George, This is an interesting report on your early survey of The Caverns of Sonora.
The "Carbide Corner" section of the ICS issue of The Texas Caver has an account of an early trip into Mayfield Cave by Jimmy Walker and me. This occurred at the end of 1955 or the beginning of 1956. Jimmy and I always felt that we, along with Bob Hudson and Ralph Derby, were the second or third group into the cave after the portion beyond "The Pit" was discovered by the Dallas group in September, 1955. It is ironic that Jimmy and Bob steered the Dallas group to Mayfield to avoid being with them on the same weekend at another cave that they thought would be better. Carl Kunath has documented evidence that there may have been several groups of "spelunkers" ahead of us into the new discovery. In any case, Jimmy's portion of our story emphasizes how fragile the far reaches of the cave were and that damage was inevitable. This is also evidenced by Jack Burch's comment to you that "the pretty part of the cave is off trail" and to move through those sections of the cave is to do damage. Jimmy and I agree that this very early trip was the underground adventure of a lifetime and one that we will never forget. I hope that you will allow all of us to see your rendition of the geologic details when they are complete. Fritz Holt -----Original Message----- From: George Veni [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 12:34 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [Texascavers] Re: Sonora Butterfly My "study" of Caverns of Sonora that I referred to in my earlier message is also a survey. Many years ago, Jack Burch established a precise transit survey through the commercial section, with a few short bits extending off-trail. However his sketch was rudimentary and begged for detail. After several trips to the cave just to talk with the owners and manager (not to enter the cave), I was given permission to conduct a survey. We agreed to what in essence is an experiment. I have produced a highly detailed and precise sketch of the transit survey, loaded with geologic and other details. On average, sketching 15 m of passage took about 6 hours. The point was to see if this level of detail and precision (most sketched features are measured, not sketched by eyeballing their size and position) would tell us something important about the cave that would otherwise not be discovered. The answer is, "I don't know yet." I was going back over my sketches filling in some additional geologic details when the ICS and moving to New Mexico put that work on the backburner. I'm hoping that this year I'll finish those geologic details and then look at the results and determine if the extra effort was worth it beyond a series of lovely, exquisitely detailed and precise sketches. Depending on those results, I'll discuss with the owners how the survey should proceed off trail. Surveying in Caverns of Sonora will never be a TSA or widely open project. Off trail access is tightly restricted. Jack told me "The pretty part of the cave is off trail" and it is not shown because to move through those sections of the cave is to do damage. In fact, the owners ask permission of each other before going off trail. If additional off trail surveying is approved, it will be carefully monitored by the owners with each team member specifically approved for access. George -----Original Message----- From: Mark Minton [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 10:03 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Texascavers] Re: Sonora Butterfly As for there being 7 miles in Sonora, I doubt it, but if true why hasn't anyone started a serious resurvey project? Could make a great TSA activity. Mark --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
