texascavers Digest 11 Dec 2011 17:24:38 -0000 Issue 1453
Topics (messages 19181 through 19188):
Re: food
19181 by: Stephen Fleming
19182 by: wesley s
19184 by: Diana Tomchick
19185 by: Ed Goff
World's oldest bed discovered in cave
19183 by: mminton.caver.net
Other trip reports of recent caving
19186 by: speleosteele.aol.com
Re: Other trip reports of recent caving - WHOOOPS, FORGOT SOMEBODY!
19187 by: speleosteele.aol.com
Still more about the Devetashka Cave bats
19188 by: Lee H. Skinner
Administrivia:
To subscribe to the digest, e-mail:
<[email protected]>
To unsubscribe from the digest, e-mail:
<[email protected]>
To post to the list, e-mail:
<[email protected]>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Begin Message ---
On 12/09/2011 6:57, Nancy Weaver wrote:
anyone else remember when the gourmet meal during and post caving was
an open unheated can of something, often glugged down without benefit
of the unnecessary weight of a spoon? campbells soup was popular as
well as beanie weanies and god knows whatever other delights.
There is a well-known caver, still active in the Austin area, whose main
choice of food on weekend caving trips in the early 70s consisted
predominantly of Vienna Sausage. And, not just any Vienna Sausage but
_*IMITATION*_ Vienna Sausage. I was never sure of exactly what went into
the real thing (since it already was a stumpy hotdog), so I cannot
fathom what was in the stuff he ate. However, it had the appearance of
medical waste when the can was opened. Might explain some things today.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Sardines are nice but i go for the Tabasco Spam.
Wes~
Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2011 09:46:04 -0700
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] food
On 12/09/2011 6:57, Nancy Weaver wrote:
anyone else remember when the gourmet meal during and post caving was an open
unheated can of something, often glugged down without benefit of the
unnecessary weight of a spoon? campbells soup was popular as well as beanie
weanies and god knows whatever other delights.
There is a well-known caver, still active in the Austin area, whose main choice
of food on weekend caving trips in the early 70s consisted predominantly of
Vienna Sausage. And, not just any Vienna Sausage but IMITATION Vienna Sausage.
I was never sure of exactly what went into the real thing (since it already was
a stumpy hotdog), so I cannot fathom what was in the stuff he ate. However, it
had the appearance of medical waste when the can was opened. Might explain some
things today.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
This is still the sort of food that works well for IN-cave dining, especially
wet caves.
Diana
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Department of Biochemistry
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214B
Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
Email: [email protected]
214-645-6383 (phone)
214-645-6353 (fax)
On Dec 9, 2011, at 7:57 AM, Nancy Weaver wrote:
> anyone else remember when the gourmet meal during and post caving was an open
> unheated can of something, often glugged down without benefit of the
> unnecessary weight of a spoon? campbells soup was popular as well as beanie
> weanies and god knows whatever other delights.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Visit our website: http://texascavers.com
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected]
> For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
>
________________________________
UT Southwestern Medical Center
The future of medicine, today.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I'd like to recognize Nancy's suave change of subject. Style points! Spam
Singles are highly water resistant, pack well, and make tidy tacos. I can
see how Imitation Vienna Sausage could be good, on the same principle as
"the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Ed
On Fri, Dec 9, 2011 at 1:06 PM, Diana Tomchick <
[email protected]> wrote:
> This is still the sort of food that works well for IN-cave dining,
> especially wet caves.
>
> Diana
>
> * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> Diana R. Tomchick
> Professor
> University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
> Department of Biochemistry
> 5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
> Rm. ND10.214B
> Dallas, TX 75390-8816, U.S.A.
> Email: [email protected]
> 214-645-6383 (phone)
> 214-645-6353 (fax)
>
>
>
>
> On Dec 9, 2011, at 7:57 AM, Nancy Weaver wrote:
>
> > anyone else remember when the gourmet meal during and post caving was an
> open unheated can of something, often glugged down without benefit of the
> unnecessary weight of a spoon? campbells soup was popular as well as
> beanie weanies and god knows whatever other delights.
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
http://news.yahoo.com/worlds-oldest-bedding-discovered-cave-190303977.html
Mark Minton
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Yesterday Logan McNatt wrote in response to Jim Kennedy's Punkin Cave trip
report saying, " I think a lot of us on the list would enjoy reading more trip
reports from those who actually go caving." I for one honestly didn't realize
that. Thanks for saying so, Logan.
Here are a couple of trip reports:
Texans Do TAG: There is a feature article in the works about this trip for an
upcoming issue of the Texas Caver.
