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January/February
1991
On
December 31, 1990, Wind Cave had a surveyed length of 55.4 miles. By February
28, 1991, the surveyed length has increased to 57.0 miles. During this time, additional
5525 feet of inventory of the "old cave" was accomplished, in addition
to the 1.6 miles inventoried during the above survey work.
On January 1, Stan Allison,
Bob Kobza and Jim Nepstad led a reconnaissance trip to the northwestern part of
the cave. The plan was to head to KY205 and push leads on the way out. The first
lead checked kept the crew busy for the remainder of the day. A number of nice
rooms, some with tree roots up to 2 feet long descending from the ceiling, were
discovered. Survey data, along with data concerning the maximum root depth of
Ponderosa Pine, indicate a depth of less than 20 feet in this area.
On January 5, several members
of the Paha Sapa Grotto, including Dave Springhetti, Rick Bogue, Jim Wilson, Reed
Wilson, John Scheltens, Jan Harms and Janine Fitzner, headed to the PC survey
area off the Coke Room route. PC1-15 was inventoried and an additional 272 feet
of passage was added to the PC survey. Limited travel to the PC survey area was
recommended due to fragile floors. On the same day, another trip lead by Steve
Baldwin, Devin Hachmeister and Sarge Preston surveyed the area that Rachel Cox
was found in during her (and our) ordeal in the cave in October 1989. The exact
route Rachel used to enter this area eludes us to this day. But it seems she must
have traveled through some phenomenally tight crawls. The room she was eventually
found in was named "Duncan", in honor of a psychic who called during
the rescue operation to report that Rachel would be found in a room called "Duncan".
A prophesy fulfilled! 224 feet of cave was surveyed.
The January Colorado Grotto
weekend was held January 12 and 13. In all, eight trips were led into the cave.
Bob Stucklen, Sandy Kraemer and Margo Butner inventoried the Overland Trail area
from UI1-39. Kevin Reynolds, Carl Pagano and Dan Hanley went to the Blue Bayou
Avenue area to investigate earlier reports of breezes in the area, but found nothing
promising. Ed LaRock, Mike Behn, Ted Lappin, Ned Messler and Barry Berry took
part in a through trip from the Snake Pit Entrance to the elevator via the Coke
Room. Along the way, they flagged a path through Santa's Frosted Forest, surveyed
106 feet near Bush Gardens, and flagged a temporary (possibly permanent) route
from the Coke Room to Archimedes' Pool. It was also determined that a 42 inch
chest would fit in the Snake Pit. Kevin and Steve Smith, Bill Hawn, Vern Carlson
and Jerry Hassemer led a trip to the John Wayne Room. A total of 33 stations were
inventoried, and 235 feet of passage surveyed, including a shortcut from the Coke
Room route to the John Wayne area. Jim Clark, Veronica Stahl, Kirk Haley and Bill
Yett heading to the Egg Hatchery area and surveyed about 120 feet of additional
passage. Pat Jablonsky, Greg Glasner and Clarence Williams returned to the E and
D survey areas of the northeastern part of the cave. A connection between the
two surveys was found. Jim Wilson, Bethany Jablonsky, Skip Withrow, Dough Kent
and Greg Glasner surveyed 342 feet of new cave in the Chimera Room area. A nice
flowstone area was discovered, along with what appears to be the first rabbit
skeleton found in Wind Cave. On January 13, Jim Clark, Veronica Stahl, Jerry Hassemer
and Dan Hanley went to Shelob's Lair and inventoried the last 15 stations in the
area. No good leads were found.
Also on January 13, John Scheltens, Marc Lamphere, Dave Springhetti and Lon Sharp
returned to a lead off the Coke Room route they had noted on January 5. A new
upper level area was discovered and 1187 feet of cave was surveyed, with more
remaining.
