The DUG SCOOPS Archives - 1987

COMPILED FROM DUG SCOOPS VOLUME 5 & 6

Fisher Ridge Summary January 1987 V5 N3 By Dan Crowl

Peter Quick, Steve Miller and myself visited central Kentucky during the weekend of December 13. We had two objectives in mind. First, we wanted to clean up the Fieldhouse prior to returning it to its owner and second, we wanted to check out a good lead in the latest discoveries off of the Boob Tube.

Tanie Heazlit from Bowling Green joined us Saturday morning to help with the Fieldhouse clean-up. The cleanup was actually a lot of fun. We built a huge bonfire next to the Fieldhouse and piled-on anything of questionable value. This included old mattresses, boots and the like. Thick black smoke rolled up into the sky as one-time valuable cave stuff was reduced to its basic elements. The bunks, stove, some mattresses and a few other items of value were loaded into Pete's van and moved to Doc Fisher's quonset hut for storage. The old Fieldhouse actually looked quite good after a cleaning.

It was near dark before we managed to consider entering Fisher Ridge. By now the temperature had dropped well below freezing. Due to a forecast for warmer weather on Sunday, we parked the van at Harvey's house anticipating the thaw the next day. The change into our cave gear and the walk across the field to the Remington entrance seemed interminable.

At Remington, we rigged the drop only to find that Steve had brought two caving boots for the same foot. He had decided to "beat the cold" by wearing his regular hiking boots to Remington and changing just before entering. As Pete and I built a fire, Steve returned to the van to re-arrange his equipment configuration.

The Remington entrance was well frozen, much to my relief. It does appear that slumping of the Remington entrance is continuing. Cavers should be particularly wary of this drop during periods of freeze - thaw.

The walk down south Fisher Avenue was uneventful. However, our attitude did change when we found the Ex-Plug nearly filled with water. Pete convinced us that the best way to traverse this obstacle was to strip down naked and swim on through, keeping our cave gear dry in plastic bags. After much grumbling, Steve and I agreed. I completed the traverse with my boots on, the others completing it barefoot. In my opinion, the "boots on" technique works best, since the barefoot alternative results in very muddy feet on the other side. Not such fun sticking muddy feet into socks.

We dressed and continued on down Fisher Avenue.

Our next major obstacle was the drop into Drippy Dome. Mother nature, in her infinite wisdom, decided to invoke one of her options by increasing the water flow in the Dome to waterfall size. The standing rope in the dome was practically hidden by the large stream of water. We did manage to rappel down quite rapidly, avoiding much of the water. I almost had an accident when the ledge I thought was two feet from the floor turned out to be almost ten feet high!

Within a short while we were at the target lead. It turned out to be a nice crawlway in bone-dry gypsum sand. The amazing thing is that a very strong airflow flows into the lead. The survey was mostly uneventful, continuing unchanged in a southwest direction for 800 feet. Our progress was finally halted by a rock obstructing the passage. However, the passage could be seen to continue in the same fashion beyond the rock. Some chemical persuasion is needed here. A total of 48 stations were placed.

We spent some time checking the end of the main passage. Computer plots show it to be very near to a side lead in South Fisher Avenue. Completion of this connection would bypass the Drippy Dome drop. We were unable to find the connection during this trip.

The trip out was very interesting. The climb up the Drippy Dome was exhilarating! Everyone was soaked to the bone. The good news was that we didn't need to strip now to traverse the Ex-Plug!

The Remington Room was frozen, contributing to our fun as our gloves and coveralls began to solidify. We were bombarded from time to time by an occasional rock that let loose from the now thawing entrance drop.

Despite freezing conditions, water and the failing rocks at Remington, our trip was a success.

In other news, efforts are still continuing to purchase a trailer to be used as a fieldhouse. The trailer found by Larry Bean is still available for $500. However, there seems to be some question about whether a valid title can be found. Steve, Larry and Pete spent an afternoon cleaning it up. If the deal is completed, the trailer will be hauled to Pete's warehouse for repair and finally to Kentucky. The move to Kentucky will be complicated since this constitutes an oversize load. We will need special hauling equipment and permits.

