NSS Jan 2019 News MORCA by John Fiorino

USA May 11-18, 2019 - National Cave Rescue Commission (NCRC) Cave Rescue Operations and Management Seminar at Camp Rivervale in Mitchell, Indiana. Extensive classroom instruction and fieldwork in all phases of cave rescue including underground environment, vertical rescue, hauling systems, extrication techniques, medical management, communication systems and much more! For more information, please go to: www.ncrc.info.

May 24-27, 2019—The Louisville Grotto is hosting their 49th Speleofest caving event at the Lone Star Preserve, Bonnieville, Kentucky; always on Memorial Day Weekend, always a great time. Close proximity to lots of caves, kayaking, Mammoth Cave National Park, and other local attractions for surface dwellers. There will be lots of caving, gear, vendors, banquet, bonfire, and fun for the kids.Follow us on Facebook for updates https://www.facebook.com/Speleofest http://speleofest.com/ June-17-21, 2019—2019 NSS Convention in Cookeville, Tennessee. http://nss2019.subworks. com/ June-18-21, 2019—Karst-O-Rama, at Great Saltpetre Cave Preserve, Mt. Vernon, Kentucky.

Hosted by the Greater Cincinnati Grotto. Cave trips on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There will be cave vendors, children’s activities, cave box for the flexible, climbing contest, and more.

Howdy party on Friday night and a live band on Saturday night. Theme for the party is still TBD. Pre-registration discount will be available, once the website is updated. Please check back here for details to come. In the meantime, questions can be emailed to the Karst-O-Rama committee, at kor@karstorama.com August 30 – September 2 2019—CaveFest.

Sewanee Mountain Grotto is hosting their annual auction and party in the heart of TAG over Labor Day weekend. Auction, led cave trips, bat flight float trips, music, dancing, homebrew (available ALL weekend with the purchase of a $10 mug) and a potluck dinner. Please bring a side dish for the potluck if you wish to participate. SMG will provide the meat. Caver’s Paradise Campground amenities include: Bath house with hot showers, volleyball court, dish washing station, RV hook ups, hot tub and a sauna.. And not to mention thousands of caves within an hour drive or less.

Please refer to the Caver’s Paradise website for directions. There is no registration fee but the campground does charge a $10.00 for the entire weekend and RV hookups are available for an additional $25.00. All of the proceeds from our event go back into the caving community! To follow or join the event on facebook, go to: https:// www.facebook.com/groups/SMGCaveFest/ 2020—NSS Convention in Elkins, West Virginia

INTERNATIONAL February 1-4, 2019—XIV National Mexican Congress of Speleology in the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. See the Web site (umae.org/ congreso2019) or Facebook page (Congreso Mexicano de Espeleología 2019) for more information.

July 23-29, 2021—18th International Congress of Speleology, (Lyon, France), http://uis2021. speleos.fr/ Send items for the calendar to davebunnell@ comcast.net at least 4 weeks before desired month of publication (e.g., by April 1 for the May issue).

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NSS News, January 2019

These two shots by Chris Higgins each received a Merit Award in the 2018 Photo Salon.

Above: Mountain inside of a Mountain and below, River meets Rotunda

NSS News

POSTMASTERS OR MEMBERS: Send address changes to the National Speleological Society Office, contact information below.

National Speleological Society Office

January 2019 Volume 77 Number 1

6001 Pulaski Pike NW, Huntsville, AL 35810 Tel: (256) 852-1300 e-mail: nss@caves.org; Web site: http://caves.org/ Please contact the office for address changes or back issues.

NSS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President Geary Schindel Bexar Grotto San Antonio, TX president@caves.org (210).326.1576 cell

Operations VP Mark Skove Smoky Mountain Grotto Clinton, TN (865) 640-2323 ovp@caves.org

Executive VP Scott Engel Smoky Mountain Grotto Knoxville, TN (225) 281-3914 evp@caves.org

Main Drain Cave Diving 2018........................................................ 4 Jean Krejca, Bev Shade, and Philip Rykwalder

Administrative VP Katherine L. Crispin, Ph.D. TRA Grotto, GAG, BATS State College, Pennsylvania (610) 504-0339 cell avp@caves.org

Secretary/Treasurer Gaylene Speaect Colorado Grotto Aurora, Colorado (303) 880 3168 s-t@caves.org

NSS NEWS EDITOR Dave Bunnell, Ph.D. Box 879 Angels Camp, CA 95222

nssnews@caves.org Please include “NSS News” in your subject line when e-mailing material to help me sort it from the spam. Thanks!

Questions about submitting features and photos? Please see the style and submission guidelines:on the NSS web site: https://caves.org/pub/nssnews/style.shtml

ADVERTISING Complete advertising information, including rate cards, mechanical specs and deadlines is available online at https://caves.org/pub/nssnews/ads.shtml New advertisers should contact Matt Bowers, NSS Director of Business Development at 209-529-9000 or matt.bowers@caves.org.

Payments for ads should be sent to the NSS office. New advertisers are expected to pay for ads prior to publication.

Morca Cave, it’s a Turkish Delight................................................ 13 John Fioroni

Wisconsin’s Greatest Cave Hoax................................................... 16 Gary K. Soule

Reviewing The Girl Scouts of USA Caving Policy......................... 17 Allen Maddox

2018 NESA Eagle Scout Speleologists: Collaborative Report....... 18 Harison Bhanoo, Luke Giovanine, Sam Pollack, and Max Renner

The Mystery of the Ancient Statues of Laos Caves....................... 20 Liviu Valenas

Between a Rock and a Radio Place:The Case of the Irene Ryan Signature Mystery in Mammoth Cave.......................................... 22 Peggy Gripshover and Chris Groves

Society News

Speleo Patron of the Arts............................................................. 24 Dave Hughes, Reilly Blackwell, and Geary Schindel

DEPARTMENT EDITORS ASSISTANT COPY EDITOR Gary Gibula

UNDERGROUND ONLINE Bill Grose

garygibula@aol.com

caverbill_64616@aol.com

CONSERVATION Jim & Val Hildreth-Werker

NEWSLETTER REVIEW Ian Reuter

PO Box 207 Hillsboro, NM 88042-0207 (575) 895-5050 werks@cunacueva.com

5560 Sierra Court Rapid City, SD 57702 ianreuter@aol.com

SPELEAN SPOTLIGHT Michael Ray Taylor

CAVE CHRONICLES Philip Rykwalder

News and Notes............................. 25 Obituaries....................................... 28 President’s Message..................... 30

Reading.......................................... 31 Classified Ads................................ 31

philip@cavenow.com

taylorm@hsu.edu Deadline: Ads, articles, and announcements should be sent to the editor by the 1st of the month, 1 month before the month of issue (e.g., material for the March issue n eeds to be in by Feb. 1).

The NSS News (ISSN 0027-7010) is published monthly with the Members Manual and American Caving Accidents published as additional issues by the National Speleological Society, Inc, 6001 Pulaski Pike NW, Huntsville, AL 35810. Periodicals Postage Paid at Huntsville, Al and additional mailing offices. Tel: (256)852-1300, e-mail: nss@caves.org, web: http://caves.org/ Regular membership in the NSS is $50 per year. Members may elect to receive only the digital NSS NEWS for $40/year. See http://caves.org/info/membertypes.shtml for descriptions of other membership categories. Subscriptions to the NSS News are $27 per year; individual copies are $3.00 each. Contact the Huntsville office for membership applications, subscriptions, orders, or for replacement of issues missing or damaged in the mail. Moving?

Please report changes of address to the office promptly or online at: https://caves.org/nssapps/changeinfo.shtml

Copyright ©2019 by the National Speleological Society, Inc.

Our front and back cover photos this month all accompany the feature article detailing a 2018 cave dive expedition to push sumps at the bottom of Main Drain Cave, Utah

Front cover: Bev Shade dangles at the pitch head of Frayed Knot Falls, a 250-foot vertical plunge in the heart of Main Drain. Photo by Stephen Eginoire. More of his work can be seen at http://www.stepheneginoire.com/

Back cover: Right: Amy Morton in the “leaks” at the bottom of Leaky Faucet Pit. Photo by Jean Krejca.

Left: Late night discussions as the caving team prepares to start the haul out.

Photo by Scott Anderson.

Bottom: Pete Tschannen climbs Kilo Pit enroute to the surface after a day of rigging.

Photo by Stephen Eginoire.

NSS News, January 2019

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Jean Krejca

Main Drain Cave Diving 2018

Jean Krejca, Bev Shade, and Philip Rykwalder Amy Morton climbing out of Deception Pit

“Utah has never been, and surely never will be, considered a major caving area of the United States of America or the world. However, hidden deep in the mountains of this great state are a few cave gems, which will take their places in caving history. This is the story of one such cave.” (The discovery, exploration of, and sufferings within Utah’s Main Drain Cave,

by David K. and Ryan K. Shurtz) Main Drain is Utah’s deepest cave, at 1306 feet depth. With an entrance above 9,000 feet in elevation, the cave is cold and very committing. As rigged there are approximately 30 rope pitches on 9 drops.

The narrow, cramped upper portion of the cave makes hauling large diving packs exhausting. Lower down the cave opens up and cavers must commit themselves to the 38 F water.

Documentation of caves in the area began in the 1950s, and organized exploration of Main Drain Cave began in 2000, summarized in David and Ryan Shurtz’s lively account (NSS News, April 2005; a slightly longer version of this trip report is available online at http://www.cavediggers. com/MainDrain.pdf). A 2016 dive effort was described in Main Drain Cave: Texans Descend into Tony Grove by Jean Krejca 4

NSS News, January 2019

(NSS News, August 2017). This article adds yet another chapter to the story.

2017, in which we entertain “Ideas” (Bev) In the fall of 2016, I asked Jean Krejca if she would return to push the Two Step Sump. “Maybe,” she said, “but not this year.” The following summer, we picked up the discussion again. As memories do, the recollection of cold discomfort faded, while tantalizing fantasies of running down a big borehole grew brighter. The next effort would take more tanks, more gear. To make this happen, we needed to convert from push rigging to rigging for heavy traffic: lots of trips, heavy loads. While we continued to talk ourselves into another dive trip, we returned to Tony Grove for Labor Day weekend in 2017 to work on rigging upgrades.

Over Labor Day 2017, Stephen Eginoire, Jean Krejca, Pete Tschannon, Jason Wayland, Dave Wrobel and I tackled a long list of objectives. The cave was rigged for fast, quick exploration and survey trips but neither the rigging nor the ropes were prepared for the massive amount of traffic involved in a tank haul in an alpine cave.

Old cumbersome rope pads were removed and dozens of bolts were set. Below the

cave’s 220-foot entrance pit there is a difficult squeeze above Ryan’s Ice climb that leads immediately to Leaky Faucet, a cold, wet and narrow set of pitches where new rebelays were established and old ones were adjusted. Below in canyon passages ropes were relocated to keep cavers drier and avoid nasty rub points, and at the top of Frayed Knot, a 222-foot waterfall pitch, an awkward and disarming swinging move was tamed with a ledge traverse around the pit’s edge. Away from the pounding spray below the pit, traverse lines were tightened.

It was a busy few days with cavers spread throughout the cave hammering, digging, bolting and preparing the cave for an expedition where every obstacle would be encountered dozens of times by cavers. The main victory was at Kilo Pit, a 187-foot pit lower down in the cave. The upper portion of the cave is a cold, wet, and windy series of pits that lead into a narrow canyon passage.

After rappelling down Frayed Knot the cave opens dramatically, but remaining true to its alpine style the cave contains awkward obstacles along the way. At the top of Kilo, cavers wend their way through loose breakdown and rotten rock with the consistency of wet corn bread. To his horror, while Pete Johnson was de-rigging at the end of the

Hiking up from Tony Grove Lake toward the cave

steep mountainside. Traversing left and then right, cliffs blocked my way. Through the inky blackness I could see the lights of my friends winking through the woods far, far below.

I sat down to rest. The inescapable beauty crept in and adjusted my attitude—a brilliant full moon rose over the dark wooded mountains of northern Utah. In the middle of the night! By myself! My dear husband solo parenting! Awesome!

What a privilege it was to visit the stunning lower passages of this awesome cave with great companions. My anger dissipated as I accepted responsibility for my situation.

I’d hiked to this cave six times; it was my job to keep track of landmarks.

After this reflection, I got up and found the right trail right away. Of course. I crawled into bed about 4 a.m., tired but happy. If Jean and David Moore chose to push this dive, we should be able to get all the gear there safely.

2016 expedition the most critical bolt simply fell out of the wall in his hand. Finding rock to take an anchor was a challenge in itself, but getting those anchors in the right place to thread the needle down through the last of the boulders was confounding. However after several hours, and lots of brainstorming, Steven and Dave came up with an elegant rig.

At the bottom of Kilo we were faced with a decision: the ropes on the final drop into the Terminal Sump needed serious work, but it was already late and we were out of days. Going to the sump requires getting wet in frigid 38 F water up to the waist. We resolved to do what we could with a fading hammer drill battery and limited hardware and plunged into the frigid waters.

Immediately a wet squeeze shoved the team elbows first into the water. Thirty nasty minutes later we arrived at the sump pitch.

Scrabbling around and trying to complete a job with too little resources we exhausted battery, bolts, hangers, and even scavenged carabiners from our personal gear. All the rope was completely trashed but it would have to be replaced later; it was time to head out.

It was a slow and cold trip out. I was totally worked and on the surface I got separated from the group. The trailless hike back to camp through the wilderness is not that complicated, but in my cold, wet and exhausted state I found myself alone on the

tion for diving in one of the coldest and most remote sumps in the U.S., Jean and David had spent untold hours planning every last detail of their dive kit and logistics down to squares of toilet paper. We had strategized sites for cave camp, schedules, and hauling logistics. First aid kits were packed and repacked. After a string of unfortunate cancellations we had more loads than cavers and I wasn’t sure how we would get the grow-

2018: More Silliness in the Dark (Bev) Stephen Eginoire

Duffels ready to be transported the sump

Scott Anderson

Scott Anderson Hiking through alpine meadows toward the cave. Earlier in summer, the meadows are awash with flowers.

August 13: A year had passed, almost to the day, and I found myself back at the scenic entrance of Main Drain.

Over the past 12 months, Jean and I had invited, begged, and harangued friends and strangers into hauling gear to the bottom and back to support the diving in Two Bev Shade emerges after a day of rigging. Photo: Stephen Eginoire Step Sump. In preparaNSS News, January 2019

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ing mountain of gear down to -1200 feet.

Now, here I was, standing at the entrance. Just Philip Rykwalder and I, four days before the tank haul was due to start, with a laundry list of tasks ahead of us. Luckily, one task had been taken off that list several weeks before by a team of Peter Hartley, Swede Larsen, Nic Lee, Dave Wrobel, Eric Richards, and Adam Jones.

Dave established a challenging rebelay about 80 feet down Frayed Knot. The pit wall bells out from the pitch head, so he had to do some tricky work with intermediate anchors hanging in space while getting rained on by the Frayed Knot Falls. They brought warming station supplies and additional diving lead weights to the bottom of Leaky Faucet as well.