On January 19, Stan Allison, Bob Kobza and Jim Nepstad returned to the northwestern
part of the cave to continue working on the area discovered January 1. After tying
in to a number of known points in the cave, a new survey was begun of KY137. A
recent stream channel, along with stream sediments and cobbles, was discovered
below this area. This passage eventually led to a major new helictite bush area
now known as "Bushed". Bushes up to 3.5 feet tall, some coated with
dogtooth spar crystal, were found. 792 feet of passage was surveyed.
On January 20, John Scheltens,
Marc Lamphere, Lon Sharp and Ben Sharp returned to the area they discovered the
week before. An additional 737 feet of passage was surveyed, including a beautiful
new flowstone area. Another shortcut between the Coke Room route and the John
Wayne area was discovered.
Stan Allison, Steve Baldwin and Kevin Hachmeister took part in an after work trip
during the evening of January 22. 591 feet of passage, including some nice flowstone,
was surveyed between the Loose Screw Room and the Club Room route. More leads
remain in the area.
The Colorado Grotto returned for their
February visit on February 8. Bill Hawn, Bob Phillips, Steve Smith and Vern Carlson
showed up a day early to do some inventory in the Black Beauty area near the Lakes.
On the way out, they flagged some of the calcite ice floored passages off the
main route to avoid future accidents. On February 9, the same group went to the
PR survey area in the historic part of the cave and surveyed 312 feet. Jim Wilson,
Skip Withrow, Doug Kent and Mike Frazier inventoried the KX survey to the Chimera
Room and surveyed 413 feet of passage southeast of KY30. The survey ended in a
nice gypsum flower area. Pat Jablonsky, Clarence Williams, Christ Bustos, John
Peters-Campbell and Margo Butner returned to the northeastern part of the cave.
Ted Lappin, Garry Petrie and Tim Moreland surveyed 597 feet of passage in the
KY survey area west of Disappointment Chamber. No connection yet. Mike Behn, Ed
LaRock and Barry Berg were also in the KY survey area, and surveyed 364 feet of
cave south of KY227. Ed reports the presence of granite boulders in a room at
the end of their survey. June Golaz, Sandy Kraemer, Bill Yett, Jason Miller and
Carl Pagano surveyed 374 feet of passage north and east of the Pearly Gates in
the historic part of the cave. The end of their survey plots out in a blank spot
on the map. Jim Clark, Dan Hanley, Pat Seiser, Bob Stuckland and Veronica Stahl
started a survey just past the Roadblock and wound up in the Loose Screw Room
after 345 feet of survey. Lots of flowstone was found along the way. Bob Kobza,
Mike Paulick, Louise Hose and Jim Nepstad went back to the northwest corner of
the cave and surveyed 849 feet of passage, most of it west of KY165. Many more
leads remain in this part of the cave.
Despite all of this
activity, the cave came up about 75 feet short of 57 miles. On February 23, Bob
Kobza, Mike Paulick, Warren Netherton and Jim Nepstad surveyed 201 feet of cave
on top of the Suburbia area, including a large room named "57 Mile Hall". March/April
1991 During
March and April 1991, a total of 1.2 miles of passage was surveyed at Wind Cave.
This increased the length of the known cave from 57.0 miles to 58.2 miles. Roughly
2600 feet of previously surveyed passage was inventoried, in addition to the 1.2
miles inventoried as a part of the survey process.
