. That far should be titled “Fifty Years Under the ing their 50s) set to work attempting to dig back from the platform, the voices from the Sinkhole Plain.” In 2007, Binkley Cave and blast upstream around the breakdown speakers reverberating off the walls of the was just over 22 miles in length and nearby at the base of the historic Binkley entrance. tunnel combined with the shouts of noisy Blowing Hole Cave had nearly two miles of This would become the last burst of activity as children playing in the back of the huge underground rivers mapped. While there had a group. After 19 dig trips over several years, chamber made it nearly impossible to hear. been some surveying activity every decade we finally broke through in December, 1999; George turned to me and said “You know, since the 1950s, it was somewhat sporadic, the new area was thus named the Millennium we really need to write a book documenting since everything rises and falls on leader- Passage. Just over a mile of new passage was our work in the Binkley Cave System before ship. The Bloomington cavers had surveyed added, bringing the length of the cave to over everyone is gone.” I knew he was right; but 6.47 miles from 1958-62, then the Indiana 21 miles and finally passing longtime rival I also knew that if the book was going to be Speleological Survey (ISS) reactivated the Bluespring Cavern near Bedford to become written, I would have to do it, although I had project in 1967. The initial burst of their Indiana’s longest cave. never written more than a few trip reports activity from 1967-69 increased Binkley’s for Grotto newsletters. I thought about it for length to 11.35 miles, along with 1.8 miles After a flurry of activity in early 2000, a a minute and told George I would undertake mapped in Blowing Hole Cave in 1968. In number of mop-up surveys were undertaken the project, if he would help me with the 1970, a six-weekend project opened during the next several years, bringing the layout, photos, and other technical aspects. the Baelz entrance of Binkley’s along Indian cave length up to 22.07 miles at the time of He agreed, and a project was born. We Creek, which was quickly connected to the 2007 convention. By that time though, quickly relayed the plans to fellow Indiana Lower Flood Route in the cave, bringing Indiana cavers were already proclaiming that Speleological Survey members Richard “Fig” its length to over 13 miles. At that point, the rapidly-expanding Lost River Cave near Newton, John Benton, and other Indiana three local ISS cavers, Terry Crayden, Ken Orleans would become Indiana’s longest caving friends. I knew that if we told enough Hoover and I agreed to help Fred Conway, a cave. A major breakthrough had been made people it would be harder to back out. A local entrepreneur and childhood spelunker, in 1996, leading to quick survey of a maze video previewing the 2009 International develop nearby Boone’s Mill Cave as “Squire of passageways in a relatively compact area. Congress of Speleology (ICS) was just then Boone Cavern.” Terry was the acknowledged Although technically Binkley was still the being shown, and I decided our book would unofficial leader of the ISS and cartographer longest, Lost River was now only about 1.5 be published in time for the Texas event two for the group. With three of the main ISS years from then. members sidelined for two years, the Binkley project languished. After the completion of Squire Boone Caverns, the ISS experienced

a short rejuvenation in the mid-70s, includ- Everton Dave ing briefly incorporating as a non-profit organization and holding meetings at Indiana George Jaegers George University Southeast. During that period, the Coontown Extension entrance to the cave system was opened and another two miles of mostly-difficult wet, low passage was added. In the mid to late 1970s, most activity moved to the Strike Section, where another nearly two miles of cave passage was added. By 1978, the cave passed the 18-mile mark.

In 1982, the downstream Baelz entrance tunnel collapsed, and work in the cave ground nearly to a halt for the rest of the decade. Although occasional trips were made, only small amounts of new survey were added during that time. While Richard “Fig” Newton at the newly opened I was busy building Marengo Cave National Tim Pride in the Dripstone Domes upper level Baelz entrance to Binkley system in 1970 of the Strike Section of Binkley Cave

4 NSS News, February 2011 John Benton Dave Everton Dave

ISS caver John Benton, in the Coontown Extension entrance to Chris Schotter drilling at the start of the narrow downstream canyon Binkley Cave system dug open in 1976 in Sinks of the Indian Cave in 2008

miles behind, and had over 300 unsurveyed wondered if that might be a hundred years over 3 miles back into the cave to get new leads remaining. Terry Crayden (the ISS in the future. It would not only document pictures, and I also gave him his first taste leader) had moved to the Black Hills of South past work, but serve as a guide of where to of Binkley surveying in a low, slimy upper Dakota in 2005, leaving the project without look if a new group decided to take up the loop off the Two Mile Hike. Additional photo its leader of nearly 40 years. The 2007 challenge of continuing the effort. expeditions were made to the North Section Convention Guidebook featured Lost River in August and the Coontown Extension in Cave and a pre-convention field trip was I quickly set to work trying to track October. held there. Binkley was hardly mentioned in down old Bloomington Indiana Grotto and the convention materials, even though the ISS members. I scrounged around for old In August 2008, John Bassett (a hydro- convention site was barely 10 miles from trip reports, knowing that would be a chal- geologist from Bloomington) and I went to the cave. lenge, as until the late 1960s or early 1970s Blowing Hole to measure the underground most cavers did not routinely document their stream flow in base level conditions. Only The majority of the remaining ISS trips. By early 2008, it was obvious that 200 feet inside the entrance, we found the cavers were now entering their 60s. Most more pictures would be needed to illustrate passage totally blocked by a major ceiling were no longer up to battling the cold water the book. Back in the heyday of the ISS, collapse. As a result, later that month we and mud that characterize much of the cave taking photos in long, wet, muddy caves recruited Chris Schotter (a well-known system. The days of 15-20 hour trips while was difficult. In March that year, someone Indiana caver who on occasion had helped constantly in water were a decade or two suggested that I contact Dave Everton from with the Binkley work and also very proficient behind them. As a loose-knit group of NSS Bloomington to help. Dave was a good in micro-blasting) to help the local contingent cavers, the ISS had difficulty bringing in new photographer and had earned a reputation of old ISS cavers reopen the passageway to blood, and no other group of Indiana cavers as Indiana’s “waterdog.” The decision to the river. The task was quickly accomplished seemed inclined to take over a project in one ask for his help proved to be a pivotal one. and my resulting trip report, which included a of Indiana’s wettest caves. The book that He scheduled his caving calendar weeks in report of huge airflow downstream, inspired George and I had decided to write would advance, but it was June 23, 2008 before be the ISS legacy to the next generation we could arrange the photo trip. However, of Binkley cavers, although we privately during the 13.5 hour trip length, we ventured

Left: Inserting a 20 Everton Dave foot section of plastic culvert into the newly re- opened Baelz Entrance

Dave Everton Dave to Binkley in January 2009

Right: Rand Heazlitt heading up the scaling pole into the hole leading to an upper dome into which huge air flows in the winter

NSS News, February 2011 5 The fall of 2008 continued to be extremely dry. On November 8th, Rand, John Benton (another old ISS member), and I dug in a small trash-filled sinkhole at the head of a ravine leading into the dry bed of Indian Dave Des Marais Des Dave Creek not far downstream from where it sinks in low flow.

