TRIP REPORT: Webster Cave System (KY, US) 2005/10/16

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TRIP REPORT: Webster Cave System (KY, US) 2005/10/16

Postby Darklight » Oct 17, 2005 1:57 pm

This last Sunday, October 16 2005, an important milestone was reached in
the continuing Webster Cave System survey. This date, a team of cavers
consisting of Andrea Croskrey, Melissa Hendrickson, Steve O’Nan, Pat
Mudd, and myself, successfully negotiated and mapped the Mulu Sump of
the North Bore trunk.

Four of us met at about 0800 CST at the Webster Post Office, and headed
off to the cave. The water in the first lake, and in the entire cave,
was exceptionally clear. It seemed a shame to muddy it up! We quickly
made our way down Webster Avenue, past Blindfish Boulevard, and into the
Middle Section of the cave. We soon heard our fifth member, Pat,
shouting at us from a distance away. Pat had been delayed by a fatal
crash on Dixie Highway, and had to take a huge detour to get to the
cave. He eventually caught up with us about 4000 feet in. Then five in
number, we proceeded to the face of the sump.

The Webster area, and in fact much of Kentucky, has been gripped by a
semi-drought for the past month or so. This has allowed the level of
water in the sump, sensitive as it is to even small amounts of
precipitation, to drop sufficiently to allow access. After about 2
hours of fast paced caving, we were ready to push the sump and start the
mapping.

Today, Andrea and Melissa were handling the sketching. I handled the
compass and inclinometer, and Steve was on tape. Pat had the dumb end
of the reel, so naturally we let him go first into the sump! Mapping in
such a low airspace is difficult to say the least. Fortunately, Andrea
and Melissa were able to keep the paper notes dry for the most part
(“Rite in the Rainâ€
C.G. Anderson
http://www.darklightimagery.net
http://www.pbase.com/darklightimagery
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WCCSG/

"I've done things God should have questioned, but I don't care".
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Darklight
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