The Colorado Grotto had its
monthly trip to Wind Cave during the weekend of March 9 and 10. On March 9, Ted
Lappin, Garry Petrie and Pat Seiser headed back to the northwestern part of the
cave near Disappointment Chamber. A total of 734 feet was surveyed, including
a connection with the Ghost Rider's Gulch area. Tim Moreland, Vi Allured and Mike
Smith began the inventory of the Silent Expressway travel corridor. The area between
Half Mile Hall and the BPH survey was completed. Bill Yett, Lonny Haynes, Kevin
Reynolds and Sandy Kraemer returned to the CM survey, north of the Pearly Gates,
and surveyed an additional 90 feet of passage. Kirk Haley, Jim Clark and Veronica
Stahl surveyed 192 feet of passage south of Rainbow Falls, including a beautiful,
flowstone filled dome. Larry Coats, Dayna Gessler, Jim Erickson and Nizam Zawahir
led a trip to the Chimera Room area and surveyed 235 feet of cave, some of it
with nice aragonite. Margo Butner and Katy Petty began the inventory of the route
to the Artifact Room in the historic part of the cave. Jim Wilson, Clarence Williams,
Eric Dutton, Norm Thompson, Carl Pagano, Pet Jablonsky and Brian Small headed
to the Lakes area. The RD survey, which leads to Rebel River, was inventoried
and photographed. A visit to Rebel River, the first known since it initial discover
in 1970, confirmed the presence of running water in Wind Cave! This "river"
is about 3 inches wide and flows at a rate of roughly 1 gallon per minute. Wetsuits
are not required. Kevin and Steve Smith, Robert Phillips, Bill Hawn, Vern Carlson
and Judy Carlson lead an inventory trip to the JW survey area, finishing the route
from the Coke Room to the John Wayne Room. Louise Hose, Donald Davis, Dave Lester,
Todd Warren and John Peters-Campbell went to the northwestern part of the cave
for survey and helictite bush observation. A total of 376 feet of survey was accomplished
and the northern extent of the cave was extended by about 75 feet. In addition,
a bone cave (possibly from a bird), and evidence of flowing water was found.
On
March 16, John Scheltens, Greg Hanson and Jason Moran surveyed 378 feet of cave
near the Multi-Purpose Room. Dave Springhetti, Sarge Preston and Jan Harms led
a trip to the Omnibus Hall area, surveying 202 feet. On the same day, Rick Bogue
and Marc Lamphere led some Job Corps kids around the Club Room Loop.
On March 22, Tim Moreland
and Wieslaw Klis, who had been performing volunteer work for the park that week,
and Dan Hanley, led an inventory trip to the Land of 10,000 Lakes area. A total
of 21 stations were inventoried. A significant observation: due to the recent
decline in lake levels, the Land of 10,000 Lakes now has only one lake!
Ted Lappin and Vi Allured,
also volunteering for a weekend, led a trip to the Disappointment Chamber area
on March 31. This area, where the eastern and western parts of the cave overlap
in places, has eluded connection for more than a decade. Keeping with tradition,
no connection was found, but 128 feet of cave was surveyed.
On April 5, Krishnan Kutty,
Doug Pflugh, Tim Sulser, Mariana Kubicek and Tom Shields surveyed a connection
between the Artifact Room and Bishop Fowler's Loop, for a total of 185 feet. Upon
emerging from the cave, they were immediately thrown into a mass evacuation from
the visitor center area as a massive wildfire bore down on the park. It had seemed
so peaceful in the cave...
Jim
Nepstad, Bob Kobza, Martha Jakobek, Steve Smith and Rick Dressler started "mopping
up" leads off the main tour routes on April 12. Only the Garden of Eden Loop
and Assembly Room areas were checked (about 10% of the tour routes) this day,
but 1002 feet of passage was surveyed. Interesting finds included a passage just
50 feet from the Assembly Room which apparently floods to the ceiling!
Due to a major snowstorm,
the Colorado Grotto visit to Wind Cave was delayed until April 20. Stan Allison,
Paul Burger and Stu Marlatt led an exploration trip to the Silent Expressway.