By early afternoon of the next day, we had removed enough rock and trash for Rand to slide into a low crawl about 10 feet down. There was good air movement and he quickly reached a small room. We quickly returned to the entrance and began a survey. Although there was strong air flow from a narrow canyon to the left of the first room, it was too narrow and constricted to enter, so we surveyed upstream in larger passage netting 244 feet. Sand and shells clearly indicated that the cave was a conduit shuttling water from one of the upstream sinks down into the yet undiscovered mythical trunk channel, Baelz Hall is the largest room in the Baelz Section of Binkley Cave. which Rand was determined to find. Chris Schotter was again recruited to see if his Todd Webb (another southern Indiana caver showed that they had mapped what certainly Hilti could help open the way downstream. who had attempted to visit Blowing Hole a appeared to be a bypass loop around the Unfortunately, before the shaving trip could couple of times) to plan a trip to push the left side of the Torrent Room. They had to take place, a steady, cold rain caused water low airspace crawl in the downstream end be close to a breakthrough just upstream to start flowing again in the dry bed and a of the cave while it was dry, since base level of the breakdown! Unfortunately, later that sump blocked access a few feet down into flow was at probably a 10 year minimum. evening, an electronic malfunction (and the narrow canyon. 2009 turned out to be subsequent user error) caused the Palm Pilot a wetter year, and Indian Creek never dried Todd’s team was burning up after to lose the survey traversing the dry, rugged entrance passage data before it could in their full wetsuits, so they decided to be recorded and head upstream in the deeper water instead. added to the map. Nearly a mile upriver, near the Torrent Everton Dave Room breakdown (the upstream known end), D y e t r a c e s Todd pushed a crawl through low airspace i n t h e 1 9 6 0 s to explore about 300 feet of hands and had shown that knees-sized passage with water rushing over the underground rimstone dams. Todd and Jamie Winner also river in Blowing boosted Brian Welp about 12 feet up the wall Hole Cave doesn’t of a small dome in another passage, where surface, but crosses he found going cave. Those discoveries made under Indian Creek it evident that for modern cavers armed with and carries it a wetsuits and better lights, Blowing Hole m i n i m u m 4 . 1 might have more potential. miles straight-line distance through an When Todd’s trip report was circulated, as-yet undiscovered it stirred up some excitement in us old ISS conduit northwest cavers, who hadn’t been able to successfully to Harrison Spring push the low airspace water crawls in the on Blue River. In late 1960s for lack of wetsuits and difficulties base level water inherent with carbide lights in low airspace. conditions, the It also piqued Dave Everton’s interest as a entire flow of Indian result of his photo trips in nearby Binkley Creek (which drains Cave. November 1st found Todd leading over 200 square Dave, Rand Heazlitt (who had joined the ISS miles north and as a 15- year old student in the mid-70s), east of the cave) and Louisville caver Pat Mudd up the river sinks underground in Blowing Hole. No significant discoveries about one-half mile were made, but they surveyed 360 feet in west of the Blowing Todd’s water crawl to a point where there Hole Cave entrance was strong air movement up into overhead and also emerges at breakdown, but no way on. Dave’s Palm Pilot Harrison Spring. The Rock Island Road leads to the Living Room and the start of the D&B, almost 4 miles from the Binkley entrance by the preferred route. 6 NSS News, February 2011 Dave Everton Dave Aaron Atz

Dave Goodman and Gary Roberson in Rocky Hall near Lamon’s Rand Heazlitt coming out the Waterfall Crawl. The breakthrough into Cutoff in Binkley upper Blowing Hole occurred here in October 2009. up below the sinks. At of the writing of this We were close, but it would take many more by Fig and me down to the entrance. It article, there hasn’t been another chance to hours to open a hole large enough to install a was still in the low 20s, but a veritable heat push Sinks of the Indian Cave. culvert, and everyone was tired and cold. We wave compared to the previous workdays. needed Chris and his Hilti again to persuade Surprisingly, the vertical section of culvert Baelz Entrance Reopened a few large rocks to move; a breakthrough slid quickly into place. However, it took until On the Friday after Thanksgiving 2008, would have to wait. On probably the cold- well past sunset to complete the connection I asked Dave to help me get some GPS read- est night of the winter, Chris, Rand and I between the vertical and horizontal sections ings of the various Sinks of Indian Creek and returned to the entrance area to eliminate of pipe. Only a bare minimum of rock fill other karst features nearby. My intention was the obstructing boulders and protruding was thrown into the open space around the to prepare an illustration for the upcoming ledges. Chris was very efficient, and quickly culvert. Most everyone was too tired to even book showing how the karst features near obliterated the offending limestone before go down the ladders to check it out, and we the Sinks correlated with the general passage we froze to death in the strong breeze being still had to haul all the tools and equipment trend of Blowing Hole Cave. After obtaining sucked into the breakdown by over 20 miles up the steep bluff. A few cavers did venture the readings, he asked if I would take Adam of cave upstream. into the cave to where one can first stand Craig and him to see the collapsed Baelz up to check out a small opening that Rand entrance of Binkley Cave. Although I had Two weeks later on January 17th, nine had noticed on the 17th from which a major no idea at the time, this visit was to lead to cavers, including several newcomers, arrived amount of warm air was issuing into the a major revitalization of the cave project. to resume the job; it was again extremely main passage, creating a fog bank where The glimpse Dave had received from his cold. The hole was rapidly deepened another the warm air mixed with the cold air howl- photo trips into the cave indicated there three or four feet, and just before 2 p.m. ing in from the entrance. Prior to the 1982 was still huge potential for new discoveries. Rand was able to slide under the ledge and collapse, there had been no opening here. The ISS old timers had done a lot of work into the dirt floored-overflow passage. Our Now, there was an 8-inch high narrow open- and surveyed over 23 miles of passages, but shaft made a perfect bull’s-eye into the ing over silt, which had nearly filled what difficult conditions in the cave and a lack of middle of the passage. It was so cold inside obviously had been a walking passage at one modern equipment had left more for a new that frostwork and ice crystals covered the time. Perhaps during the 500 year flood of generation to do. Because he was a “water floor, walls and ceiling for several hundred 1997, the extreme water pressure at the dog,” he was intrigued and found it appeal- feet into the cave. Dave called for a short downstream end of the large cave system ing, when most other cavers seemed to be break and celebration. Rand seemed the had blown out the fill, allowing air to flow out repelled. He then asked me if it would be most elated, as the Baelz entrance had been okay to reopen the Baelz entrance. While the site of his first major cave trip more than the old timers would never have initiated the 30 years ago at age 15! Now he was back. project, we were all thrilled that he wanted to. Although the entrance had been reopened,

