Participants:
Greg Nepstad, Jim Nepstad, Jim Pisarowicz

Duration of Trip:
8 hours

New Cave Surveyed:
404 feet

Notes from a survey completed in the early 1970s indicated that there were going leads in the Salamander Room area. We began this trip by checking these leads but all seemed to dead-end within 50 feet. We decided not the survey these leads and left the area considering it well pushed and essentially finished.

Heading down to Independence Hall we tried a small lead that Jim had found on a previous trip. It was not pushed because one team member could not fit into it! This time we had a slimmer group and slithered our way down this vertical pit which we named Deep Throat.

The Deep Throat led to several parallel fissures which we began surveying. Most provided long, straight survey shots but most of the time we were on our hands and knees (or worse).

Eventually we came to a large room where we all could stand up with several leads going off of the room. The room was so neat that we called it the S'neat Room.

Climbing into the ceiling of the room yielded a passage coated with incredible cave popcorn. Up through another hole we connected back into the Popcorn Room.

Lots of leads remain to be checked and we will return the next time we can all get together again.

Report by: Jim Pisarowicz