Fisher Ridge Summary February 1987 V5 N4 By Dan Crowl

Fisher Ridge Cave System was visited by cavers on two separate weekends in January. The last weekend resulted in a big scoop with a large new trunk passage being discovered. More about that later.

The new year began with Keith Ortiz and Chip Hopper visiting FRCS on the weekend of January 3. Their objective was to blast at the termirtation of the South Fisher Avenue extension. After the blast, they did not return to inspect the damage since there was little in the way of airflow --- the blast fumes did not apparently dissipate. Chip says that the prospects look worse than he seems to remember.

All was not lost on that particular weekend, though. They did manage to find a small canyon lead in the floor of the Extension at FF81. They surveyed just 400 feet and the small canyon continued to head north. Chip says that "you can avoid getting wet" but supposedly not easily. Chip also says that the lead looks like a classic dome drain, particularly since they were heading upstream.

Three crews entered FRCS on the weekend of January 17. The first crew was composed of Dennis and Denny Kendrick and Dennis Sexton from Kentucky. Their objective was to continue exploration and survey in the Sabbath lead. The indirect reports I have indicate that nothing more was found on this trip.

The second team was composed of Keith Ortiz and Bob Anderson. They had driven in from DC and had spent the night sleeping in Doc Fisher's quonset hut (remember - we do not have a Fieldhouse!) After waiting for others to appear, they finally decided to enter the cave. Their objective was to blast the rock obstructing progress in the lead surveyed by myself, Peter Quick and Larry Bean the previous month. As you might remember, this lead was particularly attractive since it was bone dry and sucking considerable air.

The third team was composed of Peter Quick, Larry Bean and Rick Shomsky (who all drove in from Detroit) and Tammie Heazlit from Bowling Green. This team spent the night (or what remained of it) at Tammie's place in Bowling Green and then drove up to Horse Cave in the morning. Their objective was the same as the Ortiz Anderson team!

Fortunately the two teams met in the passage at the bottom of the Drippy Dome. By the way, the Ex-Plug was dry for a change and the Drippy Dome was back to its usual slow dripping. After some discussion, the two teams split up, with Keith and Bob moving on to the end of the passage that was previously conjectured to connect back with Fisher Avenue, avoiding the Drippy Dome entirely. To make a long story short, the connection was completed in 15 survey stations. They returned to catch up with the other crew at the blast site.

Meanwhile, the other crew had completed the blast and had progressed onward in the crawl to an intersection with a canyon heading both ways. They were forced to wait over two hours until the smoke from the blast cleared the canyon. Their explorations revealed a connection to a huge trunk passage (dubbed THE BIG ONE). However, before they could connect the survey to the trunk, Ortiz and Anderson appeared. I can imagine the discussion on how to divide the survey! Anyway, the cavers split up into two teams of three each, with Tammie joining Keith and Bob. Keith's crew started survey in THE BIG ONE while Pete's team continued survey in the connector passage.

The net result for the weekend was 1) several thousand feet of new passage were surveyed, bringing FRCS to well over 40 miles in total surveyed length, 2) the survey of THE BIG ONE was apparently completed in both directions. The passage terminates at both ends, albeit after several thousand feet, and 3) leads remain, some of walking size.

Total footage was limited by a shortage of survey books. Thank you, cave gods!

The next big weekend is shaping up for February 7. I suspect that, given the prospects, all kinds of cavers will descend on FRCS that weekend to partake in the feeding frenzy!

Fisher Ridge Summary March 1987 V5 N5 By Dan Crowl

The expected large crowd of cavers didn't materialize for the predicted feeding frenzy. Only three cavers from Virginia (Keilvh Ortiz, Bob Anderson and Chip Hopper) and four from Michigan (Peter Quick, Steve Miller, Reid Beauchamp and myself) appeared for the big weekend of February 7th.

