And there is still some good distance to survey in the East Maze in Punkin. I might have time in the fall to work on that.
Andy Z On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 12:06 PM, Jim Kennedy <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 19thdeepest), > 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. Butsince > 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! >