On a very cold Monday December 29, 2008, there was still a large frozen mound of rock Everton Dave ten cavers scrambled down the narrow trail and ice that had to be removed in order to along to bluff of Indian Creek to begin work. install a culvert. In anticipation of this, Rand had brought along a weed burner and a I showed them where I thought they tank of propane, which turned out to be an needed to dig to intersect the cave passage effective piece of cave digging equipment. below. Since it had been nearly 30 years Still, it took until dusk to finish enlarging the since the tunnel collapsed and the area had 24-foot-deep opening to accept a 30-inch been modified by floods and erosion, I wasn’t diameter plastic culvert, which was to be entirely sure I was right. Everyone worked installed the following Saturday. hard all day. With Dave and Rand Heazlitt Pete Crecelius, a driving force in the ISS in the taking the lead, by the end of the day, we had The next weekend on January 24th mid 1970’s, returned from Idaho to participate excavated a steeply-sloping hole about 15 a sizable crew assembled to drag 36 feet in the breakthrough trip into Book Avenue. feet deep and could hear a booming reverb of culvert, concrete bags, a wheelbarrow, This picture was taken in the Living Room just before the start of the 300-foot dug D&B when we hammered on rocks at the bottom. and sections of steel ladder pre-fabricated Crawl.

NSS News, February 2011 7 cliff was raining small chunks of dirt and rock estimated he had seen about 1000 feet of down on the culvert. The passage was just passage which had eventually opened up to a little too small for Brian to crawl without walking size. This accidental find was the digging. However, using a trowel, he was most significant in almost 10 years, and a Dave Everton Dave able to advance only 15 feet, although he survey trip was quickly organized for the could see ahead a good ways. This was not next Saturday. to be an easy project. While Brian was push- ing the dig, Rand and Dave led the first trip When it arrived, a team of six cavers up the Virgin River in the Baelz side, which assembled to conduct a leapfrog survey turned out to be very cold and swollen with of the new passage now named “Cavefish melting ice and snow from the storm 10 days Crawl.” The trip had an inauspicious start, earlier. They encountered low airspace at the as a two-inch thick slab of rock fell on Rand’s Gumbo, a short low-ceiling area about 1500 back as he descended the narrow chute in feet upstream, and decided to retreat. It was the entrance breakdown. A total of 1176 a wise decision, as they could have been feet of new survey was added, with the first trapped in the larger passages beyond for 212 feet in low water crawl with 12 to 18 several days as the water continued to rise. inches of air over one to two feet of water. The stream emerged from a low crawl to the The first weekend in February, water left that moved good air and led to several was still too high in Baelz, so Dave orga- domes. Ahead, the passage steadily grew nized a trip to dig on Carcass Crevice and larger until it was up to 10 feet high and 6 The Upper River borehole in Blowing Hole just check two other small caves at the bottom to 12 feet wide. The survey was stopped at upstream from the Waterfall Crawl connection of manholes on Hwy 135. A couple of a bend in the passage where it went under from something beyond. They dug for a few micro-shaves got Rand to the bottom of a ledge and got smaller. When the data was minutes, but it was obvious it would require the 18-foot deep crevice. There he found a plotted, it appeared Cavefish Crawl was a significant dig to find the source of the air. small narrow canyon with a low belly crawl- probably heading for a connection with the Rand dubbed his find “Revelation Road.” sized tube at the bottom filled with mud and Millennium Passage well upstream of the debris. It looked like it might open some a entrance breakdown. Our new survey had Three days later, the worst ice storm on few feet further in, but it would take a bucket, covered just over half of the distance to that record hit the southern Indiana and Louisville rope, and a small crew hauling the mud and area. It was the first significant survey trip area. Hundreds of thousands of people rock up the narrow crevice to the surface. in several years, and brought the length of were out of power - many for over a week. Nothing of note was found in either of the the cave up to 22.53 miles and moved it During a phone conversation, Terry Crayden manhole caves, so the day ended with a up to 22nd on the US Long Cave list. The suggested Rand and I take advantage of the short reconnaissance trip into nearby Miller’s next weekend, the creeks were finally down, ice and snow to look for blow holes on the Cave, which has been dye-traced to Blowing so Dave decided to attempt our first trip sinkhole plain. We didn’t find any, but just off Hole Cave. upstream in the Baelz section in 27 years. the Hwy 135 right-of-way I found a narrow Only 217 feet of new survey was added in crack about 15-20 feet deep in the bottom The work in Binkley was now scheduled several small side leads, but it was enough to of a small ravine receiving storm water off on nearly weekly trips by Dave through move Binkley into the 21st position on the the highway fill and from a culvert under e-mails sent to his large cadre of caving long cave list. The group also visited “Big the roadway. Although fairly high on the friends. Although it had been less than Orange Country” and took some photos. sinkhole plain, it was sucking like a vacuum three months since re-opening the Baelz The trip acquainted a new generation of cleaner! Rand named it “Carcass Crevice” entrance, it was clear that the leadership cavers with the main stream passage of the because of all the dead animals thrown over torch had been passed to Dave: he would Baelz Section. the side of the road by highway workers. The be leading the way forward into the 51st opening was only a few hundred feet east year under the sinkhole plain. On March 7th The last weekend in March was spent of Chuck’s Sewer Tube and just over 1,000 at my request, he organized one last photo transporting a scaling pole from Grunge Hall feet south of Dripstone Domes in the Strike trip to the Lamon’s Cutoff area of Binkley’s in the main river to Salvation Dome, where Section of Binkley’s. It might be a good spot as final editing of the book was taking place. Dave hoped to reach a large alcove which for new entrance; here was another new Just before the junction of the cutoff with the might be hiding an upper level passage. dig project. cave’s southernmost river at Station 140, The pole wasn’t long enough and the climb Rand noticed a low water crawl to the left above was deemed too sketchy, but they On January 31st, five of us hiked on a prominent right angle bend. A nice- were able to get a perfect view of the area through the beautiful snow and ice coating sized cavefish was spotted at the entrance by setting up the pole in another location; everything and descended the culvert to work to the passage. I was pretty sure it had not this revealed no passage, just a large alcove. on Revelation Road. Working all day, we been documented or surveyed by either the A short dig trip afterward to the left-hand enlarged 30-35 feet of passage to low hands- original BIG cavers who mapped this area lead in Cavefish Crawl failed to break into and-knees height, using a pink plastic sled or the ISS; it had either been overlooked or significant new cave, but potential remains. attached to ropes on both ends to ferry the more likely avoided, due to the wall-to-wall Finally, a reconnaissance into the Maze area mud fill out to the main passage for dump- water. While the others were taking photos, uncovered some complex loops and narrow ing. When the last of the group left, Dave Rand plunged into the low opening and was canyons connecting various domes, although thought the passage just might be crawlable gone. By the time the photography session no mapping was done. by a really small caver. Slender Brian Welp was finished, Rand still wasn’t back. While volunteered to push it the next weekend. the others waited at nearby Salvation Dome, The objective for the first weekend in The cold snap had broken and the thawing he finally emerged grinning ear-to-ear. He April was to continue the survey of Cavefish

