texascavers Digest 14 Nov 2009 16:11:20 -0000 Issue 886
Topics (messages 12572 through 12589):
CBSP Project weekend
12572 by: Jim Kennedy
12574 by: Terry Holsinger
12578 by: Mark.Alman.l-3com.com
Punkin Cave Expedition Report
12573 by: Jim Kennedy
12579 by: Mark.Alman.l-3com.com
Another reason to go for CBSP weekend
12575 by: rafal kedzierski
TCR photos
12576 by: Katy Roodenko
web video news
12577 by: David
12580 by: Charles Goldsmith
NSS bookstore sale
12581 by: Mixon Bill
Rocks
12582 by: Charles Goldsmith
12585 by: speleosteele.tx.rr.com
12586 by: Charles Goldsmith
Canceling Mexican vehicle permits at Mexican consulates
12583 by: Diana Tomchick
LCROSS finds lunar water
12584 by: Sean Lewis
A real mess at CBSP
12587 by: Jim Kennedy
Dig we must....Kiwi.
12588 by: Gill Edigar
book review: Stephen Bishop and Mammoth Cave
12589 by: Mixon Bill
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Cavers,
Don't forget that this weekend is another Project Weekend at Colorado
Bend State Park. Brink your own water and food and cave gear. We will
be camping at the new caver camp, the first right-hand turn IMMEDIATELY
inside the Park gate. Be there by 9 am on Saturday at the latest. I'll
be out there sometime tomorrow afternoon. No need to RSVP, just show
up.
-- Crash
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--- Begin Message ---
Also if you are going to CBSP this weekend, there is new survey tape and
markers along the road to caver camp. Do not touch/remove these.
The park has had 14 inches of rain in the last month and there is a lot
of standing water throughout the park, most likely there will be a pond
next to caver camp (and the skiters were thick today for the park).
Might be a good time to look into the major recharge features, last
Sunday was a 4 inch ran with massive runoff. If you get a chance stop by
the spicewood Creek swimmin hole and notice the "new" bedrock channel
heading out to the river.
Terry H.
Jim Kennedy wrote:
Cavers,
Don�t forget that this weekend is another Project Weekend at Colorado
Bend State Park. Brink your own water and food and cave gear. We will
be camping at the new caver camp, the first right-hand turn IMMEDIATELY
inside the Park gate. Be there by 9 am on Saturday at the latest. I�ll
be out there sometime tomorrow afternoon. No need to RSVP, just show up.
-- Crash
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--- Begin Message ---
Wow, that's a lot of rain, Terry!
That area, and the rest of the Hill Country, really needed it, though.
Glad to hear it.
Mark
________________________________
From: Terry Holsinger [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thu 11/12/2009 8:18 PM
To: Jim Kennedy
Cc: CaveTex
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] CBSP Project weekend
Also if you are going to CBSP this weekend, there is new survey tape and
markers along the road to caver camp. Do not touch/remove these.
The park has had 14 inches of rain in the last month and there is a lot
of standing water throughout the park, most likely there will be a pond
next to caver camp (and the skiters were thick today for the park).
Might be a good time to look into the major recharge features, last
Sunday was a 4 inch ran with massive runoff. If you get a chance stop by
the spicewood Creek swimmin hole and notice the "new" bedrock channel
heading out to the river.
Terry H.
Jim Kennedy wrote:
> Cavers,
>
> Don't forget that this weekend is another Project Weekend at Colorado
> Bend State Park. Brink your own water and food and cave gear. We will
> be camping at the new caver camp, the first right-hand turn IMMEDIATELY
> inside the Park gate. Be there by 9 am on Saturday at the latest. I'll
> be out there sometime tomorrow afternoon. No need to RSVP, just show up.