Back at the entrance, Philip and I took stock. Cavers were en route from California, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah but a few more things needed addressing before cavers laden with packs could descend into this cold, wet cave.

We had hauled a big pile of rigging and first aid gear to the entrance and had a list of objectives. In theory, we were ready to go, but somehow we kept sitting in the dappled sunlight under an ancient limber pine.

Philip had picked up a nasty flu at the NSS convention, and was still feeling poorly. But he sucked it up, hauling around heavy bags and going caving when he should have been hibernating in his tent. We opted to start with a manageable first-day task: get rid of The Rock at the top of Leaky Faucet. Everyone who’s struggled past this rock remembers it, and no one remembers it fondly!

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NSS News, January 2019

Jean Krejca Bev Shade squeezing out of the top of Leaky Faucet, happy that the awkward rock is gone.

Jean Krejca

Brandon Kowallis Ascending above the snowcone at the bottom of Deception Pit

This approximately 200-pound boulder was poised delicately over the top of a vertical squeeze, and made climbing up and out exceedingly difficult. It’s the kind of squeeze that fills you with the red haze of fury while you thrash fruitlessly. The boulder was somewhat loose but in a position where it was natural to use it as a handhold climbing up and out. Its proximity to the Leaky Faucet pitch head required careful handling to prevent rubble falling down the drop and potentially damaging rigging below. We used a small hauling system to pull the rock inch by inch out of the top of the squeeze. Then we were able to hammer it into manageable pieces in a spot where we could move the pieces safely away from the pitch head.

The next day our little two-person team reduced rub points in the entrance series, adjusted rigging to the bottom of Leaky Faucet, and staged first aid kits to the bottom of Leaky Faucet. Strange feeling to be spending time in the cave and the forest with just two people, knowing that soon the cave and campsite would be full of activity. That night Stephen Eginoire dodged a forest fire on his drive and arrived at midnight, much to our delight!

Another sunny day squandered in the cold wet darkness: we rigged Frayed Knot, which required some acrobatics to access the bomber new rebelay bolts. We were behind schedule, with only one day left to finish several critical tasks before cavers were due to begin hauling loads all the way to the sump. Philip sent out an SOS to Elliot Stahl and Reilly Blackwell, who magically arrived a few hours later.

Last prep day! We replaced a core-shot section of Leaky Faucet, added a rebelay to the bottom pitch of Frayed Knot, rigged the drop to Terminal Sump, carried more lead

Amy Morton negotiating the vertical squeeze at the top of Leaky Faucet

to the sump, reviewed gear at the sump from 2016, and placed the last of first aid/trauma kits. Whew! By the time the sump team got back to base camp, lots of eager haulers were gathered around the campfire, discussing plans for the following day.

HAULING IN (Bev) August 17: first haul day dawned sunny and beautiful, just a trace of smoke from a nearby forest fire. We arrived at the entrance just as Steve Sorenson and Swede Larsen arrived with a team of horses carrying a giant pile of cave bags. We were grateful! Jason Ballensky, Elliot, Reilly, Mike Devlantes, Carrey Bull, Brian Dickey, and Adam Jones chose loads and headed to the sump.

The next day, most of the first team took a rest, although Jason was ready for another round. The rest of the crew was Bev, Philip, Stephen E., Steve Gladieux, Carl Froslie, and Kara Posso. They hauled another set of loads to the sump, and set up a cave camp for the divers on a high sandbank in the main passage less than 30 minutes’ travel to the sump. We tried to make it inviting, but shivered as we imagined the divers coming back to camp after a day in the near-freezing water.

Another bluebird day wasted underground: Steve G., Elliot, Reilly, Nic Lee, and Andrew Rowell took the final set of packs lurking at the entrance. A minor bit of confusion led to one load at the bottom of Frayed Knot instead of the sump. On the following day, Carl and Kara dashed down to the bottom of Frayed Knot, where they picked up the final tank and carried it the rest of the way to the sump.

DIVING (Jean) August 22: David Moore and I (Jean) entered the cave on Wednesday at 9 am.

The trip to cave camp (herein named the Red Roof Inn, after the orange-red stains on the flat ceiling above camp) and on to the first sump was pleasantly uneventful. We dropped a small load at camp (my dry clothes, an extra fuel canister, and other odds and ends), blew up air mats, unpacked sleeping bags, and went to the sump for unpacking and kitting up. The sump was about 3 feet lower than in 2016, which gave us more room on the ‘beach’ to kit up, which was very nice. Removing all the things from the bags and assembling it for diving took about half of a day. During that time we ran into several gear issues which were solved with tools and knowledge on hand. Three high pressure hoses failed, two second stages leaked, one BC inflator hose leaked, and one tank valve malfunctioned and needed to be disassembled and cleaned and tightened. Of course all of these exact pieces of gear were tested on the surface a month prior, but this cave plays rough...

Stephen Eginoire

Jean Krejca Bev Shade descending Leaky Faucet

Bev Shade, Pete Tschannen, and Dave Wrobel pose below the Mega Boulder wedged at the base of Frayed Knot Falls.

We were prepared for most of these problems based on our experiences in 2016 with how hard the cold cave temps are on the rubber and o-rings. Most notably, the set of brand-new high pressure hoses, purchased in April 2018, did fine, but any high pressure hoses that were much older than that failed. We solved each issue to a reasonable extent, but it was late in the day by that point so we had no trouble deciding to head back to camp to make the next day our big push.

The Red Roof Inn gets 5 stars for location, but 0.5 stars for mattress quality. Both of our mattresses, which were also tested on the surface, essentially failed. Mine had to be reinflated every 39 to 42 minutes. David gave up after a half dozen re-inflations and slept (noisily) on the ground. I persisted with re-inflations. While our sleep quality was minimal, we did eventually lie down for the proper number of hours and were up early, excited to get moving on the big day.

August 23: Thursday we left the Red Roof Inn at 9 am. It was great to arrive at the sump with all of the kit ready to go, allowing us to devote the entire day to exploration. We

packed our last few things: bars that could be submerged, caving lights, helmets and shoes for the other side, dry survey gear and tools, all cinched tightly into cave packs that we would drag through Sump One. Sump One was notably different than in 2016. For one, our formerly continuous dive line was broken in three places because of 2017 flooding. In fact, I saw definitive evidence that the water level at the close side of sump one had been 30-40 feet higher since all footprints and warming station evidence at the former sump “camp” was washed away. In addition to the line gaps, we encountered a space that was totally passable in 2016 that was not passable now. On the ‘uphill’ (downstream) side of Sump One, a large gravel slope poised at the angle of repose was now much closer to the ceiling. We couldn’t fit through. After trying to squeeze into it and then backing out, I removed my cave gear package and slid the stage bottle off to the side and was able to wriggle through the tight spot. As the floor subsided beneath us during this attempt to pass through, I was reminded of a place in Jacob’s Well that both David and I are familNSS News, January 2019

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iar with and is known for being dangerous.

Kind of spooky, but we knew we were close to surfacing on the far side where we could talk, and decide how to move forward safely.

When we did surface, we knew that we had both passed thirds on our stage bottle. Our plan was to use only one third to one half of the 4.7 L bottle for each trip through sump one, but with having to fix the broken line and also dealing with the unexpected tight spot, we used two thirds.

Past Sump One, we readjusted our regulators to get rid of leaky pieces, and discussed gas supply we would need to keep in reserve during the exploration—more than we originally planned on, but nonetheless we had lots of gas in our extra two 6.8 L exploration bottles. We removed the lead weights from the tanks, packaged all we could into cave packs, and humped our first load through Carlin Corridor (the dry section between Sump One and Sump Two (aka “Two Step Sump”). Only an occasional vague remnant of a footprint was visible from our 2016 travels. The sand banks had clearly been flooded, indicating water levels in this section of the cave were 30-40 feet above base level.

As we descended the final sandy mud slope down to Two Step Sump, we both stopped in our tracks as we realized that the sump pool was gone. The sandbank was blown out, and where the water formerly reached the ceiling was now a muddy-floored stoop walk. This low section shortly opened up into a large room, 20 feet tall by 60 feet wide with a ceiling joint nearly 100 feet tall.

This was definitely new to us and the best virgin passage we would see. Descending out of that large room to a narrow canyon, we traversed another 350-400 feet of passage from the previous location of Two Step Sump down two waterfalls to a third sump.

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NSS News, January 2019

Sump Three, aka “Fingers in a Car Door Sump,” is not attractive. To get to it, it’s necessary to walk through a muddybottomed segment of cave stream, so by the time we arrived a brown waterfall was falling into it. Once it’s in view, it’s hard to get to, with a steep mud and bedrock slope leading directly down into the water with essentially no ‘beach’ to stand on. We discussed abandoning it altogether and focusing on the dry survey of the new cave, but it was apparent that the conditions would be no better another day, since we’d still have to carry gear there and walk through that mud bottomed cave stream again. Given it was already afternoon, and we had lots more gear to bring over, we figured that we would make today the hard day and do the most remote objective, saving our next underground days for the easier dry survey objectives. This made a lot of sense considering we acknowledged also that our fatigue would likely grow each day. So, the plan was stick to diving another sump, bring all the dive gear over, give it our best push, then retreat for camp. We still had one more set of bottles that could be used the following day to complete the dry survey of the newly opened passage.

In order to bring three loads over, we traversed the now 1,000 feet of dry cave six times. That’s a mile of caving with big loads, and it took us until about 8 p.m. to get all of the gear over, set up, and both divers into Fingers in a Car Door Sump. We waited to see if the water would clear at all, but as mild discomfort morphed into being downright cold, we figured it was time to go in, with or without decent visibility. Sometimes it’s possible to dive past your own silt cloud and have enough visibility to lay a safe line.

David led, pulling exploration line behind him. I watched as the line jiggled

Jean Krejca

Jean Krejca Bev Shade descending Leaky Faucet

and went slack and jiggled again. Normally after a few minutes I’d see the line go still, indicating he had found a tie-off, but it wasn’t happening so I went in to see what was going on. The visibility went from milky tea to chocolate milk. I had the line in my right hand and my back and stomach ran into the ceiling and floor. The line went slack in my hand at this point so I knew David was on the other end of the line trying to find a way on. He was probably thinking the same thing I was: this is a perfect spot to lay a line trap (which indeed I was feeling the start of).

A line trap is when the line bends around a corner then becomes tightened in a slot that is too narrow for a diver to fit through on the return. I backed out, the line went tight again, and I ran into David, him facing me, and he regulator spoke to me: “I can’t see shit!” and I was like, “Okay, I’m outta here!”

It seemed like I was just in his way since he was facing back out in this small passage, so I contorted as I turned around, then resurfaced. He didn’t follow. Apparently just as I left he finally found a projection or rock on the floor to make a tie off. Making these tie offs using ‘brail’ is not ideal, but he found one and was able to muscle-memory his way through it. When the line finally went still, I went back in. Passing the first tie off, I realized the passage opened up beyond the first spot where I couldn’t get through.

When the visibility is bad, larger passage is quite disorienting. David continued to do a valiant job using a ceiling channel and the right wall to attempt to feel his way through.

After some amount of time (couldn’t see dive computer) and gas consumed (couldn’t see pressure gauges), David bounced around

Amy Morton ascending the lowest pitch of Leaky Faucet

Brandon Kowallis Brandon Kowallis

Bottom of Main Drain, Jason Ballensky in Borehole Passage, and below, pearls at the bottom

various walls/ceiling/floor, found an air bell, but didn’t find a way on. He ultimately made a final tie off and turned around. I ran into him face to face on that line again, and we returned together.

As I sat, half in the water at the edge of the Sump 3 pool, I thought, wow, it feels like someone is slamming my fingers in a car door. Again and again. They really hurt.

I told David about my observations and we laughed. This became the name of Sump 3: Fingers in a Car Door Sump. We evaluated our gas supply and looked at our computers: 22 minutes spent in there, but we hadn’t yet reached thirds because it was shallow. We discussed whether it was worth another try, but realized we had to save enough reserve gas for the return trip through Sump 1, and there were other mounting issues. It was late, 9 p.m., and we had to bring three more loads back to Sump 1. Various pieces of our regulators were not functioning perfectly.

David’s dry gloves were both leaking, though he wasn’t complaining about it like I was (and my dry gloves were intact!). It turns out that it was a very good and potentially mission critical decision to save some energy for the trip back.

After three loads back, we had all the gear back at the downstream side of sump 1.

We had traversed that 1,000 feet of cave 12 times (> 2 miles), and we were losing steam.

At 10 p.m. we ate our last bar, and at 11 p.m., as we were kitting up for the day’s final trip back through Sump 1, things went south.

My drysuit zipper was jammed. Really, really jammed. I was bracing myself on David’s shoulders as he white-knuckled the zipper pull alternately in one direction then another. We got down on our knees to have more stability to try the same maneuver. We pulled out the tools. Toothbrush, soap, pliers, anything that might help. We cleaned it all and tried again. His fingers slipped off and he scraped open his knuckles. Finally David pulled the zipper past the bad spot. I held my breath for a hopeful moment, then the space gaped open behind the zipper pull.

Eight inches of the zipper was wide open and impossible to reseal.

During the next 20 minutes or so of trying to make this work, the silence and tension was only interrupted by four letter words. We both knew that my future was looking grim. Options were minimal. No spare drysuit. No warm dry clothes here between the sumps. No stove, food, or camp gear between the sumps. No excess time, gas, energy, or diver power to try to solve this problem in a perfectly safe way.

We used logic, we went through options, we discussed what it might be like to dive through with no zipper. We dropped all excess gear. Two tanks, survey equipment, lights, helmet, tools, everything we could NSS News, January 2019

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Brandon Kowallis

Brandon Kowallis Above and right, pearls in the Rimstone Passage at the bottom

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NSS News, January 2019

I made it past the deep point, there was no doubt that the cold water was in every last space of the drysuit and my limbs were growing heavier and less controllable. The suit seemed to be full of lead, and my limbs felt like golf clubs. I could swing them with my torso, but I couldn’t reliably manipulate my fingers bend them. With the feeling of sinking coming on so hard, I managed to give my BC inflator a push, and heard it burping as it over-inflated. Briefly I considered dropping the tank I wasn’t using, but given how hard it was to push the inflator valve I decided I was unlikely to be able to operate the tank clips.

In my wake I was sure there was a massive cloud of silt as I clawed on the floor toward the next obstacles.

