[Texascavers] cave related clip-art

[David via Texascavers]

This is for those of you who like cave related clip-art for
newsletters, and brochures:

Here are some images that you can use that are allegedly free:

 https://openclipart.org/download/242864/BrownLongEaredBat.svg

 https://openclipart.org/download/122161/repeller.svg

 https://openclipart.org/download/245443/Bats.svg

 
https://openclipart.org/download/13810/johnny-automatic-Land-recreation-symbols-24.svg

 https://openclipart.org/download/225220/View-From-Stygia.svg

 
https://openclipart.org/download/222573/Vintage-Travel-Poster-America-USA.svg

 https://openclipart.org/download/188823/lampara.svg

 https://openclipart.org/download/12274/Telemachos-carabiner.svg

Ref:www.Openclipart.org

David Locklear


P.S.This email was sent in Gmail using the new Vivaldi browser on
an Ubuntu computer,
as opposed to Chrome or Chromium or Firefox, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivaldi_(web_browser)
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[Texascavers] strange email

[David via Texascavers]

If you all received my last post 5 times, I sincerely apologize.

I only sent it once.   That was only my second time to send a message
using Thunderbird, so I obviously did not know it had a big bug.

Mozilla has been aware of this bug for many years, I just learned, yet they
seem to put the blame on the recipient of the email.

David Locklear

dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] LED headlamp news

[David via Texascavers]

I am not reviewing the headlamp in the link below, as I am retired from
that.

This appears to be good news.

https://www.olympiaoutdoors.com/products/headlamps/21-ex550.html

I plan to buy one for my 52nd birthday in late June.
It would be great if someone can review it, and post something, as it is
unlikely I would use mine in a cave anytime soon.

It looks very similar to the "Streamlight Argo HP" which only had 2
deductions:  1) a cheezy plastic battery cap that broke easily and 2) only
2 light settings.

This new Olympia headlamp is easier to find as it is readily available at
Fry's, and it is less expensive than Argo HP was 10 years ago.  (  I see it
can be found online now for total cost under $ 45. )And this Olympia
appears to put out more light and have more settings.So I guess
comparing the 2 is not perfect.

David Locklear

Ref:

http://www.flashlightdistributor.com/StreamLight.aspx?Streamlight=613017&gclid=Cj0KEQjw4J-6BRD3h_KIoqijwvkBEiQAfcPiBVbxPlb27Np9ufUoXV-d3kiYt1efPCwDowjZpO5y4SsaApCE8P8HAQ

http://www.streamlight.com/product/product.aspx?pid=55
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[Texascavers] New aboveground cave

[David via Texascavers]

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com

I discovered a new aboveground cave today:

https://goo.gl/photos/3uMkSVACiVcnznXLA

It is in west side of Houston, Texas.

Unfortunately it only went 10 feet of walking passage and most of the roof
had collapsed creating a skylight.

So technically it was barely an artificial rock shelter.

Here are the coordinates:

29.772091,-95.627122

It is a gated community.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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Re: [Texascavers] Zika

[David via Texascavers]

It is interesting that there is no mention of scary mosquitoes in any of
the religious text even though they are believed to have predated all
hominids.

There is a common story about a giant immortal invisible talking snake that
travels the Earth faster than the speed of light talking telepathically to
every human simultaneously, and on a whim changes shape into a large ugly
red homonid with horns that has all the magical powers of fire, lava and
brimstone.The only part of that I have a hard time believing is he or
she being on opposite sides of the Earth at the same exact moment he or she
is deep down in the Earth's core.

My own loving mother, who is a teacher, bless her soul, firmly believes
this story as an undeniable fact, as does my stepfather who has a PHD in
computer science and a Masters in Physics, as did my loving grandmother,
and my entire family, as do the candidates for POTUS.

I was force-fed that story for 17 years, before escaping on my own will
power.

In summary, it is a good idea to install bug-zappers around the patio and
porch and in southeast Texas install them in the house.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] follow-up to my last post

[David via Texascavers]

I am going to try the blog thing again:

Here is an update to my last post about my new
Linux computer, along with stuff I posted about
years ago:

 http://david-locklear.blogspot.com/

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Internet related

[David via Texascavers]

I am in a restaurant reading the tragic news of flight 804, on CNN with my
smartphone, and between the paragraphs of the top story is a
half-screen-size professional advertisement.

I guess that is normal nowadays.

But in this case, the ad is for Inner Mountain Outfitters and clicking on
that takes me to their awesome website.

Do only cavers see this ?   Is Google reading my thought telepathically ??

Or is IMO paying a fortune for worldwide advertising ?

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] computer topic: sort of related to caving

[David via Texascavers]

This post is intended is an attempt to make a computer topic
related to caving.It is for any cavers out there still
using Windows 95 or 98.



I know many cavers know far more about computers
than I do.  There are dozens of computer experts in the
caving community.   The rest of you all sometimes use
computers.   Right ?

The topic below is about Linux, specifically the 2016 versions
and flavors of Linux.

Linux has come along way in the past few years, and
the comments below are to encourage you to take a
look at the new Linux options, before wasting money on
other operating systems, and programs for those computers.

First of all, about 8 days ago, I knew very little about
Linux.

I built a new computer last week, from new parts,
and loaded 2 different versions of Linux on it.

Both versions of Linux were March 2016 releases that
were installed to the new computer using a $ 5
eight Gigabyte USB flash-drive ( memory stick,
jump-drive, etc. ) onto an inexpensive blank hard-drive.
[ The hard-drive was split into 3 partitions: 1 for each version
of Linux, and the 3rd for data ].

I found the installation to go rather smooth for both versions.
And both versions performed way above the 20th Century
versions of Windows.I feel certain that each was on par
with the 2009 release of Windows 7 as far as what
it can do right out of the box.   Meaning better than the 2001
version of Windows XP from the perspective of what you see
on the screen after installing the operating system.

I want go into that any further.

Email me privately, if you want to know the details.

 dlocklea...@gmail.com



I have been running my tiny business off this new computer
for 3 days, and so far it has been a good experience.
( I did not say great experience ).

Based on what I see here, I would say the next versions
of Linux scheduled to come out around August are going
to be better than Windows 7 in numerous ways.   I say this because you
will be able
to find dozens of Linux geeks on Youtube and other places showing
you how to patch the various error messages.   Also, there will be at least 12
decent games, readily available with just a few clicks away.   Most of
your hardware:   monitor, keyboard, mouse, trackball, speakers, hard-wired
network, will work perfect with no issues.   Motherboard, CPU, and
hard-drive should
load up with no problems. You will be able to immediately
type a report and email it to someone within minutes after installing Linux.


From a caving perspective, the money you save using Linux, can
be used to donate to the NSS headquarters, or your favorite speleo-charity
like TCMA, or TSS.You save money,
because you do not need a fancy computer, and most of the programs
download for free ( if you can get them installed - that is the tricky part ).

Things that work just as good or better now in Linux are surfing the web, email,
simple games like Mahjong, organizing pictures and listening to music, drawing
simple things, making newsletters, writing reports, and simple edits of photos,
like cropping, but that is old news. There are still computer task
that are hard to
do on an Android tablet or on a Chromebook, so there is still a need
for a laptop
or small desktop computer.   Some people do not "need" an expensive computer or
Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, or Apple OS X, especially now that so much is done
on our smartphones, but for some reason they still "want" that.

The link below is a slideshow taken with my smartphone camera of my new computer
monitor of 11 free games that I easily installed from within my Linux
version, by just
clicking on find software:

   https://goo.gl/photos/MMu1NAjDQdDX64Dr8

I hope you all found this related to caving or informative.

David Locklear

( this email was prepared using the latest Chromium browser, on the very latest
test-version of "Ubuntu Gnome," version 16.10, codenamed
"Yakkety Yak", but then emailed using "Linux Mint" version 17.3 ).
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[Texascavers] speleo-statistics, mortgages, etc.

[David via Texascavers]

A creative caver could devote a whole Texas Caver issue with
interesting articles
on the subject matter of statistics associated with caving, and the NSS
and mortgage tips for cavers.


I would be interested how many cavers use Linux as their primary
computer system.   ( This message is coming to you via the Chromium
browser on a Linux Mint only computer. )


How many cavers have a mortgage, paid off a mortgage, foreclosed,
etc. ?My estranged wife and I purchased a Pulte Home in 2003 even
though we were not getting along, and bought a house above our means,
because the other options were even more above our means.   Actually,
she bought the house, and I was mostly coerced into agreeing, as my
other options seemed worse at the time. All I can say is we really got
in way over our heads at first.That was 13 years ago, and we still have not
paid off but about 1/3 of the loan.   It really really sucks to look
at the bill each
month and see $ 1,000 go to non-principal items, and $ 100 go to the principal.
Does that beat renting ??  I do not think so. Anyways, we want to
pay more, but some crap
always comes up unexpectedly each month.I doubt I will live long
enough to see the
note paid off, but I feel confident that we can at least leave our kid something
to use or sell.  ( Our kid loves the house and has lived in it since
she was born nearly
12 years ago ).   We have a nice back yard and if I really
wanted to go camping it would be most practical to just do it in the back yard.


I like the NSS Headquarters, and hope to go to another big event there
someday. The sooner the mortgage is paid off, the better in the long run.
But that is making a huge assumption that in 50 years, the NSS is
still a viable
organization that needs such a facility, or that cavers in 2066, will care they
have such a historic property.  My bet is they will tear it down
and and take
out another loan to build something with an Angry Birds theme.

