texascavers Digest 5 Apr 2009 05:14:28 -0000 Issue 735
Topics (messages 10443 through 10451):
Re: Bitter Enders/Wild Woman
10443 by: John Brooks
15th ICS - It's not too late to place an ad
10444 by: germanyj.aol.com
Trip leader training trip to Deep and Punkin for April 11-12 - Second
Announcement
10445 by: Geary Schindel
Cave Funeral Services
10446 by: BMorgan994.aol.com
WNS featured on GMA
10447 by: Louise Power
TSA Convention needs a few more folks to give presentations
10448 by: Robert B
Vietnamese tourist caving :
10449 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
Doing vertical, need rope? Poof!
10450 by: Lyndon Tiu
TCMA volunteers help young professionals learn about conservation far undergroun
10451 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
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Both caves are currently closed.
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 2, 2009, at 7:37 PM, Benjamin Starr <[email protected]> wrote:
Hey, fellow cavers! Does anyone know the current situation surrounding access
to Bitter Enders and/or Wild Woman? It's been more than a decade since I've
been in either one. Visited them first as a scout and they are largely the
reason I became a caver as an adult. I don't want to ask around Davis and stir
up any resentment if there are tenuous relations. If anyone has information,
please respond off list. Happy caving! -Ben Starr in Dallas/Seattle
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HI Fellow Cavers!
It's not too late to place an ad in the 15th International Congress of
Speleology Program.?
Perhaps your Grotto or its individual members would like to place a simple
business card sized ad.? It could be for your business, or you could use it to
say HOWDY/Guten Tag/Welcome in one of 50 languages.? Did you know that people
from at least 50 countries are going to be in Kerrville for the ICS?)
We need your art work by 30 Apr.? You can download the ad submission form from
the ICS Web site:? http://www.ics2009.us/vendors.html (look for the link at the
end of the first paragraph).
Questions?? Email me!
Thank you for supporting the 15th International Congress of Speleology.
julia germany
15th ICS
Advertising Committee
Please distribute this message to other Grottos or listserves that might be
interested.
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Second Announcement
Here is a second announcement for folks that are interested in seeing
Deep and Punkin Cave. If you think you're interested in becoming a trip
leader for the ICS, or just want to check out the caves to see if you
would like to become a trip leader, or if you would just like to go
caving, this is a good opportunity. To be a trip leader, you must be a
member of the TCMA in good standing, be an experienced caver, have at
least three trips into Deep Cave to learn the routes through the cave
along with conservation practices, and obtain the approval of the
Property Manager (generally, this means either cooking him dinner,
providing beer, or giving him a foot massage after the cave trip but
before a shower). If you are interested in just caving, we ask that you
have your own equipment and a few cave trips under your belt.
The dates for the trip to Deep and Punkin are Friday, April 10 through
Sunday, April 12. Reservations are required as there is a limit of 24
people on the property at any given time. Trips into the cave will be
scheduled for April 11 and possibly April 12 depending upon interest.
There may also be an opportunity to visit another cave on Sunday
afternoon for about an hour. This is a vertical cave and there will be
some restrictions as to how many folks may enter the cave and experience
level. I may require some assistance in servicing a data logger in the
cave.
Deep and Punkin Nature Preserve are located in Edwards County near the
community of Carta Valley. The property is approximately 35 miles
southwest of Rocksprings and the same distance from Del Rio. There is
camping on the property and a cabin with bunk space availability on a
first come first served basis (with exception to those with special
needs).
We aim to have fun, see the cave, show off the property, get a little
work done, enjoy caver fellowship, and practice a little slough,
gluttony, buffoonery, and general debauchery - you know, standard caver
fare.
For more information on Deep and Punkin or other TCMA caves, you may
visit the TCMA web page at www.tcmacaves.org
So, if you are interested in going, you must contact me and get on the
list. If you ain't on the list, and you show up, you'll have to give
everyone on the property a foot massage.
Please feel free to email or call with any questions.
Geary
Geary Schindel
Property Manager
210-479-2151 home
210-326-1576 cell
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It seems that Procrustes is alive and well and working at the Cave Funeral
Home in Allendale SC.
"Police have launched an investigation after claims an American man's legs
were severed so he could fit into his coffin. Investigators in South Carolina
exhumed the body of James Hines, who was 6ft5in, yesterday. They described
what they found as 'undesirable evidence' - and said nothing more. The coroner
refused to confirm what they had seen."