The weather was very springlike for this February weekend. Temperatures seemed to be well into the 50's, high enough to consider using the Splash Entrance.

Steve Miller trailered his three - wheeler down behind his van. After suiting up at Harvey's house, everyone jumped aboard the trailer and the three - wheeler pulled us all to the Remingtor Entrance.

The Virginia and Michigan cavers split up into usual geographic teams. The Virginia people went to start survey in the Freedom Trail area started the previous month. The Michigan cavers were determined to continue the BTT survey that looked on the overlay like it might bypass the upcoming sinkhole.

The Michigan cavers began their survey, only to find extensive, impenetrable breakdown within a few survey stations. They returned to a sidelead near the Rainbow climb connection to the Big One. This led to a complicated canyon-dome complex dubbed the King Kanyon. Survey in both directions netted just over 1500 feet in 77 stations. One lead terminated at an unclimbable pit overlooking the Rainbow Climb! Additional mopup work remains in this area.

The Virginia cavers followed Freedom Trail to a set of domes. Chemical magic was used to gain entry into one of the domes. A total of 59 stations with 1100 feet was set here. On what was believed to be the trip out, Bob Anderson found a small lead that led to a new trunk system. This system, called Eudora Avenue headed W by SW. It was 25W x 20H with a flat sand floor. One direction headed ultimately to breakdown. The other direction eventually silted to the ceiling. The breakdown end terminates above the Nick - 0 - Time passage, pointing directly at Eudora Ridge! I'm sure chemical persuasion will be attempted here. Another 44 stations with 2200 feet were set here bringing their trip total to 101 stations and 3300 feet.

The Fisher Ridge Cave system now stands at 41.8 miles with 8640 stations.

We are presently attempting to find someone to haul the trailer (to be used for a Fieldhouse) down to Kentucky. We hope that we can accomplish this without undue expense.

Fisher Ridge Summary April 1987 V5 N6 By Dan Crowl

On the weekend of March 7th, Peter Quick, Reid Beauchamp, Jon Hanson and myself returned to The Big One area in the southeast area of the Fisher Ridge Cave System. Our objective was to survey a complicated lower level area off of the King Kanyon. Reid Beauchamp and I had done initial exploration here on the previous months trip. We explored several hundred feet of passage with likely upper and lower level leads.

Unfortunately, the passage only produced 270 feet of survey in 15 stations. The logical passage continuation terminated as a tall, too-tight canyon. However, some unreachable higher level leads were noticed. It is also possible that this complicated area might yield an additional surprise or two.

The team ventured forth to take a look at the newly discovered Eudora Avenue. As you will recall, this large trunk passage terminates in a dig with only one lead a short distance before the dig.

The trunk is reached via a small crawlway in a most unlikely place off of The Big One. After several hundred feet a T - intersection is reached. The left - hand side shortly opens up into the Eudora Avenue trunk.

We examined the dig at the end of Eudora Avenue and decided to start the excavations. Our motivation was simple: it appeared that the trunk passage continued beyond the dig. A small hole through some flowstone seem to support our hypothesis. Furthermore, some airflow could be detected.

The excavations began on the left hand side. The digging was easy since the dirt was dry, flaky sand. With the four of us working, a considerable amount of sand was moved in several hours. After several body lengths, the dig turned to the left, through a small canyon. An opening into a small room was noticed in this direction. However, the digging in this direction slowed. First because the dirt became harder and second because the distance the dirt need to be moved out of the dig was now considerable. After several hours of effort and a final rock bash, we were into the small room. The room was indeed the "opening" observed through the hole in the flowstone. Unfortunately, this room led to a another dig. We declined to continue.