Then I was standing at the surface, on the right side of sump one. I had thrashed out of my BC, tanks still on it, and gotten onto dry land. I was shaking uncontrollably when I saw David surface then immediately come to help me. Very quickly he had me out of the suit, breaking the zipseals open, and popping everything off until it looked like I had on a pair of flooded waders full of gallons of water. With nothing but a wet baselayer and booties on, I raced up the boulder slope Jean Krejca

think of—it was all left behind. I had David remove a third of the lead from my BC, figuring that I would quickly go negative as the undergarments saturated. We decided he would carry only a bare minimum of needed gear through, and stay as close behind me as possible in case I sunk or floated uncontrollably, or in case I simply became unable to control my soon-to-be frozen limbs. We cinched everything up as tightly as possible to minimize the gaps between my skin and the suit. We discussed how if I stayed inverted for as long as possible it may keep some of the water out of the legs of the suit. During our discussion I’m sure my eyes were like dinner plates, and afterward he said that he imagined his were, too. My voice cracked a little bit as we voiced each necessary last minute thought. The sump is about 500 feet long and 80 feet deep. Not trivial, but I had done it three times before and I had a good mental picture of the different obstacles I’d encounter. I mentally rehearsed the obstacles (constriction on the gravel slope, max depth at 80 feet, turn past big boulder, ascent over other boulders, line gap near where the Thornton’s line intersected our 2016 line, tight spot at the end), and pictured myself swimming through a thick syrup.

As I clipped on my tanks, the middle of my zipper slid underwater and the 38 degree flood began. I quickly turned around, David handed me the line, and I flipped upside down and began to kick at the water and claw at the floor like there may be no tomorrow.

The trip through the sump was on full autopilot. The hour or more of thinking about my destiny was behind me and all there was to do was race to the other side.

About mid-way through the sump, as

David Moore at the Terminal Sump, preparing for the dive push

toward my dry caving clothes and the stove we had pulled down from camp. I dressed, and shook violently for about 20 minutes.

Finally I came down to a more ‘normal’ level of shivering. David had hot fluids and hot food pouring out of the stove while he still stood in his drysuit. Relief.

Back at camp around 3 a.m, we ate again, we made hot water bottles for our sleeping bags, and fell into a fitful sleep.

August 24: The next ‘morning’ came very late, but I had the feeling of a new lease on life. We had made it back, even with a serious equipment failure. From here the rest of the decisions were fairly simple… Since we were down to one drysuit, the only options were to retreat entirely, or put a solo diver into the sump to retrieve the gear and do any possible documentation of the new passage.

As we carefully made our way back to the sump (carefully because David was caving vertically with no helmet—it was left beyond the sump), we discussed our options and decided to assemble David’s gear for a dive, and if everything was functioning perfectly, he would go in alone. This process went smoothly, and soon the sump was dimming as his light disappeared under the lip. On the far side, David traversed the new passage to Fingers in a Car Door Sump, and made a video of the entire passage back to Sump One. However, as a solo effort, he was not able to survey any of the new passage Relieved to see him and all of the abandoned gear back on the right side of the sump, we spent the rest of the day packaging everything back into cave packs.

HAULING OUT (Bev) August 25: Diving completed, gear removal started almost immediately. Jean and David packed cave camp. They were super excited to hear Derek Bristol and Adam Jones as they came in to kick off the haul out. After four days at cave camp and

Jean Krejca

Jean Krejca David Moore and Jean Krejca at Fingers in a Car Door Sump

David Moore starting his exploration of Fingers in a Car Door Sump

a harrowing experience in Sump One, the voices of caver friends coming down the passage were magical. The lean team of two made record time coming in from the entrance, recording video footage, and passing through to the sump where they each picked a load to bring back to the surface. All four cavers exited the cave, happy to see the daylight before the hike back down to camp.

The third weekend saw all dive, camping, and first aid gear removed from cave, and the sump drop stage derigged. During this effort, 11 cavers hauled 19 loads of gear back to the surface. Groups of 5-6 carried loads on the first 3 days of hauling. All gear was out by the end of the 3rd day, so the 4th day was used to clear up the entrance area and bring remaining personal gear back to basecamp.

August 30: A day ahead of the planned tank haul, Amy Morton, Bev and Jean entered the cave for a photo and biology collection trip. They went to the bottom of Leaky Faucet, where they had great luck with both photos and millipedes. On the way out, they picked up a set of tanks at the bottom of Deception Pit that Adam had hauled from the sump the previous weekend. He’d left the load near the entrance when his footloop broke on the trip out.

On the following day, Gilly Elor, Pete Johnson, Doug Warner, Chris Campbell, Claire Gougeon, and Amy entered the cave to continue retrieving gear. On the way in, Amy had an incident just below Frayed Knot Falls. There’s a short downclimb/rappel through some boulders after the big drop at Frayed Knot. Some people free climb it, some use the rope as a hand line, and some people rappel it. Claire and Amy decided to use it as a handline, doing a ‘flying angel’ style body rappel. Amy lost her footing and swung into the rock, hearing a sharp crack at her rib cage. At 2 p.m., they left a note for the others, and immediately began a

self-rescue. From the entrance, they had enough cell coverage to contact cavers who were in Logan at the time, so a vehicle was waiting in the parking lot as she hiked down from the cave entrance. On the phone, she mentioned some difficulty breathing. By 7:45 pm, Amy and Claire had made their way down to the parking lot where Jean drove Amy into Logan for a visit to the ER. By 9:30 p.m. she had her first x-ray and found that her lung was partially collapsed and they’d need to insert a tube through her chest wall for reinflation. The next time you’re having a hard time breathing while climbing rope, imagine doing it with only one lung—at 10,000 feet of elevation. She was immediately admitted to the hospital.

Around 1 a.m. she was recovering from the procedure and by 2 a.m. they had her in a bed for her first night of three in the hospital.

In the meantime, the other four cavers went to the sump. They enthusiastically shuttled 4 additional loads to the cave camp, 2 loads to the bottom of Kilo pit, and 6 loads completely out of the cave. This left 5 loads at the sump and 6 at cave camp. On their way out, they found Claire’s note. Based on Claire’s description of Amy’s accident and that she appeared capable of self-rescue, they decided to continue hauling their loads rather than dropping loads and racing ahead to assist, an accurate assessment of the situation.

On the second day of hauling, six cavers entered the cave. Bev, Gilly, Claire, Fernando Hernandez, Lauren Satterfield, and Mark Wingard shuttled all remaining loads to the bottom of Kilo Pit and carried 7 loads out of the cave. We had hoped to take photos in the bottom of the cave, but several people got their waders flooded and then it was too cold to stand around for pictures.

This left 5 loads in the cave.

On the third day, with only 5 loads left in the cave, it seemed likely that we could NSS News, January 2019

11

Entrance

Main Drain Cave

Cache County, Utah Bear River Mountain Range, Tony Grove

0 Feet

Ryan's Climb Leaky Faucet Pit

Cartographers: Jean Krejca & David Moore Jon Jasper & Dave Shurtz

Snowcone Room

250

TT

500

Waterfall Canyon Frayed Knot Falls Pit

750 Neffs Canyon Kilo Pit 2004 End Room Carlin Corridor ?

Fingers in the Car Door 2018 End

Two Step Sump 2016 End

Climbing lead

1,000 Kilo Canyon

Overflow Hall

TT

2005 Terminal Sump -1,227 ft Deepest point -1,306

1,174 1,227 1,250 1,306 Feet

Deeper Than Neffs Pool

Zoomed View of Diving Exploration Carlin Corridor

ceiling channel

2005 Terminal Sump

last station Air bell

1,227 Feet

Two Step Sump 2016 water level

?

Fingers in the Car Door Sump 2018 End

Dive Depth = 79 ft

1,306 Feet

Deepest point -1,306

After almost a month of hard work, exciting discoveries, and several scary moments, it was finally time to leave Logan Utah. The rest of Main Drain is still down there. As other alpine cavers have found, remote camping in cold caves presents its own set of logistical issues, but was crucial to this year’s exploration. Future exploration (by the next generation of cave divers) will require an additional camp beyond Sump One. Given how difficult it is to stay out of the mud hauling gear between the sumps, it will be necessary to let the gear sit at Fingers in a Car Door Sump, possibly for a couple of days, to let the water clear. Future exploration may best be done during periods of higher flow, as that may clear the sump out faster.

Many thanks to many people! This trip received a grant from the NSS, which supplied rigging gear and first aid kits. Bill Stone and the USDCT generously loaned lots of dive gear and packs to haul it in.

But most of all….cavers! Cavers from 11 states worked on the expedition, including Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Special thanks to the Utah cavers including Swede, Peter and Nic for sowing the seed of imagination and their support throughout this multi-year adventure.

Left: Amy Morton ascending Leaky Faucet

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NSS News, January 2019

Caver Participants (2017 and 2018) Scott Anderson, Jason Ballensky, Reilly Blackwell, Derek Bristol, Carrey Bull, Chris Campbell, Mike Devlantes, Justen Despain, Brian Dickey, Stephen Eginoire, Gilly Elor, Carl Froslie, Steve Gladieux, Claire Gougeon, Peter Hartley, Fernando Hernandez, Pete Johnson, Adam Jones, Hannah Keith, Jean Krejca, Swede Larsen, Nic Lee, David Moore, Amy Morton, Kara Posso, Eric Richards, Andrew Rowell, Philip Rykwalder, Lauren Satterfield, Bev Shade, Dave Stahl, Elliot Stahl, Pete Tschannon, Doug War ner, Jason Wayland, Mark Wingard, and Dave Wrobel.

Jean Krejca

Jean Krejca

finish the hauling on Sunday. Pete and Chris brought the remaining loads to the top of Kilo Pit, where they met Doug, Bev, and Hannah Keith, and distributed the extra bags to them. Everyone carried a load out and we were done!

September 3: It’s all over. Remaining team members cleaned the entrance of all gear. Amy was discharged from the hospital and projected to make a full recovery, and even managed to catch her scheduled flight home.

Jean Krejca and David Moore about to enter the cave for the dive push

Morca Cave, it’s a Turkish Delight John Fioroni

Day 0 – Travel

Day 1 – The adventure begins It’s is now 21:30, and we are on the side of the road waiting for Ender to pick us up. We can hear him coming before we see his car, actually, we can hear the 1980s Turkish music blasting from his car. He hands us a banana as a snack, and we are off like a whirling dervish.

Half way into the 2.5 hour drive, Ender askes if we want something to drink. We were both parched, so we stopped at the local wateringhole. Refreshed and watered, we headed out

again on the dirt road/camel path with “Break my stride” blaring from the rapidly skipping CD. This was Ender’s second trip of the day to pick up expedition members, and he was trying to beat his previous time.

We arrived safely at camp around 00:30, and most of the camp was sleeping. Thankfully, someone made us a hot meal when we got there.

By 01:30 I was in my tent, listening to the snores of our fellow cavers. Venkata smartly decided to set up his tent far away from everyone else.

Day 2 – Ready, set, action I woke up about 05:30; I was determined not to miss breakfast. To my surprise, no one was awake. Walking around the surface camp, I “discovered” two caves about 100 yards (90m) from our tents. Ender would later tell me they are not worth checking out because they are only 210 feet (70m) deep.

People woke up about 07:30-08:00, when the sun starts to turn your tent into a furnace.

A Turkish breakfast is very savory compared to American breakfast. Eggs, fresh cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and lavash are the staples. Lavash is somewhere between a tortilla and naan; every meal has lavash, even 1,400 feet (425m) below ground. Every few days the shepherd’s wife made lavash for the camp.

Today, and every couple of days the shepherd would stop by for morning tea, along with his entire flock. Teodor Kisimov, Dilyana Hristova, Konstantin Stailov (collectively, “The Bulgarians”), Volkan Baltaci and Ümit Günhan left for base camp right after breakfast. Their plan was to stay underground for 3-4 days.

Ender and I headed to a virgin side gallery at -265 feet (-80m) that needed bolting for exploration. We figured 9 spit bolts would be more than enough. It wasn’t. We bolted the first 26-foot (8m) dome, which led to a 23-foot (7m) dome, which lead to another 23-foot (7m) dome.

The rock was soft and flakey. All the bolts had

Ender Usuloglu

Venkata flew out the night before me, having pieced together his flights through Stockholm to save a good bit of money. I decided to redeem airline miles for my flights, so I had a direct flight to Istanbul, which is where

we would meet up.

Traveling to Turkey is easy, traveling with all your caving gear in your carryon is a bit more difficult. I’m not about to let a lost bag ruin my trip. I can survive a night or two without clothes and a tent, but not without my harness, boots, bolting gear, 100 bolts, cave suit, and 170 steel quick links.

The 19 TSA agents standing around the x-ray machine rolled their eyes as my 60 plus pounds of carryon baggage struggled to make it down the conveyor belt. I was already waiting in the extra screening area when I heard someone whom I assume was the lowest ranking agent shout, “whose bags are these?”. After we played the seemingly never-ending game of “and what is this used for?”, it was determined that I had too large of a bottle of contact solution in my bag, for it to be considered safe for me to fly with. Thank goodness I have TSA PreCheck, otherwise I would have had to waste time taking my shoes off.

Venkata would later tell me that his Snicker’s bar produced a false positive test for explosives at Logan airport, and he too spent some quality time with the TSA. We had uneventful flights to Istanbul and Gazipaşa. Per Ender’s instructions, we took a 2 hour bus ride to the city hall building in Anamur.

In Turkey, you can ask the bus driver to drop you off where ever you want, and they will slow down enough for you to get out.

Venkata Demaraju

Background In 2013, members of the ASPEG (Anadolu Speleoloji Grubu Derneği) Grotto and a local shepherd, discovered Morca cave (pronounced More-ja) in the Anamur region of Turkey.

ASPEG has a long history of finding deep caves in the area with the help of the local shepherds. It is amazing how many caves a shepherd can find when he is outfitted with a GPS watch.

Morca is in the same karst system as the two deepest caves in Turkey, Cukurpinar -3,924 feet (-1,196m) and Peynirlikonu Egma -4,688 feet (-1429m), except its elevation is 820 feet (250m) higher.

Since its discovery there have been 6 expeditions. Prior to August, 2018, the cave had been surveyed to -1,467 feet (-447m) deep, which does not even register on Caver Bob’s list of the world’s deepest caves.

There was an expedition in June, where members of ASPEG rigged about 2,000 feet (610m) of rope, 1,400 feet (427m) of phone line and built our base camp from Tyvek® house wrap.

This expedition had two stages, 8/17/18 to 8/24/18 and 8/24/18 to 9/3/18. There were 26 cavers from Turkey, Lebanon, Bulgaria and the Boston Grotto. Cavers arriving on the 17th focused on finishing the phone system, surveying side passages and shooting video for the documentary.

Boston Grotto member Ender Usuloglu stayed for both stages, whereas Venkata Demaraju and I arrived for the latter stage.

Stage two goals were to push the cave to its limits, complete the survey, and search the area for other deep caves.

Building base camp Right: A visit to our base camp from the shepard and his flock

NSS News, January 2019

13

Day 3 About 2 years ago, members of ASPEG discovered a doline about 2 hours from base camp. It is large enough that, afterwards, they easily found it on Google Earth.

Today, Ender and I would head out with fellow cavers Barışcan, Nida and Alper. Our goal was to leave camp before it got too hot; we ended up leaving at 14:00. It was hot.

After 30 minutes of hiking, we discovered a small doline next to the shepherds’ path that we were hiking on. I was first down. Unfortunately, it was only 56 feet (17m) deep, had no leads, and we could walk out of it. Nida was second down; she surveyed for 5-10 minutes and the job was complete.

