texascavers Digest 26 Jul 2010 17:26:30 -0000 Issue 1112
Topics (messages 15558 through 15565):
Things get batty at Devil's Sinkhole :
15558 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
15562 by: Mark.Alman.L-3com.com
15563 by: Fritz Holt
Another LeBlanc article on caving : Kickapoo Cavern SP :
15559 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
15565 by: Nico Escamilla
Re: Italian diver reaches 203m depth in Vrelo cave
15560 by: Mark Minton
sort of NSS Convention related
15561 by: David
Cave of the Yellow Dog
15564 by: Ron Ralph
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--- Begin Message ---
Things get batty at Devil's Sinkhole
Watch as millions of bats retreat into the depths
of Devil's Sinkhole each
morning, emerge each night
By _Pam LeBlanc_
(http://www.statesman.com/life/travel/things-get-batty-at-devils-sinkhole-821394.html?service=popup&authorContact=821394&authorContact
Field=0)
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 2:19 p.m. Saturday, July 24, 2010
Fist-sized mammals are zinging past me from all sides, dive-bombing into a
gaping sinkhole punched into the parched landscape three hours southwest of
Austin.
It's not quite dawn, and the Mexican free-tailed bats are coming home after
a night of gorging. I know bats are designed for night flight, but it
still feels like I'll be thwacked in the head if I stand up straight.
Instead, I'm crouched on a platform that extends over the side of the
crater, which plunges to nearly 400 feet at its deepest point. The musty aroma
of bat guano hangs in the air.
I'm here with my friend Marcy Stell-fox and two representatives of the
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. We're the only ones at this state natural
area, six miles from Rocksprings. We arrived last night, set up camp and
ate dinner before walking over to the sinkhole to watch bats leave for the
evening.
We had company for that show.
About 30 tourists who boarded a bus at the Rocksprings Visitors Center
gathered around the sinkhole with us, oohing and aahing as the stream of bats
whirled counterclockwise out of the hole in the ground a little after 9 p.m.
A fat owl, looking to grab an airborne snack, sat on a ledge inside the
sinkhole watching the proceedings, too.
"I have always wanted more people to see it," said Carolyn Anderson, a
representative of the Friends of the Devil's Sinkhole who led the evening
tour.
She grew up in the area and remembers riding here on horseback as a child.
"It's indescribable. You wouldn't believe in this old dry country that
these creatures are all around us," she told us.
The night performance was good, but this dawn show is spectacular.
We staggered out of our tents and onto the viewing platform at 5:30 a.m. We
noticed the sound first — a "voop, voop" that reminded me of millions of
tiny umbrellas opening in a stiff wind.
Now the tiny caped crusaders are zooming in from all points.
"It's like it's raining bats," Stellfox says as the bat storm picks up.
The creatures blaze past like shooting stars, slamming on the brakes as
they enter the sinkhole's opening, which measures 60 feet by 40 feet.
"Home, boys!" chuckles David Riskind, director of the natural resources
program for Texas Parks and Wildlife. "Full bat speed!"
By 6:20 a.m., it's all but over for the bats. A few stragglers zip in, but
that flapping plastic sound is fading.
Scientists, who climbed into the hole and measured the piles of bat waste,
or guano, at the bottom, estimate that about 3 million of the
insect-munching machines spend part of the year here. The best time to watch
their
flight is summer, when they cling beneath the limestone ledges in the sinkhole
by day and dart out into the night to gobble up a diet of mostly moths by
night.
The colony is larger than the one underneath the Ann W. Richards Congress
Avenue Bridge in Austin, where an estimated 1.5 million bats live. Unlike
the Austin colony, which is considered the largest urban bat colony in North
America, this one isn't a maternal group. It gets too cold in the depths of
the sinkhole for mothers to raise babies.
Researchers have uncovered some interesting history about the site.
Graffiti dating to the 1880s is carved into rock at the bottom of the cave.
An early survey of the vertical cave, done in 1899, noted bats living in
the sinkhole, and mentioned honeycombs at its entrance and a bear skull at
the bottom.
In the 1920s and early 1930s, men climbed down rickety ladders to mine the
guano, which was used to make fertilizer and explosives. In the 1940s, U.S.
soldiers captured bats, scheming to use them to deliver bombs to Japan
during World War II. The project was scrapped before any bats were sent into
battle.
The Devil's Sinkhole site, formerly part of the Whitworth Ranch, was named
a National Natural Landmark in 1972. Texas Parks and Wildlife acquired the
sinkhole, once known as Hell Hole, and 1,860 surrounding acres in 1985. It
was opened to limited access in 1992.
