David, I don't post from my gmail account, but I do know that some email clients won't post the email that you just sent. It aggravates me that Lotus Notes does this by default, and I'm sure there are others.
Any other gmail users seeing this problem? Charles > My e-mail is not receiving my post to Cavetex, but I seem to be getting > everybody elses? > > This is a follow-up to my post Sunday night concerning Cueva La Boca. > > How long has it been since you have been to Cueva La Boca? > > There is a new chain-link fence, running straight up the mountain > to the eastern wall of the cave entrance, and then across the cave > entrance. It looks like the poles have been there for a few months, > but the fence looks brand new. > > They are building a much stronger fence across the entrance. 4" square > post about 8 feet high and angled outward another foot, and have been > installed > in the entrance about 15 feet apart. They are all set in cement. > > I assume that this is an effort to keep people out, and not part of some > sort > of eco-tourism plan. > > About 1,000 people hiked up to the entrance on Sunday. Imagine that! > My brother in law, a "regiomontano," called it the "fila india" I > wouldn't > call them spelunkers. None of them had flashlights. Many were in > sandals and some barefooted. The main goal seems to be "how fast > you can get up and down." The problem was everybody was elbowing > one another to get up. There was a huge bottleneck, at a place I > call > "the Hillary Step." Here you have 2 trespassing choices. You can > crawl under the fence or you can follow the fence up the hill, squeezing > your body between the fence and the cave wall. Either route sucks, > especially with a toddler. > > An eco-tourist consultant was conducting a survey up at the > cave. It was a 2 page questionaire, with one of the questions being > do you know what "histo" is? The guy doing the survey was wearing > an old shirt that read "Amigos de la Naturaleza." > > Many of the males hiking to the cave where shirtless covered in tattoes > and carrying a Tecate beer can. However, there was no litter on the > trail or in the cave - just lots of spray-painted murals, one being some > sort of clowns face about 12 feet tall. Most of the girls were young > and dressed in casual clothes and with their boyfriends. But there > were many families making the pilgramage. > > Down in the canyon was chaos. Thousands of cars driving thru the > canyon - bumper to bumper. There are about a dozen cheap roadside food > stands > set up in front of the cave, mostly selling roasted corn - "elotes." > > I hadn't been to the cave in about 16 years, but went a few times back in > the 80's. > I didn't go far enough into the cave to report anything, but the entrance > floor > seems to be greatly altered due to mining. I am pretty sure you could > drive > a small ATV to the end of the twilight zone if you could haul one up > there. > Because of all the rocks and dirt piled up just inside the entrance it is > difficult > to get a photo like the ones on the AMCS brochures. > > Another change was the road exit from the Inter-American Highway. You > have > to go under the highway and drive back north along a huge traffic jam and > road-side > stands and then exit right goint to the town of Caderyet. It is total > chaos. > > By the way, the locals refer to the dam as "La Cortina." I have always > asked > people where the "presa" was and they have always seemed confused, even > though the roadside sign clearly says "La Presa." > > Personally, I think the fence needs to be located further back in the > cave. However, > this looks like it was not a choice, due to all the construction rubble. > > I believe if you could remove all the breakdown and bat guano, that you > would have > a very interesting cave passage. > > David Locklear >
