Man! My heart just broke. This is my favorite cave. Alex and I were just talking about making a trip soon!
Sent from my iPhone > On Jan 3, 2014, at 3:54 PM, Mark Alman <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Merry Christmas and Happy 2014, y'all! > > I have had a few inquiries as to the status of the Longhorn Caverns SP > Project. > > At this point, I have decided to put it in the "Completed" or, at least, "On > Hiatus" state of things. > > The TPWD folks, the concessionaire at the park, and the project folks had a > "to do" list at the park and, to the best of my knowledge, all have been > completed. > > This past spring, the TPWD crews did a superb job on repairing the dangerous > trail areas in the cave, replacing and, in some cases, installing new > handrails, repainting other handrails, and an excellent job of cleaning up > after themselves. This, after switching all of the lighting in the cave from > incandescent to LED the winter and spring before. > > The Project had a very long laundry list and it has been completed, as well, > except for additional mapping in the back areas of the cave, near the > Crownover entrance. This entrance still remains inaccessible, due to a new > landowner and permissions to access the cave via this passageway have yet to > be resolved. > > Hopefully, someday, the additional survey points and data collected by the > various surveys will be added to the Longhorn Caverns map and we will have a > completed and thorough idea of the total length and lay of the cave! I would > love to be able to present this completed map to the park, someday! > > Highlights of the Project leader list include improvements and restoration of > the Lovers Lane area, and removal of dead fall, cedar, and other unsightly > underbush in the sinkhole near the Visitors Center, and pushing leads in the > Lumbago Alley section. Numerous other smaller projects were completed and I'd > rather not list them all or bore you with them here. > > Some of the folks I would like to thank, in no particular order, are: Lyndon > Tiu, Gerry Geletzke, Natasha Glasgow, Daniel Ramirez, Bill Larson, Edwin > Lehr, George-Paul Richman, Mallory Mayeux, Andrew Alman, Allison Alman, Chris > Franke, Leslie Bell, Jim Sheets, and a cast of hundreds of others who have > come out to help and my feeble memory can't recall! > > Some of the groups I'd like to offer a HUGE thank you are the Aggie > Speleological Association and the Greater Houston Grotto. > > The Aggies, especially, were the hardest working, most enthusiastic, and > hardest partying bunch I have ever been associated with and the success of > this project, Pre and Post ICS, would not have been possible without their > participation! > > Finally, I would like to thank ALL of the Boy Scout Troops that have come out > to volunteer and to camp. They performed a huge service to the park,plus, a > BUNCH of new youth received their first taste of caving and many have gone > off to become more involved. > > (Why more cavers prefer to NOT work with Scout and other youth groups is > beyond me! They are a great resource of labor and deep pool of potential new > cavers. Refusal to work with them has puzzled me for 18 years and y'all know > who you are!) > > In closing, to all of you who have come out to help on the project since > 2008, either for just one weekend or for several weekends, I salute and thank > you! > > I will always remember the fun times, hard work, evening meals (at the Park > or at The Bluebonnet Cafe in Marble Falls), and the stargazing and > camaraderie up in the Observation Tower on Saturday nights! > > To those of you who never made it out, y'all missed a VERY special project! > > If it gets resurrected or a special task at the park comes along, I'll be > sure to let y'all know! > > > Thanks and hats off! > > Mark Alman > >