8 NSS News, February 2011 Dave Everton Dave Everton Dave

Gary Roberson adds more rope to the sled used to pull mud fill John Benton and Rand Heazlitt in the Coontown section out of the Revelation Road dig 200 feet inside the Baelz Entrance.

Crawl. The passage was pretty grim, but 259 the preferred pre-trip rendezvous. Rand, ISS days, access was via a narrow ledge that feet of hard-earned footage was netted in Adam Craig, Ty Spatta, and Ryan Haesley had broken under the weight of a caver on water and goopy mud, with numerous slimy (from New Zealand) would continue the their last trip in the 1970s. They were joined rocks thrown in for good measure. Finally, work to extend Soda Straw Alley, while the for this trip by some young, but enthusiastic a large chunk of breakdown blocked our other seven would do some mop-up survey cavers: Tim Pride, Chad Montgomery, and path. Dave opened a narrow slot alongside and work on a dig just downstream of the Shane Myles. Tim would turn out to love the breakdown block by kicking donkey-style 100-foot high Mountain Room. Brian Welp water and mud as much as Dave, and all at some smaller slabs, which allowed Brad was able to finish the dig which was begun three would become major contributors to Barcom to squeeze up through the slot. The two weeks earlier, and an additional 111 feet the project. The Maze is a confusing area passage momentarily widened, but quickly of survey was added to where the passage and much of their time was spent figuring out returned to a low crawl. Everyone decided ended in the Wipeout Wall breakdown, the relationship of the multiple levels, domes, that any future work to connect Cavefish which terminates Grand Avenue. A third and pits. Only 61 feet of survey was added, Crawl to the Millennium Passage might better team of cavers added 139 feet in the nearby but the new project leaders gained valuable be undertaken from the main stream of the Death Crawl, with Shay Furbush digging insight into a new area. After the remainder Millennium. The group retreated to Station his way further. Rand’s team struggled to of the team headed out of the cave, Dave 140 to resurvey a short section upstream find a route following the strong air flow in and Rand took a quick trip through the from there for which the survey notes had Soda Straw Alley, but was blocked by two Sewer Pipe (a 900-foot long water crawl) been lost 30 years earlier. They surveyed 368 large car-sized chucks of breakdown. Ryan to recon the 110 Passage, a major infeeder feet of passage, and although most of it was penetrated the breakdown the farthest, and from the south located just 1,000 feet into only four to five feet high, it was very pleas- reported changing acoustics, a booming the breakdown-floored Fatigueway. ant compared to the back of Cavefish Crawl. reverb, and a running stream just beyond the two offending slabs. 93 feet of survey At the end of June, long-time Binkley’s On May 30th, a push trip to the airy was added, showing that the passage had project leader Terry Crayden (aka “The Dog”) downstream breakdown in Soda Straw Alley almost skirted the north side of the overlying drove in from South Dakota. On July 2nd, the (located generally at the northwest area of sinkhole and had passed near the entrance old local ISS contingent (John, Fig, Rand, the cave) was organized. Dave, Brad, and to the Davidson Dig in the northeast corner The Dog and I) planned a dig trip to Carcass Rand were joined on this trip by St Joseph of the sink. If the cone of this breakdown Crevice. Chris, the micro-shaver, agreed to Valley Grotto cavers Dave Tibbets and Burnis collapse was similar to that tunneled through enlarge the opening into the narrow crevice Piper, who together had logged over 200 10 years earlier in the Millennium Dig, they entrance. His drill was slowed by the chert survey trips in Lost River, which was now were probably on the threshold of a break- nodules in the St. Louis limestone, but the Binkley’s main Indiana rival for length. (Due through. However the frontier was now top of the crack was eventually big enough to a Forest Service closing of the cave due beyond six tight squeezes, admitting only for him to descend, and several hours were to White Nose Syndrome, their project had the smallest cavers; micro-blasting charges then spent hoisting up 12-quart buckets of temporarily ground to a halt.) An additional would be required to open a path between rock and mud. By late evening, Chris could 212 feet of survey was added through the the two large slabs. Most agreed that addi- peer over the mud and debris into a low breakdown and in a small side lead. A tional work on Soda Straw Alley should be oval crawlway. Just a wisp of air flowed out, good bit of micro-shaving was needed to tabled until the more accessible leads had but more work would be required to gain remove several large rocks blocking their been pushed. entrance. way. Eventually, they were able to advance another 60 to 70 feet beyond the end of the The Maze area was the objective for Three days later, Dave led a team to survey before the drill’s battery died. the last weekend in June. The scaling pole the Maze, while the Dog and I along with now in Salvation Dome was disassembled Nick Benton (John’s son) headed to the 110 The next Saturday, 11 cavers assembled and hauled further into the passage to Passage. A thunderstorm was in progress at Frederick’s Café, which was becoming climb up into the Maze. Back in the early before going in. While Dave’s team started