Besides bats, the park is also home to an endangered bird, the black-capped
vireo, and an endangered plant, the toe bush fishhook cactus.
Today the property is open to the public for guided tours by reservation.
The Devil's Sinkhole Society offers daytime nature and birding; evening
tours coincide with bat flights.
Still perched on the edge of the sinkhole, we peer into the sky, now
streaked with pink and blue.
As the sun rises, the bats disappear. Still, the action's not quite over.
The flap of the bats' wings is gradually replaced with a new sound —
chirping. Soon, thousands of cave swallows, awakened by the return of the bats,
take over, swirling in and out of the mouth of the sinkhole.
Time for the shift change.
If you go ...
Bat tours are offered Wednesday through Sunday evenings from May 1 to
mid-October; $12 adults, $10 seniors, $6 children, free for age 4 and younger.
Morning nature and birding walks are offered the first and third Saturday of
each month; $6 per person, must be 10 or older. All tours begin at the
Rocksprings Visitors Center, 101 N. Sweeten St. in Rocksprings. For
reservations, call 830-683-2287. For more information, go to
_www.devilssinkhole.org_
(http://www.devilssinkhole.org)
_http://www.statesman.com/life/travel/things-get-batty-at-devils-sinkhole-82
1394.html_
(http://www.statesman.com/life/travel/things-get-batty-at-devils-sinkhole-821394.html)
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Thanks for posting this article and the Kickapoo one, Jerry.
As an aside, when did they start allowing overnight camping in order to view
the morning re-entry?
I wasn’t aware of this.
Mark
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2010 9:38 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Texascavers] Things get batty at Devil's Sinkhole :
Things get batty at Devil's Sinkhole
Watch as millions of bats retreat into the depths
of Devil's Sinkhole each
morning, emerge each night
By Pam LeBlanc
<http://www.statesman.com/life/travel/things-get-batty-at-devils-sinkhole-821394.html?service=popup&authorContact=821394&authorContactField=0>
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
The night performance was good, but this dawn show is spectacular.
We staggered out of our tents and onto the viewing platform at 5:30 a.m. We
noticed the sound first — a "voop, voop" that reminded me of millions of tiny
umbrellas opening in a stiff wind.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Jerry, Mark.
I was wondering the same thing when I read both posts this morning. I assumed
Pam was allowed to camp by special permission from Mark, the TP&W manager of
the site, as she was doing a newspaper story on the sinkhole.
Fritz
________________________________
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2010 7:06 AM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: RE: [Texascavers] Things get batty at Devil's Sinkhole :
Thanks for posting this article and the Kickapoo one, Jerry.
As an aside, when did they start allowing overnight camping in order to view
the morning re-entry?
I wasn’t aware of this.
Mark
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, July 25, 2010 9:38 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Texascavers] Things get batty at Devil's Sinkhole :
Things get batty at Devil's Sinkhole
Watch as millions of bats retreat into the depths
of Devil's Sinkhole each
morning, emerge each night
By Pam
LeBlanc<http://www.statesman.com/life/travel/things-get-batty-at-devils-sinkhole-821394.html?service=popup&authorContact=821394&authorContactField=0>
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
The night performance was good, but this dawn show is spectacular.
We staggered out of our tents and onto the viewing platform at 5:30 a.m. We
noticed the sound first — a "voop, voop" that reminded me of millions of tiny
umbrellas opening in a stiff wind.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Into the dark: Spelunk in the raw abyss of Kickapoo Cavern
By _Pamela LeBlanc_
(http://www.austin360.com/recreation/into-the-dark-822622.html?service=popup&authorContact=822622&authorContactField=0)
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Updated: 7:24 p.m. Sunday, July 25, 2010
Published: 5:07 p.m. Sunday, July 25, 2010
KICKAPOO CAVERN STATE PARK I've been scrambling over teetering rocks and
clattery stones in this underground hidey-hole for the past hour, on a quest
to discover my inner spelunker.
Now I'm plopped on a smooth, cool hunk of limestone inside Kickapoo Cavern,
about to switch off the foot-long Maglite that's been cutting a swath
through the gloom.
This hasn't been your typical jaunt into a commercialized cave.
There is no ribbon of smooth, wide sidewalk to follow. No lights to
illuminate formations created by eons of dripping water. No elevator to carry
you
back to ground zero when you're done exploring, à la Carlsbad Caverns in
New Mexico. Not even a handrail.
