Caving in Texas

 After I taught two three-day small party cave rescue classes, I had a day off. I usually don't when I go to cave rescue seminars, so I intended to fully enjoy it. What would be the best way to do that? Go caving, of course! Fortunately the past park superintendent was up to being our guide for the day. We started off with Gorman Falls Cave, which had been used several times earlier in the week, but I hadn't had a chance to go in. Here is Casey ready to lead the way down the first drop. It's three short rappels into a steamy cave.

Then you reach the stream below. I went upstream as far as I could to the sump, then downstream. This well shaft goes down to the stream, and I guess they drilled the well before they realized the cave was here. The cave was quite warm, and it felt good. It was a fun cave. Air has to be pumped into the cave before you go into it because it has high carbon dioxide levels, as do many of the Texas caves. It's good to go with someone who knows, as bad air could make your day a little problematic.

Next we headed to a cliff edge and found a spot between the pencil cactus and the prickly pear to rappel over the edge.

We swung into a cool cave that was highly decorated. I thought it was neat to see the old water line so distinctly.

Liz and John wanted a photo of them together on rope as they rappelled to the bottom of the cliff. They're getting married later this year.

At the bottom we walked a short way and got a view of the backside of Gorman Falls. The travertine that's built up along the cliff face is fantastic, and the green moss covering it gives it a great surreal look.

We had gotten permission and a key to go visit Gorman Cave, so we headed there next. There's a nice interpretive sign outside the entrance.

Kelby was our guide, and he explained how this used to be the most-visited cave in Colorado Bend State Park (which has 400+ caves!).  However, this cave has turned out to be a very important maternity colony. It also has bad air.

I immediately liked the cave, as most of it was walking passage. This wasn't how Texas caves were described to me! We followed the sinuous stream passage, stepping over pools of water and admiring a variety of formations. This was a neat speleothem right in the middle of the passage.

We passed the old gate, that had been back farther in the cave. We could smell and feel the change in air as we went through a thermocline. My pulse rate increased a tiny bit, but I didn't feel many other effects from the increased CO2.

We eventually got to crawling passage and found lots of little bones on the floor. What was going on? It turned out there were hundreds of dead bats. There was no sign of human interaction (the most typical reason that bats die). We put on our sleuthing caps and realized that last summer there had been massive floods in Texas. We found where the cave had sumped, and these poor bats had been trapped and died either from starvation or bad air.

Then it was time to head back to the lodge and hear all about the mock rescues that had happened that day. And to eat and celebrate! We had great facilities at Barefoot Fishing Camp.

 Volunteers prepared meals, and for this last night, we were treated to prime rib and bacon-wrapped asparagus. I don't eat this well at home! All the meals were fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed them.

Celebrations ensued, and the next morning, when it was time to pack up and head home, it was a little slow-going.

I had a super time in Texas and thank everyone who made all the arrangements and made it happen. I was a little afraid that some Texas cavers might have read my mystery novel, An Un-Conventional Murder, and take offense at the fun I poke at Texas cavers. But nobody mentioned it. So maybe I'm safe to visit Texas again! :)

Indian Burial Cave

In going back through my photos, I realized I hadn't posted about a couple fun days in April. If you've been following this blog, you know that I like caves a little.

Or maybe more than a little.

If you're not sure, do a search on this blog for caves (or click the cave label at the bottom of this post), and you will see some of the other things I've written about caves.

I've been caving for 17 years now (that's making me feel old!), and I like teaching other folks how to cave safely and with cave conservation in mind. One of our archeologists had been asked to do an archeological survey in a vertical cave, but she didn't know how to rappel and climb rope, so she asked for a lesson. We were happy to comply, as none of our little caving group had done much on rope recently.

We started with practice outside. I always recommend practice out of the cave first--it's so much easier to see what to do when you have full light and not just the beam from a little headlamp. We spent a couple hours practicing climbing rope, changing over to rappel, and rappeling down.

Later that week, we went to a nearby cave, Indian Burial Cave. It's a gated cave and requires a permit to enter.

We did some rigging practice before we went into the cave and talked about ways to rig so you are ready for a rescue.

Then Meg volunteered to go down first. She rappelled into the cave and we heard her call back,
"There's a snake down here!"


Someone asked, "Dead or alive?"


"Alive!"

Nothing like wildlife to make the trip a little more interesting! I found several dead snakes in the cave. I imagine that they're attracted to the pleasant temperature of the cave and then get on walls that are a little too steep and just fall in.

Meg pointed in the direction of the live snake, and I found it trying to hide. Poor thing, it will soon join the other carcasses. The silver lining is that they provide food for the cave-adapted organisms. In fact, before the gate, there probably was a lot more that fell into the cave and provided food for the severely nutrient-limited underground ecosystem.

Also right near the entrance drop was a sign. It says:

Paleontological Research in progress

Funded by the National Geographic Society 

and the Geological Society of America

PLEASE DO NOT DIG IN THIS AREA

Your cooperation is appreciated.

Numerous animal and human remains have been found in the cave.

I was more interested in the live wildlife. This caterpillar was climbing on a rock. I don't know if it will find enough food to survive.

The darkling beetle was wandering around.

A few flies hung out, too.

Then it was time to head deeper into the cave and take some photos.

Hi, Meg! She is wearing good caving equipment: helmet, lights, elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves.

