texascavers Digest 13 Apr 2014 17:10:14 -0000 Issue 1962
texascavers Digest 13 Apr 2014 17:10:14 - Issue 1962 Topics (messages 23676 through 23681): Re: [NSSwest] Participate in a cave conservation research study 23676 by: Matt Bowers Texas Caver 23677 by: Jill Orr 23678 by: Julia Germany My late night thoughts during insomnia 23679 by: Lee H. Skinner Big Room 23680 by: dirtdoc.comcast.net Re: [SWR] My late night thoughts during insomnia 23681 by: Lee H. Skinner Administrivia: To subscribe to the digest, e-mail: texascavers-digest-subscr...@texascavers.com To unsubscribe from the digest, e-mail: texascavers-digest-unsubscr...@texascavers.com To post to the list, e-mail: texascavers@texascavers.com -- ---BeginMessage--- Cavers - Speleo-climatology is a growing area of scientific research. Sarah Truebe is working to establish a set of best practices for future research projects. If you have a chance, please consider sharing your opinions on the subject. Thanks! Please feel free to share this with your grottos. Matt _ From: nssw...@yahoogroups.com [mailto:nssw...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Sarah Truebe Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2014 9:15 PM To: nssw...@yahoogroups.com Subject: [NSSwest] Participate in a cave conservation research study! Win a $100 gift card! [1 Attachment] [Attachment(s) from Sarah Truebe included below] Hello Western Region! I am a new transplant to California (moved from AZ in Jan), but I'm hoping all of my new neighbors will do me the honor of taking this survey as a part of my PhD research. I am working on my PhD in geosciences, and one of my studies is to evaluate the sampling of speleothems for past climate (paleoclimate) research. I am asking cavers, cave owners, cave managers, cave scientists, and anyone else that enjoys, explores, or studies caves to take the survey for my research (more details below the dotted line). Please take this survey and forward it widely amongst your caving contacts! Taking the survey allows you to enter into a drawing for one of seven $100 gift cards to Amazon or a cave gear website of your choice. The link is here: https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6llZGoHoNyBTCsJ The survey will remain open until April 30, 2014. More details are below. Many thanks in advance for your time! Sincerely, Sarah NSS # 61563 = Speleothem Sampling Methods Survey https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6llZGoHoNyBTCsJ Who should take this survey? This survey is for cavers, cave owners, cave managers, and cave scientists other than paleoclimate scientists to gather a variety of opinions about paleoclimate research and how it impacts caves. Paleoclimate scientists were surveyed earlier to produce a list of current research practices, which was used to build this survey. What is this survey about? Paleoclimate--or past climate--research uses the chemistry and mineralogy of speleothems to reconstruct past climate, temperature, rainfall, etc. Stalagmites are one of the best sources of this information, especially where other sources (like lakes, trees, ice cores, and ocean sediments) don't exist. Sampling stalagmites for this type of research requires looking along the growth axis, down the center of the speleothem. Generally, this means the stalagmite must be sliced open and measured down the middle. Many scientists are trying to minimize their impact on caves while doing this sampling, but as a community of cave stakeholders, we can do better. Taking this survey is the first step to initiating a community-wide discussion between paleoclimate scientists and other cave stakeholders, including recreational cavers, cave managers, cave owners, and other cave scientists. The goal of this discussion is to emerge with a set of current best practice guidelines for scientists and managers to be able to pursue valuable past climate information while conserving valuable cave resources. Your participation in this survey is voluntary. You may stop at any time. This survey is anonymous. There are no risks to participating in this survey. The survey will take from 30-60 minutes. At the end, you will be asked if you would like to enter your contact information for a drawing for one of seven $100 gift cards to a vendor of your choice. Your contact information is stored separately from your survey responses. For ease of use, please take the survey on a computer or tablet rather than a mobile phone. Thank you for your participation in this survey. If you have any questions during the survey, or have any problems taking the survey, please feel free to contact researcher Sarah Truebe (stru...@arizona.edu). Take the survey here: https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6llZGoHoNyBTCsJ Thank you for your time and participation! -- Sarah A Truebe PhD Candidate
[SWR] thoughts during insomnia
