The DUG SCOOPS Archives - 1993

COMPILED FROM DUG SCOOPS VOLUME 7

Fisher Ridge Summary JANUARY 1989 V7 N3 By Dan Crowl

Two trips were led into the Fisher Ridge Cave System during the month of December.

On the weekend of December 4th, Peter Quick, Dennis Kendrick, Tammie Heazlit, John Rosenfeld and Jean Wetterling entered the Remington entrance with Chartres Avenue as a destination. However, before diving into the nasty crawlway connector, they first worked on the breakdown at the end of Hunkey Dorey. As you will recall, this breakdown has real potential for bypassing the nasty (and currently very wet) crawlway connector leading to Chartres. After a blast and push, an estimated 250 feet of continuation was discovered, with another small blast stopping progress. It is estimated that another 300 feet is left to make the connection to Chartres. Pete reports good blasting conditions since the airflow into the breakdown rapidly removes the blast fumes.

The connector crawlway was found to be in the worst condition ever. Pete says he won't travel through this passage again until the next dry season hits.

At the Resting Room, the crew broke up, Pete and Tammie moving onward to the dig at the end of Chartres and the rest surveying in the cross canyon at the Resting Room.

The cross canyon survey netted 8-stations with survey proceeding only to the left. The best lead to the right still remains. However, the survey was shortened due to the, soaked conditions of the cavers. They terminated the survey and progressed forward to Chartres to wait for the other team to return (?!).

Meanwhile, Tammie and Pete pushed the dig at the end of Chartres another 3O feet until a crusty layer came up from below and impaired progress. The passage seems to be heading back towards Chartres, but no connector passages are seen in Chartres and the strong airflow (out) remains a mystery. This passage is quite, wide with plenty of space for packing mud and turning around.

On December llth, Keith Ortiz, Mark Honoski from West Virginia, and Tammie Heazlit entered Splash with a 35-foot sectioned scaling pole. Their objective was the lead at the Rainbow Climb back in the Big One area. This lead is visible from below.

The Splash entrance was found to be mostly frozen - but passable. The ExPlug was found to be dry.

The scaling pole hardware presented considerable difficulty hauling back through the crawls and assembling and erecting the hardware. The pole, at its maximum length, only provided access to a steep sloped and sandy bank at the top of the climb. Considerable time was spent digging steps into the sand bank and deciding if footing was adequate for the climb up. Eventually the bank was climbed and a hole in the ceiling provided access to a small room. Yet another hole in the ceiling provided access to a terminal sandy room. Keith claims the canyon heading in this direction was originally filled with clay and sand, with the sand draining out from below and down the drop to form the small rooms.

Keith also reports that Tammie somehow fell on the scaling pole and bruised her ribs. She was able to continue on unassisted. Keith says that 3 People were totally inadequate to haul the scaling equipment. He indicates a 5-person crew is a minimum. Their total trip lasted 24 hours - mostly due to the slow progress with moving the scaling pole and equipment. As I've always maintained with scaling pole adventures - chances of discovery seem to inversely proportional to the effort.

Fisher Ridge Summary FEBRUARY 1989 V7 N4 By Dan Crowl

I have two trips to report during the last month.

On the weekend of January 7 Steve Miller and Peter Quick decided (for -whatever reason) to return to the Mofo Canyon area. As you might recall, the survey teams went blasting by this area on their way to the booty further on. The small canyons and holes that remained were never thoroughly checked.

To make a long story short, they survey 242 feet in 28 stations. Plenty of survey remained but Steve's declining health (a blast of the flu) encouraged the two to route early after only 12 hours. There apparently abandoned a considerable amount of equipment, including their sleeping bags, before leaving. They plan on returning on the first weekend in February.

Keith Ortiz and Bob Anderson spent three days in central Kentucky during the inaugural weekend (January 20). Friday was spent ridge walking in the Chartres area. Keith reports that the area looks "cavey," but no obvious cave entrances were found.

On Saturday they entered FRCS via the Historic Entrance. There objective was the Double Hard passage at the end of Double Easy. The Double Hard passage was pushed by a number of explorers (including this writer), but the very low -ceiling conditions stopped further progress.

Keith reports that the first 150 feet of Double Easy is real nasty, with wet goopy mud. The walking sections of Double Easy are also very wet and goopy. This is unlike the dry passage first surveyed before the Flood.