We retreated back down Eudora Avenue to the only remaining lead. The survey data previously transmitted by Chip indicated "crawl takes off from the left and goes approx. 100 feet to where it's low. Dig is heading east. Strong air." The crawl turned out to be near walking passage and the dig could be completely bypassed by a meander crawlway. I guess I can't really complain. Some of the second - hand information reported in this column has exhibited a similiar nature!

We returned to Eudora Avenue and started to survey. The passage opened up again after the crawlway meander. The passage dimensions were now 15 feet wide by 8 feet high. The same dry passage character found in this area continued. Shortly, we bypassed three small pits in the floor. We did not have our vertical gear or a rope. Exploration of the bottom of the pits was declined. A short distance later we found ourselves at an overlook to a room. Numerous holes in the floor led to additional unxplorable pits. We continued on. Eventually, the passage started to branch into short, anastomotic leads. The survey terminated when the passage became low. Airflow inward was noted. We finished the survey by shooting a few shots down an earlier sidelead. We placed six easy stations here. This lead continues as a small canyon. Dripping water could be heard in the distarce. Later plotting indicated this passage terminates at the edge of a sinkhole area found to the south of Eudora Avenue.

A total of 1400 feet of survey was obtained in 51 stations.

On the weekend of March 14, Chip Hopper and Keith Ortiz returned to Eudora Avenue. They apparently spent most of the trip continuing the dig. They progressed several bodyy lengths. Progress was slow due to harder dirt and the problem of passing the dirt backwards out of the dig. They report filling up a substantial part of the small room with dirt from the dig. During this trip they also shot a dozen or so stations in a short loop in King Kanyon.

Fisher Ridge Cave System is now 42.07 miles in total surveyed footage.

The New Fieldhouse project has changed since last month. We have decided to abandon the idea of purchasing a trailer in Michigan and transporting it to Kentucky. We have been unable to devise an appropriate scheme for transportation. Efforts are now being directed towards purchasing a trailer in Kentucky. The complication is that trailers are much more valuable in Kentucky due to a lack of local zoning codes. It is expected that we will pay more for a trailer in Kentucky but will have a significantly reduced problem of transportation.

Fisher Ridge Summary May 1987 V5 N7 By Dan Crowl

Work continued in the area of THE BIG ONE trunk during the month of April. No major discoveries were reported. Earlier in the month, Keith Ortiz and Chip Hopper returned to the Son of Sam survey at the end of THE BIG ONE. They hoped to upstage the scoopers from the previous month. First, they worked on a dig at the end of the passage. This dig eventually broke through to a pit where the passage ended. It is reported that they also found a small passage at the bottom of one of the small pits found earlier in the Son of Sam passage. The status of this find is not presently clear to this reporter. However, the trip netted 38 stations with several hundred feet in 28 hours.

During the weekend of April 25th, Peter Quick and Rick Shomsky took photos in THE BIG ONE. Their 18 - hour trip resulted in a total of 36 carefully done photos of this impressive trunk passage. On the trip out, they dropped the Classic Shaft somewhat near the Rainbow Webbing Climb. This shaft is 8-foot in diameter near the top belling out to an estimated 12 feet at the bottom. The total drop is estimated at 60 feet. Rick Shomsky was the first to drop this pit. He found a canyon connecting into the pit about 20 feet off the floor. After some effort, access was made to this canyon, only to find it dead-ended. However, another canyon was observed just below the deadend one. This canyon intersected the pit on both sides. On one side the dimensions were estimated as 12W x 3H. On the other they were estimated as 4x4. These leads were not explored. The pool on the pit's bottom was observed to have a too-small drain with no other leads.