NSS News, February 2011 9 teams headed for the Maze and the third ing just before entering the Living Room. to the 110 Passage. The Maze teams were Rand and Dave headed into the low crawl to plagued by misfortune. Shelly Wolf re-broke start digging, while the other three began the a wrist that was probably not adequately survey. A route was chosen that minimized healed. Ben and Carrie Hutchins were to the amount of cobble, rock, and mud that pick up the survey in the Popcorn side needed to be moved. At times it zigzagged passage lead, but due to a misunderstanding, across the passage, which was sometimes resurveyed the passage mapped a few weeks as wide as 25 feet. However, it was seldom earlier, adding only 5 feet of new survey. high enough to move forward without They did explore ahead in a miserable belly digging. The few pools in the passage were crawl that continues, but it was left for future actually welcomed, as they created more masochists. Mark Matthews free-climbed passage height and less digging. They dug down Summer’s Pit further into the Maze for a long time, slowly advancing nearly main passage, finding it not as deep as 300 feet, with the surveyors at times lying reported 40 years earlier, but only finding behind them waiting to take the next shot. another parallel dome at the bottom. Rand Finally, Rand reached a spot where he could managed to enlarge and squeeze through see up through a hole into darkness, but a low constriction into a continuation of breakdown blocked most of the opening. the main stem of the Maze. He estimated Dave began prodding at the breakdown with it continued 400-600 feet, but was absent a wonder bar. Suddenly a 2 or 3-cubic-foot the strong air movement on the other side of hunk of rock fell from what appeared to be the constriction. The two teams in the 110 a solid ceiling, narrowly missing him. After T-shirt design for the scary dig passage added 573 feet of survey in three re-evaluation, they decided to leave what is different leads. When the team ended their now dubbed “Low Anxiety Dome” for later; for the Maze, the others decided it not survey in the passage where the Dog and I it is still unexplored today. prudent to go downstream of the Sewer Pipe had started the survey the week before, Brad until they were sure a toad-strangler wasn’t checked ahead, squeezing his head through a Just beyond the dome, the crawl merci- a possibility. Two hours later, they entered body-sized opening where he could look up fully began to enlarge slowly as the floor the cave. The trip was nostalgic, as the into what seemed to be a sizable dome with sediment decreased. The cave was opening Dog and I had last visited the 110 passage formations. Being alone, he decided not to up! Dave crawled ahead to a right-hand lead 41 years earlier for a two-person survey. risk contorting his body enough to get his and when Rand caught up, they were off. At Dave’s team added only 47 feet of survey, lower torso through the hole and into the first, it was a mostly hands-and-knees crawl but checked a lot of leads and Dave widened dome. Several of the 110 leads continued, on soft mud floor, but soon they intersected the ledge traverse around Surprise Dome, but all were pretty grim and for now, not an active stream. To the right, the stream eliminating the need for a scaling pole there. priorities. flowed under a ledge into a 3-foot high by It got relocated to nearby Siphon Dome, 7-foot wide passage. To the left, the cave where it was climbed to reveal there were Book Avenue quickly opened to 6-7 feet high with the no accessible passages. While there, they In mid-July, John, Fig and I headed for water flowing on a bedrock floor with occa- measured the height of the dome at 70 feet. Texas and the 2009 International Congress sional small pools. This was what they had Meanwhile, the Dog and I struggled through of Speleology, where I would unveil my new come for! They finally turned around where the 1200 feet of belly crawl and stoopway in book Fifty Years Under the Sinkhole Plain. a 30-foot dome rose to the left. They had just Lamon’s Cutoff, the Sewer Pipe, and into the Around the same time, Pete Crecelius, an scooped about 700 to 800 feet in front of the breakdown-strewn 110 Passage. By the time ISS stalwart from the 70s and now a doctor survey team, but it was now time for leap frog we reached the left-hand lead we planned in Idaho, was excited enough to head back survey. Unfortunately, they had intentionally on surveying, Dog was complaining about to Indiana to join Dave and Rand for some left the second set of survey equipment in his back and my joints were getting stiff. We slimy sinkhole plain adventures. The two had the Living Room (not wanting to drag extra thought about just turning back; this trip was wanted to do a push trip to the low cobble gear while digging) on the other side of what much harder at 62 than at 21. Finally, we crawl south of the Living Room for some they were now calling the “D and B” crawl reached the frontier, but took only six survey time. My book indicated that the Dog and (named after an odd-shaped rock found in the shots totaling 105 feet in a hands-and-knees I thought it was one of the best air-moving passage and has a dual meaning). Two more water crawl explored by Dave and Rand a leads in the cave. With Pete driving in from trips through the 300-foot belly crawl were week earlier. Prudence again dictated that Idaho and wanting to do a long trip, now was not what they wanted to do at this point. we head out. Nick said nothing, although at the time to go. Brad was also pumped up, as After the trip back to the Living Room, Rand age 27 he was obviously ready to continue he relished physically-challenging push trips needed a long break before heading in again. surveying. Dog and I were glad to revisit and the Living Room was almost four miles Their third trip through to catch up to the the area one last time, but we both knew it from the entrance by the preferred route. On other survey team seemed to take forever. would probably be our last trip to the 110. It July 19th, Pete joined Dave, Brad, Rand and By the time they reached the survey team, took three painful hours to cover the 5,000 Jamie Winner for the trip. they had made it to the end of the scoop feet back to the entrance. In my mind, this stopping point at the dome. trip definitively marked the passing of the It took about 3.5 hours to reach the Pete’s team insisted that Dave and torch to Dave and Rand as the new leaders Living Room. There was some minor confu- Rand head upstream to begin a leg of the of the project. sion about where to start the survey, as only leap frog survey. The passage now returned Pete had been there and that was over 25 to stoopway and hands-and-knees crawl in On July 11th, a record 12 cavers assem- years ago. However, they finally found a one to two feet of water. Ugh! Pete’s team bled and were divided into three teams. Two faded survey station 62 smoked on the ceil- moved quickly, tied in to their starting point,

10 NSS News, February 2011 Gearey Entrance

Sinks of Indian Creek

North Section Coontown Extension

entrance Baelz Entrance Mt. Room Main Entrance Binkley Cave Millenium Passage

Eerie Canal Cavefish Crawl Blowing Hole Cave the Maze

110 Passage Strike Section

Torrent Room (breakthrough area)

Living Room Book Avenue

= passages surveyed before 2009 = passages surveyed March thru Oct 2009 Miller Cave graphics by Terry Crayden and Dave Everton 2010 for more maps visit http://mypage.iu.edu/~deverton/Binkley/binkley.htm Dave Everton Dave Dave Everton Dave

Shane Myles near the junction of the Strike Section Grand Avenue borehole in Binkley Cave North Section