David Locklear
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Re: [Texascavers] membership exclusions

[David via Texascavers]

I am guessing the original intention ( way back when ?? ) to exclude
non-members from an official grotto function was that at specific events
there were free-loaders and non-cavers showing up just to party and drink
beer and they knew a caver or had some connection to a cave or group of
cavers, or once went in a cave.

But that was long before the concept of a big mortgage ever arose.   Right ?

I like the Headquarters and hope I can visit it again someday.

I hope someday I can donate money to that cause, but I doubt it will be in
2016.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] an idea for fund raising

[David via Texascavers]

I have seen dozens of people very interested in caving come to one caving
meeting and either never come back or only go on one caving trip.

I would like to formally propose  that caving organizations offer all new
visitors and the general public an Introductory 3 Month Membership for $ 5
for students and $ 10 for others.   And if they turn that down, then you
can get more aggressive about not including them in the group when they do
not renew.

It scares people off when the first thing they hear from a group is put
money in the "collection plate."

David Locklear

NSS Life-Member # 27639
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[Texascavers] inexpensive headlamp

[David via Texascavers]

Sam's Club has a 2-pack of Bushnell headlamps for $ 19 plus tax.

These lamps are suitable for beginners to use in most beginner trips to
Travis County caves and any small dry caves like Enchanted Rock Cave.

Suitable as an emergency lamp or as a backup.

Not suitable as a primary headlamp on any serious caving trip.

Duracell batteries included.

This headlamp is small enough that you might could mount it next to your
primary headlamp.

"There simply is NO excuse for anyone to find themselves in a cave without
sufficient light to enjoy their trip."

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] more YouTube speleo-stuff

[David via Texascavers]

There is really too much to talk about when it comes
to speleo-stuff on the internet.

Here is a relaxing video to put you to sleep of a cave
that cavers used to go to back in the day, just south of
Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar3L9Lg-EpA

Around 20 years ago or so, Jay Jorden and Bobby ( from Dallas ) and I
rigged this
pit off my truck axle and tried to bop it, but we were met
with bees or something annoying flying bug, and I didn't like the instability
of the wall of the pit, as it seemed to crumble away as we
rappeled against it, so we only made it 1/2 way down.

David Locklear
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Re: [Texascavers] Sumidero Boqueron

[David via Texascavers]

Mr. Mixon was asking about Boqueron.

I quickly skimmed thru YouTube and found 2 videos in Spanish and one
below in French.

The link below might have been the video I saw in 1985:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JwYMeGwJhQ

Which truly inspired me to want to get down there and go caving.

( Sidenote:   I think I saw this film in Monterrey at the OmniMax ( ?
) theater there in 1987 )



The link below ( just a month old ) shows the nature of the terrain.
The river cuts thru this
large natural bridge and then apparently sinks underground, coming out
of the hill about a
kilometer on the other side of the hill.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlwzvk4Mmho

The river probably gets pretty high during a major tropical storm.

Upstream about 1/4 kilometer, the river forks.   We camped on the
beach and swam there
and even drank the water.Not far upstream the river comes out of
the mountain from another
resurgence subterrrean system completely separate from the Boqueron.
We paddle upstream in small
inflatable rafts into that cave about 100 meters and looked for
biological specimens, and never left the
twilight zone.

David Locklear
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Re: [Texascavers] Mr. Mixon's question

[David via Texascavers]

I can only guess there is stuff on YouTube in Spanish and French about the
awesomeness of the karst near Zongolica, Veracruz.

https://youtu.be/G0pZsNokJHE

I saw a French VHS video-clip of cavers in Sumidero Boqueron at an A.S.S.
meeting in October of 1985.

The river cave in the YouTube link below was explored by Steve and Lori
Robertson and Jorge Ramirez in December 1985 using inflatable rafts.   I
chose to sit on the river bank and watch them paddle into the unknown cave,
( known to the local Nahua speakers of course ) as I was way too sick to go
caving and not prepared at all for such an wet underground adventure.

The cave I went in was probably about 200 meters in elevation above the
resurgence and about a 1/2 kilometer hike to the village on the only goat
trail to the village and then on to Comalapa.   I don't remember any sign
of a road around these caves.   That cave had all walking/stooping passage
in waist deep pools of water ended for 300 meters horizontally with one 10
meter drop, and then ended in a balcony above a large room with a drop of
50 meter to the bottom, that Jorge claimed landed in a large lake.   I was
definitely intimidated having such a pit before us and no information on
it.   I had Tom Byrd's rack in my caving pack ( on loan ), and chose not to
do the pit, eventhough I had some vertical experience.  [ I learned my
limits on prior trips, and was just glad to have survived them. ]

My guess is the lake was probably the back sump of Nacimiento Rio Tonto,
and we could have done a fun virgin thru-trip.

I just always figured we would go back someday.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Regarding crops in karst areas

[David via Texascavers]

In December of 1985, I got to tag along with 4 experienced cavers in a
spectacular karstic area about 1/4 mile or less upstream from the Sumidero
Boqueron ( which we could allegedly hear roaring from our camp along the
river bank.   ( The nearest village was Comalapa, Veracruz about an hour
hike away, although there were about 50 people speaking Nahautl living in
thatched huts near an upstream cave from our camp. The 4x4 road seemed to
end at the huts and we had a 1/4 kilometer hike down to our camp from
there.  The nearest town was Zongolica, Veracruz which was I do not
believed sold gasoline at that time. )

3 of the cavers planned to hike from our camp around a huge hill to the
presumed resurgence of the sumidero and enter the unknown with 2 inflatable
rafts.   My task was to provide surface support.

About 1/2 way along the hike to the resurgence, we came up on 2 farmers
chopping and burning a crop.  The Mexican caver leading the group ( Jorge
Ramirez of Mexico City ) asked them about caves.   And they replied
something to the effect of, "what do you think we are standing in?"

To our surprise less than 15 feet from a well travelled goat trail was a 5
meter diameter pit that looked climbable to about 7 meter depth without
rope that appeared to have going horizontal passage.

We were so pressed for time, and just continued hiking.   I volunteered to
check it out later and Jorge and the other caver ( El Pollo - Jose Luis
Soberanes, also of Mexico City ) led me into the unknown cave.

I was super impressed with the cave having never been in a virgin cave or a
cave with that much potential.

The others returned the next day and sketched the cave which certainly
somehow tied into the system there.   I was not experienced enough at the
time to understand tropical  river caving all.   But I got spoiled by that
early experience.This was a biology trip.

I learned about 50% of what I  know about caving on that one week long
trip, and will be forever grateful to Steve and Lori Robertson of
Albuquerque, N.M., and Alejandro " Alex" Villagomez, R.I.P ( Alex was not
there, but led us all on a cave trip in a world-class cave near
Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo on the last portion of our road-trip across Mexico ).

David Locklear
( at that time, an Aggie Caver )
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[Texascavers] another cave-action-thriller movie

[David via Texascavers]

Allegedly premiers in September

http://media.levelk.dk/YToyOntzOjQ6ImRhdGEiO3M6MjUzOiJhOjQ6e3M6MzoidXJsIjtzOjEyODoiaHR0cDovL2JldGEuY3JtLmxldmVsay5kay93ZWJpbWcvUFVCTElDX0lNQUdFXzI3MTZfMTQ2MTU4Njg1OF81NzFlMGJhYWE0MzBkXzRhNDliOWZmMWIzZTc1ZTViZjU5YWMxYjBjN2ZhZGE1OGFkNDM4ZTQuanBnP3Byb3h5PTEiO3M6NToid2lkdGgiO047czo2OiJoZWlnaHQiO2k6NDg4O3M6NzoiZGVmYXVsdCI7czo0NToiaHR0cDovL3d3dy5sZXZlbGsuZGsvYXNzZXRzL2kvcGxhY2Vob2xkZXIucG5nIjt9IjtzOjQ6Imhhc2giO3M6NDA6IjVmMDNiY2EyYTIxNTliMmU1Zjg3OWMyNjg1MTBjMTBkOWRiMjc1ZDAiO30=/public-image-2716-1461586858-571e0baaa430d-4a49b9ff1b3e75e5bf59ac1b0c7fada58ad438e4.jpg


The three friends Charlotte, Adrian and Viktor are in their late 20s
and got to know each other during their service in the Telemark
Battalion in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2012. Adrian and Charlotte
later became a couple, and both of them still works for the army. They
are all interested in extreme sports and physical challenges, and have
for a long time planned the descent into an unexplored cave system
deep into the mountains. A couple of years earlier, two foreign divers
drowned while exploring a part of the same cave. One of the divers was
never found, and in the time that followed the cave was closed off.
The three friends defies the restrictions, and with no back-up they
begin their journey, which includes rafting, rappelling, cave climbing
and subterranean diving. They have estimated that the exploration will
take about 48 hours, and the goal is to find an exit on the opposite
side of the mountain, in the unexplored part of the cave, and will
therefore be the first people who will ever explore the cave and make
it out alive. Contrary to their beliefs, what meets them in the
narrow, damp darkness is their worst nightmare.


Ref:

http://www.levelk.dk/films/cave/2716

Allegedly they have already started work on a sequel to this movie,
tentatively titled, "Cave 2."
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[Texascavers] Shuanghe Cave in the news

[David via Texascavers]

A rare varitey of flying squirrel has allegedly been found in
"Shuanghe Cave."


http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2016/05/01/447a35ac6c734618978f28fcd12fd870.jpg


http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2016/05/01/f5c47e3e6cd646c1b86d03f4af6a0286.jpg

   
https://scontent-dfw1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13087849_681955511945162_852902158488768889_n.jpg?oh=b401d4e8f1df6b6c528c821516dbe742&oe=57BA3F47

possibly a species known as  "petaurista alborufus."