On the weekend of May 21 Keith Ortiz and Bob Anderson returned to the BIG ONE area to continue mop-up. First, they dropped the Classic Shaft to check out the leads reported earlier by Quick and Shcosky. The promising leads were actually uncompromising deadends. Next, they checked leads in the King's Canyon area. A few small loops were found and a short dig was made to connect to a passage already surveyed (although they weren't aware of this prior to the dig). Ortiz and Anderson then surveyed the small loop from the SAL survey in Eudora Avenue back to BOT9 in THE BIG ONE. They also found a small lead in the breakdown at the terminus of THE BIG ONE. They surveyed an additional 4 stations through the breakdown until it dead-ended. Desperate now for leads, Bob Anderson performed a difficult climb to gain access to a lead above the crawlway to Eudora. The ladder from the Rainbow climb was conscripted by Ortiz to enable him to perform the climb. Unfortunately, as he was part way up a rockfall occurred and Ortiz was forced to jump free of the ladder and debris. His fall resulted in a badly sprained butt section. To compound the misfortune, the lead turned out to be nothing more than an overlook to THE BIG ONE. Three survey stations were placed. The trip was terminated at this point, with Ortiz experiencing a most painful trip out. The Rainbow ladder was used to assist Ortiz at the Bell Climb, with the ladder being left at this location. The webbing still remains at the Rainbow Climb.

Peter Quick had an opportunity to examine the trailer in Bowling that the grotto is considering purchasing for use as a fieldhouse. We can purchase this trailer for $1100 and the present owner will transport it to Doc Fisher's property. Pete reports that this trailer is certainly in poorer condition than the original candidate trailer in Michigan. Under the circumstances, Pete feels that this is our only opportunity in the near future to put us back in the fieldhouse business. If we do purchase the trailer, the next decision will be where to locate it on Fisher's property. I believe it is in the best interests of the project to locate it well out of sight from the Fisher House. If we locate it near the tobacco barn it will be inaccessible by vehicle much of the year. The other two possible locations are at the Historic parking lot or down the dirt road from Jimmy's house. The Historic parking lot area would be centrally located, but inaccessible for a short period in the winter (although this could be improved with gravel). The location behind Jimmy's would be accessible year around, but is at removed from the cave. Keith reports that a power line is accessible from the Historic Entrance parking lot.

Fisher Ridge Summary June 1987 V5 N8 By Dan Crowl

Howard Cosell had a saying that the biggest events in sports happened off of the playing field. I guess the same could be said for last months caving in Fisher Ridge: the biggest event was the purchase of a trailer to be used for a Fieldhouse.

Peter Quick and Reid Beauchamp were most instrumental in making the final arrangements. They spent a three day weekend in central Kentucky to accomplish the feat (May 15-17). The details are 1) the trailer was purchased for $1100 from someone in Bowling Green, 2) the purchase price included transportation to the Fisher property from Bowling Green, and 3) the trailer was successfully moved to a suitable site near the Historic Entrance parking lot.

A work weekend is being planned for sometime in mid June. The trailer must be placed on blocks, a new floor must be installed in one area, windows must be repaired, and a variety of additional repairs must be completed. Larry Bean and Tanmie Heazlit have already taken steps to seal the leaking roof.

This writer has not yet seen the trailer. Some reports indicate it is "almost as dumpy as the old Fieldhouse." While I agree we were unable to purchast a palace with the money available, the new Fieldhouse is all ours. Using our initial purchase as a base, we can renovate to any level we feel comfortable with.

Other surface activity included a substantial dye trace effort using the old well casing on the Fisher property (see a detailed report by Larry Bean in this issue). Several thousand gallons of water were dumped into the well along with 5 pounds of fluorescein. Larry Bean spent a substantial effort dropping and retreiving "bugs," most of it involving a considerable amount of solo caving.

Also on the same weekend as the trailer and the dye tracing, Joe Saunders and Tony Mulbrecht entered Fisher Ridge and returned to the Frog passage in the South Fisher Avenue extension area. They pushed a passage dubbed the Gypes Gasse (Gypsum alley in German) which is an upper crawlway component. This passage was explored by Joe on a previous trip. They netted 28 stations in just over 400 feet. The dry gypsum crawlway led to an ancient waterfall room where the crawlway split into an inverted dumbbell cross - section. The "dumbbells" were 15-inch crawlways about 5 feet apart. Tony crawled ahead on the lower level for "several hundred feet" until he found a suitable spot to turn around. The passage trends southwest.