>
> -- Crash
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--- Begin Message ---
Punkin Cave Survey Trip #11, 6-8 November 2009
reported by Jim "Crash" Kennedy, expedition leader
Punkin Cave is a fascinating long cave located deep in the heart of Carta
Valley, in rural Edwards County, Texas. It, along with nearby Deep Cave (also
a major cave with ongoing survey) are owned by the Texas Cave Management
Association, and managed for their considerable scientific value. Limited
recreational trips are permitted in non-sensitive areas of each cave. Both
caves are excellent examples of hypogenic cave formation, and in addition,
Punkin Cave is a major bat cave. Since 2005 I have tried to run 2-3 survey
trips there a year outside of the bat season. This is a summary of the most
recent trip.
After postponing the usual June trip due to a little event called ICS, we were
all anxious to get back to the cave to pursue leads left from the April
expedition. The usual call out to previous Punkin survey veterans
("Punkinheads") produced about 12 positive replies. A post to CaveTex produced
a few more. The expedition was on!
We arrived at TCMA's Carta Valley fieldhouse on Friday. Those of us smart
enough to take off from work Friday got there before dark. Those not so lucky
trickled in the rest of the night, with the latest arrivals showing up around
midnight. An evening movie and snacks entertained us early arrivals while
waiting for the others. The cabin easily sleeps over a dozen, but only 5 of us
stayed indoors. Others slept on the spacious new back porch or in tents
nearby.
The next morning, Arron Wertheim and I whipped up a delicious batch of pumpkin
pancakes and sausages to give everyone fuel for the day's surveying. We broke
into four teams, and people rapidly got their gear together. The first team
left for the cave by 9:30, with the other teams right behind.
At the cave I quickly rigged both the main entrance (~45', or 14m) and the
small entrance (~30', or 10m). Having both entrances rigged helps keep the
ropework from being a big bottleneck for so many people. No one seemed to have
any problems with the rappel, and we were soon gathered again in the entrance
room, leaving our vertical gear behind until the trip out.
The first team, TEAM FLACO, left to pursue some tight leads trending downward
on the east side of the entrance room. Joe Datri, Lacey Heath, Sean Lewis,
Heather Túček, and Andy Zenker set 22 stations and surveyed 39.63m (130.0
feet), for an average of 1.8m (5.9 feet) per shot. Their survey continues down
into a black spot on the map, and may possibly eve connect to Superstition Maze
with more work.
The second team, TEAM PANCREATITIS, returned to the extensive west maze off the
entrance room. Led by an ailing Lee Jay Graves, who bravely soldiered on
despite his discomfort, the team set 17 additional stations and surveyed 44.89m
(147.3 feet), for an average of 2.6m (8.7 feet) per shot. Assisting Lee Jay
were veterans Bonnie Longley and Chris Vreeland, and new Punkin surveyor
("Punkin Sprout") Josh Rubinstein. This is a really hot area of the cave, with
loads of good leads everywhere. The current survey also trends down into a
very large blank spot on the map.
The third team, TEAM GORDO, consisted of Don Arburn, Allan Cobb, Joe Ranzau,
and Ann Scott, who became the designated lead pusher and checker. They started
out mopping up some mid- to upper-level leads in the Medusa Maze section, and
ended up making multiple loop closures with previous surveys and Team Four's
survey that day. This was very important to us to "finish" off that section
and flesh out more of the map in that complex area. This team surveyed 75.29m
(247.0 feet) in 21 shots, for an average of 3.6m (11.8 feet) per shot.
The last team, TEAM PANCAKE, also started off cleaning up leads in the Medusa
Maze, but ended up in someplace altogether different and exciting. Gary
Franklin, Tone Garot, Jim Kennedy, Linda Palit, and Arron Wertheim made a
whopping 31 shots totaling 96.14m (315.4 feet), averaging 3.1m (10.2 feet) per
shot. Arron climbed a fissure to an obscure lead and discovered the Pumpkin
Pancake Room, a nice find with 6 leads. Several were connected into previous
surveys in the ER (Entrance Room) and MS (Nightmare on Maze Street) sections.
Another was tied into Team Three's survey, and one went deep. Jim found an
obscure pit hidden by some rocks which he removed. Tone took over rock removal
duty while Jim returned to the rest of the team to finish sketching. The pit
is free-climbable and goes an estimated 27m (90 feet) or so before hitting
loosely-cemented breakdown. It is very reminiscent of Fifty Fathoms, and
awaits a name from the future surveyors.