Adam Baldridge at the North Formation Y area Aaron Boler and Gary Roberson near Soda Straw Alley Dave Everton Dave Dave Everton Dave

NSS News, February 2011 11 Pete would be in town one more week- 90. They hoped to follow it downstream end, and really wanted to return to what and possibly back into a continuation of they were calling Book Avenue (since the the silted borehole west of the big junction book somewhat predicted what they had room. Now, Dave didn’t think so. He felt the Dave Everton Dave found there). He and Rand were up for it, stream from Book Avenue probably either but in the end they decided that their bodies drained into Jaeger’s Crawl below the Living were not adequately recovered from their Room or formed the headwaters of South recent arduous adventure. They opted to stay Branch River, which they had followed for a closer to the entrance and survey the new while on their trip to Book Avenue. Dave’s extension Rand had discovered in the Maze. enthusiasm to survey the lead at station 90 It was a disappointment; the main passage was now greatly diminished. terminated in breakdown after only 265 feet. The other team only added a few stations of When everyone started to survey there, mop-up survey for a grand total of 345 feet. a lively debate over survey methods broke While several meander loops and a dome out, which soured moods furthered along area still need to be surveyed back there, no with everyone already shivering and misera- one has returned to the Maze since. ble from the 300-foot bathtub of D&B crawl. They decided not to survey that passage, but Mike Drake at a nice spot in I-64 In early August, the old guard of the instead to warm up by proceeding upstream ISS returned from Texas for another dig to the junction room and the big borehole, on Carcass Crevice. With Rand filling the to survey there. Rand and Chris headed and passed them. Just minutes later, Rand buckets at the bottom, another foot or two upstream to resume the survey of the big and Dave heard whooping and hollering of debris was removed in a couple of hours. borehole, while Dave, Brad and Kyle started ahead. Quickly tying in their survey leg, they Finally, Rand was able to slither through surveying the big silted borehole leading west rushed forward to see what was going on. about 25 feet of low belly crawl that emptied from the junction room. His group netted As they reached the other team, the ceiling in the side of a walking canyon, and John only 293 feet in 25-foot wide crawlway rise to 20 feet or more and the wall on the Benton soon joined him. The walking where it ended in a silt and breakdown plug. far side of the room appeared to be 50 feet passage extended right about 60 feet into A smoke bomb indicated little air movement. away. Borehole! The small walking passage a dome room, which was probably draining The big bore had obviously continued in this they had found earlier was nothing compared water from the Hwy 135 easement into the direction at one time, but they would have to this. There appeared to be three large cave. To the left, the passage led a similar to find a way to bypass the collapse if they passages leaving the room: the one to the distance to a small room with a drain leading hoped to find the continuation. Up to the right appeared to be almost filled by clay, downward through a small opening in rock writing of this article, no one has found a but the two on the left appeared wide open. and fill. Although it was 80 degrees outside, major bore in either Blowing Hole or Binkley Pete’s team took the passage farthest left and the air movement was minimal and no one that might correspond to this major trunk. Dave’s team took the one to the right. They could determine where it was coming from. Only the mapping of the active stream below agreed to survey for one hour, then rendez- The Dog suspected that the water draining station 90 or dye tracing will determine for vous back at the big junction. As Pete’s crew into Carcass Crevice probably empties into sure where the water from Book Avenue recorded their last survey shot, they could the Strike Section, which lies just 1000 feet is heading. Back in 2001, Aaron Atz had hear the other team’s voices coming from to the west and south. accompanied Chris Schotter and me to the a big lead to the right. It turned out each South Branch. Aaron managed to enlarge a team had been surveying one side of a big On August 8th, three weeks after the loop. Where the two passages rejoined, a breakthrough, a return trip to Book Avenue borehole 20 by 20 feet continued upstream was scheduled. This time, Dave, Brad and in an eastern direction. It was hard to turn Rand were joined by Kyle Hoyt and local around in big bore, but it was already 10:30 caver Chris Bell. Rand set a fast pace, reach- p.m. and they had already been in the cave ing the D&B crawl at the Living Room in Everton Dave 12 hours, and were at least 4.5 miles from only three hours. To their dismay, the water the entrance. Rand and Dave were facing level in the grueling belly crawl was much their fourth trip through the D&B Crawl. It higher than before, now being a tight belly was a very long trip out, with Jamie becom- crawl mostly in water all the way to Low ing dehydrated and ill from his wetsuit. The Anxiety Dome, which turned out to be the last person crawled up out of the Binkley source of the trickle that made the wide, low entrance sink at 5:30 am after a grueling crawl into one nasty pool, which included 19-hour trip, much of it in water plus a lot an ear-dipper for about 10 feet. However, of crawling in full wetsuits. It took the cavers beyond the dome, there was no evidence several days to fully recover from the fatigue of water. While Dave and Rand waited at of the trip. However, the book had been the first side passage at station 75 for the almost prophetic: there was another large others to catch up, they decided to check borehole lying along Shiloh Road, just like it out. Dave was disappointed when they Dog and I had said. They had surveyed 3223 encountered an active stream passage with feet, bringing the length of the cave to 23.52 the water flowing in what appeared to be the miles and passing The Hole in West Virginia wrong direction. Everyone hoped this lead th to move into 20 place on the long cave list. would intersect the main stream from Book Pat Mudd in Powell Avenue (aka Bugs Avenue, which exits the right wall at station Passage)