Also,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVEycHXQGkk
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[Texascavers] A pink headlight

[David via Texascavers]

There is now a pink headlamp suitable for real caving.

It is sold under the NEO brand ( which I think is a marketed by the same
folks that do Coast lights )

Academy has it for $ 25 plus tax.

This lamp could be a back-up light to keep in the pack, if you are on a
trip to a big cave.

Anonymous
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[Texascavers] A grant idea

[David via Texascavers]

The National Institute of Health has ( according to Fox News ) supported a
grant to see if LGBT people are more likely to live in neighboorhoods where
tobacco is readily available.

So why not get a similar study financed related to caving ?  One suggestion
would be to study to see if people who love caves are more likely to live
in karst areas, and thus are more likely to get injured exploring caves.

Anonymous
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[Texascavers] Speleo-slander

[David via Texascavers]

The Queen of Speleo-slander will not stop until somebody gives her a
Brownie-Button.

I know at least 2 cavers who can wake up every morning and see their
grandkids and kids and thank Oztotl I was there to save them in a Mexican
cave.

Not a single member of any of my caving trips has ever got injured.

I have gone out of my way to include females in my caving trips.

I have never ever broken a bone or needed stitches from a cut in my life.

This psycho-babble from someone upset about a comment I made about a
totally irrelevant cave is way beyond ludicrous.

David Locklear
Recipient of the Walter B. Scott Award for Exploration
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[Texascavers] A special TSA award ?

[David via Texascavers]

Julie should be nominated for posting the top 5 worst post on Cavetex in
its 17 (  ? ) year history, behind the thread around 2000 that went on and
on about something so silly, I forgot what it was.

Even my worst post, of which there are dozens, are not in the top 50.

I will accept the Award for  the record for the quantity of worst post.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Consumer tip

[David via Texascavers]

The purpose of this message is to help a few cavers save a few dollars, but
is intended for those who plan to go to the movies over the holidays.

I saw 50 movies this year, and the one that stood out above the others was,
"PK."

Anonymous
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[Texascavers] Time-out - New topic

[David via Texascavers]

>From David Locklear

There is no reason to continue the thread on my lack of knowledge of Travis
County Caves.  It serves no purpose, except to those who get a kick out of
flame wars.

I seem to have a special gift for getting on some people's nerves, but I
will talk about that some other time.

I have defended myself enough times, so just read my previous apologies and
rebuttals.

There were situations were I made human errors and I have regrets about the
way I worded or misspoke at times, but it was never malicious or
intentional.

Cavers who know me, know I have not done any expedition caving, or alpine
caving, or backcountry caving, or speleology, or cave cartography, or cave
photography, or cave diving, etc.  But I am interested in all of those
things, and would love to sit around a campfire and talk about them.

We need to focus on the elements we have in common instead of those that
separate us.

For example you are the only people I can talk to about long lost friends
like Pat Copeland and Donna Mosesman and Charles Haskett and Oren
Tranbarger etc.

If I listed the 1000 people I met in life that I like, Jules would have
been on the list.
I think I met her once at the 2000 NSS Convention at the OTR site.  But I
can not put a face to her name.   But I have a 3-strike rule, and she
busted that.  I would still be nice to her at caving events, as I strongly
feel cavers should put aside their differences at Holy Oztotl ceremonies.
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[Texascavers] A rebuttal - Part 1

[David via Texascavers]

The recent post, some judged as harsh, seems worthy of a rebuttal.

I know diddly about Travis County caves.  That is a true statement.

In the fall of 84, I went in about 6 of them as a newbie led by newbie
A.S.S. cavers. Afterwards, I became the self-appointed A.S.S. trip leader,
and from 1985 to 1987, I made a faithful effort to lead trips to those 6
caves.

Things were different in those days.  We were outside the loop of
communication.  We did not have good TSA connections, or good connections
at what we called the "t.u. grotto." ( an Aggie thing ). We were an
uninformed mentorless ill-equipped student group and presumed all the other
grottos were just like us.  Our guide was some crappy books in the A&M
library.

I attended a few grotto meetings in Austin and San Antonio in the late 80's
as sort of the self-appointed Ambassador of the A.S.S.  In 1993, I was very
active in the A.S.S. and attended every meeting and tried to share my
experiences with the young  cavers.

One of the A.S.S members in 93 was Allen Glennon ( son of Bob Glennon ).
He taught me want email was.I left the A.S.S. for good after nearly 10
years of sporadic influence, and moved on to other things.

I only know of one A.S.S. caver from that era that ever became a real
caver, and he became one of the best cavers Texas ever produced.

To be continued

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com.
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[Texascavers] 2014 trivia

[David via Texascavers]

In 2014, you were statistically far more likely to die by eating a
pre-packaged caramel-coated apple in Texas than by going caving.

Not sure if the same could be said for the whole nation though.

Feel free to correct me on the statistical part.

I bet you could say the same thing about many other odd ways to die.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] The dregs

[David via Texascavers]

The original post about the cave in Austin mentioned something about the
city acquiring land.

The storm sewer lies in a highfalutin neighborhood.  It does not seem
practical to buy a land preserve there.

The cost of ripping out the storm-sewer and doing a gov't authorized dig
would be a million dollars.

A more worthwhile project would be something at "Cave X, " which I would
guess is controlled by the Balcones Escarpment District, which I know
nothing about.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] An outsider's perspective

[David via Texascavers]

This email is a rebuttal to Mr. Mixon's.

First of all, I am a card-carrying member to both the Terry Raines Fan
Club, and the Bill Mixon Fan Club.

In the fall of 1989, there was an urgent need to get a caving book out
about Mexico, because everything was out of print or in very limited
supply, and certainly not easily acceptable to independent cavers like
me.   There was only one caver on the Earth capable of doing anything about
that and that was the honorable Terry Raines.  He volunteered to step up to
an enormous challenge to have a book ready at the first Mexpeleo
gathering.   I got the impression he had no support from the caving
community, and had to do it all on his own at his own expense.  I think he
stayed up all night and drove non-stop to the gathering in Ciudad Valles to
show off a copy.

I liked the database format.  The book should have been entitled, "The
Mexpeleo Convention Field guide."

I do not see any reason, why it could not be fixed and republished as a
web-colloboration among cavers.

That being said I do not personally have anything against book critics, and
I do think Bill is a great book critic.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] Prassel Ranch Cave

[David via Texascavers]

Has anyone been in Prassel Ranch Cave in the last 15 years ?  Or contacted
the land owner ?

I would like to go back there someday.

The location below should be within 5 miles of the cave, unless my fuzzy
memory is wrong.

near 202 Red Oak Dr
Boerne, TX 78006

http://goo.gl/maps/wDxN0

I could not find anything useful on the internet, unless some genealogist
has access to coordinates for Prassel Ranch Cemetery.

Note all the new big ranch houses in the area that were not there back when
the last big cave trip took place.

That trip was one that I have fond memories of thanks to Bill Steele.My
memory of the lead in the back is that it would require explosives to open
up, as flowstone had blocked the way.  I do not remember any air or water
flow though, just a 8" diameter hole with no end in sight.  Definitely
worth sending an inspection-snake with a Go-Pro cam on it.

That is the muddiest I ever got caving, but it immediately washed off
because you are in water the whole trip.

I think the lead in this cave is the 2nd best that I am aware of.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] La Joya de Salas

[David via Texascavers]

Just curious how many times this cave has received a deluge of water since
the last push trip.  A wild guess would be at least ten.

And was the sump dived.

I was told by a caver in 1989 that they left an unchecked pit in a side
passage when they were in the cave years earlier.

I believe he was a British caver, living in the Mexican state of Tabasco.
I think he said his name was Peter Lord.

I have peered into the entrance, and have a copy of what the AMCS put
together in the 70's.

I tried to get some cavers to go there with me in the early 90's, but in
those days didn't have social media, or email, or texting, and was out of
the communication loop typically used for such trips.

I did some ridgewalking on 2 occasions in an area far east of the cave and
found nothing.

There might be a virgin rappel into a skylight in a small shelter cave near
the village of Julillo.  My guess is it would be a 50 foot rappel, and then
walk out .  It is just off the side of the road on the left as you drive
north out of the village ( just one house ? in 1989 )

While on this subject, a young enthusiastic caver should write a modern
updated version of the book, "Caves of the InterAmerican Highway.". I paid
$ 100 for my copy in 1987.

Also,

I recall in 1989, Terry Raines was working very hard on a book, called,
"The Caves of Mexico,". I only saw a rough-draft.  I would have liked to
have puchased such a book.It would seem in today's world of
web-collaboration that such a tedious project would be more efficient and
accurate.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] Austin Caverns

[David via Texascavers]

This best picture I know of is in a Texas Caver in 1980 ( plus or minus 4
years ) of Erika Heinenen near the entrance of the storm sewer or in the
sewer.

I have never heard any public or private chatter about this cave except for
the 2 recent post on Cavetex

My 2 cents is that

Kiwi Sink is a far more productive endeavor for cavers. I hope I can
take my kid on a real caving trip to Kiwi someday.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] A cave drone video

[David via Texascavers]

http://youtu.be/FUmr0JusmY0
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[Texascavers] Cave question

[David via Texascavers]

Just for fun:

Presume there were a large cave passage on the planet Mars.

Would the cave blow or suck at the entrance ?

Could methane or other similar gases be trapped in the cave ?  If so, could
they seasonally escape ?

If there were a liquid flowing vertically downwards, would it look like a
waterfall in slow-motion ?

