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January/February
1997
At
the beginning of January, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 79.3 miles. By
the end of February, Wind Cave’s length was increased to 79.7 miles. The
total amount of new survey accumulated during this two month period as 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 January Wind Cave Weekend was the eleventh. Clarence Williams led John Allison
and Greg Glasner to the UZ survey where they inventoried 18 stations. Sandy Kramer
and Kathy Petty inventoried 26 stations from AT90-115. Jim Wilson led Bruce Albright,
Dan Wray and Randy Williams out to the Half-Mile Hall Zone were they surveyed
486 feet in the KOW survey.
On January 18, Stan Allison
led Paul Burger and Mike Wiles to PB11 where they surveyed 739 feet in the PAB
and PBA surveys. The PAB survey was through a heavily popcorn encrusted area.
The PBA led to a nice upper level room, 100 feet long, 25 feet wide and 12 feet
tall named Hotel South Dakota.
February 8, was the Wind
Cave weekend. Evan Anderson led Hazel Barton and Shawn Kramer out to Navidad at
the end of the KK58 survey. They re-sketched Navidad and surveyed 410 feet of
additional cave in the SHT survey. Some parts of the SHT were lined with 0.25
inches of corrosion residue along the walls. Shawn Kramer was boosted up into
a climbing lead that goes several hundred feet of passages, along the edge of
known cave. Their next trip will require an etrier so the others can make the
climb. Jim Wilson led Randy Williams out to the Pearly Gates area where they surveyed
380 feet in the PGC survey. Clarence Williams led Eric Dutton and Greg Glasner
out to the UZ survey where they inventoried 12 stations. Sandy Kramer and Kathy
Petty inventoried 6 stations along H8-14. March/April
1997 At
the beginning of March, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 79.7 miles. By the
end of April, Wind Cave's length was increased to 79.7 miles. The total amount
of new survey accumulated during this 2 month period was 0.06 miles. A total of
0.2 miles of previously surveyed cave was inventoried. In addition 0.06 miles
was inventoried in conjunction with the new survey.
March
8th was the Wind Cave weekend. Jim Wilson led Peter Wilson and Dennis Laird out
to the Pearly Gates area along the Candlelight Tour. They surveyed 369 feet in
the PGD survey and inventoried 18 stations on the PGB survey. Sandy Kramer led
Hank Van Beek, Kathy Petty and Jamie Sherer out to the AZ survey where they were
unsuccessful in locating the DL survey to inventory. Clarence Williams and Eric
Dutton were also unsuccessful in locating the BF survey which they were attempting
to inventory.
An 8 hour trip leader training session occurred
on March 22. The 11 new trip leaders are: Bruce Albright (CO), Hazel Barton (CO),
Mark Bergstrom (NOLS), Rich Brame (NOLS), Greg Glazner (CO), Dennis Laird (CO),
Stuart Marlatt (CO), Jim Pisarowicz (SD), Jamie Sherer (CO), Dennis Shreves (SD)
and Mike Zawada (CO).
April 12 was the Wind Cave weekend.
Jamie Sherer led Sandy Kramer, Kathy Petty and Hank Van Beek to the DL survey
that they had attempted to reach in March. They were successful in finding the
DL and inventoried 25 stations. May/June
1997 At
the beginning of May, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 79.7 miles. By the
end of June, Wind Cave's length was increased to 80.29 miles. The total amount
of new survey accumulated during this two month period was 0.59 miles. A total
of 0.2 miles of previously surveyed cave was inventoried. In addition 0.59 miles
was inventoried in conjunction with the new survey.
May
10th was the Wind Cave exploration, survey and inventory weekend. Jamie Sherer
led Ron Sherer, Henk Van Beek and Steve Turner out the NFP15-21 which they inventoried.
Bruce Albright led Emma Rainforth and Matt Stalzer to the Half-Mile Hall area
where they surveyed 140 feet in the KK53A-H survey. Their survey was stopped by
delicate gypsum beards, cotton and hair that blocked the way on. Ed LaRock led
Mike Behn and Andy Flurkey to the JD survey where they surveyed 460 feet of cave
from JD48-72. In addition they mapped and measured the attitude of a fault or
paleo-sink slump block by JD45. Myk Coughlin led Jan Harms and Chris Capps out
to the IT survey where they inventoried stations 1 through 13.