Shortly thereafter we found ourselves off the path; the terrain was a class 4 scramble offering panoramic views of all the places one could easily fall to their demise. Ender made it look easy: he somehow hopped from jagged ridge to jagged ridge with a 90 L pack. We did our best to keep up. Barışcan was in sandals, and went a bit slower.

We found the doline right where they left it. It was 132 feet (40m) across. And what does one do when they find a huge hole in the ground? Throw rocks in it to see how deep it is, and because it is a huge hole…Big rocks, little rocks, all in the name of science. We were giggling like 8 year-old boys listening to fart sounds. The sounds of exploding rocks echoed out of the chamber. However, some rocks made no sounds when thrown into the abyss. That made us even more excited.

Ender suggested that I hike around the doline to make sure this was the one that we 14

NSS News, January 2019

had been looking for. Not surprisingly, it was.

While I was out looking around, I saw 2 other small cave entrances, one of which could make for a nice base camp because it had some flat area inside it.

Where we entered from, the drop was 283 feet (86m), on the far side the cliffs rose another 200 feet (60m) above us. This time, Nida was first to descend. She drilled 2 or 3 bolts by hand for the rebelays, with the longest pitch being 181 feet (55m). Ender bounced 2nd, I was 3rd. Barışcan and Alper stayed up top to take photos of us.

Despite temperatures being in the 90s F (lower 30s C) every day during the summer, we found 2,000 – 3,000 cubic yards (1,500 – 2,300 cubic meters) of snow/ice at the bottom. This explains why we could not hear some of the rocks hitting the bottom.

At the bottom, there was a wide but skinny squeeze of soccer-ball-sized breakdown that was blowing hard. Nida and I had the honor of exploring the new cave. Ender suggested we take 20 – 30 minutes to explore the passage, or a little extra time if it kept going, while he ascended. It kept going.

We found two major galleries, with the largest being 49 feet by 43 feet (15m by 13m).

There were too many leads to fully explore, including a gallery that had an entrance about 16 feet (5m) above the floor in the largest room.

Nida was surveying the cave on our way out with TopoDroid. We did our best to balance the time spent exploring and surveying while not worrying about teammates on the surface.

After an hour we made our way back to the rope, where we noticed another lead which has yet to be explored.

Nida ascended first. I waited, listening to the silent calling of a new cave. Being last out is always fulfilling, this time because of the pound

of moth meat I inhaled on the way up.

A nearly full moon made headlamps almost completely unnecessary for the hike out. The air was cool, and our spirits were high. We took a more direct and exposed route back to camp.

It shaved 30 minutes off the hike back and off of our lives. We were back by 02:30 the next morning.

This cave warrants its own expedition; it will be logistically challenging compared to Morca. There is potential for something big!

Day 4 — Rest (in pieces) The sounds of sheep bleating woke me about 08:00. I was sore. After breakfast, Ender took people to visit the deepest cave in Turkey and collect water for camp. I decided to nap instead. Apparently, my 6 hour, mid-morning nap caused a bit of worry in the camp; people thought I was lost hiking in the mountains.

Thankfully before they set out on the rescue mission, they checked my tent. Sorry about that.

Around 16:00 I woke up to the sounds of my pet scorpion scratching at the tent door as if he wanted to be let out. How cute I thought, until I realized, I don’t have a pet scorpion!

Armed with my mighty flip-flop and weighing over 4,500 times my opponent, I easily won the battle. R.I.P. The rest of the day was spent napping, eating, and checking my tent for scorpions.

Day 5 — Day of descent Very well rested, Ender, Stephanie, Elias and I spent the morning preparing for our 3 night trip into Morca. Having a phone system at both camps was very helpful for trip planning.

We knew what gear was in use and what we needed to bring.

We did debate on the food. Ender encouraged a minimalist approach, while the three of Ender Usuloglu

been placed by the time we reached the 3rd dome.

We returned after a short 3-hour lunch.

This time with more bolts, more rope, and a full camera crew.

ASPEG filmed the last 2 expeditions to produce a documentary on Morca cave. All of the shooting, production and editing was done by ASPEG members. They were kind enough to ask Venkata and me to be part of the documentary.

Filming in a cave was eye opening. My method of filming and cave photography is akin to carpet bombing. If you shoot enough, eventually you will hit a target, and maybe it will be the right target. Professionals on the other hand, plan every step, every movement, and are not afraid to think things through. Traveling a few hundred yards though walking passage took hours. Painful? Yes, but the results were worth it.

Eventually we made it back to the third dome. Armed with a dozen spit bolts, we placed 3 before we concluded that the rock was so bad that it would not support such a short bolt. Our solution was simple. Send Venkata there, and have him free climb the last 13 feet (4m). We agreed it was the best option — for us.

By 00:30 we were out of the cave.

Morca entrance drop, 293 feet

Day 6 — Plus 2 hours

and I knew we would be slowest on rope, so we loaded two packs per person with extra gear and headed for camp. We would pick up extra gear along the way and have hot food waiting for them. Or so we thought.

About one and a half hours from camp, we arrived at the only tight section of the cave. The previous team used a little percussive persuasion to enlarge it enough for passage. Descending was easy, as gravity and its funnel shape guided you on the way down. Ascending was a bit more challenging, not because the climb was overly tough, but because we couldn’t find where to climb up.

Searching high, low, left, right, up, down yielded no passage. Exhausted and having exhausted every nook and cranny, we did the only logical thing we could think of: take a nap.

We were in eyesight of the last rope, so there was no chance we were in the wrong area or that the others would not see us.

We found the comfiest rocks to lean against, wrapped ourselves in a space blanket and turned off the lights. I slept like a log. Steph claimed someone’s snoring kept her up. I didn’t hear anyone else snoring…It’s amazing how refreshing a 45 minute nap can be.

With everyone together again we started searching, swearing, and convincing each other that we each found the way back. We didn’t actually find the way back for another 2 hours.

It was straight up. .

23 hours later, we were back at camp. After a quick multi-thousand calorie dinner (or was it breakfast?) and ibuprofen, we passed out.

Day 7 — Día de Muertos We awoke famished. Bowls of ramen noodles were devoured in record time.

Everything tastes better when made with muddy cave water.

A previous caver was kind enough to leave behind a small bottle of his home-made brandy, it was most excellent! Thank you.

Three hours later we called the surface to coordinate tomorrow’s removal of gear from the cave and report we were going back to bed.

Elias Labaki

We knew today would be long, just not how long. We woke around 06:00, and had a quick, 2-hour breakfast. Calories came via lavash, cheese, spicy ramen, and to much chagrin, protein bars. Apparently, Turkish and Lebanese cavers do not have a sophisticated enough palate to appreciate synthetic cookie dough flavors.

None of us had been past the camp, so we stayed together as we descended the next 725 feet (220m). Teo said to be on the lookout for an empty bottle of nail polish at the bottom of a waterfall, as that marked the end of the surveyed passage. It took us 4 hours to go from camp to virgin passage.

This area it turns out will make the best camp for next year’s expedition. It will accommodate a 2 person tent and 2 hammocks; not quite as luxurious as this year’s cave camp.

Stephanie and Elias planned on surveying, while Ender and I would start bolting new passage.

Navigating the cave was quite easy, all we did was keep going down and down and down.

After a few hours of bolting Ender and I came to our largest pitch of the day, 99 feet (30m).

2 rebelays and a redirect were all it took. We found ourselves in a huge fault. Half the room was clean breakdown, the other covered in mud.

For those of you familiar with Northeastern Cave Conservancy’s Merlins cave, in NY, this resembled the Big Room, only much larger.

There was no obvious passage. This was the first time that we had to search. The water quickly disappeared in what seemed like the wrong direction, away from the fault line.

Squeezing through the breakdown proved fruitless; every now and then water could be heard, but never seen.

I was excited to find fossilized dinosaur vertebrae from the Jurassic area. Ender was less impressed with what were really just goat bones.

About 2 hours into the search Elias and Stephanie arrived, after another hour or so of searching we finally found the passage. It was in the last place we looked…

Elias and Ender started bolting while we finished surveying. To warm up, Stephanie and I made a hot “tea” out of muddy cave water and few fruit gummies. It was not the worst thing we would drink on the trip. Refueled and rewarmed, we completed the survey.

2 pitches later, about 33 feet (10m) in total, we were out of rope. The cave kept going, but we could not. The next pitch looked about 100 feet (30m) deep. To save energy, we left 247 feet (75m) of rope at the top of the last long pitch.

We figured we could always go back and get it if we needed it. We did not anticipate spending hours looking for a single passage.

It was a tough decision as to whether someone should ascend and get extra rope or call it a day. There still was another 8 hours of derigging ahead of us. We knew we had to turn around.

If we didn’t derig now, tomorrow’s task would be to repeat the same journey only to derig it.

Elias and Ender offered to derig. Steph

Tent camping underground

Elias Labaki

us craved more. Some of us might have stuffed our pockets with extra protein bars and snacks, just in case. To be fair, we all knew there was enough food at the cave camp.

By 18:00 we knew the Bulgarians Volkan and Ümit were already on their way to the surface, and it was finally our time to descend.

We were all excited.

The descent to cave camp took us about 4 hours. We were traveling faster than a leisurely pace, but not racing.

At camp, Ender showed us around. His one word of caution was “be careful when you go out to pick cave flowers”. He wasn’t kidding. There is a 204 feet (60m) drop a few yards (meters) from camp. The camp was well stocked and quite comfortable by caving standards. Two of us were using carbide, which quickly warmed up the 40 degree F (4 C) air in the tent. Our only critique of the tent area was, next time remove the double camber from the floor. We tried various sleeping positions and settled on the least worst. Have you tried sleeping with your head and feet lower than your body?

Back on the surface, Day 7.5, after enjoying ice cold beers...

NSS News, January 2019

15

Elias Labaki

The group after exiting the cave.

Day 7 — And a half Finally feeling rested, yet still hungry, we did our best to clean up the remaining camp food. Better to carry it in our stomachs than on our backs.

We repacked all our bags; we did our best to convince the others that we had distributed the weight equally among us. For about the next roughly 330 feet (100m) of vertical, it was

two 30L bags per person; after that we could drop our extra bag because the cavers from the surface would take over derigging and carrying out gear.

It was a grueling ascension. Going down is so much easier than going up. Ümit, now acting as a cave-sherpa, was close behind for the last hour or so. I know this because his 2 bags clanked after every step, like a shepherd’s bell on a cow.

I thought he was carrying fuel canisters, but no, he was carrying…5 ice cold beers to celebrate the completion of the expedition! (They started as lukewarm beer on the surface, but after a trip through the cave they were a frosty 39 degrees F (4 C) ) What a man, what a genius. The warmth of the sun and cold beer never felt so good.

Wisconsin’s Greatest Cave Hoax Gary K. Soule

While cave research based upon facts is what I like to focus on, sometimes the “facts” are so remarkable, that they cannot be ignored. Such is the case with what I consider “Wisconsin’s Greatest Cave Hoax.”

Such is the case of “THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS,” that came out in May of 1999. It is put out by Bantam Books, and is published by arrangement with Guinness Publishing, LTD. Like their similar “Guinness Book of World Records,” certain strict guidelines must be followed for each record entry. For example, part of just the documentation category alone reads:“Each and every record claim must be accompanied by detailed documentation.

Two independent witness statements are the minimum requirement, and your witnesses should be people of some standing in the local community: a doctor, lawyer, elected 16

NSS News, January 2019

official, police officer, or official of a professional or athletic organization, for example.

Certain records may also require the judgement of an expert, such as a surveyor or a public health official. Neither witness may be related to you. Witnesses should not only be able to confirm that they have seen the successful progress or completion of the record attempt, but also the guidelines have been followed.

With this in mind, I was very surprised to see a photo on page 146 of a person holding a large bat. In the credits at the back of the book the photo is evidently distributed

by Corbis, which is similar to our Associated Press. A Wolfgang Kaehler is given credit for the photo. But the text under the photo is what has to be “WISCONSIN’S GREATEST CAVE HOAX!” On page 146 under a category titled “GREAT ESCAPES” it reads exactly as follows:

Conclusion There were a few more days spent at camp, and I might have forgotten to get on the airplane in Istanbul. But I am sure you are bored enough already, so I will spare you the details, and my embarrassment.

This trip report only covers a small fraction of all the hard work, laughter and great caving that happened during the expedition. August 2019 can’t come soon enough.

Without a doubt, the greatest discovery of the expedition were all my new friends from Turkey, Lebanon and Bulgaria. Thanks you [sic] for an amazing time, see you next year. I would also like to thank Karst Sports and C.A.M.P., both went out of their way to make sure we received all the gear that we needed, and the NSS International Exploration Grant for their support. Last but not least, to my very patient and understanding wife; you’re the best!

Stats as of September 2, 2018: Length 7,901 feet (2,398m). Depth 3,028 feet (919m). #133 on Caver Bob’s Worlds Deepest Caves.

“LONGEST PERIOD SURVIVED IN AN UNDERGROUND CAVERN. Bats are generally seen as sinister creatures, but speleologist George Du Prisne owes his life to them. In 1983, he was exploring a cave in Wisconsin when he fell into an underground river and was sucked down a water siphon into a cavern. Rescuers abandoned their search after four days, but Du Prisne was alive, surviving on fish and algae scraped from the walls. Determined to escape, he unraveled orange yarn from his sweater and tied it to the legs of a dozen bats. Residents of a nearby town saw the bats, and he was saved 13 days later.”

As an active member of our Wisconsin Speleological Society, our members would have certainly been contacted, or heard of this right away. But all the things wrong with this story are truly remarkable. We have no fruit bats or anything even close to the size of the bat shown. The cave water here is about 46 degrees to 48 degrees in temperature, and hypothermia would have been a major problem for survival. Also, no fish exist in Wisconsin caves. How you would carefully tie yarn to a dozen of our much smaller species of bats would be remarkable. I could go on, but no science fiction writer could have done a better job than this! In short, it is remarkable that an outrageous hoax like this could even be pulled off. Anyway, it just goes to show you that the book, despite evidently having strict verification procedures, is not immune to outrageous pranks.

Reviewing The Girl Scouts of USA Caving Policy

Allen Maddox, NSS Youth Group Liaison Committee, Chair Yes, Girl Scouts go caving too. And they are AWESOME!!

I did a review of the BSA caving policies a little while ago. Since I’ve started taking more Girl Scouts caving I thought it would be a good idea to review the Girl Scouts caving policy.

Most people don’t realize that Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have two completely different business models. I’m not going into that here, just know they are not the same type of organization with the same rules.

The information can be found in the current (2018) Safety Activity Checkpoints.

This document can be obtained through your local Girl Scout Council. For ease I’m going to cut and paste the necessary parts here in green type. The caving part starts on page 131 of the 2018 edition. This section refers to other parts of the document plus another Girl Scout document. I included those clips where appropriate as well.

My comments are in black type.