823 feet of passage was surveyed, mostly in the Rocky Road area. Doug Kent, Garry
Petrie, Skip Withrow and Carl Pagano headed to an area between the Chimera Room
and Key Room, surveying 460 feet. Mike Behn, Ed LaRock, Barry Berg and Ken Wright
headed back to the KYL survey area to continue exploration. An area with bad air
(with a "petroliferous smell" according to the survey notes) was discovered
just a few hundred feet southeast of Bush Gardens. The nearest fuel tanks up-dip
are more than a mile and a half away-on private land. That, combined with the
isolated nature of this bad air, lends us to speculate that it may somehow be
a natural part of the cave. Additional work is needed in this area. 327 feet were
surveyed. Verne Carlson, Bill Hawn, Robert Phillips and Steve Smith surveyed 584
feet of passage off the JJ survey just past the Frostline. Tim Moreland, Bill
Yett and Nizam Zawahir headed to the PR survey in the historic part of the cave
and surveyed 284 feet of passage, some with good airflow. May/June
1991 For
the duration of May and June, a total of 1.4 miles of cave was surveyed in Wind
Cave. This increased the length form 58.2 miles to 59.6 miles. In addition, approximately
3550 feet of previously surveyed passage was inventoried, along with the 1.4 miles
inventoried during the survey process.
On
May 4, Chris Bondun, Dave Worthington, Dan Horkan, Eric Mayes and Ross Hart inventoried
9 stations in the LB survey, which is located in the Lakes Zone.
On May 5, Dave Springhetti,
Myk Coughlin, Sarge Preston, Dennis Maynard and Jan Harms continued the SPH survey
off of Omnibus Hall for a total survey of 98.7 feet.
The Colorado Grotto weekend
occurred May 11 and 12. On May 11, Sandy Kraemer, Bob Stucklen and Rich Wolfert
inventoried 15 stations along the red and white travel corridor, between the Club
Room and Half Mile Hall. A survey trip was made to the Deep Confusion area by
Mike Frazier, Louise Hose, Ted Lappin and Vi Allured. They surveyed 512 feet in
the BC', BCA, BJ and BJA surveys. A bypass to the Frostline was surveyed by Steve
Smith, Kevin Smith and Jerry Hassemer. With a little maintenance, this bypass
may provide a travel corridor that is less sensitive to traffic than the Frostline.
A total of 386 feet was surveyed in this area. Doug Kent, Ken Hedrick and Chris
Wooley surveyed 426 feet in the LV survey near the Figure Eight Room. Bill Hawn,
Robert Phillips, Vern Carlson and Dave Lester inventoried 31 stations near the
Frostline. Margo Butner and Kathy Peety inventoried approximately 10 survey stations
along the route to the Artifact Room, just off the Post Office. On May 12, Louise
Hose, Dave Lester and Mike Frazier inventoried 8 stations near Franks Beard in
the Historic Zone.
On
May 17, a large, 200' long, 20-40' wide and 10-20' tall upper level room was discovered!
This room, named Wakantanka was discovered by Bob Kobza, Jim Nepstad, Stan Allison
and Mike Paulick. Wakantanka lies directly over the Club Room and in several places
connects to the Club Room via 30-40' unclimbable pits. Nice flowstone and frostwork
was also discovered in this area. The LSU survey done in this area accounted for
1059.7 feet of new cave.
On May 25, Paul Burger, Dina Venezky, Stan Allison and Bob Younger managed to
push a tight, blowing lead from the Snake Pit Entrance 70 feet to the north. This
lead continues as a very tight passage into an area with no known cave.
On May 26, Bob Younger, Stan
Allison, Dina Venezky and Paul Burger surveyed 1072.8 feet of cave off of Wakantanka
in the LSS and LST surveys. A climbable connection was made between Wakantanka
and the southern end of the Club Room.
After
two floods in late May, the cave was extraordinarily wet. Flowing water was noticed
in several area of the cave that are usually dry. On May 31, Stan Allison and
Dina Venezky observed a flowing stream in Monument Hall below Devils Lookout.
On
June 2, Jim Nepstad, Dina Venezky and Stan Allison surveyed 952 feet of cave off
of the Natural Entrance and Fairgrounds tour routes. Some walking-size passages
were surveyed right off of the trail!
The June Colorado Grotto weekend was the 7th, 8th and 9th. On June 7, Kevin Reynolds,
Skip Withrow and Bill Yett inventoried 22 stations along the red and white travel
corridor near Half Mile Hall. They also surveyed 145.3 feet on the KSA survey.