May 20, Abby Wines led Don Frankfort, Coilin McConnell and Deanna Harrell to the
AD survey off of the caving tour, where they inventoried stations 1 through 10.
On May 23, Abby Wines led Sarah Billig, Kelly Mathis and Jim
Pisarowicz to the JD survey where they surveyed 281.6 feet in the JD24A-Y survey.
On May 26, Abby Wines led Deanna Harrell, Garnet Goodrich and
Kelly Mathis out to PRE15A-E where they surveyed 92.4 feet.
On June 8, Abby Wines led Lora Redman and Joanne Vokoun to AD11-21 where they
inventoried 11 stations.
On June 9, Abby Wines led Stacy
Smyth, Sarah Shreves and Joanne Vokoun to the Ida's Washbasin area off of the
Coliseum. They surveyed 217 feet in the IBI-17 survey.
On June 13, Abby Wines led Mary Laycock and Stacy Smyth back to the Ida's Washbasin
area where they surveyed 113.9 feet form IB18-24.
The June
Wind Cave weekend was June 14th. Clarence Williams led Eric Dutton and Lora Redman
to the UZ survey where they surveyed 233.9 feet from UZ50 to UZ61. Evan Anderson
led Hazel Barton, Myk Coughlin and Sean Kramer to the Navidad area. They rigged
a handline on the tricky climb they found in February. Beyond the climb they surveyed
1089 feet in the NAV survey. Highlights of the area include frostwork up to six
inches long, thick corrosion residues and a black mineral called Romanichite that
had never been documented before in Wind Cave. This mineral is indicative of deep
upwelling waters, which could give geologists a better of idea as to how Wind
Cave formed. They also found a connection back to known cave which avoided the
tricky handline climb. Jim Wilson led Leo Thompson to the Pearly Gates area where
they surveyed 277 feet in the Wk14A-Q survey. July/August
1997 At
the beginning of July, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 80.29 miles. Due to
the summer alpine caving season in Colorado there were no cavers in attendance
during the July and August Wind Cave weekends. There were three exploration/inventory
trips by rangers and local cavers, but none of them returned with any survey or
inventory. In addition there were three Club Room Loops done for both orientation
and recreation purposes. September/October
1997 At
the beginning of September, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 80.29 miles.
By the end of October, Wind Cave's length was increased to 80.64 miles. The total
amount of new survey accumulated during this two month period was 0.35 miles.
A total of 0.5 miles of previously surveyed cave was inventoried. In addition
0.35 miles was inventoried in conjunction with the new survey.
On September 3rd Abby Wines
led Jim Pisarowicz out to the Bepadobede Room along the caving tour. They surveyed
141 feet in the SK12A-L. Two leads were left in their survey. One at SK12J is
a low crawl through a pool of water leading to what looks like a room. Another
lead at SK12B goes northwest.
September
13 was the Wind Cave weekend. Sandy Kramer led Kathy Petty out to the Rainbow
Falls area where they inventoried 33 stations on the NX survey. Tim Moreland led
Steve Smith and Robert Phillips to the JW, WS, GP and PB surveys near the John
Wayne Room. They inventoried 66 stations. Stan Allison led a trip consisting of
Kelly Mathis and Mike Wiles out to Route 66. A total of 373 feet was surveyed
in the LLB12-30 designation. Several passages were pushed in the LOL62 area that
either ended or became too tight but had airflow. Airflow at LLB11 led to the
west through a nasty 300 foot long crawl dubbed the Skinner where a 15 foot by
15 foot walking passage was found going south with leads and air. Due to a lack
of time, the group surveyed to the start of the walking passage and then exited
the cave leaving exciting opportunities for the next trip.
September 24 was the monthly
hydrology trip to Calcite Lake. During the last month Calcite Lake rose 5 inches
and the pool at JF82 was up 2 inches. In the last year Calcite Lake has risen
3 feet and 5 inches. The new pool at JF82 first appeared in July 1996. It is now
approximately 150 feet long 3 feet wide and up to 8 feet deep!
October 18 was the Wind Cave
weekend of inventory and survey. Sandy Kramer led Kathy Petty, Cheryl Yearwood
and Jamie Sheerer out to NFP20-29 where they inventoried 10 stations. Greg Glazner
led Sean Durrum, Sherry McClure, Jim Wilson and Greg Glazner to the Candle Light
Tour area where they surveyed 151.6 feet in the WK8A-G survey. In addition they
helped problem solve a bad loop closure in the area by finding that WK19 was tied
into BG3 rather then BG8. Clarence Williams led Jim Neely to the Rome area where
they inventoried 21 stations in the BF survey.
