TRIP REPORT: Webster at Necronom, 09/03/2006 by B. Hutchins

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I'm posting this trip report on the assumption that Ben Hutchins (who wrote it) isn't a member here yet. These are his words, lifted from the WCCSG site. I did create a video blog of sorts, that can be viewed at the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsHYeI29dN4 (warning: large 53 meg file, 16 minutes)


"September 3, 2006
Necronom falls"

by Ben Hutchins

This is by far the longest trip report I've ever written. All of the
epic tales in previous reports have inspired me to put forth more
effort. Sorry it's only pasted into this email. Chris should have
some upcoming footage.

6:30 AM EST. The first thought I had was to ignore the
alarm, forget Webster cave, and go back to sleep. That was the best
idea I had all day…if only I had listened. Besides, I can't complain
when others in the group have a 3 hr drive compared to my measly
20min. Chris Anderson, Pat Mudd, Jeff Gillette, and myself (Ben
Hutchins) met at the WCCSG fieldhouse at 7:30 AM EST. After brief
admiration of the successful native grasslands restoration project
occurring in the front yard, we headed to the Main entrance of the
cave. Mark Phillips showed up as we prepared to head into the cave
as well. This was Mark's first trip since his truck and cave gear
had become a burnt offering to the highway gods. Around 8:20AM, we
all suited up and headed into the cave in a staggered fashion – Jeff
entering first with kayak, Chris second, myself third, and Pat and
Mark last. Chris was no longer satisfied simply leading Anderson
death marches, so with the excuse of checking to see if Northbore
sump was open, Chris volunteered to run ahead quickly, run down Parks
avenue, check the sump, and meet us back at the Parks Avenue
junction. We've always known that he had a masochistic side. Jeff,
in his speedy kayak, also had plans to go down Parks. That meant
that Pat, Mark, and myself could take our sweet time, and have a
snack at Parks junction. Before long though, Chris and Jeff
returned, tensions mounted and hopes built…only to be drowned in high
water. The sump was almost open…which means it was closed. It was
beginning to breath, and while not humanly navigatable, a few dry
weeks may lead to some successful trips to the great beyond. But for
today, we had to settle for something beyond great. Trucking on down
Webster avenue, we said high to Kermit the bullfrog (who has been
guarding Webster's lakes for sometime now), swam through Marathon
lake, and arrived at the not unpleasant beginning of Necronom. Our
original intent was to begin survey of Innuendo – the blowing side
lead off of Necronom that has received some discussion as of late.
Always wanting to be involved in the most enjoyable survey possible,
I suggested that we finish Necronom first, and then start hammering
out survey in Innuendo. Sure it was going to be a little low and
wet, but it couldn't be more than a few shots. This was not the best
idea I had all day… if only they hadn't listened. Before traveling
down Necronom, however, there was a little issue that had to be
resolved. We had 5 people ready and willing to survey, but we only
had one tape, and since our main objective was Innuendo, a team of 5
would have been overkill to say the least. Furthermore, Innuendo was
not designed for people of `normal stature' as Mark so tactfully put
it, but was instead, designed to make people with stunted growth and
thyroid deficiency feel good about themselves. Therefore, it was
agreed that Mark and Jeff would travel to the very back of Webster
Avenue to check water levels in the lower river (Dempster Avenue).
The purpose of this trip was to see if survey of this section of the
cave would be possible in upcoming weeks. During the survey which
completed Webster Avenue, the water levels were high enough that
Dempster Avenue was completely submerged, and Webster ended at an
ominous sump with a lazy whirlpool. Occasionally, distant rumbling
noises could be heard- we attributed to boulders being pushed through
flooded Dempster or orcs. This is the last I have heard of the
adventures of Mark and Jeff. I have no information about water
levels, but they did make it out of the cave (or someone stole their
vehicles). So, back to Necronom.
I was excited about my first trip in Necronom. "This is
quite nice" I though to myself as I skipped through the first
50ft. "Oh, I see" I thought to myself when the walking ended and I
realized that the next 1500ft would be crawling. We passed some time
looking for the well casing which should be in Necronom somewhere.
It was never found, and we wonder if the mystery of the lost well
casing will ever be solved. Could it be that Bill Holmes knew of a
yet undiscovered passage in the vicinity of Necronom that leads to
the casing? Anyway, we eventually reach NL34 (surveyed on 8/19/06) –
the beginning of our survey at about 11:30. The notes from the
previous Necronom survey indicate that the passage continues for
approximately 300ft. before reaching an apparent sump. But you know
how in-cave estimates get exaggerated. Surely it would only about
100 ft. The passage trended almost directly south for 275ft. This
section began around 10ft wide and 2.5 ft tall. The water here
wasn't particularly deep. After the first 150ft, however, the
passage widened to 20 or more feet. Passage height stayed consistent
but the water became deeper – about 1ft deep and wall to wall. This
presented fun challenges to me, the sketcher, trying desperately to
keep my hands and the notes dry. One maneuver that was very
rewarding was to sit in the water with my legs forward and scoot
forward like a dog wiping its ass on grass – only without the front
paws. Luckily, I had a small towel that I used to dry my hands and
notes off when they got a little wet. That lasted for the first 10ft