In summary, four survey teams in Punkin Cave put in another 91 shots of survey
and added another 255.95m (839.77 feet) of passage to the length of the cave.
The new length of the cave is now 2513.1m. It just moved up to the #19 spot on
the Texas Long Cave list, displacing Stowers Cave. It only needs another 49m
to hit #18 (displacing River Styx Cave), 59m to hit #17 (displacing Rocket
River Cave System), and 61m to hit #16 (displacing Phantom Springs Cave). Deep
Cave is still 217.3m longer and 14.6m deeper. The depth of Punkin has not
changed in several trips, remaining at #28 on the Texas Deep Cave list. The
next trip will likely be sometime in February, and as usual, Punkin survey
veterans will receive first notice.
Confidentiality Note: This email and any attachment to it are confidential and
protected by law and intended for the use of the individual(s) or entity named
on the email. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you
are hereby notified that any dissemination or distribution of this
communication is prohibited. If you have received this communication in error,
please notify the sender via return email and delete it completely from your
email system. If you have printed a copy of the email, please destroy it
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--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Great trip report. Jim!
Anyone have any photos to go along with it?
The next issue of The TEXAS CAVER will be going out to the printer today, so
get those trip reports, photos, and articles for the next issue to me!
Thanks!
Mark
________________________________
From: Jim Kennedy [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thu 11/12/2009 5:20 PM
To: CaveTex
Cc: Alman, Mark @ IRP
Subject: Punkin Cave Expedition Report
Punkin Cave Survey Trip #11, 6-8 November 2009
reported by Jim "Crash" Kennedy, expedition leader
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With all the rain and cooler weather (especially the rain), I anticipate 'bad
air' in caves will not be an issue. Mark Gee and I are planning on surveying
remaining parts of Lemons Ranch Cave, so if you haven't seen the crazy
formations in the back and want to stretch the tape, learn how to sketch, this
is a good weekend.
Rafal Kedzierski
_________________________________________________________________
Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141665/direct/01/
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--- Begin Message ---
Here is the link to some of our TCR photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/katynko/TCR?authkey=Gv1sRgCOyIoNPT1ND1wgE#
It was lots of fun - thanks to the organizers!
Katy and Udi
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In a week or so, YouTube will start stream-lining 1080p videos, with full
screen view.
This means any caving related videos uploaded to YouTube that were high rez,
will eventually be available to watch on a 56" plus LCD screen in high rez.
Presuming you have a fast internet, and a graphics card in you PC that can
handle it.
Feel free to correct me on all of that.
So if you are in the market for a camcorder, and plan to post your videos on
YouTube, then
you might want to consider one that records in 1080p.
On a related note,
I think the price and the quality of the 42 inch televisions has dropped
recently.
The low end brands at Walmart are $ 778, and even the Sony's are under $
1,000 now. I think all can be used as monitors now, presuming your PC has
an HDMI slot. I would have
never imagined that people on low income budgets would be buying 56 inch
hi-rez TV's to mount on the wall, but they are.
David Locklear
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yes, most can, some even have a VGA port for analog. With HDMI, there
are adaptors and cables to go from a PC's digital DVI to HDMI.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812270113&cm_re=dvi_to_hdmi-_-12-270-113-_-Product
Charles
On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 2:51 AM, David <[email protected]> wrote:
> 1,000 now. I think all can be used as monitors now, presuming your PC has
> an HDMI slot.
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I am told by the NSS bookstore that only NSS books, not other NSS
publications, are on sale (see my note of a couple of days ago). --
Mixon
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Bill, in the past, I've made the mistake of sharing your rock stories
with my friends. I just found a nice one in my cave pack, I'm not
sure how long I carried it, but the last time I emptied it was in prep
for my last Carlsbad trip. I'm prepping for my next one as I type
this.
Good times, and the revenge is even better.
Charles
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--- Begin Message ---
Charles, Ellie Watson put that rock in your pack when we were at Longhorn
Caverns in September. You must have carried it around at Carlsbad and not
noticed.