Where is Theseus when you need him?
Sleazel
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This morning Good Morning America had a short piece on WNS. If you want to see
it or read about it, go to:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=7244605&page=1
Be sure and read the online comments. God, I had no idea stupidity was so
rampant, e.g.,
"distinctive white smudges on there noses and the white powder is disrupting
there sleep, they are probably snorting the white powder, what better place for
drug dealers to store the bad stuff who would ever go into a bat cave. I had a
bat that came in through a vent and woke me up flying over my head at 4:00 am
several months ago. I tell you what that has disturbed my sleep ever since!!!
they are so creepy Thank God I did not get bit."
"Just trying to educate the public on bats. They are a protected species, but
also not a good idea to invade their space/living environment. You don't have
to be bitten by a bat to get rabies. If they touch your skin or if you come in
contact with their saliva you can get rabies and it can be fatal."
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At this time we have only received commitments from 7 folks to give
presentations at this years TSA Convention.
Maximum presentation time is 30 minutes,
Have you been working on a project lately?
Well I am sure the rest of the texas caving community would love to hear
about it.
Send me an email, and we will add your to the roster.
Rob Bisset
[email protected]
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Exploring mysterious caves in Da Dung Mountain 03:31' 04/04/2009
(GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – Da Dung Mountain, also known as Chau Nham Son Mountain
or Bach (White) Mountain, is a national landscape endowed with primitive
beauty which gives new meaning to discovering the mysteries of nature.
Entrance to Da Dung Mountain.Located in Son My Commune, Ha Tien Town in
Kien Giang Province, a small town 8km from the Cambodian border in the Gulf of
Thailand, Da Dung Mountain is a magnificent masterpiece of nature. The
mountain is just 100 meters in height but has over 14 caves filled with
ancient
legends.
>From Ha Tien Town, 6 kilometers along National Road 80 heading to Xa Xia
border gate and two kilometers from Thach Dong Cave, reaching Da Dung Mountain
is an adventure. With an admission ticket priced at VND2,000, the adventure
starts with a crossing of 1,300 meters toward the caves.
Each cave has its own private secrets and strange shapes: Than Kim Quy
(Golden Turtle) Cave is a large rock in shape of a turtle, Doi (Bat) Cave has
a
stalactite in the shape of a wine gourd while Bong Lai (Elysium) Cave is
filled
with fresh air creating a fanciful scene of clouds hanging in mid air.
Kho Qua (bitter melon) Cave has stalactites in shape of giant bitter melons
and a monk who is lightly nodding his head thoughtfully towards Sam Hoi
(penitence) Cave. Visitors will be overwhelmed with a very cold and stuffy
feeling
as they descend into Cong Troi (Haven’s Gate) Cave, but as they reach the
core they will experience fascinating sensations when they see the shimmering
of the cave’s gate.
Some caves are linked together creating a mysterious labyrinth with
stalactites in diverse shapes. Echoes can be heard resounding from rock walls
as
rhythms of drums when tourists slap their chests in Trong Nguc (Chest Drum)
Cave,
or as the limpid melodies of a bell when tapping on stalactites in Lau
Chuong (Bell Tower) Cave.
Da Dung Mountain is also famous for Lady Chua Xu Cave and Coi Hang Da Cave,
formerly known as the home of Thach Sanh and, according to legend, where
Thach Sanh drew a bow and shot a giant eagle to rescue Princess Quynh Nga.
Da Dung Mountain is also home to many white egrets as this eco-environment
is still fresh with clusters of mountain inserting swamps and grass fields and
forest. It is a rock castle, with hundreds of natural bastions and
bell-towers, and folk tales and legends.
VietNamNet/SGT
_http://english.vietnamnet.vn/travel/2009/04/840026/_
(http://english.vietnamnet.vn/travel/2009/04/840026/)
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http://www.vancouversun.com/Explosive+rope+used+down+load+customer/1462784/story.html
--
Lyndon Tiu
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Young professionals learn about conservation far underground
Environment binds together social and business networking group.
By _Asher Price_ (mailto:[email protected])
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, April 04, 2009
They are oil and gas specialists, bankers, retirement specialists and
landscape designers — young professionals who have turned their white collars
green
as part of a group that's an offshoot of the Hill Country Conservancy, which
conserves open space west of Austin.