It appears that the flood has somehow washed out Double Hard, allowing further penetration. Keith and Bob pushed it (Keith had to dig some to make progress) to a series of 25' diameter rooms, all about 4 feet high. Eventually this led to walking passage. After 40 or 50 feet a 50 foot pit was intercepted and progress was stopped. Keith says that the crawlway continues on the other side of the pit and is accessible across a mud bank with a belay. A total of about 400 feet was surveyed. Keith also reports that some interesting leads were found at the top of the Raisin Dome.

Fisher Ridge Summary MARCH 1989 V7 N5 By Dan Crowl

The big question that everyone has been asking the last several weeks is: What damage did the recent floods do to the Fisher Ridge-Cave System? As we all know, the flood of 1984 created a goopy mess inside FRCS and curtailed exploration in a number of areas for quite some time. Exploration fever was still heavy then. Recent exploration successes have been minimal. What affect will a repeat of the 1984 flood have on future exploration?

Tammie Heazlit reports that the recent floods were different in character from the floods of 1984. The '84 flood was a very rapid dash of water. The recent floods were more gradual. Tammie says she is preparing a more detailed article on this subject for next months Scoops.

Two teams entered FRCS on the weekend of February 4th. The first team comprised of Peter Quick and Steve Miller. They returned to the MoFo Dome area to retrieve their equipment left the month before and to continue exploration and survey. They mapped about 56 stations in two passages. The first passage headed back towards Fisher River and was "30 feet high, no footholds, and too narrow to travel along the bottom." This classic pinch canyon eventually deteriorated into grimness.

The second passage explored was the climb-up to the lower loop to Crumbly Canyon. An estimated 600 feet was surveyed in both passages.

The second team consisted of Keith Ortiz, Larry Bean, Brian Davis and Mark Honoski. Their objective was the Bob's Borehole area and in particular the Sand Angel Trunk. They first set a blast in the dig where Bob Anderson became stuck in several years ago. After setting the blast, Keith and Mark split off and surveyed 20 stations a small canyon lead in Century Tube. This canyon eventually deteriorated. They returned to join with Larry and Brian to continue work on the dig. Several blasts later some progress was made. More digging and substantial effort remains. Keith reports the dig is in a breakdown area, with the passage going underneath the breakdown and then coming back up. Subsequent diggers might be faced with the prospect of pulling rocks out of the 2' high by 1-1/2' wide passage. However, good airflow prevails.

Fisher Ridge Summary APRIL 1989 V7 N6 By Dan Crowl

There were no trip into Fisher Ridge Cave System during the recent reporting period. 'Nuff said.

On other matters. it has been reported that the initial offer by the NSS to purchase the Roppel property has been rejected. Apparently the owner will not negotiate on her asking price.

It has also been reported that Dave Weller has started digging a new entrance to Roppel at an undisclosed location.

Peter Quick and I are planning a trip to FRCS on April 15. Pete says he is thinking about continuing the blasting in the breakdown bypassing the Thousand Foot Crawl to Chartres. Contact Pete or me about this trip.

Fisher Ridge Summary MAY 1989 V7 N7 By Dan Crowl

The Fisher Ridge Cave System continues to provide occasional surprises to Exploration parties. The reports of the FRCS death apparently have been greatly exaggerated.

On the weekend of April 15th, Steve Miller Peter Quick and Brian Davis pushed a small crawlway in the Toothsome area of the system. After some effort the crawlway intersected a walking passage which intersected a major trunk passage. The trunk was surveyed for about 1900 feet with another 2000 feet explored (with no end in sight). Computer plots show the end of this trunk to be several hundred feet shy of Bob's Borehole. The question is: will it connect with Bob's Borehole, or just go under or over and continue onward, or will it die suddenly? See the trip report article by Steve Miller that follows.

In other news, while waiting for purchase of the Roppel System by the NSS, the Ropplers haven't been idle. According to Jim Borden, two new entrances are being dug. The first entrance is somewhere in the middle of the system. The second entrance, however, is adjacent to Fisher Ridge at the site of the previous radio location. Jim reports the dig about 2/3 complete. Jim says that the new entrance is not meant as an explicit connection effort with FRCS. He does admit that it will result in increased connection probability. He affirms their groups intentions to prevent a unilateral connection.

Fisher Ridge Summary JULY 1989 V7 N9 By Dan Crowl

The fieldhouse now has a front porch. During the weekend of July 1, Larry Bean, Steve Miller, Peter Quick and myself traveled to central Kentucky to perform the construction. We traveled in two vehicles in order to carry the materials. Pete donated a considerable amount of 2x6 lumber for use as floor boards, a number of 2x4's for use as rafters and stringers for the roof, and several tin roofing sections. Steve Miller brought his generator and air compressor (to be used to s ray paint the trailer). I provided a variety of miscellaneous woodworking tools and supplies.