What would it mean if there were a deeper limestone cave on Mars than
Krubera ?
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[Texascavers] Related to speleo-vehicles

[David via Texascavers]

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/12/16/first-public-auction-military-humvees-causing-buzz/

A Humvee Ambulance would look nice with some caver paraphonelia all over it.

David Locklear
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Re: [Texascavers] Austin Caverns

[David via Texascavers]

Bill's post mentioned something about the cave being in the hills.

My fuzzy recollection of the neighborhood of the cave I was in was in an
area that was flat by Austin standards, whereas "across the river" as the
report stated is where the hills are.

I only know 2 cavers that know where the storm sewer entrance is, and I
presumed everybody in Austin knew exactly where it was.

Maybe I am thinking of a different cave ?

David Locklear
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Re: [Texascavers] Austin Caverns

[David via Texascavers]

I did not read the details of the last post, but just skimmed it.

I do not recall that the cave that I went to being across the Colorado
river, as the report indicated.

My previous post about the vicinity of the cave seem to be mistaken.

I drove down every street in the neighborhood using Google Street View, and
was NOT able to find anything that resembled the storm-sewer that we
entered.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] A party report

[David via Texascavers]

This is a brief summary of only part of the Bexar Grotto Holiday Party,

[ Disclaimer: posted by David Locklear, but with permission ]

Geary & Sue Schindel sent out a public invitation to attend the party.

I think 74 people attended.  I have no idea how many were cavers, as it
seems like half the attendees had some kind of date or partner, etc.

I only know a few of these people by name and face as I only see them
briefly once every few years.

About of half the cavers that attended were ( in alphabetical order )
[ Disclaimer:  from fuzzy memory ]

Don & Jenni Auburn
Randy Baker
Allan Cobb
Rick & Rebecca Corbell
Gary Donham
Tom Florer
Leia Hill
Chris Lafferty
Bennett Lee
Kurt Menking
Joe & Evelyn Mitchell
Linda Palit
Cynthia Ann Perez ( w/ mom and daughter)
Joe Ranzau
Tom Rogers
Sheryl Rieck
Lindsay Smith
Roy Wessel

Others:
( not sure of names )
Aaron
Michelle
Natasha
Pam Campbell ?

also,
Rob Bisset ( Sunday morning )

There was plenty of wine and a few beers left over.  There was a large
variety of sweet snacks, including a home-made shortbread cake -British
style ??

The gift exchange took up a large portion of the party.

A few cavers talked of long forgotten caves and missed cavers who
disappeared or left us.

The following morning Sue cooked breakfast for a few stragglers that spent
the night.

At least 4 tried the jacuzzi, and others enjoyed the fire pit and the
beautiful weather

I think I have now attended at least 8 grotto holiday parties from 5
different Texas grottos.

There are obviously lots of names left off, and some I should know.  I will
let someone else post an addendum.

A real caving trip apparently followed on Sunday afternoon and seemed to be
an extension of the party.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com

P.S.

this was my first road-trip to use my smartphone's voice-navigation, as I
have only tinkered with it previously.   I think my next phone will be a
phablet-size, as this is a useful tool for road-trips once you get the hang
of it.
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[Texascavers] Another personal story

[David via Texascavers]

Oops, I didn't sign the last one.   David Locklear.

In December of 1995, I was sitting around the caver-campfire at Mexpeleo.
It was cold, damp and foggy.   I came to a major decision in my life at
that very moment, while staring into the hypnotic flames.  ( Thanks to a
young caver-girl from Mexico who was sitting at the campfire. )  I decided
I was going to pursue finding a girl that already loved the Sierra Madres
as much as me, instead of trying to find a girl who would grow to love them
as much as me.   And in the course of this pursuit, I was going to have to
master Spanish and the culture of Mexico.

19 years later, today, I noticed how much that fork in the road changed my
destiny.

My daughter, ( who I nicknamed CavePearl ) is now 10, and although I have
failed to get her outdoors or into a cave, she has an attachment to the
culture of her mom's side of the family.

Here she is, Friday night, performing one of her favorite dances.

http://youtu.be/UNo1h_DGDQo
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[Texascavers] Cops and cavers

[David via Texascavers]

Since the news media is so focused on the issue of police interaction with
the public, I thought I would share some personal stories.

In early July of 1987, I was on a solo recon trip to ridgewalk on the east
face of Cerro de la Silla, east-southeast of Monterrey.   I had no
information to go on, and spoke almost no Spanish.

I caught a city bus out of Monterrey, and ended up at the end of the line
in some "ejido" village, which I can only take a wild guess at now and say
was "Santa Ana de Arriba." ( southwest of Carricitos ). In those days,
there was nothing out there.

In hindsight it was a foolish idea, but the plan was simple, check out the
area and catch the last bus back to town.   Well, I was on the last bus and
I learned that the hard way.

It was dark by the time we got to the village and the driver and 2 farmers
got off and looked at me like I was crazy.

I soon figured out I was in deep doo-doo.

So I started to hike down the road back towards Monterrey, under the
star-lit desert sky.

I guess I made it a few miles. Then the cops showed up.

They pointed to the back of the Paddy-wagon.  And it seemed obvious I was
going for a ride.   Fortunately, I was alone in the back.  It was a dark
rectangular box, with room for 6 prisoners, but I could see thru a slot we
were rapidly heading back to Monterrey.   I did not feel threatened by
them, and I was so naive that I had no idea what would happen once I got in
jail.

We got into town on the east side, probably the Guadalupe area, and they
opened the sliding slot and said something.   All I could think of to say
was "tres hamburguesas" hoping they would let me buy them dinner.  They
said no, and we sat there for a few minutes. Then they opened the door and
gestured for me to get out.
Then they shook their heads and said something like "loco gringo," and
drove off leaving me there.
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[Texascavers] Cave critters in Heaven

[David via Texascavers]

Just for fun:

Some websites announced today that someone overheard the leader of the
Catholic community subtly indicating there is an after-life for
cave-critters.

For his ideology to hold water, it would have to include the extinct
cave-bear.  Right?

Also, if this notion could be even remotely believed, humans would be
outnumbered by bats in Heaven.  Right ?

Surely, he means the sinful animals burn in Hell for eternity, too.

I hope he is right, I look forward to a discussion with a bonobo, or a
pterodactyl, or one of those deep-sea fish, but especially my earliest
australopithecus ancestor, and to meet the being credited with teaching
ancient humans how to make fire.

I have a hunch, he is mistaken.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Caves on tv

[David via Texascavers]

The tv show, "Moonshiners" has an episode today of what appears to be a
large bat-cave in the Carolinas.

If the cave is closed, it would seem the WNS policy is not working there.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] A cave on Google maps ?

[David via Texascavers]

I was really surprised when I looked on Google Street view at that location.

In the very spot I thought should be a storm sewer, there is a sinkhole
with a sheet of plywood over it.

Also, the old houses have been demolished and they are building a new house
there.

I hope that is not the spot and that my fuzzy memory is wrong.

Either way, somebody needs to be documenting that if there really is a
sinkhole there

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] A spot on Goggle Maps

[David via Texascavers]

My best guess is at this location

http://goo.gl/maps/BXoOH
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Re: [Texascavers] Austin Caverns

[David via Texascavers]

Has anyone crawled thru the metal pipe at the bottom of the storm drain
since the last big flood in that area ?

It has been 20 years for me, but my recollection was that some one could
get hurt if that fell.  I think I kicked it to see if it was loose, and it
did not budge, but it was suspended in air about 16 inches with little
holding it.  It must weigh 300 pounds.

Also the concrete floor of the storm drain had nothing under for support,
just an air space almost big enough to enter

The void under the road was big enough to stand in, if you looked thru a
gap in the storm drain.

The crawl passage was filled with leaves.   Looked like a good place to get
bit by something.

David Locklear
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Re: [Texascavers] Austin Caverns

[David via Texascavers]

Sometime in 1993, I think, I convinced some Aggie Cavers  to dig in the
cave.  We called it Project R.A.C.K.
(Restoration of Austin Caverns and Karst )

We rented a Uhaul trailer and tied a bucket and pulley to the tree next to
the entrance.

We filled up the trailer with dirt.

They all thought I was crazy, but I was going on the best information I had
at the time.

They mutined on me.  I returned solo twice I think after several failed
bids to keep the project alive.  I realized it was futile, and gave up.

I did make a faithful effort to invite cavers I knew to come.  This was
before I had email, I think, so I remember doing lots of cold calling.

I only crawled a few feet into the cave.  The ground around the culvert
under the street was a void and it appeared to be on the verge of
collapsing.

At least one other storm sewer nearby drain into the cave, as I got an
ice-chest of cold water dumped on me by a resident while digging.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] An interesting new video-clip

[David via Texascavers]

Just an owl swimming on Lake Michigan:

http://youtu.be/YnCPJ8FPbtw
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[Texascavers] Road-trip snack suggestion

[David via Texascavers]

Next time you are on a road-trip in southeast Texas heading towards a cave,
pull into a Buc-cees and see if they have any crawfish pie and stock up on
it.

The are about a $ 1 per bite.

I would guess each station carries local special items like this, so maybe
it is just a thing here at our Buc-cees.

Sympathy to those allergic.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] A climbing related video

[David via Texascavers]

Check out this rock-climber's confidence on the over-hanging cliff face:

( sorry for the Facebook link )

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=780279402027526&refid=17
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[Texascavers] A Thanksgiving story

[David via Texascavers]

I had the pleasure today to split a homemade pecan pie with old-timer James
Manning and listen to caver stories from the late 50's and early 60's.
James was VP of the Texas Region in 1959, I think.  He talked of going to
the early trips to Diablo Cave, and Bustamante, and cavers he knew, Ewers
and Morris, and Bob Litton.

