Participants:
Heidi Grengg, Jim Pisarowicz, Fred Roberts, Lars Virbeck (October 30)

Duration of Trip:
11 hours

New Cave Surveyed:
632 feet

Participants:
Shannon Block, John Gookin, Jim Pisarowicz, Mike Yeager (October 31)

Duration of Trip:
6 hours

New Cave Surveyed:
248 feet

Finally back into the leads discovered on 16 October!  The passage we took first was a south trending fissure about 8-10 feet wide.  This narrowed a bit and then opened into a room with flat ceilings and breakdown. Calcite rafts were everywhere and we had to move cautiously so as to not disturb the cave. We called this room Heidi's Raft Room as this was Heidi's first survey trip into the cave.

Next we squeezed through a small crack which opened into a passage about 50 feet long. Small dog tooth spar crystals were everywhere, causing Lars to comment that these must be "puppy teeth." The passage became Puppy Tooth Walk.

Further on we found a passage with small helictite bushes growing along one wall - The Helictro. Next we encoutered The Grunt and Groan which probably requires no explanation.

The next day had to be a short trip because of a program I was going to give that evening. We immediately encountered a false floor and dropped into a dead end passage with moist cave earth.

The rest of the day was spent mapping passages coated in calcite rafts. Travel was very slow and deliberate - we were infinitely more careful than most people can imagine making our way through these passages.

The best news was that we did not finish all the passages in this area and a return trip will have to be made!

Report by: Jim Pisarowicz