More likely it's the heavy metals from all those cans of Skinner brand spaghetti - DirtDoc - Original Message - From: Lee H. Skinner skin...@thuntek.net To: s...@caver.net, John Corcoran john_j_corcoran_...@msn.com, texascavers list texascavers@texascavers.com Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 2:59:13 PM Subject: [Texascavers] Re: [SWR] My late night thoughts during insomnia Thanks, John. Yes, it's probably a side effect of my DNA. Regards, Lee Lee, You have a creative, but twisted mind! Regards, John ___ SWR mailing list s...@caver.net http://lists.caver.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/swr ___ This list is provided free as a courtesy of CAVERNET
[Texascavers] Ezells Cleanup Date
Would somebody be so kind as to respond to this post with the date for the next Ezells Cleanup. I suspect the date may have just past. Looking in San Marcos area for some volunteer activities for my Scouts. Thanks, Rob
Re: [Texascavers] Ezells Cleanup Date
Rob, Nope, the work day is next Saturday, April 19. I hope Scouts and other groups can come out. We will have two dumptrucks of mulch to spread so will need wheelbarrows, shovels and rakes. Gloves and boots are recommended. Ron Cavers, we need your help! The Texas Cave Management Association (TCMA) will be sponsoring a work day to spruce up the Ezells Cave Preserve in Hays County. The date is Saturday 19 April 2014 beginning at 10:00 am and ending about 2:00 in the afternoon. Meet at the 1500 block of Brown Street, San Marcos. Cell number for the day: 512-797-3817 (Ron Ralph). We plan to cut dead wood, remove limbs, cut weeds, and just generally make the property more attractive. Ediger is bringing his chipper to mulch the waste material. We will be concentrating on the front part of the property but will work inside the fence to prepare the ground for a new bat-friendly cave gate. We will also be spreading mulch for erosion control on the trail down to the fence gate. We need people, saws, loppers, sling blades, weed eaters, and maybe even someone with a trailer willing to carry all the debris to the landfill. And if you have a wheelbarrow, bring that along with a shovel and a rake. Bring gloves, boots and your own drinks and snacks for the work, but TCMA will treat all volunteers to pizza and drinks afterward. We will have water and litter bags for your use. If anyone wishes to enter the cave after the work is completed, the Preserve Manager has agreed to that. Bring standard caving gear if you are entering the cave. All visitors to the Preserve will be asked to sign a liability waiver. Please RSVP to Ron, and also give him a call if you get lost getting to the property or would like more details. In case of heavy rain, the event may be postponed to a later date. Thanks for your support! Jim Kennedy, TCMA Preserves Chair 512-663-2287 From: Robert B Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 6:21 PM To: Texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: [Texascavers] Ezells Cleanup Date Would somebody be so kind as to respond to this post with the date for the next Ezells Cleanup. I suspect the date may have just past. Looking in San Marcos area for some volunteer activities for my Scouts. Thanks, Rob
Re: [SWR] My late night thoughts during insomnia
I call them heligmites when their initial growth starts on the floor. When they start on the wall, they should be called wallawallamites, don't you think??? Besides, we all know that when a stalactite and stalagmite grow together, they're called Mighty Tights. Come to think of it, should pure white stals (sticky uppies or hangy downies doesn't matter) just be called Titie Whities? Peter On Apr 13, 2014, at 11:34 AM, DONALD G. DAVIS wrote: Lee H. Skinner skin...@thuntek.net wrote: Why aren't there more helicmites? There are some references to heligmites in the literature; I consider the term unnecessary, because helictites typically have little or no response to gravity, and are the same structures and have the same origin no matter what direction they are growing. --Donald ___ SWR mailing list s...@caver.net http://lists.caver.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/swr ___ This list is provided free as a courtesy of CAVERNET ___ SWR mailing list s...@caver.net http://lists.caver.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/swr ___ This list is provided free as a courtesy of CAVERNET
Re: [SWR] Big Room
Harvey DuChene hrduch...@gmail.com wrote: I also remember something about Donald Davis digging = in some Fort Stanton breakdown and finding a smallish room. Upon = entering this smallish room, he allegedly stated that = =E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99ve come into an Immense Chamber.=E2=80=9D I think = this quickly became known as =E2=80=9CThe Davis Chamber.=E2=80=9D I = suppose that, logically, the surname =E2=80=9CDavis=E2=80=9D must be = synonymous with =E2=80=9CImmense.=E2=80=9D HRD Is that a sneaky way of saying I'm fat?? --Donald ___ SWR mailing list s...@caver.net http://lists.caver.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/swr ___ This list is provided free as a courtesy of CAVERNET
[SWR] True cavers