12 NSS News, February 2011 tight opening in the breakdown-filled stream the junction room before starting the four- resurveyed the 341 feet. After much work, passage to explore maybe another 1000 feet mile trek out. Chris hurt his knee and was Ty was finally able to open a small hole and upstream where the water forming the South in obvious pain from the Living Room out, Rand contorted himself up into the overhead Branch River falls from twin waterfalls in a but regardless, he kept a good pace. The last pocket. Although there was strong airflow 25-foot high dome. This makes me doubt- of the team exited the entrance sink about everywhere in the breakdown and the sound ful that Book Avenue is actually the source 12:45 a.m. after a 15.5 hour trip. A total of a stream cascading through rocks could of the South Branch stream. After finishing of 2587 feet of survey was logged, putting be heard upstream, there appeared to be no their survey in the silted up passage, Dave Binkley Cave over 24 miles, but there was way on anywhere without a major blasting and his team hurried east up the bore. When disappointment about the unstable upstream project. Everyone was now cold from inac- they caught Rand’s team, Dave’s crew took breakdown and the decreasing likelihood of tivity in the wet, low confines of the stream over the survey at that point and Rand and finding a downstream continuation of the crawl, so they retreated to the Torrent Room Chris headed further ahead to start a new leg. bore. The second breakdown was nearly five area where they checked several other small miles from the entrance, making it a 10-mile leads before heading out. The realization set The upstream survey was very pleasant. round trip in mostly-wet conditions. Adding in that even with wetsuits to brave low wet The passage averaged 30 to 40 feet wide in the miserable and now very wet D&B crawls, there would be no easy route around with large clay banks and ceiling heights of Crawl, Book Avenue seemed very remote. the Torrent Room breakdown. usually 10 to 15 feet. A very shallow stream Everyone was growing keenly aware that an meandered across the floor. It was definitely accident back there could result in either a Dave was ready to attempt another some of the nicest and easiest passage in the world-class rescue or catastrophe. Binkley angle to bypass the obstacle. Perhaps the entire cave. Later, Dave’s team was getting Cave was neither warm nor dry, and a rescue dry stream bed sinking into Miller’s Cave cold and thought they should have reached back there would be much harder than in two miles to the southeast would provide the other team’s starting point. They decided longer, but friendlier caves. It would be a better prospects for finding a route into to warm up by running ahead to find them. while before the next trip to Book Avenue. the upstream sections of Blowing Hole? It When they reached a massive unstable The rest of August was occupied with a had been dye-traced to Blowing Hole and breakdown pile, they could find no trace of reconnaissance trip to the Baelz section, Harrison Spring in the late 1960s. Although the others and it wasn’t obvious where they’d more work in the Revelation Road dig, and located high on the sinkhole plain, it too, gone. Very hesitantly, they ventured a short lastly, a trip to enlarge the crawl in Carcass drew in a large volume of air in winter, like way up into the fresh-looking breakdown, Crevice to admit larger cavers, although we nearly every other known cave or open- but thankfully soon heard voices coming decided to wait until cold weather when air ing in the Binkley/Blowing Hole area. On toward them. Rand and Chris had not set was flowing further into the cave in order to September 12th, Dave, Rand, and four their first station until they reached the top of determine where to dig. others descended on Miller’s armed with the breakdown mountain, and then surveyed everything but the kitchen sink, but short down the far side of the mountain and into On Labor Day weekend, seven cavers of micro-shaving equipment. Their inten- a continuation of the bore. Unfortunately, assembled for the first trip to Blowing Hole tion was to check every lead. They were it soon hit another major collapse, where since the previous November. The main guided by Norm Pace’s 1960 map and trip they saw no obvious way to continue. Dave objective would be to micro-blast some report, which proved quite accurate. They didn’t want to leave a hanging survey, so they overhead rocks blocking the way upward excavated a lot of wood and debris in the returned to where he had left off and finished into pockets at the upper end of the stream left fork to regain access through a crevice the survey up to the 40-foot-wide flat area at passage skirting the left side of the Torrent to a lower level complex 60 feet below the the base of the breakdown pile. Before they Room. Since the survey data stored on main trunk. They saw several hundred feet left the area, Chris Bell checked the only Dave’s Palm Pilot had been accidently of cave below the crevice that will need to be significant side passage seen, which led to a deleted, the passage also needed to be resur- surveyed at some point. However, all the air dome with a small waterfall emerging from veyed, except for the sketch. While Ty Spatta in the cave seemed to be flowing from two what appeared to be a 4-foot high passage. and three others worked on micro-blasting, openings at the back of a dome pit complex It was 8 p.m. when they took a break in Dave, Mike Drake, and Mark Matthews off of Cairn Hall in the right fork of the cave. Dave Everton Dave Dave Everton Dave

Brian Welp admires formations in I-64 Mike Knasel in an upper level of the Strike Section

NSS News, February 2011 13 Dave Everton Dave Dave Everton Dave

John Benton in the Coontown section Adam Craig in Lamon’s Cutoff

The right opening was a tight canyon-like ing it, there appeared to be no way to get Blowing Hole Breakthrough drain with much trash wedged at the top. beyond. They decided to abandon the dig After reading the September 5th Blowing Of course, it required micro-blasting, which and relocate to continue the upstream survey Hole trip report, Jamie Winner e-mailed was about the only digging equipment they in the South Branch River. With the recent Dave about a promising dig location in a had failed to bring. Considerable effort was discovery of Book Avenue and the mystery passage trending around the right side of the spent working on the nearby opening to of whether the downstream water headed Torrent Room breakdown he had seen on his the left, which Kevin Smith reported ended towards Blowing Hole or the South Branch, October 2008 trip. That got Dave excited, in a tight crawl under breakdown moving a survey of the passage seen by Aaron in so they scheduled a trip for October 3rd. In strong air. Again they really needed shaving 2001 was now of more importance. addition to Jamie and Dave, Pat Mudd, Brian equipment. Liz Allaby, the slimmest caver Welp, Todd Webb, and Tim Pride joined in the group, made two futile attempts to I had told Dave that the South Branch the party. The trip upstream was tedious, squeeze through. There were to be no easy became an obstacle course just beyond the as the entrance crawl was filled with pooled breakthrough in Miller’s Cave either. The entrance to Fantastic Avenue. Everyone water and Todd brought a gigantic orange potential was obvious in the blowing leads constantly climbed over one large boulder Pelican case loaded with a hammer drill and at the end of the domepit complex, but the after another although the passage was other tools. Only with difficulty was the case thought of dragging heavy micro-shaving nominally 4 to 6 feet high. They reached a contorted through the squeeze down into the equipment through the low cobble entrance tight squeeze, assuming it must be the one Subway and manhandled by Brian to the crawl was not appealing, so an assault on the enlarged by Aaron, although there was no Eerie Canal where it could be floated most of breakdown would not be made. strong evidence of hammering. Ron quickly the way upriver in knee-to-neck deep water. and masterfully moved several large slabs Around that time, CIG Chairman Ron and opened a space large enough to accom- When they reached the Torrent Room Adams, who had taken a marathon trip in modate everyone. Although enthusiasm for area, Jamie’s dig didn’t seem quite as appeal- Binkley in the 1980s with Joe Oliphant survey was low, they broke into two teams ing as he remembered it, but he and Brian set and also participated in a 1997 trip to bolt and placed a total of 13 stations totaling 348 to work on it anyway. Dave continued look- and traverse around the side of the Great feet. Ty and Pat explored another 300 feet ing and poking around. At the spot where he Pit, expressed an interest in taking a long plus beyond their survey in mostly stoopway. had stopped during his only visit to that area trip to build stamina for a December trip Pat stopped at a climb-up over breakdown in November 2008, what he heard got him to Lechuguilla. After much discussion, they that might be tight on larger cavers, but they very excited. Beyond a small stream coming decided to try pushing the blowing lead Rand did not reach the dome reported by Aaron. from a crack in the ceiling, he could hear had discovered in 2008, which was heading They exited the cave after a 14 to 15-hour the roar of a much larger stream beyond. towards the bottom of the Great Pit just over trip. When the survey notes were plotted, Tim and Dave relocated several rocks but 300 feet to the southwest. If a route to the it showed that all their survey had been encountered massive breakdown with no base of the pit could be opened, it would cut re-survey, and the old survey had actually way on. However, just a few feet away, water nearly two miles each way off the only known continued seven stations further. Apparently, was pouring out of the breakdown and flow- route to that area. On Sept 19th, a party of the constriction they had opened was a new ing out under a ledge, beyond which there five headed in to assault it. The working one created by flood waters shifting large appeared to be a pocket. Tim, Pat, and Dave conditions at the frontier in the passage were slabs since the original survey in the late 60s. began removing a pile of rocks blocking the not pleasant. Ty and Dave moved a consid- Possibly the tight squeeze reached by Pat was space under the ledge, using only a long erable amount of rocks of various sizes and the real frontier where the ISS cavers had crowbar. Progress was slow, since the rocks, cobble sediment in the left-hand fork. Finally, turned around 40+ years earlier? While noth- cobble, and other sediments were all partially they thought Pat might be able to squeeze ing was learned to help solve the mystery of cemented together. After much work, it was up and look around the corner. However, the destination of the Book Avenue stream, made “Pat-sized” so he squeezed in under the his report was discouraging: there was an at least a good point of reference for resum- low ledge, when a massive echoing boom obstruction straight ahead that appeared to ing the survey of the South Branch passage caused his entire body to jump sideways be holding up a huge rock. Without disturb- was established. and almost scared the coveralls off of him.

