Jewel Cave Surpasses 160 Miles

[Extremeophile]

On a four day camp trip in the southeast branch of Jewel Cave this past weekend a team of 4 cavers, led by Dan Austin, surveyed approximately 5,800' of new cave and pushed the total length to a bit over 160 miles. The trip focused on vertical leads with mixed success. The first lead was a 40' pit near the OO-junction with only about 100' of passage at the bottom. The second pit was about 50' deep in the Western Motif area and had less than 50' of passage at the bottom. A third pit was about 30' deep off the Hall of Justice and led to several passages that went for several hundred feet, but a connection was found to the nearby Fast Lane eliminating the need for vertical gear. A lot of mop-up survey was completed in the Western Motif, Hall of Justice, Fast Lane and Five Minute Run areas.

[Caveman18]

Let's not forget the other co-conspiritors on the adventure: Derek Bristol, Kelly Mathis and Ian McMillan. We couldn't have done it without you all.
(the two shots over 150 feet, several 100's, 80's and 70's helped, too!)

Jewel is one of those few caves where you can survey over a mile of virgin passage and leave leads still going...

Dan

[Cody JW]

I know you guys have to sometimes cave for several hours just to get to the start of the survey. I enjoyed the story in the Feb. NSS News. Hats off to all of you.

[GroundquestMSA]

I enjoyed the story in the Feb. NSS News.

Likewise.