Also on the same weekend, Peter Quick and Reid Beauchamp entered FRCS to explore the King Kanyon complex in near THE BIG ONE. They found little in the way of new leads and apparently netted little in footage or stations.

Fisher Ridge Summary July 1987 V5 N9 By Dan Crowl

Fisher Ridge Cave System was spared the onslaught by cavers during the last month - more important surface activities were found. After the big bust - out in the area of THE BIG ONE in January, we are in the midst of a slump. Let it be said that we are "between discoveries! "

The situation with the new fieldhouse trailer has finally been stabilized. This was the result of a work weekend on June 13 and 14. Peter Quick, Tamrnie Heazlit, Steve Miller and myself participated.

The three of us (Pete, Steve and myself) got a very late start out of Ann Arbor after loading the small trailer on Steve's van with wood, numerous pieces of plywood and a wood burning stove (the stove and plywood were donated by Pete).

We arrived at the Fisher farm at about 4:30 AM Saturday and managed to sack out for a few hours until the hot summer sun started to par - boil us. An early start was essential, anyway, since the local hardware stores close at noon on Saturday.

We had just completed our shopping list for materials and were checking it twice when Tammie arrived from Bowling Green. The purchases included:

* 60 to 70 cinder blocks to support the trailer.
* a large number of 2x4's to help shore up the walls and floors.
* metal screen material to use on the windows.
* a large number of furring strips for miscellaneous duty.
* caulking material.
* various screws, nails and nuts.
* hinges, metal braces and other miscellaneous hardware.

The total bill came to $150. Pete still had $100 left over from the trailer purchase and Tammie donated another $50 to the cause.

The efforts on Saturday afternoon turned out to be very discouraging - the more we looked at the trailer the more problems we found. This was compounded by, the near 100 - degree heat and high humidity that is common in central Kentucky during this time of year.

I started repairing the Jalousie windows and had old rivets popping out faster than I could install new ones. They were disassembling themselves faster than I could repair them! The window on the front near the main door was unsalvagable.

We removed a storm window covering a suspicious section of wall to find rot that extended almost across the floor.

The walls of the trailer were weak and would need considerable shoring.

The screen door was totally useless and would need to be replaced.

In the late afternoon - at the height of Kentucky heat - we took a short break to swim in the Green River.

We returned after dinner and continued to work until past midnight when we collapsed in our sleeping bags for some quality sack time.

I awoke around 8-AM. As I surveyed my surroundings I observed nothing but large gaping holes in the walls and floors -- very little in the way of any construction was accomplished on Saturday. Today was the last chance; either it happened today or we would be forced to sacrifice another critical caving weekend on this Fieldhouse.

I got up and started working. Pete, Steve and Tammie followed shortly. We forgot about breakfast or anything else.

Amazingly, things began to come together. New pieces of plywood appeared on the floors and walls where holes had been before. The walls were shored up with 2x4's. Screening appeared over the repaired windows. A new screen door was installed. The bunks were erected and the mattresses laid in their proper position. Extensive cleaning was completed. The wood burning stove was installed. The large pile of debris from Saturday's tearing-apart efforts was burnt.

Around 3-PM the worked stopped. As we gazed around us we were amazed at what we had accomplished. While things had indeed looked very bleak late Saturday, we had achieved a significant turn-around during Sunday's efforts. The new Fieldhouse was now habitable. The end result is better than the old fieldhouse.

The Fieldhouse needs additional work. But none of it is high priority.

We all took one more dip in the Green River before Steve, Pete and myself started the long trip back to Michigan.

Fisher Ridge Summary August 1987 V5 N10 By Dan Crowl

The events of the past month have been so incredible that I decided that the FRCS Summary should appear first, lest those uninformed be totally confused by the forthcoming articles in this newsletter.