• •

Spelunking/Caving

Council Approval: Required Activity Permitted For: J C S A (Juniors [grades 4 & 5], Cadets [grades 6 to 8], Seniors [grades 9 & 10], Ambassadors [grades 11 & 12]) • Not Recommended For: Daisies (grade K & 1) (I’m assuming caving is not recommended for Brownies [grades 2 & 3] either.)

Yes, I know that the terms “spelunking” and “spelunker” tends to be seen as derogatory in the caving community. But, these are Girl Scouts, not cavers. If you are going to bring them into our world you first have to go into their world and speak their language. Once they are in our world we can educate them.

About Spelunking

Spelunking, or caving, is an exciting, hands-on way to learn about speleology,..

Include Girls with Disabilities Communicate with girls of all abilities and/or their caregivers to assess any needs and accommodations...

Let’s not paint all disabilities with the same broad brush. Evaluate each person individually. I have taken some kids who are autistic caving and they were great.

• • •

Safety Activity Checkpoints

Verify instructor knowledge and experience.

Select a safe site.

Compile key contacts.

•

Educate in advance.

My suggestion is to pay a visit to a Girl Scout meeting to talk about this and answer any questions the kids and parents might have. Don’t play up how dangerous caves can be, but what to expect on this caving trip.

If you talk about your most perilous situation they may think all caving trips are like that.

Even the beginner trip you are going to take them on. Be honest about the risks, just don’t scare the guano out of them.

• •

Dress appropriately for the activity.

Prepare for emergencies.

If you have any First Aid / CPR credentials, let the Girl Scout Leaders know. This will help them plan the trip.

On the subject of credentials, if you have any federal, FBI, State, or local child abuse clearances, offer them to the Girl Scout Leaders as well. This can go a long way making parents feel safe about who they entrusting their children too.

•

Get a weather report.

Send the Girl Scout Leader an email a day or two before the trip to let them know you are keeping an eye on this. Even if it’s blue skies and warm breezes.

the main light should be electric and mounted on the safety helmet, while the other two light sources may be flashlights • Spare bulbs and batteries • A trash bag (use as a poncho or for covering dirty equipment after the caving activity; cavers keep an empty trash bag in their safety helmets) Let the Girl Scouts, parents, and Leaders know exactly what you expect them to have for this trip. While the basics are important, there may be some wiggle room with some items. Only you know what they are. Let them know.

Safety Gear Epilog • Properly fitting safety helmet with a strong Now go out there and lead some Girl chin strap. For horizontal caves, bump Scouts into the abyss and have some fun. If helmets may be used; for vertical caves, they see how much you enjoy the sport of use safety helmets carrying the Union of caving, they will be infected as well.

International Alpine Association (UIAA) seal, which is located on the inside of the If you would like to learn more about helmet. It is recommended that a dispostaking Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, or any other able liner, such as a shower cap or surgical youth organization caving, go to our web cap, be worn underneath the helmet to pages at www.caves.org/youth or please feel protect against the spread of head lice.

• Sturdy boots with ankle protection (hiking free to contact me at nssyouth@caves.org. boots for dry areas; rubber boots or wellies Cave Safely, Cave Softly, Cave Often for wet caves) • Warm, rubber gloves (to keep hands warm and protect against cuts and abrasions) • Long pants and shirt with long sleeves • Extra set of clothes • Non-perishable, highenergy foods, such as fruits and nuts • Water • Knee and elbow pads • Water-resistant “wet socks” (for wet caves) • Belt and harness • Compass • Three sources of light: A group of Scouts posing for the obiligatory after-caving shot NSS News, January 2019

17

2018 NESA Eagle Scout Speleologists: Collaborative Report

by Harison Bhanoo, Luke Giovanine, Sam Pollack, and Max Renner. Photos by Bill Steele The 2018 Eagle Scout Speleologist experience as part of the National Eagle Scout Association’s World Explorer Program was an opportunity given to only four nationally selected Eagle Scouts. We are all honored to have been chosen amongst so many other worthy applicants and are thankful for the experience. We thank Bill Steele, former Director of NESA, and Michael Cicherski for being great mentors during the expedition.

We also thank Cassie Dooley and all other BSA national headquarters staff that helped to make this trip a reality.

The time spent at Mammoth Cave National Park and the Cave Research Foundation was an educational, eye opening, and fun experience. There is so much that could be shared in this summary report, however, only the highlights will be covered.

This report is compiled from individual reports from the four Scouts who participated in the program; Luke Giovanine (elected patrol leader), Harison Bhanoo, Sam Pollack, and Max Renner. It must be noted that while this report covers a lot of ground, it does not fully encapsulate the building of friendships, ability to meet professionals and network, and the educational field work that occurred while we were participating in the program.

We all flew into Nashville, Tennessee where the journey began to take shape.

Some of our flights were smooth and on time, while some were delayed due to the weather at connecting airports. Our first evening was spent in Mammoth Cave National Park where were given the opportunity to get acquainted and get a good night’s rest. Our first full day together allowed us the opportunity to learn about Mammoth Cave from the National Park Service guides on public tours. Between tours, Bill and Michael had us spread out our caving gear to see if the gear would hold up to the rigors of the upcoming trips we would take into the cave. We appreciated all their assistance in helping us prepare and answering our many questions.

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NSS News, January 2019

2018 Eagles at Mammoth Cave National Park sign

During the Park Service tours we learned about the biodiversity in the cave and on the surface. This first day was a great introduction to the cave system and it allowed us an opportunity to get a better understanding of who we were going to work with in the upcoming days.

We enjoyed the organization, hospitality, and flexibility provided by the Cave Research Foundation. CRF is a nonprofit organization, made up of volunteer cavers, who were very kind and inviting. They were certainly helpful in educating us on safety protocol and the use of survey instruments. After watching the safety video we all completed a course on how to read and calibrate the compass and the inclinometer.

Here is where things got interesting.

Each day we would split into different teams that would go in different directions with independent objectives. Each Scout had an experience that was unique and different than the rest of the patrol. In general, each day had us teamed up with another Scout, but that was not always the case.

The next few paragraphs are selected stories from reports filed by each of the Scouts.

For my first day of research, a few other cavers and I went to Colossal Cave. Colossal is one of the many entrances into the 400+ mile-long cave system. Once in the cave, we hiked, stooped-walked and belly crawled for a few thousand feet until we reached our lead: an unexplored passage of the cave. There, we used light and sound to see how different rooms connected to one another. I helped connect the passage to the BSA survey

from a year ago. This was made possible by crawling through a passage that was approximately 8 inches tall. We mapped the new passage using various tools to take measurements of distance, direction, and inclination.

We spent the afternoon mapping this newly found lead before retracing our way to our camp at Hamilton Valley. The mapping added to the length of the Mammoth Cave system, which in turn aided in the construction of a three-dimensional map of the cave and a better understanding of Mammoth.

The next day I went into the caves with Mick and Tim to map some leads in Salts Cave. Mick has a very distinctive British accent and Tim has a very Kentucky saturated accent; the combination was quite comical. (I only wonder what they thought my accent might be like).

We went into the Salts entrance and made our way approximately a mile until we went down into a hole that could have easily been overlooked. Down the hole we descended. Eventually we came across a steep canyon and used a rope to help descend another 10 feet. After more walking and further descending we found our lead deep underground. It was cold, wet, muddy and fun! We were able to shoot a few stations of 50’ and mapped over 200 meters of virgin passage.

After about 4 hours and a lunch break we began our ascent back up the canyons (darn frightening, but at the end I felt pretty accomplished) and eventually made our way back to the entrance of Salts Cave. Getting to the point where we began our survey work was a real challenge, and getting back

Graduate student Fernando Hernandez at Western Kentucky University

was even harder! At the gated entry I found a turtle that had washed into the cave and brought him out to safety. Later, at Hamilton Valley, the crew surprised me with a birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday. The remainder of the evening was spent relaxing.

The next day I got my helmet repaired and headed to Hidden River Cave. We had to hike over a great deal of breakdown and rubble for about an hour and a half to get to the starting point of our survey. With six people in the crew, we eventually split into two teams of three. We surveyed two passages, one dry and one extremely muddy and wet. As luck would have it, I was a part of the team that went through the wet passage.

When we finished surveying, I was covered head to toe in mud. In the cave we traversed through an underground river with banks of boot sucking mud.

Our last field day was spent with biologist Dr. David Griffith, who is collecting and recording insects and other wildlife found in

and around Great Onyx Cave. While there, we found rare pseudo-scorpions, beetles, mites, crickets, spiders, and salamanders. Dr. Griffith is a college professor in Michigan. He has been researching the insect life in Great Onyx Cave for many years and has published a lot of papers about them.

Not every day was spent inside the cave, (unless you were Harison, who was called upon twice for overnight bivouacs underground), as we took two trips to Kentucky universities to meet with cave researchers Dr. Patricia Kambesis, Dr. George Crothers, Dr. Jason Polk, staff member Lee Ann Bledsoe, and graduate student Fernando Hernandez.

Our days with these cave scientists were spent soaking up knowledge on the importance of archaeology, hydrology, biology, geology and other disciplines related to the field of speleology.

On one of the off days, we went to the University of Kentucky where we met with Dr. George Crothers, who spoke about the archaeology of Mammoth Cave. There, we learned about how indigenous people mined gypsum for medicinal use and paint for hundreds of years beginning over 3,000 years ago. Dr. Crothers also spoke on the various plants they used to make their torches and clothing, comparing the modern diet to that of the indigenous people, and how the climate inside the cave mummified and preserved their bodies.

On another day we went to Western Kentucky University and met with Dr. Jason Polk, who shared information on how the karst mineral system effects the water quality of Lost River Cave as well as the surrounding city of Bowling Green. While at the university, we met with graduate students doing research in in the field, and in their labs, of their respective fields of study.

Each of us had a great time on this expedition for different reasons, but it was clear that we all enjoyed our time at Mammoth

Entering the main entrance of Mammoth Cave on a NPS tour

N.P. Time flew by and it is odd being back into our normal routines of prepping for a return to school or off to school for the first time. As the bustle of everyday life continues each of us now has memories where things do not move as fast as our daily lives. A place where the climate is consistent and time stands still. A place where light does not reach unless brought in by cavers. A place I can always go back to if I need a minute away, underground.

This report has been but a summary of our experiences. We have not written about so many things in the detail we could, like the trip to Diamond Caverns, the time spent with Dr. Griffith, the wonderful Mexican cuisine and countless stories told during the ten-day program. We were fortunate to help extend the world’s longest cave system and (concluded on page 24)

Each morning a report was given on the resuts of the prior day.

Left: Eagles at the University of Kentucky hearing from Mammoth Cave archaeologist Dr. George Crothers

NSS  News, January 2019

19

The mystery of the ancient statues of Laos caves Liviu Valenas

One evening in April 2004, in Boun Nong a peasant from Ban Na Khang Xang village (Khammouane Province) went bat hunting. Unfortunately, in Laos, bats are considered culinary delicacies. Boun Nong has a small entrance suspended 15 m up in a cliff, a possible place where many bats could shelter. With the help of lianas, Boun Nong did a risky climb on the vertical wall.

After the small entrance was a larger room, but instead of bats, perfectly aligned inside rimstone dams, were 229 statues of Buddha, up to 1.5 m tall, mostly bronze, but also 15 built in massive gold! It was the most important archaeological find in the last 100 years in Laos. Tham Pha Fa cave became almost immediately a great tourist attraction, but also a permanent pilgrimage place for the Laotian Buddhists. Archaeologists, as well as speleologists, quickly came to a unanimous but false, conclusion,. Considering the extreme difficulty of reaching this cave, no doubt it was a last moment rescue action of the of the precious statues undertaken

by Buddhist monks several centuries ago.

Hidding the statues in the cave would have protected them from the invasion of a foreign army. Just over a few years, about 20 km away from Tham Pha Fa cave, is a small tunnel cave, Tham Pha Bang. Hidden in a niche suspended at 4 m height, perfectly aligned, another 80 old statues of Buddha were discovered. This time they had been stored in bronze trays. Who would have hidden them and for what purpose? Mystery!

In March 2018, Mehdi Boukhal and Liviu Valenas, as part of the international speleological expedition PHA SOUNG PROJECT 2018, resumed the Tham Pha Kouan Moo cave exploration. They discovered in a suspended niche 15 old statues of Buddha, 3 carved in stone and the rest in gilded wood. Statues were small, only 8-35 cm tall. Tham Pha Kouan Moo is also a suspended cave at 20 m above the valley in the south cliffs of Pha Soung Mountain but in the same area as the caves mentioned before. Because to this discovery, the thesis that statues were deposited in caves in a rescue operation because of an imminent invasion has to be abandoned. Nothing proves it. Accepting that these statues are 450-500 years old, we are going back to the sixteenth century when Laos was experiencing great prosperity and tranquillity under the reigns of two kings: Photisarath (1520-1548) and his son, the legendary king Setthatirath (1548 -1571). Setthatirath waged wars, especially against the Burmese armies and against the Cambodians. All the battles took place in the north of the kingdom, in the 20

NSS News, January 2019

central part of what is today Thailand and, in the south of actual Laos, near the current border with Cambodia. The central province Khammouane has not been a theatre of war and no invasion occured in the XVI century on its territory and Buddhist chronicles do not mention anything different.

For these reasons, we consider as unlikely that the statues were sheltered in these caves to safeguard them.

During the great prosperity of the Laotian kingdom under King Setthatirath, countless Buddhist temples were built, many in the current Khammouane province. Caves have always considered by Buddhist monks, but also by the general population, as sacred places, a Buddha‘s creation. That is why we are sure that these three caves, where the Buddha statues have been perfectly conserved, in reality, are subterrenean Buddhist sanctuaries. The perfect cave location and the precise alignment of the statues prove it. If the statues had been hidden in a desperate rescue, probably other valuable, profane goods might have been found. But they are missing. Of course, choosing the caves has not been done at random. Those caves have difficult access and assured protection against potential thieves or vandals. Undoubtedly, these underground temples were also places of pilgrimage. But with the catastrophic defeat of the Laotian armies against Siam in 1828 at Udon Thani, there followed nearly 100 years of invasion and anarchy and, these underground sanctuaries have been completely forgotten.

They have been rediscovered after over two hundred years.

All the statues discovered in the three caves have great stylistic similarities between them, having influences from Vietnamese and Cambodian Buddhism. The elegance of the style indicates the influence of a great artist. Statues probably come from a large manufactory where the anonymous artist had his disciples. The large size and differences between the material of the statues in the three caves is believed to be due only to the different financial power of the local Buddhist communities who created, administered, and protected these underground temples.

The age of the statues is still unknown.

The style in which they were carved and especially cast, invariably takes us to the Laotian kingdom under the King Setthatirath (1548-1571). The discovery from the Tham Pha Kouan Moo cave, especially the wooden statues, could help in finding out the statues‘ age. For more in-depth research, in our future expeditions in Laos, we invite any team of archaeologists to join us. One thing

Map of Indochina around 1750

is certain, especially considering the latest discovery from Tham Pha Kouan Moo cave: the ancient Buddhist sanctuaries, hidden in the caves of Laos, will likely be rediscovered.

