Trip Report: Fern Cave

[rchrds]

Following our last successful sump push last month at the lower, then sumped, entrance to Fern Cave, Alabama, C and I decided that it was time to revisit the historic First Sump, originally dived by Dabbs, Millot, Rose, Johnston in 1978. Historic trip reports had described only the inner sump- with no reference to a sump at the entrance, and we had been confused as to how the original party had gotten to the sump to begin with.

Upon our arrival (immediately following the weekend of Katrina) we found that the water level at the entrance was easily a foot lower than our last visit. Suddenly, the magic portal was visible, and an ear dipper pass through was visible in the narrow maze of entrance swims, that allowed us into the lower cave without having to put regulators in our mouths. This was apparently the way Dabbs, et al had come in the past, making our dive the previous month (which was still sumped) completely unneccessary.

C and I, assisted by P, P, S, S, and T rapidly traversed the first thousand feet of passage to the inner sump. We were assisted by technology as both C and I, wearing thin laminate drysuits were able to wear the suits throughout the dry passage without overheating, eliminating the need to suit up in the low, sandy beach area. In addition, we were using tiny tanks- having the foresight of the earlier team, and knowledge that at most, the sump was 200 feet long- no more than a 4 minute dive. Team PPSST was heard later remarking that this had been the easiest haul trip they had ever been on- In fact only three members carried gear in- and C and I carried all of the gear out, with no help from the others.

As the dive began, team PPSST retreated to survey side leads that had been left on the previous trip. C lead the dive- her first time leading a sump dive, and she got to use my new prototype lightweight High Intensity Discharge (HID) dive lamp- a tiny package weighing two pounds that provides 4 hours of light equivalent to a 50 watt halogen bulb. Admittedly overkill, with visibility in the sump well in excess of the passage width- nearly 40 feet. It (and she) performed flawlessly- rapidly spooling out 110' feet of line while I swam behind surveying the sidewalls and fighting with the slightly bouyant gear dry bottle.

We reached the far beach and doffed our gear- switching from neoprene to capilene hoods and stacking tanks in an unceremonious pile on the sandy bank. We broke out the survey gear from the dry bottle and prepared to connect the sump survey to the inner survey.

We had been told to expect a permanent station on the inside- something left from previous survey trips. We were greeted by a huge flowstone shield and a beautiful column flanked by amber and white stals, but no permanent station. We decided that it might be wise to scout (scoop) ahead to attemp to determine how far we might have to survey to find this imaginary "permanent station." We walked ahead down the screaming borehole- contemplating how relaxing it was to just stroll down a 70 foot wide, 30 foot tall stream passage floored with hard, flowstone streambed covered with a half inch of water. Not even small pebbles to trip up our progress.

5 minutes into our progress we happened upon an old carbide survey station. Surely this was not the station we had been looking for, (I had actually forgotten the correct number,) so we continued on for another five minutes until we came to a large confluence. Previous to this, most of the passage had been subject to significant flood events- and there had been very little evidence of previous human passage; but there had been some. Telltale crawl marks in a high sandy area, the survey station. But here at the meeting of two large water sources- there was no evidence that the room had been recently completely flooded- the two small creeks intermingled tens of feet below where we stood on dry, mudless sand flats. We delayed here, undecided whether to return and begin the survey or to continue our exploration. We decided that a short way up each passage could do no damage, and continued on. In short order I noticed that there was a single set of footprints- one going in, and one going out in the right tunnel. We speculated that "the one who's mate promises burgers" was most likely responsible for these prints- though it was curious that there was only one set. Satisfied, we turned back and ventured up the left tunnel. Here, there was no evidence of hairless monkeys passing. Only bare, unmarked sand, even where the water turned away to a side passage. Had this passage been so far from the top entrances that it had escaped exploration?

Satisfied, we returned to our task, surveying to the carbide station- sure that at least, this would be recorded in the records of "the one who's mate promises burgers."

With the survey, and supposed connection complete, we donned our apparatus and made like seals to the water, barking our approval at finally being weightless in the cave as we made our exit.

J

[Kelly U]

Oh, I know who you are rchrds! I'm Kelly, the one helping Steve, Jennifer and Pat with Fern. Hey, btw, I heard C was the first woman to complete this dive, so congratulate her for me. Hope to see you guys Friday of TAG!!

[rchrds]

Hey there- Oops- I'm told that I may have misattributed the burger thing to Jennifer, and that might actually be you- Oh well. At least we all know who I mean.

Are you going to fern this weekend? Steve needs some help I hear.

J

[Kelly U]

Yep! I'll be helping Steve this weekend. Oh, and for the TAG trip, dinner is on Donna and Holly. They have volunteered, so what can I say - you will have to wait for me to prove my cooking abilities for another trip.javascript:emoticon(':lol:')
Laughing Guess you guys will just have to keep coming to help out!