Let me provide a brief summary of the month's events:
1. A major discovery in FRCS leading to giant trunk passage in Northtown Ridge. The conclusion of this trunk is still unknown.
2. An apparent argument over the telephone between Keith Ortiz and Peter Quick about scooping policy and past dirty deeds.
3. An exploration agreement between the Michigan and DC area cavers concerning exploration procedures in this new find.

Before I begin, let me first say that the summary provided here is only my understanding of what occurred based on information provided to me by others. If the facts are wrong or misleading, please drop me a line, or better yet, a SCOOPS article, describing what actually occurred.

Now on to the gritty details ....

The month's events began on the weekend of July 18th. Chip Hopper and Keith Ortiz from DC area, Reid Beauchamp and Peter Quick from Michigan, and Tammy Heazlit from Bowling Green, KY appeared at the new fieldhouse for FRCS exploration. They all entered the Fisher Ridge System together as a team with the objective of exploration in possible leads in the Ice Cave ridge area.

The first lead checked was breakdown at the end of the Toothless Tube. This breakdown is penetrable for some distance. The hope is that the Toothless Tube passage would continue on the other side of the breakdown enabling exploration of new adjacent ridge area. Exploration this weekend apparently did not penetrate much further than Keith Ortiz had a few years earlier. A blast was set and Keith, Tammy and Chip began survey into the breakdown.

At this point Reid and Pete decided to split from the team to explore leads on their own. They proceded to Hunky Dory passage to check leads in the terminus breakdown of northern Hunky Dory.

A bellywhomp moving considerable air and heading north into a sinkhole area was found in the breakdown area. This was explored for several hundred feet with continuation noted. No survey footage was taken and the team left the cave.

Meanwhile, Ortiz and his crew completed mopup at the end of Toothless, obtaining 57 stations with a few hundred feet. They too left the cave.

The bellywhomp heading north was deemed a significant find, particularly with the abundant airflow. Everyone was excited about the breakout potential and was certainly motivated to return ASAP for exploration.

The weekend of July 25th found Peter Quick, Steve Miller, Reid Beauchamp and Rick Shomsky secretly travelling to central Kentucky to scoop the new goodies. I wasn't even informed of this trip! Their survey began in the bellywhomp heading north. They surveyed 1100 feet until it broke out into a large trunk passage. SCOOP! The trunk passage was at least 25W x 20H with numerous draperies and formations, heading both north and south. Since the south lead headed back to Fisher Ridge proper, survey continued north. A total of 2900 feet of trunk passage survey was completed for a total of 4000 feet in 100 stations. Survey stopped due to lack of carbide and time. An additional 1/2 mile of "Mammoth-sized" trunk passage was explored beyond with no end in sight.

Let me assure you that this find is perhaps the biggest in Fisher Ridge history. Certainly it ranks with the Fisher Avenue extension discovery of almost three years ago. It could be expected that friction could develop between individuals as they scramble to grab the goodies.

On Monday, July 27th, Keith Ortiz learned about the secret trip and the result. Let me just say that he was somewhat taken back by this set of events. He telephoned Peter Quick. An unpleasant discussion followed with both parties bringing out several years of accumulated dirty laundry. It appeared that a significant rift was about to occur between the Michigan and DC-area cavers.

On Tuesday, July 28th, Steve Miller began a series of telephone calls in an effort to work out an agreement on exploration policy between the numerous cavers and groups. The details on the result is provided in another article by Steve Miller elsewhere in this issue. I must commend Steve for his efforts and the result. He certainly deserves the Gold Star!

As a result of the agreement, exploration of the new area won't begin until the Labor Day weekend. Also, trips will be limited to no more than 100 stations. Stay tuned to this channel for more details later!

Fisher Ridge Summary September 1987 V5 N11 By Dan Crowl

Due to the moratorium on caving in Fisher Ridge during the month of August, there is little to report in this column. By the time many of you read this, the big Labor Day weekend in FRCS will have occurred.