On October 25, Stan Allison led Myk Coughlin and Mike Wiles out past the Skinner.
As they started surveying south from LLB30 they noticed that the airflow was coming
from known cave. They surveyed 700 feet of large walking passage heading southeast
leaving one small lead with air coming form known cave. Near LLB29 Myk Coughlin
did a climb up into some crawls that had great airflow going towards new cave!
After surveying 450 feet of breezy crawls that group popped up into some large
walking passages. As they were late into the trip they spent 30 minutes taking
a look at approximately 500 feet of cave with beautiful gypsum crusts and flowers
as well as thick hydromagnesite. Strong airflow in this area indicates a high
probability of finding more cave beyond. November/December
1997 At
the beginning of November, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 80.64 miles. By
the end of December, Wind Cave's length was increased to 81.21 miles. The total
amount of new survey accumulated during this two-month period was 0.57 miles.
A total of 0.47 miles of previously surveyed cave were inventoried. In addition,
0.57 miles were inventoried in conjunction with the new survey.
On November 6th, Greg Stock,
Merrilee Profitt, Joel Despain and Stan Allison made an exploration trip to Coyote
Cave. At the very end of the surveyed cave is a squeeze that only Mike Wiles had
been through in 1994. Merrilee, Greg and Joel all fit through the squeeze but
Stan was too big. After agreeing to meet back in two hours the three on the far
side of the squeeze began exploration. After crawling approximately 500 feet they
came to a cairn that Mike Wiles had left at the farthest point of this previous
exploration. Continuing 100 feet beyond, they emerged into a walking sized passage.
Upon finding a bison vertebrae in the passage they decide to name it the Bison
Bone Borehole. They saw approximately 500 feet of cave in this area and had to
leave several good leads going in order to make it back to Stan in two hours.
Previously, Coyote Cave was known to have a quarter mile of cave. These discoveries
make for an estimated cave length of a half-mile, basically doubling the length
of the cave. In addition to finding the largest passage in the cave, this group
left many unexplored passages that could lead to much more cave given the amount
of airflow felt in Coyote Cave.
November
15 was the Wind Cave weekend. Sandy Kraemer led a trip consiting of Jamie Sherer,
Cheryl Yearwood and Rich Wolfert. They inventoried 23 stations in the Dreamland
Area. Tim Moreland led Dan Wray and Dave Lester to the BBF survey in the Club
Room Zone wher they surveyed 98 feet and inventoried 23 stations. Ed LaRock lead
Andy Flurkey and Mike Behn out to the JD survey area where they surveyed 358 feet
of cave in the JDA and JDB surveys.
On November 21, Paul Burger, Mike Wiles, Myk Coughlin and Stan Allison surveyed
1690 feet in the continuation of the LLB survey in the Southern Comfort Zone.
Nice walking cave was found including interesting features such as a large, sediment
covered floor, gypsum flowers and manganese layers in ceilings. Several leads
were left going in this most remote area of Wind Cave.
December 13 was the Wind Cave
weekend. Rich Wolfert led June Golaz and Al Collier to the AD survey where they
inventoried 14 stations. Greg Glazner, Clarence Williams and Eric Dutton inventored
34 stations along the UK and UJ surveys.
On December 18, two groups went out to the Snowdrift Avenue area where 316.4 feet
were surveyed in the NB45-53 and NB43A-I surveys. The trip participants were Steve
Baldwin, Jim Pisarowicz, Mary Laycock, Dennis Shreves, Mike Hanson and John Scheltens.
On December 20, Myk Coughlin, Mike Wiles and Stan Allison returned to the LLB
survey. A hand-line was rigged on the Dangaroos Crossing which is a loose, exposed
climb. Beyond this climb, 475 feet of cave was surveyed. No major discoveries
were made. 1997
Summary 1.9
miles of cave was surveyed during 1997. Wind Cave's surveyed length went from
79.3 to 81.21 miles. The amount of previously surveyed cave that was inventoried
was 1.6 miles. 11,563 stations or 58% of Wind Cave's 19,933 stations are currently
inventoried. |
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