[Kelly U]

Had a great survey trip this weekend with S, J, and T. Added 300 feet to the survey!

[Mike Cato]

I realize that Fern's a tough time-consuming cave but if only 300 feet was added to the survey wasn't it really just a tourist trip?

[rchrds]

I would suppose that depends on where you were surveying. If you were on your belly the entire time in a maze- that could concievably be an 8 hour day. But I suppose that depends on what sort of detail you want to have.

[Kelly U]

I guess not everyone knows about the stringent survey guidlines we are trying to follow in Fern - very detailed. That coupled with a short trip (6 hours, with 3 hours of that being travel time).

I used to participate on those grueling 12+ hour trips where we got 1,000-1,500 feet or more in one day, but we are trying a new approach at Fern. We still do the longer trips (for those that want a challenge and are up to the task), but we also do short and medium lenght/difficulty trips. That allows for many more people to participate. It has been a really popular approach with a minimum of 20 people participating each quarterly trip, and monthly trips have also gotten underway now too.

However, if Otac thinks he can do better... sounds like a challenge to me... we certainly welcome him to come help! Come show us how its done, Otac!! Everyone is welcome!

[Mike Cato]

::blink::

My comment wasn't a challenge. It was based on my PERCEPTION of what goes on in Fern. This comes from reading various sources and listening to folks talk. You know those trips aren't all work. If they were then it'd be tougher to get participants.

From a conservation viewpoint, is it really worth the wear and tear on the cave sending in a survey crew to glean only another 300 feet for the survey? I think not.

Sorry if I insulted you by saying your survey trip sounded "touristy".

[Daisy]

Well, since you haven't been on a survey trip with us, your perception may be incorrrect, eh? FYI, we were training a new sketcher this weekend, one reason we weren't super speedy. The area we surveyed is also rarely visited (as is about 90% of Fern) so there was extremely little impact on the cave. So we accomplished all of our goals... we have a new sketcher pretty much up to speed (and he also happens to be the cave access coordinator), showed a new participant one of the main routes, and we got some surveying in. What's to complain about?

Jennifer from Hsv.

[rchrds]

Mike- come on our next trip. I got some cleanup survey that needs to be done in the area I am working on- I would challenge you to do better than 300ft on the trip. Bring yer warm stuff.



jason

[Mike Cato]

Thanks Jennifer. Nicely spoken. Now I have some real insight. I stand corrected and moderately shamed. I'll offer my butt for a swift kick at the next grotto meeting. Or, if you're at the Guffey gating tomorrow, you can do it there!

I'd like to clear my chore list enough to help on some of those surveys before it's completed. Sometime in '06, I hope.

[Kelly U]

::blink::

My comment wasn't a challenge. It was based on my PERCEPTION of what goes on in Fern. This comes from reading various sources and listening to folks talk. You know those trips aren't all work. If they were then it'd be tougher to get participants.

From a conservation viewpoint, is it really worth the wear and tear on the cave sending in a survey crew to glean only another 300 feet for the survey? I think not.

Sorry if I insulted you by saying your survey trip sounded "touristy".

Oh I'm not insulted. Its not MY project. Its supposed to be a H'ville Grotto project, but since Steve, Jennifer, and Tommy seem to be the only surveyors from Huntsville wanting to help, they opened the project up to the rest of us.

If you feel that short trips are destructive to the cave, perhaps you can suggest a better way... If you know a lot about managing survey projects, we are always open to more project managers. I don't think any of us that are helping consider ourselves 'in charge' of the project, we're just having fun surveying. Perhaps that's why we don't seem to have any problems finding people who want to help.

Your guess that "trips aren't all work" is just silly! I don't think we would have added nearly 2 miles of passage over the last year and a half if we were just messing around in there. If, on the other hand you meant that we were having fun with the project, you would be quite correct! If you want to find out for yourself, don't sit back and make standard judgments, come on a trip!

[Pat Kambesis]

Just to clear up any other misperceptions about some of the "short" Fern Cave trips: I injured my shoulder earlier this year and specifically requested "shorter" Fern trips...not shorter in duration but shorter in distance from the entrance so I don't have to do a lot of climbing because of the injury.

So, though my trip may be billed as short, what that really means is that we will be surveying for a really long time, but relatively close to the entrance.


pk

[Scoon1]

Even though I am new to the survey scene, I have been on just two survey trips to Fern, I have had the best time hanging out and working with this team of dedicated people. Both of the trips that I have been on would be considered "short". In both of the trips I haven't been farther than 300' from the Johnston entrance but most of that distance is in the 116' drop that is a short distance away. So even though the trips are listed as "short", it does not mean that the work is any easier :).