His daughter Mary Kay was present.   She was active in the mid 1980s, and
still regularly socializes with cavers from College Station from that era.

I wish I could have captured the moment on video.

They still have not fully recovered from Hurricane Ike.

I made an attempt to snatch a collection of old caving magazines.I will
hopefully get another chance at that someday.

Maybe someone could entice him into a real caver video documentary ?

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Cobb Cave ?

[David via Texascavers]

What is the status of this cave ?

It was the first thing that came to mind when I read Geary's call to take a
caver dignitary on a special trip.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Holiday safety reminder

[David via Texascavers]

Opening plastic retail packages is more dangerous than vertical caving with
old used natural-fiber rope.
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[Texascavers] Gear related

[David via Texascavers]

This is about a nylon sack to carry stuff in.

Lowe's hardware store has a new product that they are calling a "cinch bag."

It looks like a practical thing to throw in your car for a road trip.

It is a rugged nylon sack with a small zipper compartment on the outside to
put your headlamp, and 2 open kangaroo pouches, one for a candy bar, and
the other for  small LED flashlight.  There is a small pouch outside with
Velcro lid to store a sandwich.  On the back is a zippered flat pouch for
maps, photos, flat things.

Inside is enough room for helmet and gloves, or instead something else like
knee pads, or a sweater.  Top does not close but has a drawstring, that
also serves as the shoulder straps.

Ideal use would be for a very short ridgewalking trip.

Brand is AWP, and is in the rack with the nylon tool bags.

It comes with webbing handles.

You could almost call it a purse for cavers.

It has a strap for car key-ring, or small carabiner.

It could be modified for more rugged uses, but already has a grommet drain
hole.

It cost $ 19.40 plus tax

See AWP HP Cinch Bag #0552604

This product meets the unofficial LSA ( Locklear Seal of Approval )

David Locklear
NSS # 27639
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[Texascavers] Immigration and caving

[David via Texascavers]

This falls under personal opinions and not caving related.  I am only
posting it because it is related to today's big news story.

By David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com

I hope I can make this sound caving related, but that is probably
stretching it.

I have heard rumors there are non-U.S. citizens living in the states that
not only go caving here, but are very active cavers.

I would be in favor of a plan to allow "undocumented" foreign cavers  a
visitation visa that was renewable every 3 years, as long as a U.S. citizen
in good standing sponsored them, and that the process be straight-forward.
I would not want them to receive any kind of gov't benefits and their
children would have to attend private school, and their spouses would have
to stay home or qualify separately under their own skills.   I would want
their entire criminal history, (not just felonies,) publicly accessible.  I
would think such a visa would be worth $ 1,000.

But how would the gov't weed out undesirable applicant's who find loopholes
in the procedures, that nefarious immigration attorneys are known for?
There would be so much fraud.

Personally, I am strongly opposed to deportation of criminals.  I would
much rather keep them here permanently in remote tent camps in northern
North Dakota. So I disagree with both Republicans and Democrats in that.

I would like to see a rule included to protect naive US spouses who marry
non-U.S. citizens, but to especially prohibit their children from being
taken out of the country.

On a related note,

my Mexican mother-in-law, stays with us for 3 months, then goes home and
renews her papers and then comes back a month later  She has been doing
this for 10 years and I am so burned out from having to deal with her.  She
does not hurt America, but does make pocket-change cooking tamales and
sewing clothes for other immigrants in our neighborhood.  The only help she
provides is being our kid's nanny, so you could say she is putting the
nanny and baby-sitter out of business.

Also, my estranged wife will be here illegally in about 3 months, as her
Green Card will expire.  She has made no effort to fix that, except to call
my mother and tell her what a rotten son she raised.
She just started working as a pre-K teacher in a private school in a
religious facility, so she is putting an American out of a job there.  The
pay and benefits are terrible, but location is very convenient for her.

One big question I have is, what other presidents in the world are making
an effort to allow US citizens more rights and access to their resources
?   Saudi Arabia ?  Tibet?  Syria ?  Puerto Rico ?
( just kidding on Puerto Rico )

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Ocampo related

[David via Texascavers]

In the fall of 1987, about 6 A.S.S. members camped on a small river bank at
the following location

22.853128, -99.121751

http://goo.gl/maps/hVUlI

The trip was lead by Tim Jones ( who now owns a software business in
Austin, I think )

We spent a day ridgewalking here, and tried our best to find a cave, but
did not find anything.

Tim had info and topo maps on vague potential leads that he got from Austin
cavers.

We ended up going to a village called San Jose in the El Cielo, and caving
there.

We were all too young., inexperienced, ill-equipped, hard-headed, etc  to
accomplish anything, ( especially me. ) But the biggest obstacles were
personnel differences, and that none of us knew much about Mexico, or
Spanish.

However, I learned things on that trip that I carried with me years later -
like you do NOT pull off on the side of a busy Mexican highway in the
middle of the night and take a nap.

Tim went back to Mexico several times to ridgewalk with a Houston caver who
is well known for finding entrances in that part of Mexico.

But I lost contact with him 25 years ago.  He wanted to be a hard-core
caver in 1987, and was designing his own custom headlight.  He was
President of A.S.S. in 87 and probably 88.  But his biggest impact, was
that he was the only caver there with a car.  The rest of us were poor
students.   Those were the good ole days, right ?

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Exciting news

[David via Texascavers]

The new app that I just mentioned let's you put the NSS or any caving
group, directly on the gadget's home screen for one-touch access.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Internet related

[David via Texascavers]

About 3 years ago, I proposed an idea that it would be great if caving
groups, such as the NSS, had their own touchscreen app on smartphones and
tablets.
Shortly after that, I went on a 3-month rant about how Google Plus was
great and almost such an app.  ( Looks like Google Plus is not going to
take off.)

Now, Facebook figured it out.
I just installed the I latest app, Facebook Groups, and it shows potential.

It puts a blue circle on your gadget, with 3 white colored figures inside
to represent a group.  Clicking on that puts you into a screen similar to
Google Plus, but all your Facebook groups are shown there, and clicking on
any group icon puts you in app tweaked for communication with members of
that group.

[ Disclaimer:  I spent 30 seconds testing this. ]

So now the caving groups just need to work on their icons .

David Locklear

P.S.  I had the privilege of seeing a few cavers yesterday and seeing Bill
Steele''s slide show.  I had seen it before in 1988 in Aggieland, but it
had been changed a little.

I have had little contact with cavers for several years and it was
refreshing to attend something caving related.
There were new people there.  I did not catch everybody's name.  One of
them was a girl named Clarion, who sounded enthusiastic about caves, even
though she had never been caving.

But the experience was also personally frustrating, because going caving is
not in my schedule for many months to come, certainly not the kind of
caving that I most enjoy -  tropical river caves.
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[Texascavers] Bat rabies related

[David via Texascavers]

I mentioned recently that my step-father was treated for a bat bite or
scratch.

He had 1 of 5 rabies shots and that allegedly cost $23,000.  He did not get
the other 4 shots, because after he had the first shot, the results showed
the bat did not test positive.

He was sick after all that, so everybody that knew him was very worried.
I do not know hat other medical bills were involved.

David Locklear

dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] Beer related

[David via Texascavers]

Most of you like to drink alcohol.  Please do not drive after having a
drink.

I work for attorneys that claim to help drivers, boaters and motorcyclist
whose license is suspended.

It has become nearly impossible in southeast Texas to get the suspension
reduced or dismissed.  And while that may be great, some drivers allege
they just had a sip.

Please email me privately for more details if interested, as I can not post
it publicly.

David Locklear

dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] Philae Lander

[David via Texascavers]

Last I have heard the comet probe is in hibernation for at least 24 hours.

Here is another interesting picture, but still too blurry to say if it
anything other than a rock.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/intc40tqdpahmbn/IMG_20141113_223831_2.jpg?dl=0

Looks like the prehistoric bones of a mega-bat.

David Locklear
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Re: [Texascavers] Carrizal

[David via Texascavers]

Charles, you have to imagine a gas-powered choo-choo train and giant LCD
tv's mounted on the walls showing you what "stalamgasites " are, and how
they are formed.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] The comet

[David via Texascavers]

There appears to be crystals in the rock near the Lander's leg -  Dogtooth
Spar like crystals .  I spot 3 or 4 of them.  Photo is to blurry to really
tell.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sw10h7kmz43l3rh/IMG_20141113_223831_1.jpg?dl=0

David Locklear
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Re: [Texascavers] Helectites

[David via Texascavers]

Never mind.  It was just a fuzzy picture of the Philae Landers leg
mechanism, ( possibly covered in frost ? )
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[Texascavers] Extraterrestrial helectites !

[David via Texascavers]

I have not uploaded the photo yet, so go to Twitter and check it out.
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[Texascavers] Is this caving ?

[David via Texascavers]

http://siberiantimes.com/upload/information_system_38/1/7/4/item_1740/information_items_1740.jpg
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[Texascavers] the comet photos

[David via Texascavers]

I believe the photos that I posted were not taken by the lander but taken
earlier by the
orbiter.

Here is another odd formation, which also appears to have been taken by the
orbiter.

Feel free to correct me.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l16im2nul01023x/formation.jpg?dl=0

Note the rectangular shapes. It could be stated that rectangular things
randomly form
in The Universe.

This seems more interesting than Mars.I see out-of-this-world
rock-climbing on some
craggy cliffs.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] extraterrestrial speleothems

[David via Texascavers]

I believe it was Dr. Halliday, that had a discussion about speleothems
outside
of caves.