You will recall that I never claimed to be a true caver. Dwight - Original Message - From: Harvey DuChene hrduch...@gmail.com To: Jim Evatt nmca...@comcast.net Cc: dirt...@comcast.net Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 10:46:53 AM Subject: RE: [SWR] Big Room Jim, You are easily shocked, I guess. I was young and naïve when I heard the DirtDoc say that “No True Caver Wears Kneepads.” This impressed me greatly, until I found out that some people, who shall remain nameless, sewed kneepads into the INSIDE of their coverall pant legs. You can imagine how devastated I was to learn this truth. Caving was never the same for me after that discovery. I did not choose to comment because the memory of my humiliation is too painful. You brought it up, scraping open the old wound. I may never recover… . Katy contacted me several months ago after seeing the reprint of the elegy I wrote for Tom Meador. She and her husband came to Lake City and visited us. What a surprise and a great treat. I always wore a brain bucket when riding my Red Dragon named Harley and assuming my alter identity as “The Daring but Resourceless Masked Rider of the Plains.” HD From: Jim Evatt [mailto:nmca...@comcast.net] Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 9:10 AM To: Harvey DuChene Subject: Re: [SWR] Big Room Harv, I’m SHOCKED you did not comment on the statement that “No true cavers wear kneepads.” Kind of like Harley etc. riders who refuse to wear headpads (a/k/a brain buckets). Shows you what’s really important to who, eh? ___ SWR mailing list s...@caver.net http://lists.caver.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/swr ___ This list is provided free as a courtesy of CAVERNET
Re: [SWR] True cavers
dirt...@comcast.net wrote: You will recall that I never claimed to be a true caver.=20 Dwight=20 - Original Message - From: Harvey DuChene hrduch...@gmail.com=20 To: Jim Evatt nmca...@comcast.net=20 Cc: dirt...@comcast.net=20 Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2014 10:46:53 AM=20 Subject: RE: [SWR] Big Room=20 Jim,=20 You are easily shocked, I guess.=20 I was young and na=C3=AFve when I heard the DirtDoc say that =E2=80=9CNo Tr= ue Caver Wears Kneepads.=E2=80=9D This impressed me greatly, until I found = out that some people, who shall remain nameless, sewed kneepads into the IN= SIDE of their coverall pant legs. You can imagine how devastated I was to l= earn this truth. Caving was never the same for me after that discovery. I d= id not choose to comment because the memory of my humiliation is too painfu= l. You brought it up, scraping open the old wound. I may never recover=E2= =80=A6 .=20 I must be a pretty true caver. For much of my caving career, I've never worn kneepads. I have natural springy cartilage pads in my knees, and routine crawling just doesn't hurt much. But there have been exceptions. When we discovered a certain upper-level part of Fixin' to Die Cave, Colorado, it was necessary to chimney up to it using pressure opposition against crusts of sharp little calcite spar crystals. That hurt, and for my next visits, I put inner-tube rubber inside my coveralls. Then there came the crystal-coated knobs of the Crawl from Hell in Snowy River. It still didn't hurt my knees internally, but I found that if I didn't use external pads, my coverall cloth and then my skin would simply wear through from the abrasion. Otherwise, I still don't often use them. --Donald ___ SWR mailing list s...@caver.net http://lists.caver.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/swr ___ This list is provided free as a courtesy of CAVERNET
Re: [SWR] True cavers
Donald, I may have been with you on that trip in 1969. That may also have been the trip when you made the major bypass discovery in Groaning (with me dragged along with you) in the ever so early days of its exploration. It's always a pleasure to read about your caving travails when it is presented in your classic Donald response of a purely factual nature. I wish I had had your naturally springy cartilage when I crawled out of Lech for two miles with a broken ankle…. Peter I must be a pretty true caver. For much of my caving career, I've never worn kneepads. I have natural springy cartilage pads in my knees, and routine crawling just doesn't hurt much. But there have been exceptions. When we discovered a certain upper-level part of Fixin' to Die Cave, Colorado, it was necessary to chimney up to it using pressure opposition against crusts of sharp little calcite spar crystals. That hurt, and for my next visits, I put inner-tube rubber inside my coveralls. Then there came the crystal-coated knobs of the Crawl from Hell in Snowy River. It still didn't hurt my knees internally, but I found that if I didn't use external pads, my coverall cloth and then my skin would simply wear through from the abrasion. Otherwise, I still don't often use them. --Donald ___ SWR mailing list s...@caver.net http://lists.caver.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/swr ___ This list is provided free as a courtesy of CAVERNET ___ SWR mailing list s...@caver.net http://lists.caver.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/swr ___ This list is provided free as a courtesy of CAVERNET