Instead, my friend Marcy Stellfox and I dropped into a Volkswagen-sized gap
in the hard-baked Texas landscape, ducked to avoid vibrating clusters of
daddy longleg spiders, then forged our own paths as we followed park ranger
Seth Frerich into the quarter-mile-long hole in the ground.
Kickapoo Cavern is just one of 20 known caves in the park.
It takes time and a limber body to negotiate its interior. There's no belly
crawling required, but the terrain is rugged, and the wild cave tour isn't
for everyone.
Visitors must sign a liability release. They also need proper hiking boots
and two light sources.
So far, the trek has exceeded my expectations which, honestly, weren't very
high.
We picked our way over a jumbled heap of stone blocks, or breakdown, that
was once part of the cave's ceiling.
It was a test of balance to navigate. We crept along, arms outstretched,
like we were traversing a football field covered by teeter totters. Now and
then I squatted low and grabbed a rock so I didn't fall.
I visited Carlsbad just last year, where I was wowed by towering
speleothems, formations created by minerals in water that seeps through the
cave. But
Carlsbad is so touristy, so accessible, so sanitized, that it feels a
little like an underground Disneyland.
Not Kickapoo.
This cave's collection of stalagmites, which grow from the ground up, and
stalactites, which look like a tangle of tree roots clinging to the ceiling,
are surprisingly impressive. The cave even has helictites, rarer
formations which don't grow only up or down, but every which way, thanks to a
little
help from air currents.
There's also an 80-foot column, thick as a redwood tree trunk, in one of
the cave's vast rooms. It's the largest such known formation — created by the
meeting of a stalagmite and a stalactite — in a Texas cave.
Enlist your imagination and you'll see even more.
On the way back to our current perch at the back of the cave, Frerich
pointed out features that resemble an elephant, strips of bacon, a castle, a
gnome and Bob Marley. That inspired me and Stellfox to discover a few
mineralized highlights of our own, including what looked like a wet T-shirt
slapped
on the wall.
Old graffiti — some dating as far back as the 1880s — is carved into rocks
in the belly of the cave. Back then, visitors carried flaming torches to
light their way. Black, soot-stained patches on the wall still mark where
they stashed the torches while they explored.
On the count of three, we turn off our flashlights, and the place goes
dark.
Even after a minute, I can't see my hand in front of my face — or any
creepy crawlies that might be loitering close at hand.
Collectively, we imagine what it would be like to try to find our way out
in the dark.
It's so quiet my ears tingle. And cool, too, even though temperatures
outside are close to 90. Frerich tells us the cave stays at 68 degrees
year-round, with 90 percent humidity.
The cavern is part of what was once the Seargeant Ranch, acquired by the
state in 1986. The 6,368-acre parcel was opened to the public on a limited
basis in 1991, but you had to call ahead to arrange a visit, or sign up for a
guided tour.
Earlier this summer, Texas Parks and Wildlife launched the next phase of
the park's existence, unveiling new hiking trails, opening a campground and
picnic areas and inviting the public to come explore whenever they want.
Besides the wild cave tours, which are offered by reservation only on
Saturdays, the park is known for its bat population. From April through
September, a colony of more than half a million Brazilian free-tailed bats
swoops
out of Stuart Bat Cave, which is slightly smaller than Kickapoo Cavern, on
a nightly mission to feast on insects.
_http://www.austin360.com/recreation/into-the-dark-822622.html_
(http://www.austin360.com/recreation/into-the-dark-822622.html)
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Seems like bats no longer want to be Mexican and they turned Brasilian, LOL
must be all the violence going on :-P
On Sun, Jul 25, 2010 at 10:08 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
> Into the dark: Spelunk in the raw abyss of Kickapoo Cavern
> By Pamela
> LeBlanc<http://www.austin360.com/recreation/into-the-dark-822622.html?service=popup&authorContact=822622&authorContactField=0>
>
> AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
>
> Updated: 7:24 p.m. Sunday, July 25, 2010
>
> Published: 5:07 p.m. Sunday, July 25, 2010
>
> Besides the wild cave tours, which are offered by reservation only on
> Saturdays, the park is known for its bat population. From April through
> September, a colony of more than half a million Brazilian free-tailed bats
> swoops out of Stuart Bat Cave, which is slightly smaller than Kickapoo
> Cavern, on a nightly mission to feast on insects.