Tham Pha Kouan Moo Cave If the Buddhist monks knew only the entrance, the first speleological exploration of the cave took place in 2016, being undertaken by Liviu Valenas, Khamlex Khomsaysana and Sonsay Xayavongsa.

With a total length of 1,040.5 m, Tham Pha Kouan Moo cave is one of the larger caves in Laos.The network is developed in the southern slope of Pha Soung Mountain, at 70 m distance from the great maze cave Pha Soung (21,012.0 m total length). There is no known connection between the two caves.

Tham Pha Kouan Moo cave has two distinct sectors. The lower cave has 223.4 m length and 7 entrances, of which three have big openings. This sector includes a small underground stream and a deep sump lake. Through a vertical squeeze (an opening passable with effort) of 15 m, a junction to the upper cave was made in 2016 and, later the statues of Buddha discovered there in 2018. The upper cave has several entrances.

Tham Pha Kouan Moo ends surprisingly: after a dropoff of 5.5 m is a deep pothole of 20 m that ends at the water table.

After this deep pothole, a superior gallery wasn‘t yet explored. The lack of any air flow, the aged look of the main gallery, does not support the idea of a possible junction to the Pha Soung System.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Mehdi Boukhal, Georgeta Maria Vinay, Gheorghe Popescu, Mircea Visan, Kamlex Khomsaysana, Sonsay Xayavongsa, Claude Mouret, Jean-Francois Vacquié, Charles Ghommidh, Dan Pitic, for helping me with their generous expertise.

Tham Pha Kouan Moo. Photo Mehdi Boukhal

Tham Pha Kouan Moo. Photo Liviu Valenas

Tham Pha Kouan Moo. Photo Liviu Valenas

Tham Pha Bang. Photo Liviu Valenas

Tham Pha Fa. Photo Charles Ghommidh

NSS News, January 2019

21

Between a Rock and a Radio Place: The Case of the Irene Ryan Signature Mystery in Mammoth Cave Peggy Gripshover and Chris Groves

Department of Geography and Geology, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101

THE WRITING ON THE WALL Somewhere back in Mammoth Cave, along the route of the Grand Avenue tour, is a junction of passages where a right turn into Rose’ Pass begins winding its way back towards a large shaft complex ending at Hovey’s Cathedral Domes. Stopping for a short break, Joe Meiman and Chris Groves rested with a group of about a dozen geology students, as they had done often over the years. After pointing out and explaining to the students about a thin layer of limestone with small fragments of rock called “rip-up clasts” deposited during a storm, possibly a hurricane, some three hundred and fifty million years earlier, Joe turned and looked at a signature on the opposite wall. As in other caves, the many signatures on the walls of Mammoth Cave provide a vast store of information about the cave’s explorers and other more casual visitors. “At this very spot,” Joe said quietly, “stood Mammoth Cave’s most famous visitor.”

Joe Meiman was not referring to Mammoth Cave region legends Stephen Bishop or Floyd Collins. Nor was he thinking of the signature belonging to the “Swedish Nightingale,” Jenny Lind, who, in 1851, while touring with P. T. Barnum, stopped at Mammoth on her way between Nashville and Louisville. Rather, Meiman was pointing out the signature of “Irene Ryan,” with the accompanying date, “May 28, 1937.” Most visitors who see the signature, especially those who are Baby Boomers or viewers of late-night reruns on TV Land, know that Irene Ryan was the actress who played “Granny” on the classic 1960s television show, The Beverly Hillbillies.

To many generations of students and geologists that came through that part of the cave, Chris and Joe would invariably say that they had concluded that this signature was made by the Irene Ryan. Despite their sterling reputations as scientists and scholars, however, and even in their certainty, they qualified this claim by making it clear that this assertion wasn’t based on any historical (or other) data. Far be it for either Chris or Joe to let some actual facts get in the way of telling a great story.

And they weren’t the only ones to conflate the Irene Ryan signature with “Granny” of Beverly Hillbillies fame. The occasional Mammoth Cave guide may have also pointed out the connection between cave wall autograph and the actress. Indeed, a quick Google search including the words 22

NSS News, January 2019

“Irene Ryan” and Mammoth Cave,” yields several travel blogs that “document” the signature. One visitor, describing what she saw on the “Wild Cave Tour” in Mammoth Cave wrote that: “Irene Ryan (Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies) signed a wall in the caves in 1937—I was exhausted by the time we reached her signature.” (https://asthehorseturns.wordpress.com/ tag/mammoth-cave/) Another described the pictures of his

signature in Ganter Avenue. The oldest dated signature I’ve seen is 1811.

Shown above is Irene Ryan’s scratch signature, made during her tour of Mammoth Cave on 28 May 1937. She was an American actress best known for having a lead role in the old television series “The Beverly Hillbillies”. ( h t t p s : / / w w w . f l i c k r. c o m / p h o t o s / jsjgeol/38096454856)

trip: “First Pic—Irene Ryan (Granny Clampett) was here, in 1937 (she would have been 35 at the time— speaking of ages—and her name is scratched in several places inside Mammoth Cave). And that’s what granny looked like when she carved her name into the cave walls. Well, she probably wasn’t wearing a satin dress, but you get my drift... she was young and un-grannyish.” (http://nhs77.blogspot.com/2008/03/ few-mammoth-cave-pics.html) And yet another: Early tourists often left their names on passage walls or ceilings.

This practice (= vandalism) continued well after the area became a park. Methods of leaving a signature included making scratches on the rock and using candle smoke on ceilings to leave a series of stains.

The oldest known dated signature in Mammoth Cave is a 1798 scratch

For twenty-some years, Chris and Joe dreamed that one day they would track down the truth and either verify—or, heaven forbid—refute the idea that in 1937, the Irene “Granny” Ryan left her autograph in Mammoth Cave. This notion resided in a large mental filing cabinet under the heading, “Things to Do One Day.” But a combination of not knowing how to go about doing this type of historical research, and at least some trepidation in the possibility of shattering the legend, allowed time to roll on without one of those days appearing on the horizon.

Finally, one day, in a moment of classic work avoidance, Chris took to the internet, searching for some answers. There were a number of possible leads for information on Irene Ryan: The Paley Center for Media, The Early Television Foundation, The Museum of Television, and others. Surely, somebody would know somebody with connections to fan clubs, libraries or the like who might have a particular interest in Beverly Hillbillies lore? Could there be a diary, or someone who remembered Irene fondly reminiscing

about her youthful graffito indiscretion while on a trip to Mammoth Cave?

The results of this (admittedly exploratory) effort are summed up in an email from Mr. James Comisar, Director of Arizona’s Museum of Television: “Hey Chris, thanks for writing. Unfortunately, our focused expertise is the conservation of cultural materials, and as such we would not have a clue how to assist you. Irene Ryan’s career-long manager has passed, so I fear it may be difficult to glean such information.”

Not long after coming up empty-handed with his online explorations, Chris shared his quest for his “White Whale” with a colleague in the Department of Geography and Geology at Western Kentucky University.

That coworker was Margaret “Peggy” Gripshover, a cultural geographer, who, as it turned out, was equally eager to engage in some work avoidance and has a preternatural obsession with solving quirky unsolved mysteries. Unlike Chris and Joe, however, Peggy has a pesky habit of relying on reliable sources for her research. So, now it was Peggy’s turn to follow “Granny’s” trail and attempt to either prove or disprove the provenance of the Irene Ryan’s signature in Mammoth Cave.

ALL IN ALL IT’S JUST ANOTHER SIGNATURE IN THE WALL To attempt to solve this mystery, Peggy approached it like a criminal case—as a bit of material culture forensics; a real “whodunit.”

Is Irene Ryan, the actress, the leading suspect? Could she have visited Mammoth Cave in 1937 and left her autograph, quite literally, set in stone? Many visitors to the cave have repeated this claim on social media, often including a photograph of the famous signature with their posts. Or could it have been made by someone other than the Irene Ryan? To answer this question, Peggy needed to look at some historical records and related circumstantial evidence to determine if Irene “Granny” Ryan should be rightfully included in the pantheon of culture and history of Mammoth Cave or if Chris Groves and Joe Meiman need to revise their “Granny” signature lore.

So. let’s call the first witness to the stand—Irene Ryan’s name.

EXHIBIT A: WHAT’S IN A NAME? To begin our case, we must first examine the most critical piece of evidence—the signature that has been attributed to the Irene “Granny” Ryan. What’s in a name? In this instance, nearly the entire case! The “Irene Ryan” name itself that was scratched into the wall along Boone Avenue may itself provide the strongest evidence that the actress was not the one responsible for the 1937 signa-

ture. For our opening argument, we call our as a member of a traveling “follies” troupe. In first witness to the stand—Irene Ryan, the August 1918, billed as “Miss Irene Noblitt,” actress formerly known as Irene Noblitt and she returned to El Paso and appeared in the Irene Noblette.

Redmond Follies’ production of “Over the Irene Ryan’s father, James M. Noblett, Garden Wall,” in which she performed the was the descendent of Scots-Irish immisong, “I’m Old Enough for a Little Lovin’” grants. His ancestors migrated from eastern to much applause. She was, however, Pennsylvania in the 18th century, and settled probably not quite old enough by today’s standards—she was about two months shy in the hills of western North Carolina. of her sixteenth birthday.

Irene’s father’s last name had several spellIrene Ryan began her professional ing variations including Noblet, Noblett, career using her maiden name, “Irene Noblitt, and, in the case of Irene’s stage Noblitt,” as her stage name. But around name, Noblette. One good example of these 1920, without explanation, the spelling alternative spellings is the “Noblitt Grave of her stage name was changed to “Irene Yard” in McDowell County, North Carolina, Noblette.” Even after she married her in which persons named both Noblitt and vaudeville partner, Tim Ryan, in 1922, she Noblett are buried. A possible explanation continued to perform as Irene Noblette. It as to why James Noblett’s family changed was not until 1942 that she announced that the spelling of the name from Noblett to she preferred to be known as Irene Ryan.

Noblitt, was that his James’ father, Alfred Perhaps that was a last-ditch effort to save J. Noblett, was a convicted murderer. When her failing marriage? Maybe so. Just a few Alfred was executed by hanging in December months later she divorced Tim Ryan.

1855, his son James—Irene’s father, was just In 1937, when the “Irene Ryan” signafour months old. ture appeared in on a wall in Mammoth In the 1860 Census, five years after Cave, Irene was best known to the public as Alfred Noblett’s death, the James’ family’s “Irene Noblette.” If the actress had made the last name appeared as “Noblitt.” In 1875, inscription, more likely than not, she would James M. Noblitt enlisted in the U.S. Army have scratched her name into the rock as and spent more than two decades in military Irene Noblette, not Irene Ryan. Although service. He was a veteran of the Spanish most of Irene’s fans knew she was in fact, American War and spent much of his time “Mrs. Tim Ryan,” her name consistently in the service stationed at Fort Leavenworth, appeared in marquee lights and in newspaKansas, where he achieved the rank of pers as “Irene Noblette.” sergeant. In Leavenworth, in 1884, James Being a seasoned trouper in the preNoblitt married Irene’s mother, Katherine Twitter days, Irene was adept at old-fashioned McSharry, an Irish immigrant. Around 1897, self-promotion. So why, if she was the one the Noblitt family relocated to El Paso where who visited Mammoth Cave, would she miss Sgt. James M. Noblitt was stationed at Fort a chance to have her stage name carved in Bliss. He was deployed to the Philippines in stone? Furthermore, if Irene “Granny” Ryan 1898 and took part in the Battle of Manila. visited Mammoth Cave in 1937, almost A year later James Noblitt left the Army and certainly her husband Tim Ryan would have opened a popular saloon near Old Fort Bliss been with her. And, given that he always called the “Half-Way House.” received top billing for their act, he probOn October 17, 1902, Irene Noblitt was born in El Paso to James and Katherine Noblitt. Irene had one sibling, a sister named Anna Noblitt, 17 years her senior. When Irene was three years old, the Noblitt family relocated to the Glen Park neighborhood in San Francisco where Irene’s father worked as an immigration inspector and a night watchman.

She was 11 years old when her father died suddenly in 1913. He was buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery. The name on his grave marker reads, “James M. Noblitt.” Five years later in 1918, Irene Actress Irene Ryan in her younger days and as Granny on the made her professional debut Beverly Hillbillies NSS News, January 2019

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ably would have added his name to the wall as well. The married comedy team rarely, if ever, made appearances without the other spouse and if they were travelling, they were on the road together.

Thus, our first piece of evidence that argues against Irene Noblitt “Noblette” “Granny” Ryan from consideration as the person behind the Mammoth Cave signature is literally the signature itself. If the actress made the inscription, or, at the very least, stood by while someone else did the carving for her, she would have signed the wall as “Irene Noblette,” not “Irene Ryan.” And, almost certainly, her husband Tim Ryan’s name would have been scratched into the rock as well.

EXHIBIT B: YOU CAN’T GET HERE FROM THERE If we assume that the date of Friday, May 28, 1937, was the date upon which the “Irene Ryan” inscription was added to the passageway in Mammoth Cave, is there any evidence that shows Irene “Granny” Ryan visited Mammoth Cave on that date?

In this case, it is actually easier to prove that “Granny” was not in Mammoth Cave.

During May 1937, Irene Noblette and Tim Ryan performed live radio shows in Chicago on WGN. The shows were broadcast across the country on the Mutual Radio Network.

On Tuesday, May 25, 1937, Irene and Tim appeared on the “All Star Varieties” radio show on WGN. On Thursday, the day before the “Irene Ryan” signature appeared on the wall in Mammoth Cave, there was a news release announcing that Tim Ryan and Irene Noblette had just signed a multi-film deal with Educational Pictures. There was no mention of a trip to Kentucky in the article.

On Sunday, May 30, 1937, Irene and Tim starred in the “Fun in Swingtime” live radio show in Chicago.

It is roughly 400 road miles from Chicago to Mammoth Cave. In 1937 there were no interstates—auto travel was limited to US Highways and average speeds would have topped out around 40mph. A trip from Chicago to Mammoth Cave would likely have required two travel days—each way. Even if they took a train, it would have involved too much travel time to fit into their documented schedule. It would have been nearly impossible for Irene “Granny” Ryan to perform live on the radio in Chicago on a Tuesday, engage in promotional activities, write and rehearse a show, tour Mammoth Cave on a Friday, and be back to Chicago in time for their Sunday live radio appearance. In short, this also suggests that it is highly unlikely, given her live radio commitments in Chicago and the transportation options of the day, that Irene “Granny” Ryan could have visited Mammoth Cave on May 28, 1937.

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EXHIBIT C: WHODUNIT? If Irene Noblette “Granny” Ryan was not responsible for the “Irene Ryan” signature in Mammoth Cave, who was? We rounded up the usual suspects—any Kentuckian named Irene Ryan, who may have visited Mammoth Cave in 1937, or someone named Ryan with a connection to the cave.

