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January/February
1994
At
the beginning of January, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 73.65 miles. By
the end of February, Wind Cave's length was increased to 73.8 miles. The total
amount of new survey accumulated during this two month period as 0.15 miles. Approximately
250 feet of previously surveyed passage was inventoried along with the 0.15 miles
of inventory accomplished in conjunction with the new survey.
The January Colorado Grotto trip occurred on January 8, 1994. Randy Macan, Aaron
Macan and Chris Nelson surveyed 135 feet of cave in the BHE survey and inventoried
one station. Sandy Kraemer and Kathy Petty surveyed 126.7 feet in the PK survey.
Bill Yet, Rich Wolfert, Jim Wilson, Carl Pagano, Clarence Wilson, and Jim Wilson
surveyed 230.5 feet in the XER 8-19 surveys. Jim Clark, V. Stahl and Randy Brown
surveyed 165.6 feet in the UHA survey. Doug Kent, Paul Burger, Mike Behn and Dave
Houch surveyed 30.4 feet in the BEG20 survey. They pushed all of the leads off
of the BEG survey and feel that this area is finished.
The February Colorado Grotto trip occurred on February 12. Jim Wilson, Daniel
Horkan, Evan Anderson, Tim Moreland, Mike Zawada, and Steven Kumpf surveyed 284
feet in the BB43 and BB53 surveys. They also inventoried 9 stations from BB47-55.
Sandy Kraemer, Kathy Petty and Rich Wolfert surveyed 116.15 feet in the FP survey. March/April
1994 At
the beginning of March, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 73.8 miles. By the
end of April, Wind Cave's length was increased to 74.3 miles. The total amount
of new survey accumulated during this two month period was 0.5 miles. Approximately
0.45 miles of previously surveyed passage was inventoried along with the 0.5 miles
of inventory accomplished in conjunction with the new survey.
The March Colorado Grotto trip occurred on March 12. Dave Lester and Jim Wilson
surveyed 86.6 feet in the UTG survey off of Snowdrift Avenue. Rich Wolfert, June
Golaz, Jim Shattles and Bob Stucklen inventoried 20 stations from AD1-20. This
is a survey near the Newspaper Room along the Caving Tour. Randy Macan, Aaron
Macan and Chris Nelson surveyed 215 feet in the BHR survey. This survey is in
the Half-Mile Hall Zone. Steve Lester, Pat Malone, Mirko Zayas and Dan Hansen
inventoried 33 stations in the New Lakes area. Evan Anderson, Jim Clark and Bruce
Albright surveyed 393.5 feet in the WRP survey. This survey is in the Western
Fringe area. Sandy Kraemer, Kathy Petty and Jamie Sherer surveyed 158.1 feet in
the NK' survey in the Historic Zone. Ross Hart, David Worthington, Betsy Kolarich
and Eric Mayes surveyed 156 feet in the MQ' survey off of the yellow tape trail.
Paul Burger, Rene Singer, Harold Hutson and Brad Woodard surveyed 297.7 feet in
the SE18 and SEJ surveys. These surveys are in the Silent Expressway Zone.
The April Colorado Grotto Trip was April 9. Dave Lester, Louise
Hose and Matt Staples surveyed 431.7 feet in the CWA survey near the Wind Gate.
Paul Fowler, Hazel Barton, Jim Gaiser and Scott White surveyed 190.1 feet in the
WFE survey in the Western Fringe. Evan Anderson, Bruce Albright, Jim Clark and
Veronica Stahl surveyed 248 feet in the WBA and SSG surveys in the Western Fringe
area. Dan Horkan, Chris Brondom and Ross Hart surveyed 232 feet in the MPA survey.
This is a continuation of the MQ' survey that was done in March. Carl Pagano,
Rick Whistler, Jody Cottier and Frank Leskinen surveyed 54 feet in the UTI survey.
Sandy Kraemer and Kathy Petty came up the weekend of April
23 to prepare for an upcoming lint camp at Wind and Jewel Caves. While they were
here they inventoried 43 stations in the NZ, ND and NDA surveys near Rainbow Falls. May/June
1994 At
the beginning of May, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 74.3 miles. By the
end of June, Wind Cave's length was increased to 74.9 miles. The total amount
of new survey accumulated during this two month period was 0.6 miles. There was
no inventory done in previously surveyed cave. A total of 0.6 miles was inventoried
in conjunction with the new survey.
The May Colorado Grotto
weekend was May 14. Louise Hose led Steve Lester, Al Hinman and Rene Singer to
the PMS survey where they resurveyed the PMS survey and started the PMT survey
for a total of 805 feet. Louise later found a bad tie-in shot in the KY that had
been causing a bad loop closure in this area. Dave Lester, Margie Robinson, Steve
Petruniak, Jamie Sherer and Pat Malone surveyed 291.9 feet in the DN survey near
Half-Mile Hall. Paul Fowler led Evan Anderson, Hazel Barton and Bruce Albright
to the Western Fringe. They surveyed 454.5 feet in the WFE2 survey, leaving more
to do on another trip. Jim Wilson led Tim Moreland, Charles Shepard and Cheri
Chapman to the BB survey where they surveyed 165 feet in the BB43 survey. Mike
Behn, Ed LaRock, Paul Burger and Doug Kent surveyed 308 feet in the FB27 survey
out in the Colorado Grotto Zone.
