I apologize for the lateness of this post, but to help stimulate more Cave Talk on CaveTex, I offer this belated report for your reading enjoyment. Feel free to reprint or re-post in any appropriate forum.
-- Crash Over the long Easter weekend, 21-24 April 2011, more than a dozen cavers gathered once again at the plush TCMA fieldhouse in scenic Carta Valley, Texas for another assault on Punkin Cave, the 9th longest and 28th deepest cave in Texas. Like its neighbor Deep Cave (16th longest and 19th deepest), Punkin is a phenomenally complex cave of hypogene origin. And both caves are owned by cavers, thanks to the Texas Cave Management Association! (Hint, please join TCMA!) We had nine cavers that were able to arrive Thursday evening and survey Good Friday, a holiday for some. One team (Saj Zappitello, Matt Zappitello, and Angela Edwards) pushed some high leads off Superstition Maze, finding the largest column in the cave so far. They got 43.55m in 16 shots (2.72m/shot). Another team (Justin Shaw, Lee Jay Graves, Galen Falgout) returned to the West Maze, surveying a few of the numerous leads left in that area. Their total was 39.77m in 14 shots, (2.84m/shot). My team (Jim Kennedy, Don Arburn, Ann Scott) pushed more holes off Area 51, gaining another 67.22m in 25 shots (2.69m/shot). When we got back to the cabin, we were greeted by the new arrivals, showered and had a great dinner (as usual), and enjoyed a movie on the big screen. The next day we lost Ann "Office Arms" Scott, but were able to field 4 complete survey teams with the addition of the latecomers. Saj again led her hubby Matt and Karen Masters back to Superstition Maze, grabbing another 43.55m of survey in 13 shots (3.35m/shot). Justin continued sketching in West Maze with Lee Jay, Galen, and Angela, adding 35.87m more to the books in 17 shots (2.11m/shot). Dale Barnard made his inaugaral visit to Punkin, and with Arron Wertheim and Vivian Loftin were guided to more leads in Area 51 near Jim's survey. They did great, and captured 82.48m in 26 shots (3.17m/shot). Next door, at least for a while, was Jim and Don and Aubri Jenson, wrapping up more mop-up leads before finally surveying a long down-trending tube that excluded Don "Femur Boy" Arburn. Their total for the day was 86.93m in a whooping 33 shots (2.63m/shot), and making a new third lowest point in the cave. Grilled salmon, new potatoes, cheesecake, and other delectable goodies rewarded the tired but successful cavers that night. More movies were shown, adult beverages were consumed, and everyone basked in the comaraderie and great feeling that comes with such a sense of accomplishment. I am indebted to all the wonderfully dedicated people that come out on these survey trips, pitching in to help with meals and cleanup, and making the weekends so productive and enjoyable. Punkin Cave is still the 28th deepest cave in the state at 62.4m. The seven survey teams added another 396.28m to the length of the cave in 144 shots, for an average of 2.75m per shot. This brings the cave to 3950.76m, STILL the 9th longest in Texas, but only 357m from passing Cave Without a Name and moving up another notch. And we need to get down only 16 more meters to be deeper than Deep! We estimate AT LEAST another kilometer of passage remaining to be surveyed with just the leads we have seen. But since every trip so far finds virgin cave, who knows how long and deep it will eventually be? We are giving the cave a break for the summer because we already saw substantial numbers of bats in there on this trip (unusually early this year), but we will start up again in the Fall. Stay tuned for the next exciting episode!
