Volume 57 Number 5 June, 2013 The CIG Newsletter is published monthly by the Central Indiana Grotto of the National Speleological Soci- ety. Permission is granted to all internal organizations of the NSS and the Speleo Digest to reprint material in this newsletter with proper credit to the author and the CIG Newsletter. Copyright©2013—CENTRAL INDIANA GROTTO, Inc, PO Box 153, Indianapolis, IN 46206-0153. Annual Dues: Regular and Associate members $15.00, Family members $7.50. Annual Subscriptions:Free to CIG members; otherwise $10.00 per year, prorated to expire with the December issue. Subscription applications and checks should be sent to the grotto post office box or pay online at our Web site: http://www.cig.caves.org Editorial Correspondence: Articles, suggestions, and address changes should be sent to the editor. The editor reserves the right to choose the order of publication of submitted articles. There is no guarantee that a particular newsletter will not be filled before the deadline. Exchanges: Exchange newsletters and all other grotto correspondence should be sent to the grotto post office box listed above. Exchange editors may request digital copies of text and illustrations. Signed articles do not necessarily express the opinion of the National Speleological Society, the Central Indiana Grotto, or the editor. Unsigned material may be attributed to the editor. The deadline for the CIG Newsletter will be Wednesday, 3 weeks before the meeting. Grotto Officers Chairman— Dean Wiseman Vice Chairman—Ron Adams 1152 Timber Grove Place, Beech Grove, IN 46107-3004 375 East 95th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46240-1002 cellular: 406-546-7938 e-mail: [email protected] home: 317-844-2415 voice-mail: 317-252-9091 Secretary—Ellie Wind e-mail: [email protected] 11950 Glen Cove Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46236-8324 Treasurer—Rich Lunseth home: 317-723-3672 work: 317-797-5995 7730 Dartmouth Road, Indianapolis, IN 46260-3394 e-mail: [email protected] home: 317-251-8795 work: 317-554-6260 e-mail: [email protected] Board Member—Danny Chase 151 South Downey Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46219-6453 Board Member—Jesse Houser home: 317-357-4539 cell: 317-652-0784 4925 Carrollton Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46205-1125 e-mail: [email protected] home: 765-210-1025 e-mail: [email protected] Grotto Staff Newsletter Editor & Layout—Tom Rea Grotto Trip Coordinator—Dave Haun 109 East Blue Ridge Drive, Bloomington, IN 47408-1017 7301 Beamer Station Road, Poland, IN 47868-7166 home: 812-339-7391 e-mail: [email protected] cellular: 317-517-0795 work: 317-464-9090 cellular: 765-719-1004 e-mail: [email protected] Newsletter Printing—Keith Dunlap Meeting Program Coordinator—Ron Adams 32 Troon Court, Greenwood, IN 46143-1937 375 East 95th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46240-1002 home: 317-882-5420 e-mail: [email protected] home: 317-844-2415 voice-mail: 317-252-9091 Newsletter Distribution—Jaime Coffman e-mail: [email protected] 342 North Meridian Street, Greenwood, IN 46143-1251 SpeleoLog Compiler—Bill Greenwald cellular: 317-345-8019 e-mail [email protected] 3210 Ivory Way, Indianapolis, IN 46227-8035 Safety Coordinator—Bill Greenwald home: 317-893-4134 work: 317-715-5386 3210 Ivory Way, Indianapolis, IN 46227-8035 e-mail: [email protected] home: 317-893-4134 work: 317-715-5386 Cave Owner Relations Coordinator—Dave Everton e-mail: [email protected] 1800 North Range Road, Bloomington, IN 47408-9650 Library Custodian & Quartermaster—Bob Vandeventer home: 812-824-4380 work: 812-855-7361 525 Lawndale Drive, Greenwood, IN 46142-3904 e-mail: [email protected] mobile: 317-625-3592 e-mail: [email protected] Web Site Editor— Rich Lunseth Conservation Coordinator—Keith Dunlap 7730 Dartmouth Road, Indianapolis, IN 46260-3394 32 Troon Court, Greenwood, IN 46143-1937 home: 317-251-8795 work: 317-554-6260 home: 317-882-5420 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] Page 42 Central Indiana Grotto June, 2013 Caving Calendar June 5 Grotto Meeting. World War Memorila 7:30 p.m. Program on the NSS National Convvention by Bill Greenwald.. June 8 Grotto Trip. Sullivan Cave, Leaders Dave Haun and Bob Vandeventer. June 13–16 62nd SERA, Cumberland Caverns, Tennessee June 28 Cave Capers, Crawford County Fairground. Banquet speaker Bill Steele. July 10 Date Change: Grotto Meeting. 7:30 p.m. World War memorial. Program on TAG caving by Joe Kinder. July 13 Grotto Trip. Karst-O-Rama. July 12–14 Karst-O-Rama, by Greater Cincinnati Grotto at Great Saltpetre Cave Preserve in Mt. Vernon,, Kentucky. Information at http://karstorama.com/ July 16 Open Library night at Bob Vandeventer’s home, 525 Lawndrive Drive, Greenwood. 