Here appears to be something that resembles a shield formation on the
surface of
the comet, comet 67p/churyumov-gerasimenko:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3yxp9fp2ykz6psx/shield.jpg?dl=0

My guess is that it is 400 meters in diameter, plus or minus 100 meters.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] A new cave

[David via Texascavers]

I would like to claim title to an extraterrestrial cave - a talus cave on
the comet in the news today.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9wi5kqdh7fhwz5p/IMG_20141112_173900_1.jpg?dl=0
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[Texascavers] Ridgewalking on comets

[David via Texascavers]

This may be the closest we ever get to ridgewalking on comets.

This image was just released by ESA a few minutes ago.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B2Q7tdNIMAAYbTe.jpg:large

I do not see any karst.A wild guess is the lander took this photo 100
meters above the surface. Hopefully it did not bounce off that big
boulder, which I am guessing is the size
of a house.

David Locklear
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Re: [Texascavers] Las Grutas de Carrizal

[David via Texascavers]

I first went to Carrizal in December of 1984 with 5 other newbie Aggie
Cavers, and was the least experienced of the group.There was a large
sign posted out front warning of danger in the cave that was old and faded.
   I once had a picture of the sign, but it is probably lost.Didn't it
say "Histoplasmosis" on it ??

We hiked a mile in from the gate, as we had no idea how to get a key, only
to find a family living about 200 yards from the entrance.I went on
several more trips to Carrizal for about 10 years after that, and they were
all fun and uneventful.I have no idea if any of us got sick, and if we
did we thought we had the flu.

There was a time in the late 80's, where I had no problem getting a key to
the gate, but could not find cavers to go, or I didn't have vacation time,
or had some other caving related event to attend that was higher priority.

Sidenote:

The ladder that was recently used in the Kiwi Sink Dig was purchased in
1995 for checking out some shadows in the ceiling of the passage in
Carrizal.After a monumental effort to purchase and deliver the ladder
to the entrance by myself, the 3 other members of my team mutined and would
not help me carry the ladder the rest of the way into the cave.  (
Disclaimer:   the ladder is a heavy duty aluminum ladder consisting of two
- 20 foot pieces. )  I can remember planning to carry it myself, as they
sat around the campfire relaxing with their cerveza mexicana ( Modelo or
Tecate ?? ).   I think I went back in the cave alone to re-check the
shadows once last time, and accepted the reality that I could not safely
get the ladder in place without their help. So I joined them around the
campfire. I thought about donating the ladder then to the town of
Candela, so I wouldn't have to haul it back to Houston, but decided it
would be more practical to find a caving use for it somewhere.The
ladder was eventually delivered from Houston to Kiwi Sink on the top of my
tiny Honda Fit.   I paid for the ladder hanging
Christmas lights on 2-story houses.

That trip was the last time I was in Carrazal, I think.   Sometime earlier,
around 1993, I was with 2 Houston cavers, Pam Ozkowski ( Spencer Woods wife
) and Ralph Batche ( R.I.P. ), in the cave.

There was another trip about that time with caver George Sanders, so ask
him about Carrizal.   He drove to the entrance in his Geo Metro.After
watching that off-road feat, I learned the benefits of a short-wheel base
and small vehicle width, for travelling the backroads of the Sierra Madres.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Las Grutas de Carrizal

[David via Texascavers]

I strongly believe that the most constructive potential project for Mexican
and US cavers to work together on a long term project is at Las Grutas de
Carrizal.

Has anyone recently tried to push the leads ?  How accurate and complete is
the map ?  What other caves are within hiking distance ?

A hot-tub could easily setup, although the water at the entrance is mostly
just watered-down bat excrement.  Imagine getting the water from the
upsteam sump to fill the hot-tub.

Camping is secluded and there is shade.  I am certain that the Monarch
Butterflies refuge there at the spring.

My personal opinion is there are too many bats in the cave, and they should
go find another nearby cave where they won't contaminate the water source.

Imagine the cave cleared of all that dusty guano ?  There could be some
picturesque photos to take.

Imagine a good gate on the cave.

Imagine a caver hut outside like at Punkin and Deep.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] a 4x4 RV for cavers

[David via Texascavers]

Here is an interesting looking vehicle at that seems to have a nice
price.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-E-Series-Van-dually-2001-ford-e-350-4-x-4-box-van-/321578457577?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4adf91d9e9&item=321578457577&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

While that vehicle is certainly way too big to drive into the Sierra
Madres, it seems great for taking a group of cavers camping where the road
just gets a little rough and muddy.a

Also, you could advertise on the side of it, or put your grotto's logo or
emblem.
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[Texascavers] Jeep for sale

[David via Texascavers]

I saw this on the side of the road in the town of Cypress, TX

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ryqd2o6da75f2z/IMAG0447.jpg?dl=0

They think it is worth $ 15 grand.

It has been off-road quite a bit by the looks underneath.

But has not passed inspection for 15 months.

Call 832-483-2279

I do not need this much ground clearance.  Do you ?

Does not have rear window, and rain is or has been getting in.
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[Texascavers] A caving billboard ?

[David via Texascavers]

You got to come to Houston to see the caving related  billboard along
Interstate 45.

Not a cave within 200 miles , but we got a billboard.
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Re: [Texascavers] Mystery Question

[David via Texascavers]

I guess I gave too many hints.

Logan wins the prize .  Thank you.
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[Texascavers] Mystery Question of the month

[David via Texascavers]

The sketch below is featured in a children's book about some kids on an
adventure.  It was published in 2007 by Hyperion.

Who can be the first to guess the title of the book ?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2sk4j485jdqkxup/IMAG0424_1.jpg?dl=0
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[Texascavers] A conservation question

[David via Texascavers]

I am posting this here because most cavers seem to be more environmentally
conscious than most people.

What do you think of the idea known as pee-cycling ?

It sounds like a great idea to me , and I have been making a faithful
effort to experiment with this for several months.

I have found that one-gallon jugs with a wide mouth work the best.
Examples, are Pine-Sol bottles.

One perk to this, is you do not have to walk down the hall to the bathroom
in the early morning hours.

Disclaimer:   I have absolutely no idea how girls would do this.

I assume this would be much easier in rural areas than the inner city.

David Locklear

P.S.  I am on a temporary hiatus, as I am downsizing and giving up half the
floor of the quadriplex that I have been renting since February.  The
apartment near downtown Houston is available now, but has slumlord
issues.   Not sure if I am going to remain in the other apartment to 2016.
My 2 large aquariums are keeping me from moving.
At the moment, I am putting all my belongings back in my storage unit in
the town of Brenham.  That process will take up most of November.  My
desire to take advantage of the new light-rail was an epic failure, but
that was partly because I chose the wrong location, and partly because this
new extension of the rail-system is lame.
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[Texascavers] caves in the news & other stuff

[David via Texascavers]

I think someone mentioned this already.

Back on September 29th and October 1st, several reporters on the internet
wrote a news story alleging that the Miao Room is larger by volume than the
Sarawak Chamber.It was in
the news again today, as if it was something brand new.

See illustration below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miao_Room#mediaviewer/File:Gebihe_cave_system_-_Miao_Room.png

David Locklear


Ref:

http://www.visiontimes.com/2014/09/29/world-supercaves-vie-for-title-of-whos-bigger-most-voluminous-wins.html


P.S.

I am sorry I missed TCR.I only have lame excuses.  My mother-in-law
urgently needed to travel from our house near Houston to Monterrey, Mexico,
and due to her health and the
large amount of luggage she travels with, she is no longer able to make the
long journey by bus alone from Houston.So I took her to the closest
Mexican bus station, which is in the bordertown of Nuevo Laredo, and put
her on the inexpensive Futura line. Since I was sort of stuck there in
Nuevo Laredo waiting for the traffic congestion to lessen at
customs, I decided to make the best of it and attempt to have a 4 hour
mini-vacation.

In hindsight, I wish I had put her on the bus in Houston.

I hope I can say what I am about to say without offending all my Mexican
friends.   I found no reason for any human to visit the central part of
Nuevo Laredo.   I have been there 40+ times over the past 29 years, and
this was the worst I had ever seen it.  I walked about 2 miles alone around
the streets in the central part of town. I ate at what should have been a
5-star restaurant.  I tried to chat with residents on the street, went in
some bars, and other such things.

For a Saturday evening, I can't imagine being any place worse off.For
example, I was the only patron at the 5-star restaurant during peak-dinner
time ( gringo dinner-time, I mean - 7 p.m. ). In addition, I found
nothing whatsover to do within walking distance of the international bridge.

I do not think you will ever catch me in Nuevo Laredo again.However, I
will be making a similar trip soon to the bordertown of Reynosa in the
state of Tamaulipas.   So hopefully, I will have something pleasant to
report.

To be continued 
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[Texascavers] An awesome new Lantern

[David via Texascavers]

This post is from David Locklear,  dlocklea...@gmail.com

Several years ago when I was on a rampant about LED lights, I mentioned
that lanterns were still far behind the game compared with other LED
products.

Well not any more.

A well known company called Zippo has stepped up the game.

Here is a photo I took of the lantern in the store ( with the lamp's lowest
of 3 settings )

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pm7le1ji6wy379m/IMAG0357.jpg?dl=0

If you got an orgasm the first time you held a StenLight, then you will get
that same sensation here.

The link below shows one web-store you can purchase their new LED lantern.

http://

www.bigsupplyshop.com

/Zippo-Outdoors-Rugged-Lantern-44030_p_52592.html


The only thing I can think of to improve is finding a suitable case to
store it in.

