Fritz--What a weekend!!
Preston in Browder, KY
On Tuesday, December 11, 2018, 11:16:38 AM CST, Fritz Holt
<fritz...@gmail.com> wrote:
I had not met Jack Prince but knew of his ledge crossing and great discovery.
In December of 1955 or January 1956 I was stationed at Ft. Bliss in El Paso and
had corresponded with good caving friend Jimmy Walker of Waelder, TX. Jimmy
said he was leaving on Friday to check out a cave that a Dallas caving group
had just discovered on The Mayfield Ranch near Sonora and invited me to meet
him there. Fortunately, I did not have K.P. or guard duty that weekend so I
loaded my gear in the car and headed east. I arrived at the ranch house at 2:00
AM Saturday morning and awakened Mr. Mayfield. He advised me that my party was
camped under some trees about 500 feet south of his house and near the cave
entrance. I slept in my car until first light and then joined the group in
building a fire and eating some breakfast. We then descended into what was to
be the most beautifully decorated underground wonderland that any of us had
seen before or since. By the way, Jimmy’s two friends who accompanied us on
this trip were Bob Hudson and his brother-in-law Ralph. Once in the cave, it
did not take long to reach the ledge that had been described to Jimmy. The drop
to the floor below appeared to be 30 or 40 feet and looked perilous. Jimmy
remembers that it was Ralph who crossed the ledge to secure a rope to a distant
formation to give us some sense of security. My memory is that there was an
existing rope already attached from the previous expedition. Jimmy believed we
were the third group to cross the ledge after the Prince group did so in
September. 1955. Carl Kunath believes we were the fifth or sixth group to make
the crossing. Jimmy told me that he had previously received a call from Prince
or a member of his group asking for a recommendation for a cave to visit. Jimmy
had a trip planned for that same September, 1955
period and did not want the competition so he told them they might want to
check out a cave on the Mayfield Ranch which was some distance from Jimmy’s
planned trip. Little did he know what the other group would discover. It goes
without saying that the two days spent in Mayfield were the best of all my
caving experiences. The formations were and I hope still are the most beautiful
anyone could ever hope to see. I have never been back but hope to visit again.
Friend Preston McMichael (deceased) and Lyndon TU said the cave office has a
picture displayed of 21 year old Fritz Holt looking up at a six foot soda
straw. Jimmy Walker took this picture and others on our trip to the cave. I
think I have several. I hope I haven’t bored all with my nostalgic
recollections.
Fritz F. Holt12737 Silver Creek Rd. Dripping Springs, TX
78620fritztcr@gmail.com713-818-2496Sent from my iPhone
On Dec 8, 2018, at 10:30 PM, George Veni <gv...@nckri.org> wrote:
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Thanks Logan. I’ve forwarded your message to the owners of Caverns of Sonora
just in case they didn’t know.
I met Jack once there during the 50th anniversary of the ledge crossing. He
told me that he and his team didn’t really think of the crossing as a big deal
and didn’t rig a safety line for there first few trips, even when they crossed
it with duffel bags during a cave camp trip. I crossed the ledge a couple of
times while sketching that part of the cave and it looks a lot more treacherous
from the tourist trail than from the direction of exploration. There is a
frequently distributed photo of someone crossing the ledge and being high up on
the slope next to the safety line. Jack and I agreed that the best place to
cross is to walk right along the edge of the ledge. The floor is flat with a
grippy surface there, making it very easy for much of the traverse. Although I
wouldn’t do it without that safety line.
Jack also told me the he was elected to cross the ledge first because he was
the most experienced, something I’d heard many times. I asked him how
experienced and he said, “I think it was my third caving trip.”
George
********************
George Veni, PhD
Executive Director, National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI)
and
President, International Union of Speleology (UIS)
NCKRI address (primary)
400-1 Cascades Avenue
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220 USA
Office: +575-887-5517
Mobile: +210-863-5919
Fax: +575-887-5523
gv...@nckri.org
www.nckri.org
UIS address
Titov trg 2
Postojna, 6230, Slovenia
www.uis-speleo.org
From: Texascavers <texascavers-boun...@texascavers.com>On Behalf Of Logan
Sent: Saturday, December 8, 2018 20:16
To: texascavers@texascavers.com
Subject: [Texascavers] Jack Prince, first person to cross Devil's Delight ledge
in Mayfield Cave (Caverns of Sonora)
Jack Prince passed away on November 19, 2018, one month shy of his 90th
birthday. Most of you do not know who he was, or that he made one of the most
memorable discoveries in a cave in Texas. Bill Stephenson, founder of the
National Speleological Society, described the cave as "the most indescribably
beautiful cave in the world."
On Sept 24, 1955, Jack was the first person to cross the precipitous narrow
sloping ledge in Mayfield Cave (Sutton County, TX) that led into the stunning
world-class beauty of what is now known as Caverns of Sonora. The most detailed
account of that discovery and the story of the cave is in the 2007 book 50
Years of Texas Caving by Carl Kunath, who interviewed Jack. When it was
printed, Carl gave him the very first copy.
I met Jack only once, in 2008, thanks to Susan Chelf. He was retired and a
volunteer helping people with tax forms. Caves came up in the conversation and
she was astounded to hear his story. She told me and I went a few days later.
Without explanation, first thing I asked him was "Do you remember where you
were on Sept 24, 1955?" He looked at me for a few seconds, thought for a few
more seconds, and answered "Well, I probably was in Mayfield Cave, crossing the
Devil's Delight ledge." We had a good chat and he autographed my copy of 50
Years below a full page photo on page 417 of him with the awesome Antler
Helictites, taken on the discovery trip.
Here is the link to his obituary.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/statesman/obituary.aspx?n=clarence-e-prince&pid=190890160
I'm going to attend his memorial 3:00 this Monday Dec 10th at the Westminster
Presbyterian Church, 3208 Exposition Blvd, Austin 78703
He obviously was a man of deep faith and is in Heaven now. But he also had the
good fortune to discover a part of Heaven on Earth.
Logan McNatt
lmcn...@austin.rr.com
512-462-9581
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