Re: [Texascavers] Dinosaur Cave
Great trip report! Thank you for sharing it. - from julia's cell Julia G Germany c: 281.979.9208 e: ju...@trigrants.com > On Jun 4, 2022, at 21:14, Marvin Miller wrote: > > > Kelsey Dennis and Mio Kitano joined me today to finish up a little bit of > muddy survey and to push leads in Dinosaur Cave. Dinosaur Cave is a 642 > meter-long cave in Comal County. The survey went about 2 meters down a hole > that had been too tight for the previous survey team. Both Kelsey and Mio > have slight figures ideal for these kinds of leads. The next survey shot was > 3 meters through a muddy trough into a small terminal room with some drops > falling from the ceiling. The drops had been a trickle when I had first seen > this room last year. The room isn't really terminal because there is a slot > in the floor that could be enlarged to get down to the next little space 2 > meters below but then there is another, tighter constriction. There is no > airflow so this is not a high priority lead. > > We struggled out of these muddy confines and headed back towards the entrance > till we stopped at a hole that dropped down in the middle of the passage. > This hole leads to a bit of walking passage in the breakdown that makes up > the floor and fills the lower part of the main passage. 10 meters along the > breakdown passage a small hole in the floor drops down into a small room, the > floor of which slopes further down to the opening of a small, horizontal tube > in bedrock. The tube is straight and clean-washed and can be seen to extend > at least 5 meters. The tube is intimidating (to me, at least) because it > looks barely larger than body-sized. Once you get into it there is actually a > little more space than that, and only one spot where you are scraping floor > and ceiling. At about the 5-meter mark you encounter a cross-joint which > provides some relief, and immediately after that the floor drops down into a > fissure and then the passage widens, opens up to the right, and drops over a > ledge into a small room. Bennett Lee pushed this passage and discovered this > room. A small trickle of water falls from a too-small tube in one wall. At > floor level a duck under the ceiling leads to a short 5-meter section of > passage, at the end of which was today's objective. At that point the floor > trends slightly down and the ceiling comes down to within 20 cm of the floor, > which is clean-washed from that point. I had tried to cram myself into this > lead when Bennett, Greg Mosier, and I surveyed the preceding passage but it > was a no-go. I couldn't even get far enough to see around the near corner. > Kelsey is a skinny girl and had no problem with it. There is a pool in the > floor just after it gets tight so she had to consider whether she wanted to > get wet, but in the end she committed to it and soon disappeared around the > corner. She kept a running commentary and informed us that just ahead it was > going to open up to walking - or at least stoop-walking height. She was soon > there and continued, sometimes in several cm of water. There was another > short constriction to be passed and then the passage dimensions resumed. She > had to stop, probably about 20 to 25 meters along, due to a boulder that was > filling the passage. She could see the passage continuing past the boulder. > Her assessment was that it could probably be broken up with a sledge or > rolled out of the way. There is good airflow coming out of this passage, > really the only airflow we have seen anywhere in Dinosaur Cave. > > When Kelsey came back out, excited by her discovery, we set to work on the > other passage that exits here, stacked almost right on top of the water crawl > below. The problem with this one was that it was almost filled with a 2 > meter-long, 1 meter-wide slab of breakdown. It wasn't very thick so we had > some hope that we could break it up somehow. We took turns beating on the > near end, and some bits broke off easily, but then it got hard. I decided it > was time to employ the hammer drill and straws. I had barely drilled 4 cm > into the rock when my bit got stuck and would not move. The only way to > rescue it was to beat on the rock some more. I started in on that and > suddenly the rock broke across its width about half-a-meter back. This large > chunk fell to the ground in front of the lower passage, and the remainder of > the slab started to slide down what must have been a slight slope towards us! > Fortunately, it stopped moving after 10 or 15 cm. We then had a discussion > that if a survey team was going to come back and attack the lower passage, > the slab would first need to be eliminated. We continued pounding on it - > with some care to have an escape route - and eventually were able to lever it > and chock it in a more stable situation. What all of that ended up doing for > us was open up space over the top of the slab to crawl across and
[Texascavers] Dinosaur Cave