The lack of visitor logs for this time period limited us to a search of US Census records and other archival sources. The profile for a graffiti artist trends on the younger side so we looked for persons named Irene Ryan who would have been in their teens or early twenties in 1937. The records review resulted in four possible suspects. Three of the likely candidates were named Irene Ryan and were born in Kentucky between 1904 and 1923. Alas, two have rock-solid “alibis,” as they were married prior to 1937 and their last names would have changed to something other than Ryan. So, they were eliminated from the lineup. The third “Irene Ryan” lived in Melbourne, Kentucky, and although we can’t definitively eliminate her, there is no evidence to suggest that she did come to the cave, and she may not need to a make a confession to the crime because as little information remains about her life and activities, she may have become a nun as was one of her siblings.

If we eliminate Irene Ryan the actress as a suspect, and can’t find an Irene Ryan from Kentucky to link to the cave signature, who then is left? There is one other candidate: John James Ryan, who served as the secretary of the Mammoth Cave Park National Association (MCNPA). John J. Ryan was the son of Irish immigrants and was born in Louisville in 1897. He had a long career as a real estate agent for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. He was named secretary of the MCNPA in 1929 when George E. Zubrod stepped down from that position to assume

the directorship of the organization. John J. Ryan continued to serve as secretary of the MCNPA through 1958. Ryan was, therefore, active in the MCNPA in 1937. Perhaps John J. Ryan had a relative named Irene Ryan who came to see the cave while he served on the MCNPA? Given his prominent position within the Association, he probably would have had liberal access to the cave. Perhaps a member of the extended Ryan family was named Irene? Irene “Granny” Ryan died in 1973 and John J. Ryan passed away in 1976, so we may never know the answer to this mystery. But of all the alternative candidates, John J. Ryan remains a “person of interest” in the case of the “Irene Ryan” signature in Mammoth Cave.

THE VERDICT Who wrote the “Irene Ryan” signature in Mammoth Cave? That question may never be definitively answered. But there is one thing we can say with some degree of confidence; Irene Noblitt Noblette Ryan, of “Beverly Hillbillies” fame did not write “Irene Ryan 5-28-37” in Mammoth Cave.

We absolve “Granny” from the 1937 act of cave vandalism. She simply could not have been in Chicago and Mammoth Cave at the same time to both appear on live radio and engrave her name in the cave. And, if by some miracle of time travel, she could have been in Mammoth Cave on May 28, 1937, she probably would have scratched her stage name, “Irene Noblette,” not her married name “Irene Ryan,” into the wall. Visitors to the cave may try to link the signature to the actress and post their assertions online, but the dots simply do not connect. It may make a great story to say that “Granny” did it, but this is one cave legend that needs to be nipped in the bud, or, you might say, Chris and Joe should clamp it.

Eagle Scout Speleologists (continued from page 19) have fun along the way. In the cave, and out, the World Explorers Program combines high adventure with a real-world application.

While all the field trips were fun and educational, they allowed us to develop a network of experts in various fields that will help us all grow in our personal and professional lives.

This incredible experience provided four Eagle Scouts with the opportunity to come together and form a lasting bond. We are honored to have been given the chance to work alongside so many gifted professionals and will be forever thankful.

We are now proud World Explorers.

Learning about 3,000 year-old art in the caves

SCCi Science Awards The Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc. (SCCi), the largest land conservancy in the world solely focused on protecting wild caves, recently announced the award of two grants through its annual Science Award Program. Scientific research is an integral part of SCCi’s work. It is essential to conserving cave and karst resources.

“Buying caves to preserve and protect them is a noble endeavor. It is what SCCi is known for.” Says Dr. George Veni, Executive Director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institute and President, International Union of Speleology. “But effective preservation and protection is often impossible without good scientific research to identify needs and best management practices. SCCi’s Science Awards Program helps assure their caves are sustainably managed, and supports both established and young scientists’ focus on much needed cave and karst research.”

This year’s science award recipients are: (1) Drs. Cathy Borer and Angela Poole, of the Department of Biology, Berry College in Rome, Georgia for “Molecular identification of plant roots” to be conducted at Howard’s Waterfall Cave Preserve, Georgia. The researchers will develop and test molecular techniques needed to identify plant species of roots that are exposed in cave walls and ceilings. The researchers note that root physiological studies done at the land surface are difficult to conduct without damaging roots and influencing their physiological processes while exposing them for study. However, roots exposed in caves allow for easy access to plant roots for study and most importantly they can be sampled with minimal damage to the root system for analyses. In order to properly study root physiology, the plant species must be identified first. Thus, this study will develop and test molecular techniques to identify the plant species from root samples. The SCCi has awarded $1,500 to support this important research.

(2) Joe Lamb and Dr. Yong Wang, of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Alabama, for “Abiotic factors influencing cave use by salamanders in northern Alabama.” This study forms part of Joe Lamb’s M.S. thesis. The researchers note that cave salamanders have strict environmental tolerances (temperature, humidity), and that their abundance and diversity are an indicator of the health of a cave environment and perhaps the ecosystem health of forest systems surrounding caves. Joe and Dr.

Wang will determine salamander abundance, density, and diversity in the near-surface parts of Tumbling Rock Cave Preserve in Alabama. The SCCi has awarded $1,500 to support this important research.

For more information about our science mission and to inquire about submitting science proposals for next year, please contact SCCi Chief Scientist, Dr. Matthew Niemiller, matthew.niemiller@scci.org.

The William L. Wilson and Diane C. Wilson Scholarship in Karst Science Administered by the Karst Waters Institute, www.karstwaters.org The William L. Wilson and Diane C. Wilson Scholarship in Karst Science recognizes the significant contributions of the late William (Bill) L. Wilson, who tackled some of the most difficult karst science questions in Florida and elsewhere through his consulting company, Subsurface Evaluations, Incorporated. To stimulate the development of new, energetic, motivated, and creative karst scientists and to remember Bill Wilson and his dedication to karst science, the scholarship was established by Diane C. Wilson in his memory. The scholarship includes a one-time award of $1,000. The scholarship is open to any student who is currently enrolled in, or has been accepted into, a master’s degree program at an institution of higher education in the United States.

This year’s deadline for all application materials is February 1, 2019 (however, there is flexibility in this, so please contact Dr. Herman if you need more time). Information on how to apply can be found at the Karst Waters Institute website (http://karstwaters. org/scholarship/). Additional information can be had through email to Dr. Janet S. Herman (jherman@virginia.edu).

The Robertson Association (TRA) Campmasters Needed TRA is seeking individuals for the 2019 TRA Campmaster Program. This program runs from April to October at the site of the Old Timers Reunion in Dailey, WV. The Campmaster performs tasks to maintain the site (mowing, weed eating, receive deliveries, basic maintenance) and serves as host when the property is rented for activities. The Campmaster will prepare the site for work weekends, OTR Prep-week, and other special events. You may choose to be a Campmaster for one to four consecutive weeks based on availability of open weeks in the schedule.

TRA provides a gravel Campmaster

pad, near the main gate, with 50 amp electric, water, sewer connection and Wi-Fi service in exchange for 24 hours of work per week. The pad accommodates either a Class A, B, or C RV, Fifth Wheel Camper, or Bumper Pull Camper equipped with gray and black tanks that can connect to the sewer.

Tent camping is not an option.

If you are interested please contact John Wilkinson via email at campmaster@ robertsonassociation.org or by calling 804-564-9765 (9 am to 9 pm Eastern Time) for more information.

Central Asian Caving Invite Our organization is the only one in Central Asia that explores caves and karst.

We conduct a series of research expeditions throughout Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Tojikistan) But in our countries there are no active cavers. Therefore, we are ready to cooperate with all cavers from other countries.

We invite everyone to take part in our speleo projects in 2019: http://speleo.kg/projects-en/ Speleology without borders: http://speleo.kg/central-asian-transboundary-speleo-project.html [Editor: The Web site provides descriptions of 9 different expeditions throughout 2019 for which participants are sought. It states that these are not for profit and the fees for the expeditions are direct costs.

Dates, but not costs are listed in the writeups] Dr. Alexey Dudashvili Foundation for the Preservation and Exploration of Caves Kyrgyzstan

New Wyandotte Cave Map A map of the Wyandotte Cave System (2018) was just released by the Indiana Geological Survey and is available as a free download: https://igws.indana.edu/bookstore/details. cfm?ItemID=3875&Pub_Num=MM111 Thanks to NSS member Charlotte Stock for providing this information.

Correction In the July 2017 NSS News article entitled “Outer Space Goes Underground” I mistakenly recited that the formation region in Tumbling Rock Cave referred to as “Little Chuck’s Music Box” was named for Charles Kroeger. This is not correct. In fact, this formation area is named in recognition of Chuck Turner. Thanks are due NSS Librarian Bill Torode for pointing out this mistake.

Dave Hughes NSS News, January 2019

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Speleo Patron of the Arts

Dave Hughes, Reilly Blackwell, and Geary Schindel The National Speleological Society is pleased to give members an update on the Speleo Patron of the Arts initiative.

The brainchild of NSS President Geary Schindel, the Patron program is designed to provide national recognition for some of the fabulous photographers in our midst while, at the same time, populate the NSS Headquarters and Conference Center with striking imagery.

To date, an ensemble of Patrons has funded the printing and display of 10 different, large-format, cave-related photographs. One of these images decorates the Headquarters Conference Room, while the remaining nine are featured in the Roger J. Sperka Educational Hall.

Not surprisingly, some of the present collection was photographed by older, established cave photographers. But, we are also exceptionally proud of a number of great images made by younger members— including a caver who was in high school at the time that his submission was produced.

And while NSS officialdom reserves the right to reject anything inappropriate, we are always looking for super-high-resolution, knock-your-socks-off photography that properly represents caves, cavers, caving, and the Society.

Future Patronships are available for $200, if you wish to specify the photographer, the photograph, or both. Otherwise, Patronship is $150 and the associated photographer and photograph are selected by the Speleo Patron of the Arts Committee.

Patronship donations may be sent directly to Christy Starr, NSS Bookkeeper (bookkeeper@caves.org). When doing so, please indicate that the donation is for the Speleo Patron of the Arts initiative.

Patronships can be originated by individuals, grottos, NSS sections, state cave surveys, regions, cave conservancies, college outdoor clubs, institutions, affinity groups, and similar people and entities. So far, Gale Beach, Dave Haun, Dave Hughes, Dave Luckins, Janet Thorne, Will Urbanski, and Tom Whitehurst have become Patrons, as well as the Alabama Cave Survey and the Birmingham Grotto.

We look forward to welcoming you and your group as a Speleo Patron of the Arts. Thanks, in advance, for your generous contribution.

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NSS  News, January 2019

Jacob Lieber

Note: The caption cards shown are copies of those placed near each print.

Jacob Lieber

View of prints in the Sperka entrance hall at the NSS HQ

Reilly Blackwell and Dave Hughes viewing some of the prints

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John R. Holsinger John Holsinger, aka Captain Karst, a legendary caver and cave biologist, died on November 10, 2018. John’s caving career spanned the gamut from sport caver to expedition caver to speleologist to cave conservationist. Those who knew John were often surprised at the breadth of his activities.

John began going into caves in the 1950s when he was a student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (now Virginia Tech,) and caved with the VPI student grotto of the NSS. After his graduation from VPI in 1955 and a stint in the Army signal corps in Hawaii, he taught high school biology in Fairfax County, Virginia, and started the Biological Survey of Virginia Caves, an NSS-supported project. During the late 1950s and early 1960s John was an active vertical caver. Together with his longtime friend John Cooper, Holsinger not only made the first biological collections in many vertical caves in the Virginias, but also helped lead the exploration and survey of these same caves. Cooper relates many stories about their joint exploits in his recently published Cave of the Boa Constrictor. Perhaps the most memorable is the hair-raising tale of Holsinger’s ordeal in Crookshank Hole in West Virginia, where he was trapped for many hours in rising water until he was manually pulled from the cave by Cooper and others.

John Holsinger’s interest in cave critters was crystallized by research performed in pursuit of a masters degree, awarded in 1963 from Madison College (now James Madison University.) Much of his MS thesis was published in the NSS Bulletin as a checklist of the obligate cave-dwelling organisms found in Virginia caves. This interest in the overall diversity of cave life continued throughout his scientific career, reflected in papers and articles not only about his beloved amphipods (more about them below), but also on bats, salamanders, isopods, and mites. He 28

NSS News, January 2019

pioneered the idea that overall biological surveys of cave faunas were important, and co-authored annotated lists for Georgia, Pennsylvania, east Tennessee, West Virginia, and two monograph-length updates of the Virginia cave fauna, first in 1988 and again in 2013. He encouraged others to produce lists as well. Scientific names of numerous species bear witness to John’s dedication: the amphipod Stygobromus holsingeri, the cave beetle Pseudanophthalmus holsingeri, the groundwater flatworm Sphalloplana holsingeri, the isopod Caecidotea holsingeri, the cave spider Nesticus holsingeri, the millipede Pseudotremia johnholsingeri, and three species of cave pseudoscorpion: Apochthonius holsingeri, Hesperochernes holsingeri, and Mundochthonius holsingeri. His name even rose to the genus level with the Unthanks Cave Snail (Holsingeria unthanksensis.)

After extensive caving in the Virginias during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and with growing interest in subterranean biodiversity, John returned to graduate school at the University of Kentucky, where he obtained his PhD in 1967 under the direction of Tom Barr, himself a legendary biospeleologist. John’s dissertation was on the taxonomy of a large group of subterranean amphipods, which he eventually classified in the genus Stygobromus. The genus now has about 140 described species, only a handful of which were documented when John began dissecting them under his microscope and describing them in painstaking detail. So began a scientific career as a cave amphipod taxonomist that lasted half a century. John described hundreds of species, not only in the genus Stygobromus, but in all of the other 8 amphipod genera that occur in North American caves. As the years went on, his interest in subterranean amphipods became global, and he described dozens of new species from throughout the world.

Publications on subterranean amphipods, numbering more than 100, will be a lasting legacy of his work. His enthusiasm for the morphology of cave amphipods was boundless. Anyone who was fortunate enough to hear him give a presentation on amphipods was treated to an enthusiastic and interesting talk, even if John had already described many similar species. In less skilled hands, his talks would have become soporific.

Cavers perhaps know John best for his role in the discovery and description of Virginia caves. When John started caving in the late 1950s and early 1960s, little was known about the caves in extreme southwestern Virginia, especially Lee, Scott, and Wise

counties, which Henry Douglas considered of only minor significance in his 1964 book Caves of Virginia. Over the next decade, John proved Douglas wrong by documenting the existence of hundreds of caves in these counties, which today are known to include many world-class caves, including the longest cave in Virginia and the deepest cave east of the Mississippi. One of the informal traditions he established, beginning in 1961 and continuing for nearly fifty years, was the Dirty Old Men (DOM) gathering on Thanksgiving weekend, which in most years was devoted to the exploration of caves in extreme southwestern Virginia. Holsinger took over the Virginia Cave Survey from Douglas, and his efforts culminated in the 1975 publication by the Virginia Division of Mineral Resources of Descriptions of Virginia Caves, which contained the first documentation in the caving community of hundreds of caves.

