A trip to the Ant Farm this weekend netted ~1,640 feet of survey. The trip was led by Dan Austin and included Rene Ohms, Kelly Mathis and myself. Several leads left during the last two trips to the area (in February, 2011 and August, 2010) were surveyed. Most was walking sized with one passage over 60' high and 20' wide. A good looking lead was left in this area (20' diameter passage), but will require a couple bolts to access. Many of the surveyed passages are on the boundary of the known cave with good airflow, but all passages heading E and NE became too tight or filled. Jewel Cave is now >153.5 miles in length.
The trip out was very fast at ~4 hours, and the return trip was ~5 hours. Total time underground was 17 hours.
Gympsum needle nest along short-cut to the Ant Farm
Gympsum flowers
Frostwork coated manganese
Kelly Mathis in large room
Dan and Kelly in large terminal room with lots of rims/vents
Rene admires hole in wall