11052005
Webster Cave System, KY (US)
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Two weeks ago, while on a routine survey trip to East Bore, Pat Mudd and I made a spectacular discovery, by Webster standards. An extensive section of upper level cave passages was uncovered beyond a nondescript hole in the ceiling of East Bore. A quick exploration revealed three open-ended trunk leads plus various side leads.
Our regularly scheduled monthly survey trip to Webster saw Pat Mudd, Jeff Gillette, Mark Phillips, Andrea Croskrey, Ben Tobin, Ben Hutchins, Steve O’Nan, and I massing at the cave around 0700 CST. This survey trip would require another penetration of the North Bore Sump, which had blessed us with low water levels for several months now. Every day that passes, we know, brings us closer to the time when it will flood shut for the season. It is a miracle we’ve been fortunate enough to pass through it so many times before.
I began to worry, as I often do, about things for which I have no control: the weather. I had my eye to various forecasts for a week prior to this trip. The long term lookout was for a slight chance of rain Saturday. By the time of the trip, they were calling for a massive storm system to approach the area. Best estimates were for a 20% chance of isolated showers early, then possible heavy rain after 10PM or so. We decided to take the chance and push the sump once again.
The North Bore Sump is very temperamental. It can rise and flood shut easily, and remain so for days or weeks, even months, at a time. There is no other way out. In the back of my mind I figured that if the forecast was wrong, and it flooded shut on us, we’d just have to wait it out in the upper levels and hope it fell in a few days or so. We’d probably have advanced warning of any heavy deluge above us anyway, so the dangers were remote at best. That didn’t stop me from laying awake most of the night before, then dreaming of thunderstorms when I did sleep…
By 0800 everyone was beyond the drip line of the Main Entrance. Pat and Jeff had brought kayaks with which to negotiate the 6000 foot main trunk up to Parks Avenue. They spent the early part of the day rigging and testing a pulley system to lower the kayaks down into the steep karst head of the entrance area. By the time the rest of the survey crew made it to Epitome Lake, they were long gone.
The foot team quickly made its way to the Parks Avenue confluence, where we met up with the yakers. After a quick break, we headed upstream into Parks Avenue. It was about 0900, and we were ahead of schedule. I wanted to be out past the sump by at least 1600, to give us plenty of buffer for the impending storm system.
We made quick progress to the Sump, and soon we were all beyond it. It was very low today, with a minimum air space of about three inches. The airflow exiting the low passage was tremendous today. In one spot it literally rippled the water. As the temperature difference inside and out was slight, I suspect the low pressure system descending on us was causing the flow. Two of our members, Jeff and Mark, were sump virgins having never passed through before…
Everyone had a blast going through the sump. It is kind of hard to explain I guess, but there’s just something about pushing such a low and technically challenging passageway. It’s really more like a passage 15 feet wide but only 2~4 inches high. With your face half covered with water, and tilted sideways, sense of direction can be difficult to attain. And, with one eye shut, depth perception is messed up as well. It’s easy to get lost! I get through it by recognizing ceiling rock pendants and shapes, but on at least a few occasions I’ve gotten confused. The airflow helps.
After getting the water out of our ears, we made our way on up North Bore to the Mulu junction. Hanging a left into East Bore, the team made our way several thousand feet to the climb up into the new upper level extension, know nicknamed the “Corkscrewâ€
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