On June 8, Doug Kent, Garry Petrie, Dave Steinman and Tim Nuce surveyed 570.2
feet on the CS survey near Deep Confusion. They discovered a nice room 80' long,
30' wide and 15' tall. Jim Wilson, Aaron Birenboim, Lisa Shertz and Steve Shertz
inventoried 13 stations on the red and white travel corridor near Half Mile Hall.
A mouse was seen the Roadblock which is approximately 1500 feet away form the
elevator, and further from the Natural Entrance. Bill Hawn, Robert Phillips and
Vern Carlson surveyed 404 feet of cave in the VA and VB surveys near the Frostline.
A room filled with various gypsum formations was named the "Cotton Field".
34 stations were inventoried along the green travel corridor from Half Mile Hall
to the Wind Gate by Mike Frazier, Marty Smith and Randy Brown. Paul Burger, Harry
Burgess and Stan Allison surveyed 988.5 feet near the end of the Silent Expressway.
An extremely large, 2' diameter by 1' thick, disc shaped coral fossil was discovered.
This is possibly the largest known fossil in the cave!
On June 14, Kevin Smith and
Stan Allison photographed "zebra rock" near the Muddle Room to aid the
Colorado Grotto in the inventory process.
Brad Stephenson, Anne Bohnet, Joelle Selk, Jennifer Cullen, Bob Younger and Stan
Allison surveyed 84.2 feet of cave off of the Fairgrounds on June 18.
On June 22, 10 members of
the Pennington County Search and Rescue group made the Club Room Loop with Anne
Bohnet and Stan Allison. This trip was made for the purpose of orienting the group
to the difficulties of cave rescue at Wind Cave.
On June 29, Paul Burger, Jim
Nepstad and Stan Allison surveyed 790.4 feet of cave near Mystery Lake and the
Elephant Trunk. Highlights of this survey in the BWB, BXB and BXC included the
infamous Big Butt Canyon. July/August
1991 During
the months of July and August, Wind Cave passed the 60 mile mark. The length was
increased from 59.6 miles to 60.5 miles. Approximately 2000 feet of previously
surveyed passage was inventoried in addition to the 0.9 miles of inventory done
as part of the survey process.
On July 3, an after-work
trip was performed by seasonal rangers, Anne Bohnet, Tom Kopp and Stan Allison.
They surveyed 371 feet off of Wakantanka in the LSA survey. Mostly in upper-level
cave, they found a nice flowstone area and an unclimbable pit dropping into the
Club Room.
On July 13, during the Colorado Grotto weekend,
Wind Cave passed the 60 mile mark! Two trips were made to the North Zone. Kevin
Smith, Kirk Haley and Ken Headrick surveyed 190 feet of cave in the UB' survey.
The KYZ and KYX survey, also in the North Zone accounted for 525.4 feet of new
cave. Jim Clark, Steve Smith and Veronica Stahl reported leaving leads going everywhere
in this area. Pat Jablonski, Bill Yett, Rusty Yett and Sandy Kraemer made a trip
to the Snowdrift Avenue area, locating passages for future surveys. Doug Kent,
Robert Phillips, Kent Parkhurst and Stacy Smythe surveyed 562 feet of cave in
the Deep Confusion area. Along their CT survey, they found an unclimbable pit
dropping into Andy's Icebox. Most leads in this survey apparently end in paleo-fill.
Jim Nepstad, Stan Allison, Rich Wolfert and Carl Pagano surveyed 472 feet off
of the north end of Wakantanka. A connection was made to the red and white trail
right before the Club Room, making Wakantanka more easily accessible. Thus far,
approximately 3500 feet of virgin cave has been surveyed in the Wakantanka area,
showing the potential for new discoveries in other internal areas of Wind Cave.