The most notable formation in the cave are these folia, a shelf like feature that is really pretty.

More folia.

Then it was time to head out of the cave. We went one at a time, with two ascenders that gripped the rope. We all used the frog system, which is a sit-stand system. You alternate sitting and standing, moving one ascender with each movement. In that manner, you can move up the rope about a foot and a half at a time.

It wasn't a very long cave trip, but it was a fun one. It's always a good day when I can go into a cave--and get out safely!

2016 NSS Convention in Ely, Nevada

 The National Speleological Society (NSS) Convention was held in Ely, Nevada this past week, and the kids and I were able to attend. We started Saturday at the County Park in front of the library at the Speleofest, open to the public. After I signed books for an hour at the library, we explored the offerings, such as Cave Sim, a simulated cave. You crawl, twist, turn, and climb to go through the cave. You try not to touch any cave formations or animals, as they have sensors in them that buzz when you get too close. It's super fun!

The kids also really enjoyed the BLM's cave. It was cooled to a very pleasant 53 degrees Fahrenheit and had interpretive displays in the cave. Mostly, though, the kids thought it was super cool to hang out with their friends in the dark. Jim Goodbar, the BLM national cave and karst coordinator, brought the cave. He had taught a cave management class in Ely the week before.

With live music, tasty food, and several booths with information about caving, there was a nice array of things to do at Speleofest. The kids wanted to be active, so they had fun towing the SKED around on the grass. This is normally a tool for cave rescue, but the kids found some other ways to put it to use.

In the late afternoon it was time to head to the Art Bank for the opening reception of "The Caves of Absalom Lehman." This display featured photos taken by John and Mary Walker in 1928 and retaken in 2016 by Dave Bunnell. With the photos taken side by side, viewers could see what had changed over 88 years. In most cases, very little had changed, including regrowth of broken speleothems. The cave environment does not regenerate quickly at all. The Walkers' grandson attended and shared information about the height of his grandparents. Based on that, it's likely that his grandmother was the one taking the photos while his grandfather was illuminating the scene. The exhibit will be up through July 30 and then selected photos will be shown at Great Basin National Park.

Next up it was time for the Ely Neon Lights 5k. Over 160 participants walked, jogged, or ran along the course, which included several stations where you were sprayed with non-toxic neon paint that glowed under the black lights. Lots of participants put on special makeup or hair accessories to make the night glow even more. We were happy to do this with our friends Ron and Teresa.

It was a messy event! 

We took showers at the high school afterwards.


We camped for the week at the Ely golf course. It was a really nice campground.

Folks set up tents along the greens.


Grottos (cave clubs) often camped together.

The campground also had a decon station so everyone could wash their clothes and gear after cave trips to keep from potentially spreading fungal spores that cause White Nose-Syndrome in bats.

The kids absolutely loved the Bat-Go-Round. It also makes an appearance at Black Rock each year for Burning Man.

 Sunday night it was time for "Who wants to be a speleomillionaire?" hosted by the Silver Sage Grotto out of Idaho. It was a super fun take-off on the game show, with all the questions cave-related. I played and made it to Level 12 before stopping, which was good enough to earn me third place.

The prize I picked was this super cute caving knit cap, also made by the Silver Sage grotto. Desert Girl was so happy to wear it.

Monday was a busy day. I gave two talks (but didn't manage to get a photo of our session), went to other talks, and caught up with cavers I hadn't seen for a long time. Here's my friend Andy giving a talk.

Desert Girl went to Vacation Bible School and then hung out with me and Teresa and Ron, while Desert Boy was in the Junior Speleological Society (JSS). He loved the variety of activities they had. Here he is practicing using a field phone next to the Cave Sim trailer.

Monday night was the Howdy Party, held under the hugest tents I think I've ever seen.

On Tuesday both Desert Boy and I climbed in the gym in the vertical contest. The kind volunteers helped me learn better techniques for climbing with knots. I took a photo of the record board, which was good, as my sit-stand record was beaten later in the day. And alas, I couldn't break the record despite my best efforts. I will have to keep trying! (And if I keep climbing long enough, I may get records in those older age group categories!) I did get first in my age group, which was nice, but my friend Amanda was only a few seconds behind, so I have pressure to keep practicing.


Desert Boy competed in his first climbing contest and did well, finishing second in his age group. The first place finisher broke the record in both 30 m and 120 m.

Next time we will have his system better fitted to him and he'll be climbing even faster.

Desert Girl didn't want to compete, but after she found out that two of her new friends had competed, she decided that next time she'll compete too.

The rest of the week sped by with giving more talks, organizing and leading cave trips, attending talks, attending meetings, checking out cave cartography, admiring cave art, signing books (An Un-Conventional Murder, set at the Convention sold well), buying new cave gear and books, and talking to lots of cavers. I didn't get many photos, it felt like I was always running from one place to another. We stayed up late every night, and the early sunrise had us getting up early. I started to feel like these guys:

It was all so much fun. We ended the week with the Awards Banquet. Lots of prep went into it.

The food was delicious, and it was a super evening with about 800 cavers under the big top. Total registration was 1080 cavers, more than most everyone had expected. People came from around the world to remote Nevada. 

The next day we packed up and headed home and then met some scientists for a special cave tour of Lehman Caves to talk about history, microbiology, and more.

It was a super event. Thanks to Matt Bowers and all the Convention staff for putting on a successful convention!