14 NSS News, February 2011 As he quickly scrambled backwards to the to push his torso over the rectangular edge of relative safety of the hands-and-knees crawl, the breakdown block at the tightest point. It a second reverberating boom followed. was really tight; but with Pat’s report plus the Everyone was startled, but it was particularly thundering sound of the waterfall hyping his Dave Everton Dave unnerving for Pat. While they all knew that adrenaline, he made it. Then with a hammer Jamie and Brian had been drilling holes for and chisel passed up by the boom boys, he bang, they were caught by surprise. Dave and and Pat set to work enlarging two more Tim resumed working in the opening. Soon spots to “Dave-sized.” They then climbed Pat was ready to try again, but only after up through the breakdown, through a short sending Tim downstream to request notifi- belly crawl and underneath the curtain of a The “North Y” in Binkley Cave, which cation before another blast, thereby giving soaking waterfall to stand up amazed at the leads eventually to Helictite Utopia and the him time to retreat from the dig. He then size of the room and the ceiling far above. Coontown Extension crawled into the pocket, and reported back After 41 years, the Torrent Room breakdown that there appeared to be a fairly solid ceiling, had finally been bypassed and the upstream they had seen several old cans and an old although small streams of water were falling borehole reached. What no one expected plastic dishwashing liquid bottle. No one out of numerous overhead cracks—kind of was that the upper river would be running had ever seen trash in the lower river, prob- like being in a submarine with leaky seams. at an elevation 20 feet higher than the lower ably because the Torrent Room breakdown There were several possibilities for continu- river. Soon, Jamie and Brian popped up filtered it out. However, there was obviously ing, but all were blocked by breakdown. through the waterfall as well. Unfortunately, a fairly open connection to the surface the first squeeze was still too tight for Tim, so somewhere upstream. Everyone assumed it Dave took Pat’s place and was able he and Todd remained below. It was already was probably from the dry streambed flush- to squeeze into the first pocket. He saw late in the day, as they had dug a long time. ing trash into the Miller’s Cave entrance two an opening and cleared it of rock, but Jamie was overdue to join his wife Carla miles to the southeast. The passage ahead after crawling into it, saw it was hopelessly for a Harrison-Crawford Grotto cookout. continued 25 to 30 feet wide and 8 to 12 blocked by massive rocks. He retreated to However, they had to scoop a little booty. feet high, with the water growing deeper as the first pocket and started working forward They headed upstream in big river passage they progressed. It continued in that fashion in another direction, using the area he had with the floor climbing rapidly as the water and they eventually retreated; it was time to just vacated to store the rocks he relocated descended through numerous riffles. head out. Back at the waterfall, Brian and as he edged forward. Soon, only a short Pat climbed the breakdown slope opposite squeeze separated him from the next pocket. After a few hundred feet of very nice the waterfall, which was presumably the Pat came in, and managed to crawl past him canyon upstream, they were walking in a back side of the Torrent Room breakdown. and easily squirmed through the constriction broad corridor over a breakdown floor. A It continued up and up at a very steep angle. before disappearing out of sight. Dave lay slope to the right led up into a large room Everyone headed back down the river and there listening to the loud rumble of the water with a beautiful flowstone formation on the arrived at the entrance just as it was getting crashing down through the rocks above far wall at the top. They hustled through dark. This was the second big discovery in him. In spite of the din, he soon heard the what appeared to be an overflow canyon and just over three months. They caravanned to sound of a jubilant Pat hollering. It seemed rejoined the main river at a broad junction. the Schotters and found plenty of food and like a long time after, but his light was finally The main stream apparently went around good company still present at the grotto seen returning and he was very excited. He the back side of the large room, which picnic. It had been a great day! reported emerging from under a beautiful they named the Mini-Mountain Room due cascading waterfall and climbing up into a to its similarity in shape to the Mountain This concludes part one. In the next large room and a passage with a 30-foot ceil- Room in Binkley’s Cave. On the other side issue, the survey of Blowing Hole ensues, ing that went on! By now the Boom team had past the broad junction, jammed into the with the cave length growing from the initial joined them, and everyone was pumped up. breakdown about eight feet above stream 1.85 miles to 5.19 miles (as of December Pat helped enlarge the squeeze to allow Dave level, they found a yellow hardhat! Earlier, 2010 there are 6.75 miles surveyed). Dave Everton Dave Everton Dave

Adam Baldridge at the North Formation Y area Laura Sisken at a nice spot in I-64

NSS News, February 2011 15 February 2011