Kelsey Dennis and Mio Kitano joined me today to finish up a little bit of muddy survey and to push leads in Dinosaur Cave. Dinosaur Cave is a 642 meter-long cave in Comal County. The survey went about 2 meters down a hole that had been too tight for the previous survey team. Both Kelsey and Mio have slight figures ideal for these kinds of leads. The next survey shot was 3 meters through a muddy trough into a small terminal room with some drops falling from the ceiling. The drops had been a trickle when I had first seen this room last year. The room isn't really terminal because there is a slot in the floor that could be enlarged to get down to the next little space 2 meters below but then there is another, tighter constriction. There is no airflow so this is not a high priority lead. We struggled out of these muddy confines and headed back towards the entrance till we stopped at a hole that dropped down in the middle of the passage. This hole leads to a bit of walking passage in the breakdown that makes up the floor and fills the lower part of the main passage. 10 meters along the breakdown passage a small hole in the floor drops down into a small room, the floor of which slopes further down to the opening of a small, horizontal tube in bedrock. The tube is straight and clean-washed and can be seen to extend at least 5 meters. The tube is intimidating (to me, at least) because it looks barely larger than body-sized. Once you get into it there is actually a little more space than that, and only one spot where you are scraping floor and ceiling. At about the 5-meter mark you encounter a cross-joint which provides some relief, and immediately after that the floor drops down into a fissure and then the passage widens, opens up to the right, and drops over a ledge into a small room. Bennett Lee pushed this passage and discovered this room. A small trickle of water falls from a too-small tube in one wall. At floor level a duck under the ceiling leads to a short 5-meter section of passage, at the end of which was today's objective. At that point the floor trends slightly down and the ceiling comes down to within 20 cm of the floor, which is clean-washed from that point. I had tried to cram myself into this lead when Bennett, Greg Mosier, and I surveyed the preceding passage but it was a no-go. I couldn't even get far enough to see around the near corner. Kelsey is a skinny girl and had no problem with it. There is a pool in the floor just after it gets tight so she had to consider whether she wanted to get wet, but in the end she committed to it and soon disappeared around the corner. She kept a running commentary and informed us that just ahead it was going to open up to walking - or at least stoop-walking height. She was soon there and continued, sometimes in several cm of water. There was another short constriction to be passed and then the passage dimensions resumed. She had to stop, probably about 20 to 25 meters along, due to a boulder that was filling the passage. She could see the passage continuing past the boulder. Her assessment was that it could probably be broken up with a sledge or rolled out of the way. There is good airflow coming out of this passage, really the only airflow we have seen anywhere in Dinosaur Cave. When Kelsey came back out, excited by her discovery, we set to work on the other passage that exits here, stacked almost right on top of the water crawl below. The problem with this one was that it was almost filled with a 2 meter-long, 1 meter-wide slab of breakdown. It wasn't very thick so we had some hope that we could break it up somehow. We took turns beating on the near end, and some bits broke off easily, but then it got hard. I decided it was time to employ the hammer drill and straws. I had barely drilled 4 cm into the rock when my bit got stuck and would not move. The only way to rescue it was to beat on the rock some more. I started in on that and suddenly the rock broke across its width about half-a-meter back. This large chunk fell to the ground in front of the lower passage, and the remainder of the slab started to slide down what must have been a slight slope towards us! Fortunately, it stopped moving after 10 or 15 cm. We then had a discussion that if a survey team was going to come back and attack the lower passage, the slab would first need to be eliminated. We continued pounding on it - with some care to have an escape route - and eventually were able to lever it and chock it in a more stable situation. What all of that ended up doing for us was open up space over the top of the slab to crawl across and see what lay beyond. A quick look showed that the passage took a sharp right turn and followed the trend of the lower passage. Mio ventured in and I noticed that I could see a reflection of her light on the pool in the lower passage. There were holes in the floor. In fact, she remarked that the floor was not stable and there was a danger of falling through. Several