Kathy Petty, Nancy Cox and Margo Butner made an inventory trip to the Artifact
Room area. Gary Petrie, Paul Burger and Louise Hose surveyed 663 feet of cave,
mainly in interconnections in the Lunar Tubes area. Strong air was noted in the
SBA survey. Dave and Steve Lester surveyed 75 feet off of Half Mile Hall in the
TPC survey.
On July 20, a group of 7 from the Hole in the
Wall Grotto in Wyoming led an inventory trip to the area north of the Coke Room.
Stations were inventoried from KY300 to KY326. Involved in this inventory were:
Chris Brondum, John Hunter, John Gudgeon, Ross Hart, Dan Horkan, Dave Worthington
and Cory Edwards.
On July 28, Debbie Wong and Stan Allison
surveyed 146 feet of cave off of the Fairgrounds area.
On July 31, Stan Allison, Keith Grabner and Cindy Czydel made a work trip to examine
the feasibility of using the Frostline overpass as a main route. Due to the loose
rocks in the bypass that would be knocked down into the Frostline, it was deemed
unusable as a main route.
On August 7, Kevin Smith inventoried
11 stations along the Garden of Eden tour route.
Kevin
Smith, Marianne and Stacy Smythe did an inventory trip to the Room Draculum, Rainbow
Falls and Skydeck area. A total of 45 stations were inventoried on this August
8 trip.
The August Colorado Grotto weekend was August 10.
Bill Yett, Eric Dutton, Fred Luiser and Steve Posey led a digging trip to the
Snake Pit Entrance. Kevin Smith, Steve Smith, Robert Phillips, Bill Hawn and Ken
Headrick surveyed 216 feet of cave in the North Zone. Louise Hose, Dave Lester,
Steve Lester and Aaron Birenboim surveyed 504 feet of cave north of the Coke Room.
They reported that their KYE and KYF surveys still have many leads to be checked.
A team consisting of Pat Jablonski, Sandy Kraemer, Tim Moreland, Rich Wolfert,
Greg Glasner, Margo Butner, Tim O'Conner, Ken Rappe and Steve Rappe surveyed 206
feet in the CT' survey. This survey connects Snowdrift Avenue to Snowman's Heaven.
The Paha Sapa Grotto made a trip to the Rescue Pit area surveying
approximately 250 feet in the JJA' survey. Involved were: Dave Springhetti, Sarge
Preston, Rick Bogue, Jan Harms, Bob Croyle, Rhonda Gerhard, Kathy Smith, Karel
Bielstein and Nick Bielstein.
During the Labor Day weekend
38 cavers followed the Club Room Loop in four different trips. These trips were
a part of the Rocky Mountain Regional. September/October
1991 At
the beginning of September, Wind Cave was 60.5 miles long. By the end of October,
the surveyed length of Wind Cave had grown to 62.1 miles, equaling 100 kilometers.
The total length surveyed during these two months was 1.6 miles. Approximately
1600 feet of previously surveyed cave was inventoried, along with the 1.6 miles
of inventory accomplished with the survey process.
The
September Colorado Grotto weekend occurred on September 14. Doug Kent, Skip Withrow
and Dave Lester pushed the western edge of the cave from the Chimera Room. They
surveyed 565 feet of cave, discovering some exceptional aragonite. Louise Hose,
Pat Seiser and Vi Allured surveyed 551 feet of new cave in the Coke Room area.
476 feet of cave was found in the North Zone by Ted Lappin, Garry Petrie and Tim
Moreland. Their survey ended in an area with a 6" helictite bush. Steve Smith,
Dan harness, Bonnie-Ann Burnette and Susan Onimus surveyed 149 feet off of Grand
Central Station in the North Zone. Kevin Smith inventoried 55 stations along the
tour routes, accounting for approximately 1210 feet of inventory. Dawn Reed, Paul
Burger and Stan Allison were doing mop-up survey in the Silent Expressway when
they found a tight crawl taking good air. After pushing through the "Silent
Struggle", they surveyed 500 feet of cave to the south leaving the air and
several leads going south. Including the mop-up survey, a total of 974.5 feet
was surveyed.