On Saturday, Nov. 19, Ellie Watson (Bexar Grotto), Mallory Mayeax (Greater
Houston Grotto), Steve Webb and I (DFW Grotto) drove from Irving, Texas to
Scottsboro, Alabama and met up with Jim Smith of Atlanta. For the next three
days the four of us (with Jim as our faithful guide) did some classic TAG pits:
164' Neversink, 147' Stephen's Gap, 227' Valhalla, and 285' Mystery Falls. On
Wednesday morning we were joined by Arkansas cavers Deitra Roberts and Brent
Biely (actually lives in Oklahoma) and that day did 186' Cagle's Chasm and the
80' second drop in it, rigging a crossover, and at dusk did 165' The Sinkhole.
I climbed out of The Sinkhole first and then drove solo about 120 miles to
Nashville to pick up Diana Tomchick at the airport. In the dead of night Diana
and I found everyone else on a farm near Sparta, TN, where 37 mile-long Blue
Springs Cave is located.
The next day was Thanksgiving Day and in the morning legendary TAG caver Marion
Smith (he told me that he's been in 7,500 different caves) and sometime Texas
resident Phillip Rykwalder showed up and went with us deep into Blue Springs
Cave. We went 3 1/2 miles into it and back out, with over two miles of it in
gigantic borehole tunnel, though some of it was long and hard crawling. The BO
Crawl was said to be about 3,000 feet long, with a couple of respites where you
could stand up.
That night we had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast around a campfire, the
highlight of which to me, was the homemade cranberry and mango sparkling wine
Brent had made and brought.
On Friday we went to Cumberland Caverns, a renown show cave, and were guided
far off the tourist trails with one of the original explorers of it, Bill
Walter. Bill started exploring in Cumberland Caverns when he was 15 years old
and he's 73 years old now. We were warned ahead of time that it's not easy to
keep up with him, but we did, though it was not easy. He moves very effortless
through a cave.
Our time was running out, but we did squeeze in one more pit on Saturday
morning. Our last one was 251' Ferris Pit, said to be the deepest open air
free fall pit in TAG, and it's quite a beauty. It was wet, and everyone got
drenched, which is always good practice.
We headed back to Texas at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26, doing an all-nighter
with three drivers and getting back to Irving around 7:00 a.m.
Last Saturday, Dec. 3, there was a trip to Spring Creek Cave, Kendall Co.,
Texas. Spring Creek Cave is a DFW Grotto project and we have been pushing its
passages and mapping more cave there for the past three years.
Our objectives last weekend included doing a tank haul for Jean "Creature"
Krecja and and James Brown so they could push a low airspace passage (which may
sump soon) about a mile into the cave at the top of the Shower Stall waterfall.
Logistics kept the dive from happening, and a return trip this weekend with
mostly Austin cavers in support of Creature and James, should end up with more
exploration and mapping done upstream of the Shower Stall.
Once we tank haulers got Creature and James into their lead, we went to the
Soda Straw Heaven and Wallow side passage and pushed it another 14 survey
stations with 213 feet of survey before calling it a day and picking up dive
gear on the way out.
Now coming up for Diana Tomchick and me soon, in fact next Wednesday, we're
flying to Chongqing, China and caving on an Erin Lynch led expedition. The
cave is Er Wang Dong, and you can Google it if you're interested in what's been
going on there.
Happy holidays and good caving!
Bill Steele
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Darn it, this sentence should have read this way:
>>> On Wednesday morning we were joined by Arkansas cavers Deitra Roberts and
>>> Brent Biely (actually lives in Oklahoma), AND DFW GROTTO MEMBER NATASHA
>>> GLASGOW, and that day WE did 186' Cagle's Chasm and the 80' second drop in
>>> it, rigging a crossover, and at dusk did 165' The Sinkhole. <<<
Sorry, Natasha. She and I are co-authoring the article about our epic TAG trip.
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: speleosteele <[email protected]>
To: lmcnatt <[email protected]>; Texascavers <[email protected]>
Sent: Fri, Dec 9, 2011 3:41 pm
Subject: [Texascavers] Other trip reports of recent caving
Yesterday Logan McNatt wrote in response to Jim Kennedy's Punkin Cave trip
report saying, " I think a lot of us on the list would enjoy reading more trip
reports from those who actually go caving." I for one honestly didn't realize
that. Thanks for saying so, Logan.
Here are a couple of trip reports:
Texans Do TAG: There is a feature article in the works about this trip for an
upcoming issue of the Texas Caver.
On Saturday, Nov. 19, Ellie Watson (Bexar Grotto), Mallory Mayeax (Greater
Houston Grotto), Steve Webb and I (DFW Grotto) drove from Irving, Texas to
Scottsboro, Alabama and met up with Jim Smith of Atlanta. For the next three
days the four of us (with Jim as our faithful guide) did some classic TAG pits:
164' Neversink, 147' Stephen's Gap, 227' Valhalla, and 285' Mystery Falls. On
Wednesday morning we were joined by Arkansas cavers Deitra Roberts and Brent
Biely (actually lives in Oklahoma) and that day did 186' Cagle's Chasm and the
80' second drop in it, rigging a crossover, and at dusk did 165' The Sinkhole.