Saturday morning boded cloudy. After breakfast, Steve and 1 went to the lumber store in Cave City to purchase the required wolmanized lumber, paint and other construction supplies. As we sifted through the lumber, it began to rain. Unfortunately, this remained the common feature for the rest of the weekend.

Our purchases totaled about $220, staying well within budget. This included almost $100 for paint. To say we were soaked would be an understatement. Fortunately, it was reasonably warm. The hole digging operation for placement of the uprights turned the front of the fieldhouse into a quagmire. Jokes about "Big Bird feet" were rampant.

By early evening the flooring was complete and we began constructing the roof. By then we were somewhat tired and I must admit the resulting construction was somewhat awkward. The problem was connecting the rafters to the trailer and to the cross beam at the front of the porch. Toe-nailing just didn't seem to work properly (although it seemed fine as an initial design feature). Eventually, by adding a number of additional beams, the construction was complete. Off to a late dinner (about 1 AM) at the Country Kitchen in Cave City.

On Sunday the rain continued. We scuttled plans for painting the trailer and completed a number of less important tasks. This included: 1) constructing a stairs for the porch, 2) vacuuming the kerosene stove, 3) constructing a bench for the porch, 4) general cleaning and sweeping of the interior of the trailer, and 5) a few additional other items. All remaining lumber and construction materials were thrown into the front room of the trailer.

This weekend represented a significant amount of work. However, we will need to return in the next few months to complete the painting. Most of the loose paint was scraped away during the weekend, exposing less protected metal below. Steve and I are also hatching plans for construction at Remington Entrance.

Fisher Ridge Summary AUGUST 1989 V7 N10 By Dan Crowl

There hasn't been a single trip into Fisher Ridge Cave System during the last month's reporting period 'nuff said.

In other matters, I've finally stoked up the Ole' cave data program and have updated the FRCS cave database here in Detroit. Let me say that the effort turned into quite a struggle. First the Harris 800 computer which the program ran on was being phased out. This magnificent machine, which cost $400,000 four years ago, was destined for the scrap heap. A new Multiflow Trace system was acquired recently to replace it. The good news is that the Trace runs several orders of magnitude faster than the Harris.

Several difficulties impeded the program implementation on the Trace. First, the Trace System is UNIX based. This highly touted operating system is designed to drive one absolutely nuts. Experienced UNIX programmers love UNIX, but getting to an efficient level of experience is quite a chore. Most of the commands are not based on anything one can remember. For instance, files are listed using the "Is' command and the editor is invoked using "vi". Also, everything is upper and lower case dependent. Woe be the unwary programmer who accidentally hits the upper case shift key during editing. Considerable damage can be wreaked on one's file.

The next problem was straightening out the data. I downloaded all of the last year's survey data from Chip's system in Virginia, and was able to convert it to the format required for my program. However, Chips allows hanging surveys. These are "backwards" surveys which start at the end of a passage and survey out, eventually connecting to an existing survey station. My program doesn't support this feature and generates an error message when encountered. This last years set contained a number of these and required some serious editing to straighten out. Of course there was also the usual problem of duplicate station names. After repairing these problems, and fixing a nasty syntax error in the data, the program ran like a champ. The Trace is quite fast, processing the entire Fisher Ridge System data in less than 4 minutes, including loop closure. The Harris system required at least 20 minutes to accomplish the same. Another half days work on the plotting end of the program and plots starting rolling off the plotter, identical to the line plots produced more than a year ago.

Another feature which I might use in the future is the direct network connect between the Trace mainframe computer and a PC. This will enable me to download files to a PC compatible floppy rather quickly. To test this capability I downloaded a 1.5 megabyte file to the hard drive in just under 30-seconds! This means I can download the FRCS cave data for others to use. Besides the original date, the entire program output can de distributed in this fashion too. However due to the size of the files (more than a megabyte) it is only efficient to download to 1.2 meg floppies.

I have also converted all of the SCOOPS files to PC floppy disk compatible format. This includes all issues, from Volume 1, No.1 to date, including the five issues produced by Steve Miller. Unfortunately, four issues (Vol 6, No. 4 thru No. 7) are missing and are assumed to have been accidentally deleted from the disk.