It should have also came with a night light.  It does have a red LED that I
blinks full-time.  I did not notice if it stops blinking while plugged in,
so not sure about that.

This lantern would be suitable in a house on an end-table.

As much as I want to purchase it, I am going to have to get a bite-stick
and restrain myself.

David Locklear
NSS # 27639

P.S.

I am giving Facebook another try after a year hiatus.  Look for me under
the name, "Myotis Velifer."
I also have a LinkedIn account with that name, in order to separate
business stuff from personal stuff.

I am bummed out that Google+ hasn't become more popular.  I am still
hopeful it will find a bigger audience.
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[Texascavers] Another new LED headlamp

[David via Texascavers]

Coast lights has a new headlamp called the HL46 sold at Lowe's for $30 plus
tax.

It looks like the perfect newbie headlamp for those that want to start with
something nice.

I do not like the switches on their low end products, meaning this one.

But it is compact enough for the average west Texas cave.  It has good
light settings, and water -resistant enough to take in humid passages.

This lamp would be overkill for Travis County caves, and Enchanted Rock
Cave.

Disclaimer:  I did not take it out of the package, but once owned the
previous version.

It includes 4 hardhat clips.

My bet is one would most likely use the low setting while caving, and the
high setting while hiking along the dark trail from the cave.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] a bat bite near Houston ?

[David via Texascavers]

On Friday afternoon, October 6th, my step-father
found a bat on the ground at the children's playground
at his church in the town of Cypress.

He thought the bat was dead, and figured maybe it
got hurt in the storm that had passed through.

He put on some thin disposable latex gloves.

Unfortunately, he decided to pick it up and put it
in a plastic bag.

He believes the bat bit him on the thumb.But all he knows
is that he felt a prick and there was something that looked like
bite marks.

So he took the bat in the sack with him to the emergency
room, and they had to put it in a freezer, as Animal Control
was not available.

Today, he began a series of rabies shots.

I do not know anything else about  it.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] after-TCR ride going south to the border ?

[David via Texascavers]

Anybody heading from TCR to the border or into
Mexico on Sunday ?

And if so, do you have room for a large elderly lady
and lots of luggage ?

The only way I can come to TCR is to bring
my daughter's maternal grandmother with me and then
dump her off on somebody heading near the direction she
needs to go.

Otherwise, I am going on a weekend road-trip
from Houston to the Mexican bordertown of Reynosa,
or possibly Nuevo Laredo.

email me privately please

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] Ebola

[David via Texascavers]

The Dallas Cavers should all wear surgical mask at TCR, and pink latex
gloves, and hair-nets, and pose for a funny group photo just for historical
sake.
And maybe have a caver in a haz-mat suit, hosing them down.

That would be fun.
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Re: [Texascavers] guess who

[David via Texascavers]

Even without Logan's hint, got to be Marion Smith.

DL
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[Texascavers] A potential speleo-vehicle

[David via Texascavers]

Italian automaker Fiat, is building a small off-road vehicle similar to the
old Isuzu Amigo Sport.  It will have a Jeep-like grill and even have the
Jeep emblems on it.

It is supposed to arrive next spring, and rumors are it will go to tight
bumpy places that the bigger Cherokee might have a little trouble with.

Other rumors are it will have an optional diesel engine and manual
transmission.

Jeep's official web-site alleges the vehicle will have an excellent
crawl-ratio, ground clearance, and buttons on the dashboard to select the
best traction.

I thing it looks like an old Isuzu Amigo Sport, which was briefly popular
back in the day.

Similar vehicles are already on the market.  Range Rover has a tiny Ute,
and Subaru has the CrossTek.

I just can not see spending $ 30,000 plus tax and collision insurance on a
vehicle to get all muddy, scratched and sprinkled inside with bat guano.
Right ?

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Bill Helmer

[David via Texascavers]

Joe Pearce mentioned Bill Helmer.That is a name I haven't heard spoke
of in
caving circles in a while.When I was a newbie, sitting around the
campfire in
Carta Valley, or somewhere out west, cavers spoke of him like a legend.

The 2 links below are related and mention someone with the same
name.Is this him ?

http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id59.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/mo/crimeinc/page3.html

If so, the article says he lives in Bourne, Texas ( where ever that is )



Somebody could write a nice article for the Texas Caver about
Bill Helmer.   Right ?

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Bob Obele

[David via Texascavers]

A lot of you knew Bob really well, or at least once did.

I only briefly knew Bob.

I lived in Dallas in late 1987 for about a year and attended several caving
functions were he was not only present but actively involved in.

He offered me a ride to one event, but I can't remember what it was.  My
only recollection of that is the 2 of us were in his truck and he talked
about
his landscaping business.

I just did a quick search on the web, and did not find anything recent about
Bob.I was mostly trying to find a good picture of him.

I guess I have not seen him in about 18 years, and that was probably only
a brief, "Hello," at TCR.But in that brief time, I new him, he was
always friendly to me.

I hope doctors soon find a cure for panceatic cancer.

David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com
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[Texascavers] Any caves flooding ?

[David via Texascavers]

Anybody know of any particular caves that took on large volumes of water
this past week ?

Did Kiwi Sink flood ?
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[Texascavers] oops

[David via Texascavers]

I meant to type BCRF, but that would have been wrong too.

http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/~arb/scotland/intro.html

The big sea cave is on my Bucket List, # 70.

On my shelf of caving mementos is a bottle of beer personally given to me
by a President of the BCRA.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Caving in the Scotland Nation ?

[David via Texascavers]

How would an independent nation of Scotland affect U.K. caving ?

Does the BRF worry about this ?

What would U.S. cavers have to do differently caving there or travelling
there.

Do Scottish cavers in general support independence ?

What about U.S. cavers proud of their Scottish heritage ?   I know at least
one.

Would they use the term potholing ?

What about British cavers ?  Anybody know one of those chaps ?

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] cave robot

[David via Texascavers]

Here is a robot that looks like it could navigate the trails of some
commercial
caves. Maybe we will have robotic tour guides in the next 20 years ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMKQbqnXXhQ

Can you think of some caves that this robot would be able to
navigate on its own ?

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Caves on comet 67P ??

[David via Texascavers]

from David Locklear


In about a month, the probe to land on Comet 67P will hopefully
have a smooth touchdown.

That may be exciting to see if it takes good pictures on the surface of a
comet.

In theory, the probe is on a ridgewalking mission.Right ?   Except it
will not be walking but making observations with a camera.   So I guess it
is on a ridge-filming mission.

I think we should start a betting pool, about whether the Philea Lander,
sees some karst potential, or something resembling a cave.

Surely there could be talus caves.

What about a slot canyon ?

I do not understand why there is not debris flying off of the comet ?

It would appear the trail of a comet is just the light reflecting off the
dust in
the wake as it ploys through the vacuum of space, just like the white color
of
the waves behind a boat.

Hopefully there will be enough visible stratigraphy on the landscape to
make a certain group of people finally wake up and smell the roses, as
their theory of a
flood 6,000 years ago, creating the layers would not make a bit of sense.

My bet is that the surface ( of the landing sight ) will look like the flat
areas around
Socorro, New Mexico, except without the vegetation. But that landing
spot only looks to be about 200 meters across.   Right ?

David Locklear

Ref:

https://cumbriansky.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/comet_on_15_august_2014_-_navcam-enh-b.jpg


P.S.Thanks again to some more cavers that helped me correct my business
flyer.
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[Texascavers] cavers helping cavers

[David via Texascavers]

From David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com

I would like to thank about a dozen cavers for helping this past week
develop my new business flyer.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4yuhd2oqwj8qgpz/Criminal%20Process%20Server.pdf?dl=0

It isn't perfect yet, but it is far better than what I could have put together
by myself.

The hard part now is just getting potential customers to read it.
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[Texascavers] correction to Devil's sinkhole history post

[David via Texascavers]

from David Locklear

( for Texas history buffs only )   [ others should definitely hit
delete button ]

This is a very long-winded follow-up to my previous post.

I am only posting this because my earlier post came the day before it
was announced on the news that some library archivist found an old map
of Texas from 1844.So I decided to amend my history lesson to
include a map image, and elaborate my
thoughts in great detail.

Before we get started,

I would like to discuss the term "speleo-geography", which I am
re-defining here as the study of politcal and cultural aspects near a
karst region.
( not to be confused with Dunkley's definition, which I am not
familiar with, nor its use
in the mid-1960's in a few NSS science articles, also which I am not
familiar with )
[ I have seen the word, speleography, used in a similar context, by
Wayne White, but to me that is the study of the activities inside the
cave or near the entrance, such as mining history ]

So this is Part 2 of my previous post which should have been titled:


"The Unique Speleo-Geography of Edwards, Uvalde, and Kinney Counties."
by David Locklear


The map link below shows a map more related to the point I was trying to
make.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/bradford-texas-1835-01.jpg

A cartographer drew this map in 1835, the same year as the Battle of Gonzales
( see link at the bottom ).


This page will let you zoom in some on the map by just right-clicking on your
mouse.

If you look at the area where Devil's Sinkhole is, you will see it is
shown in the
northern part of the Mexican State of Coahuila, as I earlier described.



There were numerous maps from that era, and some dispute one another, especially
in west Texas.  Since the southern boundary then was the Nueces
River, and it suddenly fizzles out and splits up in or near Edwards
County, the cartographers had a problem.

