Melody Hill Survey Trip 1-21-2007
OR
When Steven Went Sketching and Got Stuck In a Tight Place.
At 4:30 am I awoke remembering last nights local forecast from our local television station. They had predicted a "wintry mix" of precipitation including rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow. I was wondering whether or not I'd be able to travel. I went outside and they were right. Except that the sleet and snow were in their liquid form known as "rain" and the freezing rain was not freezing.
I picked up Ryan "My back didn't even touch the ceiling" Stidham and we headed to the post office at Webster to meet the rest of the crew. From there we proceeded to Melody Hill Cave. This was my first time in Melody Hill. The first part of the cave was characterized by some stoop walking and some crawling passage with some breakdown and lots of fossils on the ceiling. One interesting site was a horn coral fossil inside the upper and lower shells of a brachiopod fossil. Very soon we got to the area with lots of rimstones, columns, flowstones, and of course water. Passing through this area we headed on the last station of the previous survey and got to work. The last survey had ended at a fairly tight crawlway, so we were on to the crawlway. Curtis Beasley took lead tape/point position, Chris "Death March" Anderson took instruments, Ryan Stidham (this was his first survey trip) took two jobs; the other end of the tape, and yelling back through the tight passage so the sketcher (Steven O'Nan first time sketching for WCCSG, second time sketching) could write down the information.
Pat Mudd wound up doing recon.
After the first squeeze, I realized that this cave is characterized by 8 foot tall passages that are filled with at least seven feet of mud except wherever there is water feeding in. This led to several instances in which I stayed in one spot listening to called back survey shots, then crawling forward while taking mental notes to sketch once I got enough room that I could reach the book and look at it at the same time.
After a second squeeze we reached a nice gallery, and a sharp turn to the left. I'm still not sure if those were stalactites or some some sort of speleogen. (Any pictures there Chris?)
At the turn we had our big shot of the day; an 85 footer, and we saw a pair of bats. After this long tall passage which featured two waterfalls and some flowstone we arrived at (you guessed it) another tight squeeze. Curtis could not get through, even though Mudman Pat Mudd had gone through while reconnoitering. Curtis laid back and took a break. Pat, Ryan and Chris slipped into the squeeze again calling shots back for me to write down. When I finally stopped hearing up and down dimensions of 1 and 0, I started crawling forward to join the group and fill in the sketch. The same hump that stopped Curtis stopped me. So through the miracle of modern science the survey was continued using the available technology. Several shots were called back to me and pictures (hopefully lots) were taken for the sake of filling in the sketch. When the group was heading out of earshot they shot video of the last few stations so that I could hear and see them later. While this was going on I started heading out of the cave. Curtis was already back in Chris's jeep by this time.
On the way out as I got to the last major squeeze (heading back to our tie in station) I couldn't seem to fit through. I removed my helmet and tried again. Still no go. I looked around to make sure I hadn't somehow stumbled on to tight virgin passage. Recognizing a fallen stalagmite from the way in I verified I was in the right place. Through an act of contortionism I was able to retrieve my trusted dandelion picker. (Don't laugh, it's great for digging clay/rock mixtures) I started digging what appeared to be the best route on the lower right hand side. I excavated 3 feet forward and 3 inches down, and still couldn't get in. So I decided to back up until there was a place wide enough that someone could pass me. I figured being cold and hungry my judgement was off and I would let someone take a fresh approach at the passage. Soon the others caught up with me, Ryan passed me, and made it through on the first approach. He went the upper left route and had only minimal trouble getting through. I followed suit and was out in no time.
On the way out I enjoyed the view of formations and fossils then headed home where my wife had a pork tenderloin waiting for me in the crockpot.
We had passed 450 feet of survey before I had to turn back. Data will be uploaded soon.
Steven O'Nan
The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bndP7CXDFZk
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