The SCOOPS has been produced using 3 different computers and three different word processors. Fortunately, all of the word processors have been implemented on the PC. This insures the availability, utility and longevity of all articles in the SCOOPS. (For all you readers out there in cyber space I've had to scan and retype most issues from Vol 1 to Vol 10 because Dan didn't have this information available, the disks are somewhere but not available to me, Peter Quick)

I have also completed the section maps for the Ropple project. I started producing these sections almost five years ago. The last 40 + sections were drawn recently and are awaiting mailing to Jim Borden. These sections (drawn in a 1/500 scale) include survey stations and lines, and are oriented in relation to the Mercator grid system. Each section takes about 5 minutes to produce using an existing CAD package on a computer and an interface to the cave data base. The CAD software used to produce these sections will soon be removed from the system forever.

I have also downloaded the Crump's data and plan to implement it shortly on the Trace system.

Fisher Ridge Summary SEPTEMBER 1989 V7 N11 By Dan Crowl

Lots of stuff has happened during the last month, so ... here goes....

I'm please to announce that Steve Miller's videotape production of Fisher Ridge Cave System: Historic to Grand Junction took top honors at the First Videotape Salon held at the NSS Convention in Tennessee. The winning entry was shown to more than a 1000 people attending the convention. Congratulations Steve!

Second, the controversy regarding the Roppel dig to the west of FRCS proper is heating up. Jim Borden wrote a letter to Peter Quick officially requesting a DUG position on the dig. This prompted a letter writing campaign by Joe Saunders. At this time, DUG has not issued a formal response to Borden's letter. More about this next month. (These controversies always make substantial newsletter filler.)

Ok. On to the caving trips... On August 12 a whopping group of 11 people visited the Fisher Ridge Cave System. They broke into three exploration groups. Chip Hopper, Peter Quick, Connie Green and David something-or-other friend of Reid's opted for a nerd trip to the South Fisher Extension area. David routed at Remington, intimidated by the tight crawls (?!). The remaining three dropped the Drippy Dome (aka Dan's Demise) and completed the loop back to Fisher Avenue. They also checked the lead at the very end of the Fisher Avenue Extension --they declared this lead as diggable/blastable.

The second group was comprised of Dennis Kendrick, Reid Beauchamp and Brian Davis. They mapped 500 feet in a lower, tight Canyon lead near the Peter Seller's Memorial Domes. I remember it well since Peter Quick and I deferred on surveying this lead many years ago due to its tightness. They pushed this canyon until it got too tight. They also found a couple of other loops.

Keith Ortiz, Tammie Heazlit, Rick Shomsky and a British friend of Tammie's trudged to the end of Toothless to thoroughly check Don's Biggest Dome. Keith's theory is that a trunk extension is likely here. This is evident from the passage line plots, which place Toothsome, Grand Avenue and other trunks all in a line pointing at Don's Biggest Dome. Unfortunately, nothing was discovered and the theory remains just a theory. Undaunted, the group pushed a wet upstream lead off of Toothless. They surveyed about 250 feet at the Toothless level until they were stopped at a tight spot. Air is blowing and the lead is pushable going north.

On August 26 two groups visited FRCS.

The first group was composed of Larry Bean and Dave LeClerc. Since Larry neglected to bring his survey tape their options were decidedly numbered. However they returned to Fluffy Sand to verify once more that no leads are pushable to the adjacent Roppel sections. They did manage to dig in the southern areas of Fluffy Sand and were able to discover an additional 100' of new passage which promptly terminated.

The second group, comprised or Peter Quick and Reid Beauchamp, returned to the West Room to stomp around in this area. First, they mapped 480' in an obscure tube complex at the top of the West Room. Second, they mapped over 200' at the bottom of the West Room. This was mostly in an upstream lead heading towards Sweetwater. They attempted to do another 200-300 feet of mop-up in the main stream, but couldn't find the tie station. They optimistically left their equipment (rope and wetsuits) for a return trip.

On September 3 and 4, Joe Saunders returned with the Frye brothers to FRCS. They traveled to the South Fisher Avenue Extension and did mop-up in Larry's Canyon (lower component of Big Side Lead). -A lead was Followed downstream into a breakdown moving good air. They also surveyed in a tube heading west off of the Big Side Lead. They mapped 150 feet here. The lead continues 20" high and 4-5' wide. Well, that's it for the month of August. I hope I represented everyone's trip reasonably accurately. If not, I suggest you write a letter or an article, I'll be happy to publish it in forthcoming Scoops.

Fisher Ridge Summary OCTOBER V7 N12 By Dan Crowl

On the morning after the last DUG meeting on September 8, 1 awoke with an uneasy feeling. At that meeting, the members agreed to respond to the CKKC Khan dig by writing a letter indicating it was none of our business and that we were opposed to vandalism with respect to their project. My uneasiness was due to the planned trip to central Kentucky that weekend by Keith Ortiz and Bob Anderson. I was concerned that they might have more on their minds than caving.