We are not sure if John had one favorite cave, but a good candidate would be Unthanks Cave in Lee County, an eightmile-long cave with an abundant and diverse fauna. John was instrumental in persuading The Nature Conservancy to purchase two small tracts that included the cave entrance and a gas station with corroded petroleum tanks that leaked into the cave. In the early 2000s, Unthanks was given by TNC to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Natural Heritage Program which manages the cave as a State Natural Area Preserve. The Natural Heritage Program and The Nature Conservancy continue working together to protect all of the land overlying or draining into the cave.

John Holsinger’s conservation efforts extended far beyond protecting a handful of his favorite caves. Not so much in speleopolitics as in politics for the sake of caves and cavers, John was part of a group of pioneers that included Evelyn Bradshaw, John Wilson, Henry Graves, Roy Powers, and Phil Lucas, who saw a role for the state in the recognition and protection of cave and karst resources. Starting with the Commission on Virginia Caves and culminating with the Virginia Cave Board, John served thirty years as a governor-appointed citizen volunteer working to protect the state’s karst. Notable achievements of these boards included the passage of the Virginia Cave Protection Act in 1979, regulation of scientific studies to limit impacts to caves, recognition of the paleontological, archaeological, and associated cultural significance of caves, and direct actions to conserve and restore threatened and degraded cave

systems. John’s efforts led to the 1982 listing of the Madison Cave isopod (Antrolana lira) as threatened under the endangered species act as part of a successful attempt to prevent discharge of chlorinated water into a sinkhole overlying the species’ type locality. In the 1980s John led the Cave Board campaign to restore and protect Lee County’s Thompson Cedar Cave, which he discovered had been contaminated by leachate flowing from massive sawdust piles adjacent to and overlying the cave. The impact was so severe that almost all life in the cave had been extinguished, resulting in the Endangered Species listing in 1992 of the Lee County Cave Isopod (Lirceus usdagalun), then known only from one other cave system. The protection and resources afforded these two species have resulted in increased knowledge and long term protections not only of these animals, but the caves and groundwater in which they live. All six caves from which Lirceus usdagalun is now known lie beneath the Cedars State Natural Area Preserve, including Thompson Cedar Cave, which was restored by the longterm efforts of the landowner, state and federal agencies, and the Virginia Cave Board, all spurred on by John Holsinger.

John was a lifelong teacher. A high school biology and earth science teacher in the early days, he went on to be a professor at East Tennessee State University and Old Dominion University, where he spent most of his professorial career. He mentored a number of graduate students both at the Masters and PhD levels, including Jill Yager, discoverer of the Remipedes, a previously unknown class of Crustacea; Lynn Ferguson, expert on cave-adapted diplurans of North America; Jun Zhang, expert on Crangonyx amphipods; Stefan Konneman, expert on Bogidiellid and Crangonyctid amphipods; Tom Sawicki, expert on Hadzioidea amphipods; and Jerry Lewis, the leading expert on freshwater isopods of North America.

John enlightened hundreds of Old Dominion University students over the decades through his unique course on Cave Biology, leading weekend-long field trips to caves in Virginia and West Virginia to see some of the fascinating places and creatures covered in his lectures. John was also an important mentor and teacher to many who were not formally his students, folks like Dave Hubbard, Terri Brown, Chris Hobson, Dan Feller, and many, many others who strive to carry on John’s legacy in biology, exploration, conservation, and education. And amidst all of his research, teaching, and exploration, John still somehow managed to make time for Linda, his wife of 33 years, and their extended family, who together with us mourn his passing and celebrate his life.

John was an active participant in many

NSS activities for over fifty years. He chaired the 1963 NSS Convention at Mountain Lake, and produced the first guidebook for a convention. He was active in leadership roles in the Virginia Region for decades. He was one of the founders of the NSS Biology Section, led field trips at multiple NSS conventions, and served on the Board of Governors in the 1970s. John’s last trip to an NSS Convention was Huntsville in 2014, where he delivered an NSS luminary talk to a standing-room-only audience.

In the course of his biological investigations, John amassed a huge collection of specimens from all over the world. Per his wishes, and with the help of the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias and the Cave Conservancy Foundation, all of these specimens now reside, well catalogued, in the collections of the U.S. National Museum of Natural History.

In honor of John’s work toward our understanding of caves, cave biology, conservation and taxonomy, the Virginia Natural Heritage Program established the John R.

Holsinger Cave Conservation Fund. Those wishing to contribute should contact the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Division of Natural Heritage at 804-786-7951. Checks can be sent c/o John R. Holsinger Cave Conservation Fund, 600 East Main Street, 16th floor, Richmond, Virginia, 23219.

In all his activities, John Holsinger was incredibly generous in sharing both time and credit. He always welcomed new people to caving and cave biology. He could also be irascible, and it is fair to say he did not suffer fools gladly. Setting an example which we all would do well to follow, John took the time to carefully document and publish nearly everything he did, leaving a lasting contribution to both the caving and broader scientific communities. In a real sense, he devoted his life to speleology, which will be diminished by his passing.

David Culver Wil Orndorff Chris Hobson

Will we get wet? was Chris HIggins’ title for this image, which received a Merit Award in the 2018 NSS Photo Salon

NSS News, January 2019

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Folks, I hope your end of the year festivities have gone well and you’re getting settled into the new year. I wanted to let you know of some of the recent actions by the Board of Governors at the November board meeting.

You can read the full minutes of the meeting on the NSS web page.

The two most important issues the board dealt with is an Anti-Harassment policy and changes to the Bylaws related to Discipline of Members. The NSS officers and Board members have received some complaints about the conduct of a limited number of members during NSS events.

In review of our policies, we did not have anything in place that stated the position of the NSS regarding harassment of members.

In addition, we also had very limited provisions in our bylaws to discipline members that may have not been upholding the tenets of the NSS. The board has addressed both of these issues and will be bringing a proposed “Code of Conduct” forward for consideration at the Spring 2019 BOG meeting.

Anti-Harassment Policy The Anti-Harassment policy as passed by the Board of Directors reads as follows: •

•

•

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This Anti-Harassment Policy applies to all events sanctioned by the National Speleological Society. Internal organizations within the Society are independent organizations and may create their own policies. To remain compliant with the NSS Charter, they must also have in place an Anti-Harassment Policy, or agree to implement the NSS policy, or risk loss of association with the NSS. The National Speleological Society is dedicated to providing a safe and harassment-free environment for our members and attendees at our events, on social media, and within our organization. We will not tolerate harassment in any form. Any attendee that violates this policy will be told to leave the event and may be subject to further disciplinary action at the discretion of the NSS Board of Governors, pursuant to Bylaw XI. B. Discipline of Members.

Harassment includes but is not limited to inappropriate comments, inappropriate sexual behavior that warrants intervention, unwanted advances and touching, invasion of personal space in a sexual manner, deliberate intimidation, and unwelcomed sexual advances. In addition, harassment NSS News, January 2019

•

includes unwanted verbal, physical, cyber, or aggressive behavior. If an incident of harassment is reported, the event staff, volunteers, or NSS representatives will take corrective action against any offenders at the time of the incident, ranging from verbal warnings to expulsion from the area and/ or event and a referral of the offender to the NSS Board of Governors for consideration of discipline from the Society.

We value all of our members and attendees that come to caving events and want to ensure that safety and well-being of all participants is a top priority. Any person being harassed or witnessing another person being harassed should contact a staff member immediately. We will make every effort to assist and provide protection for our members and attendees.

Complaints about harassment may be directed, in confidence, to the NSS President at president@caves.org. I’ve created an ad hoc committee composed of a lawyer and a retired Assistant Police Chief to investigate reports of harassment with findings to be reported to the NSS Board of Governors for consideration.

Discipline of Members The new NSS bylaws related to Discipline of Members was amended by the board at the November BOG meeting as follows: • A. A member not exempt from paying dues shall be automatically dropped for failure to pay.

• B. By a two-thirds vote, the Board of Governors may expel or discipline a member for disregard of accepted safety or conservation practice or the rights of a cave owner or for other conduct detrimental to the Society. A member subject to expulsion is entitled to a private hearing before the Board.

• C. Members may be disciplined by the Board of Governors by measures short of expulsion. Other disciplinary measures include but are not limited to censure, suspension, restriction of privileges including attendance at certain activities, and revocation of awards.

• D. Disciplinary procedures including hearings shall be carried out as described in the most recent edition of Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised, Chapter XX. The Board shall ensure

that the Accused is informed of all rights and procedures.

The modification of the Bylaws for member discipline allows the board more latitude in dealing with discipline issues.

Other News I want to thank Stephanie Collier for her nine years of service to the NSS. Stephanie has left the employment of the NSS. We wish her well in her future endeavors.

I want to thank Reilly Blackwell and Dave Hughes and the Huntsville Grotto for hosting the NSS BOG at the November meeting. It was nice for the officers and directors to visit the Headquarters for the board meeting.

Reilly Blackwell

I want to also thank Reilly Blackwell for her hard work as an NSS Intern over the last year. She has worked in the library, helped with building and preserve maintenance, worked closely with Dave Hughes on our Speleo Arts project in the Sperka entrance hall, and with organizing the BOG meeting, etc. Reilly is also our new NSS Membership Chair and has a lot of great ideas and has worked hard to recruit and retain cavers.

Not only is she incredibly well organized and a great writer, she is also a hard core caver and has been working on many dome climbing projects in the southeast. I’m sure she will continue to do well at whatever she sets her mind to.

Geary Schindel NSS President

Reilly Blackwell with one of the images in the entrance hall at the NSS HQ (see page 26 for more about this and the photos included to date).

DRAWN TO THE DEEP: THE REMARKABLE UNDERWATER EXPLORATIONS OF WES SKILES

(2018) by Julie Hauserman. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Hardcover, 246 pages, 6” x 9” format, ISBN 978-08130-5698-2. Available for $24.95.

The underground labyrinth of the Floridan aquifer, comprising a vast network of underwater caves that intertwine beneath the state, is one of the most remarkable environments on Earth. Holding an estimated 2.2 quadrillion gallons of freshwater, surface springs collectively pump out more than 8 billion gallons of water from the aquifer daily.

As home to the largest concentration of underwater caves in the world, north Florida is a mecca for cave-diving enthusiasts, and the backyard of a diver who was one of cave diving’s most ardent devotees: Wes Skiles.

A veteran of thousands of difficult and demanding cave dives, Wes Skiles’ shockingly unexpected death during a relatively shallow, open-water reef dive using a rebreather sent a tremor through the cavediving community (much as the death of his cave-diving mentor, Sheck Exley, had done 16 years earlier).

In Drawn to the Deep, Julie Hauserman, traces Wes’ evolution from a young cave diver exploring uncharted worlds below the surface to an award-winning underwater photographer/cinematographer and, ultimately, an ardent and outspoken conservationist passionate about the sanctity of Florida’s highly vulnerable freshwater aquifer.

In the course of his work as an underwater filmmaker, Wes traveled to exotic locations across the globe, shooting still photographs and film for The Discovery

Channel, PBS, IMAX, A&E Television, National Geographic, SONY Pictures/ Hollywood, and a host of others (all documented in an appendix). With the aid of quotes from various cave divers and colleagues and excerpts from assorted publications, Hauserman showcases many of Wes’ gripping and spine-tingling adventures. By making liberal use of passages from his own personal journal entries, she helps breathe life into these often high-risk undertakings.

At home in Florida, however, Wes became a dedicated spokesman for conservation, calling attention to the dire threat posed by the continued contamination of the groundwater with agricultural and industrial pollution. Hauserman effectively underscores how navigating the treacherous corridors of the state’s political bureaucracy was, in some respects, more challenging than navigating the darkened passageways of underwater caves. But doing so enabled Wes to follow his heart and be his own creative master—exploring the issues that he felt were important, communicating the stories that he wanted to tell, and leaving a lasting and unique legacy.

Drawn to the Deep is an intriguing, thought-provoking, and well-written book. In telling Wes Skiles’ singular story, Hauserman successfully highlights his varied accomplishments and numerous contributions to exploration, education, and environmental awareness. The book will be of considerable interest to cavers, cave divers, and environmentalists, but will also strike a sympathetic chord among other wilderness travelers

possessed of a passion for exploration and an innate desire to push beyond existing barriers and glimpse the face of the unknown.

Reviewed by Danny A. Brass

SPELEOBOOKS.COM 518 295 7978. Cave and bat gifts, books, clothing and jewelry. Prompt personal service since 1973.

West Virginia Cave Books www.WVASS.org If your Grotto or Region is looking for new caves to explore in the Virginia area, RASS can offer your group a place to camp in Bath County, VA. There are more than 100 caves within an hour drive.

We support cave conservation and education.

Contact Jason Hart at JHARTCAVESVA@gmail. com 3 The Richmond Area Speleological Society (RASS) supports cave conservation, education and research by offering grants to assist

projects aligned with these goals. To receive a grant request application please email us at rass-grants-committee@googlegroups.com.

Applications reviewed quarterly.

12 New WV Cave Books: Bulletin 20 Caves & Karst of the Culverson Creek Basin, WV by Lucas, Balfour, and Dasher. 336 pages, 364 caves, 208 photos, 80 maps. Color copy on USB drive. $35 postpaid;.Bulletin 21 Caves and Karst of Mercer & Summers Counties, WV by Schaer and Dasher. 186 pages, 226 caves, 131 photos, 62 maps. $25 postpaid.

WVASS, PO Box 200, Barrackville, WV 26559 WVASS@PrehistoricPlanet.com 12

Media: Wes Skiles 1958 - 2010 (https://vimeo.com/13736780).

His award-winning documentary, Water’s Journey: The Hidden Rivers of Florida, can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch.

US Military Role in Thai Cave Rescue Bill Halliday sent me an article that appeared in the October 2018 issue of Military Officer. The Thai government had appealed for help from the US Indo-Pacific Command and as a result, 40 members of the U.S. Air Force’s 320th Special Tactics Squadron were sent to help. These 40 were pararescuemen, who spend two years rigorously training to perform high angle rope rescues whether in the mountains or underwater. They have medical training but no specific training in cave diving.

During the rescue, they set up communication systems in the cave and rope systems to carry the boys out from Chamber 3 to Chamber 1 after receiving them from the divers. The boys arrived in a sedated state so were moved on ropes and pulleys on litters, up chimneys and steep slopes.They were operating in areas that had been sumped completely earlier on but now only partially submerged thanks to pumping efforts.

Dave Bunnell

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Copy should be received one month prior to publication date (e.g., by May 1 for a June issue). Make checks payable to the National Speleological Society and send to: Att: NSS News Advertising, 6001 Pulaski Pike NW, Huntsville, AL35810.

NSS News, January 2019

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JANUARY 2019

Diving in Utah’s Main Drain Cave