The June Colorado Grotto
trip weekend was June 11. Robert Phillips, Steve Smith, Evan Anderson and Renee
Singer surveyed 555 feet in the WFR survey. This area includes a nicely decorated
flowstone and stalactite area called "Second Helpings". Bruce Albright
led Hazel Barton and John Ekeberg out to the Western Fringe where they surveyed
155.6 feet in the WFB survey. An unsurveyed side passage led to an unclimbable
pit. Paul Burger, Doug Kent, Sean Durham and Mark McVey surveyed 261.5 feet in
the XEB, WEC, XED and XEA6 surveys. Kevin Smith, Dan Hansen and Nancy Ortolani
surveyed 290.8 feet in the NM10 survey in the Historic Zone. July/August
1994 At
the beginning of July, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 74.9 miles. By the
end of August, Wind Cave's length had increased to 75.5 miles. The total amount
of new survey accumulated during this two month period was 0.6 miles. A total
of 1.2 miles of previously surveyed cave was inventoried. In addition 0.6 miles
was inventoried in conjunction with the new survey.
On
July 1, Stacy Smyth led Wind Cave interpreters, Abby Wines, Garnet Goodrich and
Jeff Wolin into survey station BL8. They surveyed 118.8 feet in the Historic Zone.
On July 5, the 75th mile was reached. Stacy Smyth led Abby Wines, Jackie Gericke
and Dave Schifsky back to the BL survey where they added 199.5 feet to the cave
survey.
The July Colorado Grotto trip was on July 9. Dave
Lester led Pat Malone and Abby Wines into the Half-Mile Hall Zone. They surveyed
281.7 feet in the DTB survey. Kathy Lankford led Dale Lankford, Dennis Worthington,
Marianne Smyth and Rich Wolfert into the Club Room Zone where they surveyed 225
feet in the MBA, MBB and MBC surveys. Evan Anderson led Bruce Albright, Hazel
Barton and Paul Burger out to the Western Fringe Zone. They rigged a rope and
dropped the 40 foot Necessary Evil pit. At the bottom they surveyed 1015.1 feet
in the WFB and WFC surveys.
On July 19, Jim Nepstad led
Stan Allison and Bob Kobza out beyond Necessary Evil. At the bottom of the pit
they followed the WFC survey through the formerly pristine Blizzard Blvd. While
checking leads, they managed to find a bypass to Blizzard Blvd. While doing some
additional looking around, they found a nice room that they named Bittersweet
in light of their mood at the time. Several leads were left going, indicating
more cave in this area.
In light of the above incident,
and several other problems that had occurred in communications between the Park
and cavers, Jim Nepstad decided to put a temporary halt to exploration and survey
effective August 1, 1994. This hiatus was intended to give cave management time
to write clear and precise guidelines for cavers and trip leaders. In addition
a trip leader list was begun to insure that a qualified trip leader is on every
trip into Wind Cave.
On July 20, Stacy Smyth, Melissa Morse
and Abby Wines surveyed 70 feet in the AT22 survey.
On
July 30, Stacy Smyth started a full day of caving by leading Abby Wines and Emily
Becker out to the AG14 and BQ4 surveys. They surveyed 110.8 feet. That afternoon
Stacy led Dave Schifsky and Don Frankfort to the BQ4 survey where they surveyed
189.7 feet and found a nice wet formation area near the Coliseum. The third and
final trip for the day consisted of Stacy Smyth, Abby Wines and Dave Schifsky.
They surveyed 98.5 feet off the BQ4L.
Since survey and
exploration was put on hold, the August 13 Colorado Grotto weekend consisted of
inventory trips only. Paul Burger, Evan Anderson and Steve Lester inventoried
116 stations near Silent Expressway. This is the most stations that have ever
been inventoried in one trip. Hazel Barton, Rene Singer, Dave Beck and Brice Albright
inventoried 58 stations in the Beacon Street area. Sandy Kraemer, Kathy Petty
and Carl Pagano inventoried 37 stations in and near the AT survey. Mike Bailey,
Mark Thornberry,Dan Wray and Dave Wray IV inventoried 15 stations in the KQ survey
off of Half-Mile Hall. Sean Durrum, J. Almegrew and Jeff Brummel inventoried 5
stations in the SZ survey, near Half-Mile Hall. Paul Fowler, Jim Gaiser and Kim
Rowland inventoried 8 stations in the BB survey.
On August
14, Stacy Smyth and Abby Wines inventoried 22 stations in the Dreamland area.