On September 28, Jim Nepstad, Mike Wiles,
Stan Allison and Paul Burger returned to the area past the Silent Struggle. After
unsuccessfully pushing a few leads, the air was located in the "Looney Tubes".
Following the air to the south, a sharp squeeze names "Les Miserables",
led to a huge passage 600 feet long, 50-100 feet wide, and up to 30 feet tall!
This passage, named "Southern Comfort", went 650 feet further south
than any other passage in Wind Cave! A new form of boxwork consisting of two plates
of white dogtooth spar was found in this passage. Beautiful, calcified floor cracks,
and extensive ripple marks were also found. A total of 2149 feet was surveyed.
On October 11, Robert Phillips, Murray Vogel and Bill Hawn
made a trip to Coyote Cave. Robert managed to squeeze past the previous the previous
barrier, finding the lead continuing as a tight crawl. The October Colorado Grotto
weekend on October 12, was a very productive weekend. Kevin Smith, Kirk Haley
and Bruce Costa surveyed 452.4 feet in the John Wayne Room vicinity. Carl Pagano,
Any Johnson, Jason Moran and Mike Dodaro inventoried 5 stations in the Chris'
Chisel Crack area, near the Lakes. Dough Kent, Vi Allured, Ted alpine and Doug
Pflugh explored and surveyed 607 feet west of the Chimera Room. Robert Phillips,
Bill Hawn and Murray Vogel inventoried 14 stations in the Railroad Junction area.
Jim Nepstad, Bob Kobza, Paul Burger and Stan Allison returned to Southern Comfort.
Surveying 879 feet in crawls and an exciting high lead (140 feet tall!), they
felt air at the end of the day in a crawly maze area. Bonnie-Ann Burnett, Donna
Lehman, Pat Fisher, Margo Butner and Bryan Smith surveyed 246.6 feet in the Snowdrift
Avenue area. Jim Wilson, Eric Dutton, Aaron Birenboim and Dan Hanson surveyed
183.5 feet off of Half-Mile Hall in a delicate passage.
On October 26, Stan Allison, Paul Burger and Doug Kent traveled out to Southern
Comfort. Pushing leads in the mazy area left from the last trip, they made a breakthrough
into a large room 100 feet wide, 100 feet long, and 40 feet tall! The large room
soon turned into a passage 400 feet long, well over 50 feet wide in places, and
20-30 feet tall! As this room and passage are located in the northwest of Southern
Comfort it was named the "Northwest Territory". Many nice gypsum decorations
were found in this area, as well as 2 foot thick chunks of manganese. Airflow
at the northern ends of these passages hints at a connection with the Silent Expressway.
A total of 1792 feet was surveyed on this trip. So far a little over a mile of
cave has been found beyond the Silent Struggle. November/December
1991 At
the beginning of November, the surveyed length of Wind Cave was 62.1 miles. By
the end of December, Wind Cave's length was increased to 64.6 miles. The total
length surveyed during these two months was 2.5 miles. Approximately 1.1 miles
of previously surveyed passage were inventoried, along with the 2.5 miles of inventory
accomplished in conjunction with survey.
On November 3,
Paha Sapa Grotto members Rick Bogue, Sarge Preston and Dave Anderson surveyed
137 feet of cave above the Boxwork Chimney in the JJC survey.
November 15 and 16 was the monthly Colorado Grotto trip to Wind Cave. On November
15, Robert Phillips, Murray Vogel, Bill Hawn and Steve Huck inventoried 26 stations
along the EP and RT surveys. While at station RP-2, they noted paleo-fill in an
area below false floors in the lower level of cave.