On a recent afternoon, as cars rumbled nearby on MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1),
about 15 of them put on elbow and knee pads and helmets with headlamps and then
lowered themselves into Whirlpool Cave Preserve, where they crawled like
toddlers between layers of bony limestone and muddy clay 50 feet below Earth's
surface.
Cracking jokes was also part of the terrain, but their true mission was to
learn about water quality and the Edwards Aquifer.
The group, called Emerging Professionals in Conservation, was founded in
early 2008 in part to encourage young professionals whose work touches on Hill
Country development to take an interest in environmental issues.
The goal of the group is to "bring this awareness of what's going on in the
conservation world to a young professional group that may not have exposure,"
said Rob Shands, a 27-year-old banker who, when not squirming on his stomach
through mud, works on the 12th floor of the Frost Bank Tower.
As Shands and other group members slithered their way through the three-hour
caving expedition, they teased one another about creepy-crawly salamanders
and ribbed their guide, an expert caver named Julie Jenkins, about how far she
would get if she relied solely on the glow from her wristwatch.
In turn, Jenkins told them about the relationship between suburban
development, chemical runoff and water quality in the Barton Springs portion of
the
aquifer.
In the cool, moist darkness, they made their way, in a jumble of elbows and
knees, into the low-ceilinged chamber where groundwater specialists dispensed
dyes to find out how much time it takes water in that portion of the aquifer
to travel to Barton Springs. They handled 40,000-year-old clay that's the
consistency of Play-Doh.
And, deep into the caves, they had a lights-out, no-sound couple of minutes
that was almost suffocating in its lack of stimuli.
Membership in the group starts at $20 a month or $200 a year. In exchange,
members have gone on trips like the caving expedition, a grape harvest in the
Hill Country, a bicycle ride through Blanco County and a kayak excursion on
the San Marcos River.
They also have occasional lunch-and-learn talks. Last year, Austin Mayor Will
Wynn talked to the group about global warming. Another session involved ways
to shrink one's carbon footprint. This summer includes a session on how to
structure land conservation deals.
"We're lining up the next group of people to be involved in conservation,"
said Will Powers, a 28-year-old who serves on the professional group's board
and who runs an oil-and-gas drilling compliance consultancy.
Many of these young professionals learned of the group through the Real
Estate Council of Austin, one of the group's chief sponsors.
More than 10 percent of the members are employees of Bury and Partners Inc.,
a civil engineering firm, and Land Design Partners Inc., according to Andrea
Rado, who runs the young professionals group for Hill Country Conservancy.
Hill Country Conservancy began as a joint effort by the Real Estate Council
of Austin, the Save Our Springs Alliance and the Greater Austin Chamber of
Commerce. The idea, said Bill Bunch, executive director of the SOS Alliance,
was
to buy and preserve watershed protection land in the Hill Country. But the
environmental group withdrew its support several years ago because it felt the
conservancy's board and funding had become developer-dominated, Bunch said.
Rado said members of the young professionals group are predisposed to think
about the environment, which is why they join.
But the activities have shifted members, many of whom are involved in real
estate, away from conventional thinking on land-use patterns, said 30-year-old
landscape designer Sara Partridge. Instead of investing in sprawling suburban
projects, they are more likely to think of ways to set aside open space.
That education leads to donations to the Hill Country Conservancy, which has
preserved thousands of acres in the Hill Country, often on ranches that are
prime for development.
Last year, dues and donations from members netted $20,000.
The members directed the money to pay for a staff position at the Hill
Country Conservancy to organize a regional trail system in the Hill Country.
The group now has 122 members ranging in age from their mid-20s to early 40s,
said Rado. About 40 percent are married.
"We didn't want it to be just another happy-hour networking group," Rado
said. "People are building relationships with each other, but that's not the
purpose."
Will Genrich, a 31-year-old real estate investor, as he prepared to go into
the cave preserve, said that the group is good for business networking and
that he has landed at least one banking deal through the program.
"What way is there to have a better time on a Thursday afternoon than to go
into a cave and socialize with a wide variety of people?" Genrichasked.
_http://www.statesman.com/news/content/n
ews/stories/local/04/04/0404caving.html_
(http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/04/0404caving.html)
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