This trip was cut short when one of Stacys' glasses lens fell into breakdown.
Unable to retrieve the lens and worse off with one lens than none, Stacy had to
exit the cave with no glasses. It took a tedious 4.5 hours to exit an area that
normally takes less than an hours to get to! September/October
1994 At
the beginning of September, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 75.5 miles. By
the end of October, Wind Cave's length was increased to 75.7 miles. The total
amount of new survey accumulated during this two month period was 0.2 miles. A
total of 0.25 miles of previously surveyed cave was inventoried. In addition,
0.2 miles was inventoried in conjunction with the new survey.
The September Wind Cave weekend was canceled due to the unavailability of the
cave management staff.
October 8 was the Wind Cave weekend.
Louise Hose led Kim Kreb and Perry Widhalm to the Blue Bayou in the Historic Zone.
They mapped 176.3 feet in the AZA survey noting good airflow. Dave Lester led
Becky Ward and Dan Hanson to the Blue Bayou where they checked leads and assisted
Louise Hose's group. Tim Moreland led Bob Stucklen and Jerry Morrison out near
the Titanic Room where they inventoried 9 stations, JB12-15 and ZA15. Kevin Smith
lead Steve Smith and Dennis Laird to the Half-Mile Hall Zone, where they inventoried
BR1-9 and OZ1-7. Sandy Kraemer led Carl Pagano and Ken Tiner into the Historic
Zone where they inventoried 29 stations, PR5-13, PRA7-8 and AW1-3. Bruce Albright
led Louise Fernando and Steve Lester to the Club Room where Steve re-sketched
the Club Room. Randy Brown, Evan Anderson, Hazel Barton and Rene Singer surveyed
511.2 feet in the EI survey off the Egg Hatchery area in the Club Room Zone.
October 15, Stan Allison led Mike Wiles and Dave Zelenka out
to Grease in the Southern Comfort Zone. They surveyed 390.1 feet in the LTL14
and LOK18 surveys. At the end of the day while checking leads along the west side
of Blind Faith, Mike found a passage going to approximately 300 feet of cave with
airflow. This area has some small pools in it and was incompletely checked, leaving
an interesting lead for the next trip. November/December
1994 At
the beginning of November, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 75.7 miles. By
the end of December, Wind Cave's length was increased to 76.1 miles. The total
amount of new survey accumulated during this two month period was 0.4 miles. A
total of 0.2 miles of previously surveyed cave was inventoried. In addition 0.4
miles was inventoried in conjunction with the new survey.
The November Wind Cave weekend was November 12. Kathy Petty led Carl Pagano, Jamie
Sherer and Sandy Kraemer to the Historic Zone where they inventoried 6 stations
along with PR survey. Ed LaRock led Mike Behn, Rene Singer and Steve Lester out
to the Club Room Zone. They continued the EI survey from 36 to 57, surveying 236
feet and leaving a few breakdown crawls. Tim Moreland lead Dan Hanson, Dale Lankford
and Dave Schaefbauer to the Titanic Room where they inventoried 30 stations along
the BY survey. Carol Boyles led Dennis Laird and Robert Phillips along the Red
and White trail to Half-Mile Hall. They performed tae trail maintenance along
this travel route. Rich Wolfert led Susan Herpin, Bob Stucklen and Alan Williams
out to the Colorado Grotto section where they surveyed 287 feet using the XES
survey designation. Jim Wilson led Dan Horkan, Clarence Williams and Nancy Holler
to the Titanic Room where they surveyed 193 feet in the BY29A-M survey. Paul Burger
led Stan Allison, Evan Anderson and Bruce Albright out to the Lunatic Fringe area.
They surveyed 1178 feet including a 300x50 foot long room called Bitter Sweet.
Two bypasses to Blizzard Boulevard were surveyed. An eight inch high logomite
was found in an area profusely decorated with aragonite. Airflow in the area entered
an impenetrable breakdown choke.
On December 3, Stan Allison
led Myk Coughlin and Mike Wiles into Coyote Cave. Making their way through the
perpetual crawlways, they observed that the cave had flooded in the last two years.
At the end of the cave Mike Wiles was able to squeeze through a tight passage
only after removing cloting. He followed a strong breeze through approximately
500 feet of virgin crawlway. At his farthest point, the cave was still going.
Both Myk and Stan were unable to fit through the tight passage.
The December Wind Cave weekend was the tenth. Doug Kent led Paul Fowler and Evan
Anderson out to the Lunatic Fringe. They surveyed 549 feet in the WFG survey.
At one spot along their survey they noted many bat scratches. Skip Withrow led
Bob Stucklen and Jamie Sherer to the BY survey to inventory. Steve Smith led Robert
Phillips, Mark McVey and Kim Rowland to the Coke Room where they were unable to
locate the start of their chosen inventory area and thus had to leave the cave
with no inventory. |
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