The border between Chihuahua and Coahila in the area of Devil's
Sinkhole is difficult to decipher, but I am pretty sure the cave was
in northern Coahuila.It might be interesting to find the spot
where Chihuahua, Texas and Coahuila came together, and put a marker
there.   One would need to research some good maps of the that area
from the 1830's to verify.   My guess is that it would be in the town
of Rocksprings, but not any further east of there, and certainly no
further west than the Devil's River, as the maps show the northern
boundary of Chihuahua there to be a group of hills and not a river.  (
I have another theory that the northern boundary of Edwards County is
related to this historical spot, but that is for somebody else to
research )

The historical point I am trying to make with all of this hoopla, is
that the complicated history of the region where the cave lies, is
also related to the history of Coahuila. Since that state did not
get its statehood, until 1824. it could be stated that Devil's
Sinkhole was, for about 275 years, in an area known as "La Nueva
Extremadura," and the city of Monclova was the controlling government
body of the cave area.  But the indians still thought they owned it.
 Surely the Lipan Apache or Commanches controlling that area, called
the region something else.   ( see photo link at bottom of some of the
last known indians from the area )   The language and culture appears
to
be extinct.   Only about 200 people claim any affiliation to them (
see link at the bottom )



It is also worth noting that from the perspective of the people of
Coahuila, that Devil's
Sinkhole was briefly ( in 1840 ) in a nation called, "The Republic of
the Rio Grande."
( That is why I was saying Devil's Sinkhole was never really in The
Republic of Texas. )


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_the_Rio_Grande

So the new map ( in yesterday's news ), shows that as early as 1844,
the U.S. Gov't considered the region where Devil's Sinkhole lies to be
in Texas.   I do not think that
is news to anybody, but it further confirms the early history of the
war to occupy and
steal that territory from Mexico.   It is a known fact that U.S.
troops occupied the
disputed border area ( in Brownsville ) before the war officially started.


On a related note,

Most people think that after 1848, everything was normal along the Rio
Grande, and
both sides lived happily ever after. But the river changed course.
( see link at the bottom )


Feel free to correct me on any of this.

Also,

A geography student, and someone more poetic than me, and more of a
history buff, might be able to expand on this and put something on
paper worth reading.
( I actually did complete a geography course at A&M, and had a similar term
paper )

David Locklear


Ref:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siete_Leyes#mediaviewer/File:Political_divisions_of_Mexico_1836_(location_map_scheme).svg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gonzales

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamizal_dispute

http://www.philaprintshop.com/images/carhartmex.jpg

http://casitasdegila.com/blog/wp

[Texascavers] Linkedin correction

[David via Texascavers]

I am only posting this here, because quite a few of you are using Linkedin.

When you click on the box to list all contacts. It will not only
list your Linkedin contacts,
but anybody you have emailed using Gmail, and anybody you are in a
Google Plus Circle with.

So you will have to decide if you like that idea or not.

Off to the right of the contacts name, there will be at least 4
different symbols.The blue box with the L, means they are a
Linkedin contact.The grey box with an L, means they are on
Linkedin, but they are not connected to you ( not sure how Linkedin
figures they should be on your list, but I guess you emailed them or
tried to contact them in some way in the past )   Then there is the
Gmail symbol, indicating you have emailed them ( and that is where
CaveTex would be listed or any parties you have emailed )   And then
there is the Google+ symbol which means that they are on Google+ ( but
not sure if they have to be in your Circle )

The good news is that with all this integration, the See-Eye-Eh can
now easily assemble
all your relationships in one list.For example, it would be
impossible to prove you do not know somebody, if they have 3 of the
symbols displayed on your list.Big Brother is just foaming at the
mouth to get the other social sites integrated in this concept.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Linkedin related

[David via Texascavers]

If you are using Linkedin, please check your contact list
and look to see if CaveTex is one of your contacts, and delete
it if you wish.

Linkedin, is starting to p*ss me off.  The developers can not see the
forest for the trees. I have mentioned that before here.

I see it as a great tool for self-employed people like me, but it has become way
too intrusive and time consuming to manage.

Feel free to add me to your Linkedin wish, if you wish to.   I do not
think it will
let you, if you are using their free service.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] The Briscoe Estate

[David via Texascavers]

Fritz mentioned in his last post, the Briscoe Estate.  Below is my personal
story about that place.

By David Locklear
dlocklea...@gmail.com

In the late 1980's and early 90's, I wasted numerous hours trying to
initiate a relationship with the Briscoe's, over the course of about 7
years.

I wrote them several letters. One with an A&M letterhead on it.

I ridgewalked on several adjacent ranches, and hopped a fence.

I met with Mrs. Briscoe, and Mr. Briscoe's Secretary, and made a faithful
effort to get an appointment with him prior to the big caving event in
1994.  I gave his secretary a small collage of info that I had collected on
the cave to show him I was serious.

The ranch foreman told me he could not allow me on the ranch, but then he
found me wandering around, and I told him I had permission to be on the
ranch from a guy that owned the adjacent ranch, which was partly true.  I
think my Spanish kept me from making him mad at me.

In 1999, I befriended a wealthy attorney in Houston who owned one of the
adjacent properties.  His land was only about 20 acres.

I walked every square foot of it and found nothing.

In all those trips, I never saw anything that looked like a cave.

I mostly just wasted a lot of gas, and in hindsight I wish I had spent that
time doing something more productive.

I never did get anywhere near the entrance of Indian Creek Cave.

I met at least 2 cavers in the late 90's who said they knew somebody that
could get them in the cave had they wanted to go, but do not know if they
were serious.

Supposedly there have been trips to the cave.

It was the #1 thing on my Bucket List for about 15 years.

To the best of my knowledge, other cavers knew what I was up to and nobody
said anything negative, and I had several cavers encouraging me to keep
trying, especially in 1993.

I am not currently in good enough physical shape to go caving there, and do
not see that changing anytime soon.

Last year, I contacted another wealthy attorney from Houston who had
retired and moved to Uvalde.  I told him my story and asked him if he could
pull some strings for me.  I never heard back from him on that subject.

I can tell you that on Indian Creek Road, about a mile past the locked
ranch gate is a beautiful ranch house, and the stock tank near there with
the windmill is or was a good place to cool off from the hot summer sun.

David Locklear
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[Texascavers] Devil's Sinkhole history

[David via Texascavers]

It is worth noting that 324 years ago, the Spanish government stole the
cave from an Indian tribe who owned it and those indians most likely stole
it after conquering a tribe that owned it before them.  Although the
Spanish owned it for only 131 years, they apparently never ventured
anywhere near it.

One could allege the French claimed to have owned it for 3 years, but I am
certain that would be a false statement.   And had you asked the Indian
tribes in West Texas in 1689 what they thought, they would have replied,
"the French who ?"

193 years ago, the Mexicans stole the cave from the Spanish, but they only
owned it ( technically ) for 15 years.  I say "technically" because they
held on to the cave until 1845, when the Texans claimed they gave it to the
US government.  However, the Mexicans are believed to have never ventured
into the area during the time of ownership, and the Indians just continued
on ignoring them.

The Texans of the Republic of Texas never owned the cave.   Senator Abraham
Lincoln stated that land ( upon which the cave sits ) was stolen from
Mexico.

That is why nearly every major Mexican city has a street named in his honor.

The US government laid claim to Devil's Sinkhole in 1845 stealing it from
Mexico ( not Texas ), but they still had 3 more years of war, before the
treaties were signed.

The Indians still controlled the area as they had for hundreds, maybe
thousands of years.

But that soon changed when the US Army was sent to slaughter them all.

At some point the US government sold the land most likely through the
Homestead program.

And that is when some rancher claimed he discovered it.

David Locklear

P.S.  Feel free to correct me.
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[Texascavers] Definition of Old-timer

[David via Texascavers]

I disagree that age should be a factor.

A person must show proof they are an Old-timer to receive this sacred title.

Here are examples of proof,

1 ).  NSS # issued before 1970.

2 ). A certificate of caving merit issued before 1975, or a photo or major
article in a respected caving publication, by 1975.

3 ). Proof you were a member of a caving organization prior to the
discovery of Golindrinas.

4 ). Your name is Fritz Holt.

5 ).   You made a major caving discovery prior to 1979, such as the
connections in Oaxaca.

6 ). You were the victim a major caving accident report before 1979.

7 ).  You went caving in the Texas commercial caves before they were open
for business.

8 ). You once owned 300 feet of Goldline rope and actually used it in a
deep pit.

David Locklear
NSS # 27639

[ Not an Old-Timer, but my bones squeak and ache. ]
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[Texascavers] Today's bargain find

[David via Texascavers]

I found this rare book today for just 59 cents.

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/p2zot2uccdpspty/AACzy2jWyeIjblwvXyA51k6Va

I might even be able to read and understand this one.

David Locklear
Amateur speleo-hoarder
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[Texascavers] helictite related

[David via Texascavers]

The link to the video below shows how just a small amount of static electricity
affects falling water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhWQ-r1LYXY

It might seem after watching that, that this is one likely explanation
for helictites.

The question is what in the air is causing the static electricity.
Maybe crickets,
or other insects, or maybe the dust particles in the air of the cave ?

But the problem with that theory is there would be helictites in most caves.
Right ?

It would seem caves rich in helictites must have something interesting in the
air worth taking a look at, in order for that theory to work.

Am I missing something ?

On a related note,

I am curious how many of you have seen with your own eyes the onion
ring formation
helictite in west Texas ?I could not find a photo of it on the
internet.But I have seen copies of copies of the photo before.
  I bet James has seen it.Is there more than one onion ring
speleothem ? Who has the original photo print ?

David Locklear

Ref:

Here is one example of a curved helictite:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GrFuu14KZvE/T6ZUsjUXu0I/rMo/bswylV0Orew/s1600/DSC05150.JPG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helictite
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