before the towel fell in the water. After the first 250 ft, the
passage began to trend southeast for another 110 ft. Here the
distance between ceiling and floor got up to 5.5 ft although airspace
remained at around 2 ft. Much more comfortable for me, but I think
that Chris was still able to get his face in the water for a number
of shots. The water was still wall to wall and stations were
typically constructed by sticking a glowstick in a convenient patch
of mud. The last 60ft of the passage again trended south, and
atleast for a moment, the passage was nice – 11ft wide, 5.5 ft high,
with 2ft of water. The passage soon ended however, when the ceiling
abruptly dropped to near water level. At this point, the floor also
rose so that the passage was about 1.5 ft high. From this point, the
floor soon dropped again so that the water became quite deep, but
after about 20ft, the ceiling dipped below water level in what is
likely a permanent sump. Approximately 20 feet of passage continues
past the last station before sumpage. The desparate or misery loving
individual could come back to this spot during extreme draught to
check to see if the sump is truly permanent, but in the opinion of
Chris, Pat, and myself, Necronom is finished. We shot 10 shots in
Necronom for a total of 412.2 ft. The last station was NL 44.
After finishing up Necronom, we moaned and whined and
contemplated ignoring Innuendo all together, but, in the words of
Death March Anderson, "If we were any kind of men at all, we'd finish
both leads." Luckily, that statement says nothing about how many
trips it takes to finish the leads. Despite Pat's malfunctioning
light, my wet hands, and Chris' long drive, we still began to attack
Innuendo which was about halfway between the beginning and end of
Necronom. As far as Pat's light is concerned, I was scared that Pat
was going to smash it or at least curse it to pieces. But seriously,
there is a problem with that light, and it's the first real problem
I've heard about with Stenlights. As for Chris' long drive, not much
we can do about that. As for my hands, ahah! I brought 2 little
towels…back in business. This time, I put the towel in my helmet to
keep it dry. That lasted for the first 10ft before the ceiling
forced my helmet into the water. The first 30ft of Innuendo doesn't
have to be an eardipper unless you try to go through keeping both
hands out of the water- which is impossible. If you're shooting
instruments, there's no hope. As I sat outside the beginning of
Innuendo, feeling the brisky breeze and seeing Chris and Pat lying in
the water blowing bubbles to read instruments in a constriction where
the breeze was much more substantial than where I was, I could only
think one thing. Sketching has its benefits. The first 50ft of
Innuendo trends almost directly north. The passage almost instantly
becomes 10ft or less wide, about 2 ft high with 9 inches of airspace-
less in a few spots. Fortunately, after that first 50ft, you get to
stand up. Unfortunately, you don't get to walk. Instantly, you
climb up a bit of flow stone to another crawlway about 4 ft higher
than the one you were just in. This also trends northish, but here,
the passage is smaller, so the breeze is even more substantial.
Furthermore, you are completely soaked by this point, and even though
you are higher up, you are still, somehow, in a stream. So, we shot
2 shots past the stand up spot before calling it quits. In Innuendo,
we shot 4 shots for a total of 69.2ft. This survey was designated NU
(for NUendo). The last station set was NU4. The station was near
the left wall above a flowstone about 10ft past the stand up spot.
The station is marked with a glowstick. This survey tied into NL14
in Necronom. The total footage for this survey was 481.4ft. There
will be plenty more survey in future trips to Innuendo. Furthermore,
there is a lead at NL6 and there is some survey left in Jagged which
ties in at NL27?.
We head out of Innuendo at around 4:30 PM talking about the
miracle known as beer before Pat comes to the sensible conclusion
that the best type is the cold type. Back at the junction of
Necronom and Webster, Mark and Jeff have indicated that they have
headed out of the cave using the secret symbol of Webster – a
glowstick. By now, enough glowsticks have been used in Webster to
host a successful rave. After a delicious cave lunch, we begin the
long journey out of Webster, making sure to pay our regards to
Kermit. We exit the cave just before 6:30PM. Nearing the entrance,
something is spotted in the water near the shore. What could it be?
Only the most glorious site I have ever laid my eyes on – the beer
that I sat there on the way in. Changing outside the entrance was
quite pleasant with my delicious stout in hand. We also ran the
compass course. I know that should be done first, but both sets of
instruments agreed and matched the standard. Back at the fieldhouse,
we chat for a few minutes before heading our separate ways. In a
most gracious offer, Chris told us that if we ever got in trouble
with the law, we could just give him a call and he'd take care of
it. Feeling good about this, we all departed hoping that future
survey trips would take us to places as magical and pleasant as the
bowels of Necronom. I'll add up total footage in Necronom and post
an update COMPASS files in the next few days.

[wendy]

I love reading these trip reports. I want to go to Webster and help you guys survey so bad. Ever since the video with the echo scene in it.

Just curious about the distance from the beginning of Webster to Necronom. From this post, I am guessing it takes about 2 hours to get to that point in the cave. Is that an accurate guess?

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Wendy:

If it is a death march to Necronom, yes, about two hours or so. Now, if your just sashaying in with some of the 'older' Webster cavers, a tad longer....;-)