I climbed out of The Sinkhole first and then drove solo about 120 miles to
Nashville to pick up Diana Tomchick at the airport. In the dead of night Diana
and I found everyone else on a farm near Sparta, TN, where 37 mile-long Blue
Springs Cave is located.
The next day was Thanksgiving Day and in the morning legendary TAG caver Marion
Smith (he told me that he's been in 7,500 different caves) and sometime Texas
resident Phillip Rykwalder showed up and went with us deep into Blue Springs
Cave. We went 3 1/2 miles into it and back out, with over two miles of it in
gigantic borehole tunnel, though some of it was long and hard crawling. The BO
Crawl was said to be about 3,000 feet long, with a couple of respites where you
could stand up.
That night we had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast around a campfire, the
highlight of which to me, was the homemade cranberry and mango sparkling wine
Brent had made and brought.
On Friday we went to Cumberland Caverns, a renown show cave, and were guided
far off the tourist trails with one of the original explorers of it, Bill
Walter. Bill started exploring in Cumberland Caverns when he was 15 years old
and he's 73 years old now. We were warned ahead of time that it's not easy to
keep up with him, but we did, though it was not easy. He moves very effortless
through a cave.
Our time was running out, but we did squeeze in one more pit on Saturday
morning. Our last one was 251' Ferris Pit, said to be the deepest open air
free fall pit in TAG, and it's quite a beauty. It was wet, and everyone got
drenched, which is always good practice.
We headed back to Texas at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26, doing an all-nighter
with three drivers and getting back to Irving around 7:00 a.m.
Last Saturday, Dec. 3, there was a trip to Spring Creek Cave, Kendall Co.,
Texas. Spring Creek Cave is a DFW Grotto project and we have been pushing its
passages and mapping more cave there for the past three years.
Our objectives last weekend included doing a tank haul for Jean "Creature"
Krecja and and James Brown so they could push a low airspace passage (which may
sump soon) about a mile into the cave at the top of the Shower Stall waterfall.
Logistics kept the dive from happening, and a return trip this weekend with
mostly Austin cavers in support of Creature and James, should end up with more
exploration and mapping done upstream of the Shower Stall.
Once we tank haulers got Creature and James into their lead, we went to the
Soda Straw Heaven and Wallow side passage and pushed it another 14 survey
stations with 213 feet of survey before calling it a day and picking up dive
gear on the way out.
Now coming up for Diana Tomchick and me soon, in fact next Wednesday, we're
flying to Chongqing, China and caving on an Erin Lynch led expedition. The
cave is Er Wang Dong, and you can Google it if you're interested in what's been
going on there.
Happy holidays and good caving!
Bill Steele
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
The bats inside Bulgarian Devetashka cave, a key spot for spending the
winter season, have come out of hibernation much earlier than usual and
it is unclear how many will survive until spring.
The conclusion was made by the Center for Bat Studies and Protection
after a check of the cave.
Experts, cited by the TV channel bTV, say that all colonies are active
at times they must be in hibernation over the noise and being disturbed
during the recent filming of Hollywood blockbuster "Expendables 2."
Several dead bats have been found inside the cave and the cause is in
the process of being established.
The probe also revealed numerous tire marks, even in protected areas.
The environmentalists conclude the filming had been in violation of the
law since under current legislation the cave can be used only for
tourism and scientific research.
At the end of December, Nikolay Simov, a Bulgarian zoologist from the
Center for Bat Studies and Protection at the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences, reported that the bat population in the Devetashka Cave has
been reduced to 1/4, after the shooting of the movie.
"The shooting harms the bat habitat - with the placement of props, the
cutting down of vegetation, as well as disturbance by the presence of
large numbers of people and the noise they make," said Simov, pointing
out the special check conducted after the session showed that at present
there are some 8,000 in Devetashka Cave, while last year they were 30 000.
"What is even more alarming for us is that the legal regulations were
not respected. The regional environmental inspectorate has no authority
to give a permit for filming in this protected area," the expert explained.
Simov added that the shooting was also in breach of the Agreement on the
Conservation of Populations of European Bats.
Earlier in November environmentalists protested against the planned
filming of "Expendables 2" in the cave, saying this will disturb and
chase away the animals.
The coming of an all-star team, including Sylvester Stallone, Bruce
Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, and others, has been a
media sensation in Bulgaria.
At the same time, the Devetashka Cave in central northern Bulgaria,
Lovech Region, is considered one of the most important bat habitats in
Europe.
Also see http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n266010 about upcoming
lawsuits concerning this.
--- End Message ---