Bill
---- Charles Goldsmith <[email protected]> wrote:
> Bill, in the past, I've made the mistake of sharing your rock stories
> with my friends. I just found a nice one in my cave pack, I'm not
> sure how long I carried it, but the last time I emptied it was in prep
> for my last Carlsbad trip. I'm prepping for my next one as I type
> this.
>
> Good times, and the revenge is even better.
>
> Charles
>
>
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--- Begin Message ---
Ellie, I'm so going to get you for that! I did over six miles of
rough hiking up slaughter canyon that day. Plus the WNS police are
after me about decon procedures.
Paybacks are going to be glorious!
On Nov 13, 2009, at 3:59 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
Charles, Ellie Watson put that rock in your pack when we were at
Longhorn
Caverns in September. You must have carried it around at Carlsbad
and not
noticed.
Bill
---- Charles Goldsmith <[email protected]> wrote:
Bill, in the past, I've made the mistake of sharing your rock stories
with my friends. I just found a nice one in my cave pack, I'm not
sure how long I carried it, but the last time I emptied it was in
prep
for my last Carlsbad trip. I'm prepping for my next one as I type
this.
Good times, and the revenge is even better.
Charles
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--- Begin Message ---
Has anyone had any recent experience with canceling an expired Mexican
vehicle permit at a Mexican consulate? I'm wondering if the experience
will be easier at the consulate in Austin than I expect it will prove
to be in Dallas.
Personal anecdotes will be much appreciated,
Diana
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Diana R. Tomchick
Associate 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)
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--- Begin Message ---
This may not be cave related, but it is certainly exciting for those of us
interested in this frontier of exploration.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/prelim_water_results.html
We will have to stay tuned for more information about the concentration of
ice at the impact site.
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I arrived at the caver camp at CBSP last night to find a real mess
left over from last month's trip, which I was unable to attend. The
firepit is chock-full of broken glass, which we now have to clean up.
Instead of taking their bottles and cans home to recycle, some
thoughtless slobs left a mess for others. I hope this is a reminder
for everyone, that cans and bottles do not go in fires, ever. Only
burn burnables. Thanks.
-- Crash
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--- Begin Message ---
Ernie & Don would like some help digging on Kiwi Sink today. If you have a
few hours to spare give Ernie a call at 512-847-0183 to coordinate.
--Ediger
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--- Begin Message ---
"Grand, Gloomy and Peculiar: Stephen Bishop at Mammoth Cave." Roger W.
Brucker. Cave Books, Dayton, Ohio; 2009. ISBN 978-0-939748-71-6. 6 by
9 inches, 269 pages, softbound. $15.95.
The slave Stephen Bishop is the only show-cave guide in the United
States to become a significant historical figure. He was a guide at
Mammoth Cave for about twenty antebellum years, and his fame at the
time was such that visitors to the cave often specifically requested
him as their guide. He is also famous for his explorations in the
cave. This historical novel, in the form of a fictional autobiography
of his wife, is based on the large amount of information available
about Bishop and the cave during that period. An epilog states that
Charlotte Bishop's fictional narrative ends in 1859, two years after
Stephen's death, but in fact the book ends with Stephen's funeral in
1857. Perhaps the final two years were left out because they were
thought anticlimactic. The book includes a copy of the 1845 version of
the Bishop map of Mammoth Cave, poorly presented across unnumbered
pages with no provision for binding-edge margins. That map is, at
best, a pace-and-compass map, but much of it is really just a sketch
from memory. Nevertheless it was the best map of Mammoth Cave for many
years.
"Beneath Their Feet: A Novel about Mammoth Cave and Its People," by
Patricia Quinlan, is another historical novel about Mammoth Cave. It
was published by iUniverse (a vanity press) in 2004. It is really more
of a series of stories than a novel, and as such it covers a longer
time, 1811 to 1941, and a wider range of interesting history, but
Brucker's book is more focused. Both are painless ways to learn some
spelean history, if you aren't too worried about exactly where the
facts end and the fiction begins.--Bill Mixon
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