Rather than wait for Peter Quick to return from Mexico, I took the liberty of writing the official DUG response. Since it was already Friday, I called Jim Borden to confirm his FAX number. While on the phone, Jim confessed that the Khan dig was no longer dig but was actually an entrance, being opened during the Labor Day efforts. I responded by indicating that it might revert to a dig if Ortiz and Anderson have their way during the weekend. After the conversation, I faxed the following letter:

September 8, 1989

James D. Borden. President

Central Kentucky Karst Coalition

Dear Jim,

The Detroit Urban Grotto met on the evening of September 7 and considered your request of your letter dated August 17, 1989. The following motion was approved by the members present at that meeting:

1. The Detroit Urban Grotto is absolutely opposed to any vandalism associated with your KHAN dig.

2. Since the dig is on property separate from the Fisher farm and since you have made an arrangement with the landowner to dig, your dig is not part of the Detroit Urban Grotto's business.

3. Any letters or communications sent by individual members of the Detroit Urban Grotto, or cavers associated with the Fisher Ridge Cave do not represent the official position of the Detroit Urban Grotto.

4. Any actions with respect to the KHAN dig by individual members of the Detroit Urban Grotto, or cavers associated with the Fisher Ridge Cave System project, are not condoned by the Detroit Urban Grotto, or cavers associated with the Fisher Ridge Cave System project, are not condoned by the Detroit Urban Grotto and do nor represent Detroit Urban Grotto policy. .

Normally, the official position would be transmitted by Peter Quick, President of the Detroit Urban Grotto. However, since he has left on vacation, I was given the responsibility of transmitting this letter.

Yours,
Daniel A. Crowl
Detroit Urban Grotto
CC: Peter Quick, President Detroit Urban Grotto, Mr. Ronald C. Wilson,
President, Cave Research Foundation
DUG SCOOPS, October issue

As things turned out Ortiz and Anderson cancelled their trip to Kentucky that weekend and went the following weekend instead. While it is not certain what actually occurred, it appears that 1)the Khan entrance survives 2) Jim Borden asserts that boulders and other objects were placed on the Khan entrance access road, resulting in damage to Dave Weller's truck, 3) Ortiz had a substantial talk, to no avail with the Khan entrance landowner.

At this time the Khan Entrance situation appears to have subsided. However, Jim Borden says that survey has already began in the Khan area, with the discovery of a major trunk passage netting 3600 feet in 63 stations. Survey is to the northwest, away from FRCS at the present time.

In other news, there were several trips into FRCS.

During the Labor Day weekend, Joe Saunders visited the South Fisher Avenue area with the Frye clan. They explored several of the smaller side leads past the Ex-Plug. They named one of these leads the Crump Crawl. See the trip report earlier in this issue.

During the weekend of September 16, Mark Honosky, Tammie Heazlit and Bob Anderson traveled to the Brits Way left lead off of Toothless Tube in Ice Cave Ridge. They placed 14 stations in smallish passage (2Hx4W) to survey termination at l' passage height.

Fisher Ridge Summary NOVEMBER 1989 V8 N1 By Dan Crowl

As you've probably figured out by now, I don't have much to report on Fisher Ridge this month. Since the Mammoth Cave Khan entrance controversy has died down, so too have the cave trips and articles.

I understand from Jim Borden that the Khan entrance has now been concreted and permanently gated.

Peter Quick reports that Joe Saunders and a number of Cleveland people took a trip into FRCS during the last month. Pete was a little bit more than fuzzy on the details. He seemed to think that they checked nasty side leads in the South Fisher Avenue area.

That's all folks!

Fisher Ridge Summary DECEMBER 1989 V8 N2 By Dan Crowl

No trips into Fisher Ridge were reported during the last month.

However, on the weekend of November 18, Steve Miller, Larry Bean and Tammie Heazlit expended a considerable effort to complete the painting of the fieldhouse trailer. In addition, they vacuumed the fieldhouse and applied a coat of Thompson's water seal to the front porch. Steve reports that the kerosene heater is working fine and the fieldhouse is in great shape for the winter.

I am now prepared to distribute copies of the Fisher Ridge data output on floppy disk. The full output file is 2.7 megabytes long, so you will need a hard drive and an MSDOS version capable of supporting such large files. I have also developed a printer utility to search the output by survey block and print the survey selected. This should provide much greater utility than the cumbersome hard copy output. The entire system is distributed on two 360K floppies by using a special packing routine. If you wish a copy, mail me two 360K floppies in a stout container which I can use for mailing the floppies back.