317-888-4501. July 21–28 16th International Congress of Speleology, Brno, Czech Republic. Information at http://www.speleo2013.com August 5–9 NSS National Convention, Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylva- nia. Information at http://nss2013.com/ August 10 Grotto Trip. Shiloh Cave, Leader Jim Adams. August 14 Date Change. Grotto meeting. 7:30 p.m. World War Memorial. Program on cave formation by Horace Tucker. Caving Calendar . 43 September 7 Grotto Trip. Binkley Cave, Leader Dave Everton. Short News and Notes . 43 October 5 Grotto Trip. Bryants Cave, Leader Dave Haun. We Weren’t Looking . 44 Roberts Cave . 46 November 9 Grotto Trip. Salts Cave, Leader Dave Haun. Under Earth Day . 47 December 7 Grotto Trip. Eversole Cave and Coon Cave, Lead- Cave Capers History . 49 ers Bill Greenwald and Dave Haun. SpeleoLog . 53 May Regular Minutes . 54 January 4, 2014 Grotto Trip. Vertical Training, Leader Bill Greenwald. February 10, 2014 Grotto Trip. Annual ridgewalk. Leader Ron Adams. Short News and Notes This Month’s Cover Committee Meetings. If you are curious about how Jenna Fessel and Bridget Mellado in Wertz Cave the gortto is managed or are curious about running in Harrison County at the teardrop formation. for one of the grotto officer positions. Photo by Chris Bell. April Newsletter Meeting Schedule You did not get an April newsletter but you The July meeting has been rescheduled to July did get a combined April–May newsletter. The 10 because the regular date is too close to the Forth newsletter committee has decided not to go to the of July. The August meeting has been rescheduled work and expense of printing a newsletter unless to August 14 because the regular date is during the there is enough material to print at least 12 pages. NSS Convention. You are getting a June newsletter because there is enough material. We are close to having enough Executive Committee Meetings material for a July newsletter. Send in your trip We see very few visitors at the CIG Executive reports. June, 2013 Central Indiana Grotto Page 43 We Found What We Weren’t Looking For Story and Photos by Chris Bell n March 21, 2012, Ryan Cox and I went fit a cave helmet in, only a few hundred feet from Olooking for a seldom-visited pit in Harrison Stacy’s house. And, about the time I was poking County near Depauw. The pit we were looking for around in this little hole, Ryan yelled that he had was Threesome Lost Pot, found and surveyed by found a big pit. Was this Threesome Lost Pot? Dave Black and crew several years back. We got permission to visit the cave and to hike around the property; the only problem was we didn’t have a really accurate GPS point. We hiked around through pine thickets and hardwood forests for over two hours and never found a thing. We went back to the owner’s house and thanked them for letting us on their property. Determined not to be stumped yet, we ventured over to the neighbor’s house to see if we could hike around in their neck of the woods. This owner was adamant about not letting anyone on his property. It was beginning to look like one of those days where you end up spending more time above ground than below ground. Finally, we had one more option. I had a talked to a lady recently by the name of Stacy, who said she knew where the pit was. So we went to her house to see if she would let us on her property. She told us about where she thought the cave was, and even called her brother from out of state and had him on the phone giving us directions, but alas … nothing. This pit has defiantly eluded us today! We decided to look anyway, hoping to Stacys Pit, looking down. Ryan on Rope. stumble across the elusive pit. We combed this hillside for over and hour and eventually decided I ran up the hill, maybe 100 feet from the little to call it a day. While walking back down the hole I was looking at, to find Ryan looking down hill, Ryan and I spread apart in hopes of finding a nice drop. We went and talked to Stacy and she something. Sure enough, our bad luck was about did remember that hole, but said no one had ever to run out. I found a hole, not even big enough to been down it. We were skeptical though, it was a very obvious pit entrance. The cave was a nice 32-foot, open-air pit. There was a small stream trickling down into the pit, just enough to get you wet. Being that there was trash in the bottom and it being such an obvious hole, we are not sure if this was the virgin decent or not. Either way, it was new to us. We decided to call this pit Stacys Pit, in honor of the landowner who went above and beyond trying to help us find a cave, and for letting us go into her caves.