On
November 16, Jim Clark, Kirk Haley and Skip Withrow surveyed 446.2 feet in the
Porcupette Passion area. Their YE and YCA surveys contained an extremely delicate
aragonite and gypsum area. In addition to their survey, they inventoried 20 stations
along the YC survey. Jim Wilson, Ted Lappin, Pat Seiser and Margie Robinson surveyed
542 feet in the KKT survey. This area off of Half-Mile Hall contained calcite
needles and nice spar. Bill Hawn, Murray Vogel, Steve Huck and Bob Phillips surveyed
467.3 feet in the OR survey. Jim Nepstad, Bob Kobza and Stan Allison surveyed
2459.9 feet in the LTE, LTF, LTG and LTH surveys. Surveying through a faulted,
crawly area, they broke into a area of large, going passages. One of these passages,
Gypsy Road, had gypsum crust and crystals virtually everywhere. One section 20
feet high and 20 feet wide had strong airflow! At the end of the day they had
pushed the cave 550 feet further west and left large leads going south and west!
John Scheltens, Andy Flurkey and Ed LaRock surveyed 1139.1 feet of cave in the
MT survey west of the Multi-purpose Room. Carl Pagano, June Golaz, Bryan Smith
and Jim Myers surveyed 192 feet in the XYY survey near Independence Hall. Vi Allured,
Dan Hansen and Carol Boyles inventoried 32 stations in the RA, RB, RC, LA and
JD surveys.
Stan Allison, Paul Burger, Bob Kobza and Jim
Erickson surveyed 2404 feet in the LTI, LTJ, LTK, LTL, LTM and LTN surveys. Beginning
their survey at the end of Gypsy Road, they soon discovered Blind Faith. Blind
Faith was over 100 feet wide, 200 feet long, with 30-50 foot ceiling heights!
It is clearly one of the largest rooms in the cave; it contains a massive flowstone
slope, as well as large frostwork deposits. Beyond Blind Faith the cave was pushed
further to the south.
The Minnesota Speleological Society
visited Wind Cave during Thanksgiving. On November 29, Rick Nelson, Gene Kramer,
Keith Nelson, Mike Winn and Cindy Schmidt inventoried 21 stations along the LS
survey near the Loose Screw Room. Mark Wickham, Carl Okling, Scott Laguard, Dave
Trumm and Craig Miller inventoried 11 stations in the KR survey near Half-Mile
Hall.
On November 30, John Scheltens, Rick Bogue and Myk
Coughlin surveyed 1000 feet in the YT survey.
On December
7, Rick Bogue, Jan harms and Marc Lamphere survey 38 feet in the YUK survey. Paul
Burger, Dawn Reed, Jim Nepstad and Stan Allison surveyed 1300 feet in the PH and
LOL surveys. They managed to follow good air to the south through an area with
strongly dipping limestone.
On December 10, Darryl Maleike
and Stan Allison surveyed 165 feet in the LOD survey at the Garden of Eden elevator
landing.
December 14 was the monthly Colorado Grotto trip.
Carl Pagano,Tim Moreland, Norm Thompson and Brian Smith surveyed 412.4 feet of
cave in the XYZ survey in the Colorado Grotto Zone. Kevin Smith, Christian George
and Eric David inventoried 58 stations in the NSGL and ID surveys. Rich Wolfert,
Dave Lester, Bob Stucklen and Randy Brown surveyed 88 feet in the FT survey, finding
a tight, blowing lead out of the Atlas Underground Hempworks. They also inventoried
13 stations in the XJ, XR and R surveys. Bill Hawn, Bob Phillips,Tim Johnson and
Dan Hansen inventoried 41 stations along the JF and AA surveys. Jim Nepstad, Louise
Hose, Vi Allured and Eric Dutton surveyed 261 feet in the AP survey, looking for
a short-cut to the Northwest Territory. They reported the chance of finding a
short-cut looked very slim. Stan Allison, Harry Burgess and Doug Kent surveyed
1400 feet in the Blind Faith area. They found several nice flowstone deposits
in their LOK and LOG surveys and left many leads to be checked.
On December 27, Jim Myers, Jamie Myers and Eric Liligren surveyed 219.9 feet in
the JM survey near the Cairn Room. |
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