It appears that the truce between the DC area and Michigan cavers is working. Let me again remind everyone that the rules published in the last SCOOPS are only rules and can be easily circumvented by anyone with reasonable cleverness. So far, it appears that everyone is working towards the intent rather than the rules. The intent is to provide a reasonable opportunity for everyone to share in this latest huge discovery.

I'm sure next month's column will contain glowing reports of major new survey. Stay tuned ...

Fisher Ridge Summary October 1987 V5 N12 By Dan Crowl

The big Labor Day scooping weekend finally happened. Unfortunately, the dreams of miles of new discovery in the breakout towards Northtown Ridge were just that - dreams. Only 165 total stations with 7134 feet of new discovery was surveyed. Future explorers in this area might be hard pressed for new, quality footage.

Fisher Ridge Cave System now stands at 44.6 miles of total taped distance.

The Labor Day weekend saw more cavers at Fisher Ridge than I can ever remember. I am not sure of the total head count, but somewhere between 16 to 20 cavers were present. The big problem was trying to invoke some structure to this large group of cavers who were mostly bent on surveying the best stuff. Peter Quick, as President of the grotto, made a valiant effort to assign people to groups. After some additional jockeying by greedy cavers, the groups were formed and the entourage was off across the field towards the Remington Entrance.

The trip back to the new survey area in Chartres Avenue reminded me of the movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World." Cavers were scrambling like hell to get to the scooping treasure. The lead group (which included this author) arrived at the survey starting point in less than 3-hours after entering. This lead group beared little resemblance to the survey teams organized on the surface. In fact, it was composed of the top surveyors in the project (surprised? ). They decided to start survey with reorganization of the survey crews as more people arrived.

Two teams were formed to leap-frog survey the continuing Chartres Avenue. Both teams placed about 35 stations with about 2000 feet each before Chartres ended in a low flowstone plug.

By now all of the cavers had arrived in the new area. Unfortunately, the best footage had already been taken. The scramble was on for new discoveries. One team surveyed the large side lead heading southwest from Chartres only to find it connecting back to Chartres after a short distance. Two other teams surveyed small sideleads only to find them meandering back to Chartres and connecting. A small, wet and muddy side lead was surveyed by one team for about forty stations. This lead headed north until it became too small.

I guess we deserved this. After all of the political bellyaching about rules for scooping and caver ethics, there wasn't much to get excited about. The impressive Chartres Avenue was indeed a sight to behold. However, nobody even came close to the newly imposed 100 station limit!

I would venture to speculate that we still don't know the true story behind Chartres Avenue. This huge passage with substantial airflow just can't stop! Where does the air flow go? What happens to the passage volume? There must be some overlooked sidelead that contains the answer. Stay tuned for more ...

Fisher Ridge Summary November 1987 V6 N1 By Dan Crowl

The disappointment of big discovery turned into lack of caving interest during the past month. Only one survey team ventured into Fisher Ridge during the month of October.

On the weekend of October 30th, Keith Ortiz and Bob Anderson returned to Fisher Ridge to resolve the mystery of the "missing trunk." They were determined to find the destination of the strong wind blowing down Chartres Avenue. Methodically they checked each lead and hole. Bob Anderson repeatedly performed his human fly act in an effort to resolve the fate of shadows and suspicious holes in the passage ceilings. One by one the leads were removed from the list. Nothing was found to go!

The air appears to flow up into some big domes near the beginning of Chartres. These domes cannot be easily climbed.

Two possible leads remain. First, Tannny's Maze Area off of the large side lead of Chartres was never resolved. Extensive exploration just seemed to discover more mud-covered maze. Also, the south end of Chartres was found to blow considerable air from a small hole in the flowstone. A blast or two should resolve the matter. Speculation is that this is simply the logical continuation of Hunky - Dory. But who knows what side leads might be found!

See ya down the passageways!

Fisher Ridge Summary December 1987 V6 N2 By Dan Crowl