>
> http://www.austin360.com/recreation/into-the-dark-822622.html
>
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At 06:52 AM 7/25/2010, [email protected] wrote:
>Italian diver reaches 203m depth in Vrelo cave
>http://www.bigbluetech.net/big-blue-tech-news/2010/07/24/italian-diver-reaches-203m-depth-vrelo-cave/
According to the more recent post below
forwarded by Yvonne Droms from the Swiss speleo
list, another dive by the same guy on July 23
reached 212 m depth. The diver was underwater
for 252 minutes (over 4 hours) and stopped at the
top of another deep shaft. Also note that the
original article is incorrect in stating that
Bushmansgat in South Africa was the deepest
underwater cave in the world. It is no. 4 on
Oliver Knab's list. And even at 330 m Vrelo
would not be the deepest. Pozzo del Merro in
Italy has been explored to -392 m by ROV.
Mark Minton
From: [email protected]
[[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Jean-Pierre Bartholeyns [[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 3:11 PM
Subject: Matka 2010 - Plongée en siphon jusque -212m ; un records
Communiqué presse - 23072010 - Eexpédition Matka 2010
Bonjour!
Nouvelle pointe, ce 23 juillet, dans le puits terminal.
Au cours de cette chevauchée fantastique de 252
minutes, Luigi Casati a atteint la profondeur de -212m.
Il s'est arrêté au-dessus d'un nouveau dédoublement du grand puits.
Seul incident marquant, l'implosion de son phare
à main 300 watts (une belle mort!)
Matka Vrelo devient le siphon le plus profond des Balkans.
Une bien belle expé dans un superbe siphon!
Plus de détails sous peu.
A suivre?
Pour l'équipe, Marc Vandermeulen - GIPS - Belgique
Bojan Petkovski - Macédoine
Kiro Angeleski - Macédoine
Sanja Jorgjevik - Macédoine
Vasil Sokolov (Vasco) - Macédoine
Nikolas Avrantinis (Gofredo) - Grèce
Alessandro Fantini (il "Pifferaio") - Italie
Luigi Casati (il "Gigi") - Italie
Luka Pedrqli - Italie
Nadia Bocchi Italie
Roger Cossemyns - Belgique
Vincent Poisson - Belgique
Marc Vandermeulen (Asterix) - Belgique
Un merci spécial:
à Frank Vasseur à l'origine de cette histoire belge vieille de 10 ans
à Ivan Zezovski qui nous a ouvert les portes de son sympathique pays.
Merci à :
Speleo Club "Peoni" - Skopje
Speleodiving Club "Vrelo" - Skopje
M. le Ministre de l'Economie, Fatmir Besimi
M. le Maire de Skopie, Koce Trajanovski
M. L'Ambassadeur d'Italie, Donatino Marcon
Mme le Consul honoraire de Belgique, Elena Nikodinovska
Nos ami(e)s de l'association "Canyon Matka"
Re-Medika General Hospital
One Telecom
La Protection civile macédonienne
Please reply to [email protected]
Permanent email address is [email protected]
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There is a rental car service called Zipcar.com that lets member's rent
by the hour. Apparently, this is popular in the New England area.
If you are a member, there supposedly is a place to get a Zipcar about 30 miles
south of the convention in the town of Middlebury.
What is allegedly great about this service is that it takes the hassles out of
renting a car. Gas is included in the hourly fee. You get a 180
miles over a 24
driving period, so you can cover a lot of Vermont and the area around the
Adirondack Mountains in New York.
It can take up to a week to become a member, so it is probably to late to
join. You wouldn't want to join unless you frequent the towns on the list
below:
http://www.zipcar.com/cities?&return_url=/rates/
One of the perks, is that family members get discount memberships.
David Locklear
P.S. My tentative plans to try to get to the convention are currently
not going well.
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Cavers,
For your information, the following film will be on the UT Campus Wednesday
evening:
Mongolian film screened: "Cave of the Yellow Dog"
Description: The Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies
presents its annual summer series of films from the former Soviet Bloc. This
summer the theme is youth in peril, and every Wednesday we will present
features that examine youth social issues. This week's screening is "Cave of
the Yellow Dog" (2001).
Time: Wednesday, 7-9 p.m.
Location: Geography Building (GRG), Room 102
Admission: Free
URL: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/creees/events/14725
July 28: Cave of the Yellow Dog (Mongolia), 2001, 93 min. (drama)
The young daughter of a Mongolian nomadic family forms a relationship with a
stray puppy, but her parents fear it will attack their sheep and won't let
her keep it. This G-rated family film provides a fascinating glimpse into
nomad life.
Ron
I have no idea if there is a cave in the show.
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