January - The Cullman Grotto

The FLOWSTONE
Vol
Vol 18 Issue 01
January 2011
2010 EOY - Cagle’s Chasm
A Monthly Newsletter of the Cullman Grotto of the National Speleological Society
January 2011
Cullman Grotto Flowstone
CULLMAN GROTTO FLOWSTONE
January 2011
Visit us online @
Volume 18, Issue 01
Inside this Issue
2
3
4
5
6
Echo Chamber
TAG Calendar
Caving in Cullman Co
Breaking the Curse
One Last Trip for the
Year
Loads of Fun at Cagle’s
and CRC
www.caves.org/grotto/cullman/
or
www.cullmangrotto.com
The Flowstone is published monthly by the Cullman Grotto of the National
Speleological Society. Items submitted for publication must be received by the 20 th of
each month for inclusion in the following month’s issue.
The Cullman Grotto will exchange by request with any publishing grotto.
Republication of items within The Flowstone is allowed provided credit is given to
author and source.
Membership to the Cullman Grotto is fifteen dollars ($15) per year for individual or
twenty dollars ($20) per year for family. Dues are payable at the first grotto meeting of
each year (January) and includes subscription to The Flowstone. Subscription rate for
non-members is fifteen dollars ($15) per year.
Minutes
The Cullman Grotto meets on the first Tuesday of each month unless the first Tuesday
falls on a holiday or otherwise noted. In those cases the meeting will be held on the
second Tuesday. Meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. and are held at the old L&N train depot,
Arnold St., Cullman, AL. All visitors and prospective members are welcome.
Official Grotto Address
Cullman Grotto
c/o Harold Calvert
123 Co. Rd. 250
Cullman, AL 35057
webecavers@hotmail.com
2011 OFFICERS
Chairman:
Harold Calvert
123 Co. Rd 250
Cullman, AL 35057
(256) 287-9770
webecavers@hotmail.com
Front Cover:
The Cover:
Clansman Formation
Front
in Slaughter
Cagle’s
Chasm, Canyon Cave,
Carlsbad
Caverns
South Pittsburg,
TN National Park,
Carlsbad,
NM
L-R Will, Harold, Brian,
from 2008
Sharon,
Perry,Cavation
Evon.
Newsletter Exchange
The Flowstone
c/o David Drake
110 Co. Rd. 1386
Falkville, AL 35622
idopits@peoplepc.com
APPOINTMENTS
Vice Chair:
Advisor:
Perry Clayton
Victor Bradford
1628 Edmondson Rd.
8333 US Hwy 31
Hanceville, AL 35077
Hanceville, AL 35077
(256) 595-2548
by carrier pigeon only
pclayton1@windjammercable.net
Secretary:
Sharon Clayton
1628 Edmondson Rd.
Hanceville, AL 35077
(256)352-0235
Treasurer:
Tracy Calvert
123 Co. Rd. 250
Cullman, AL 35057
(256)287-9770
dcpbookwyrm@hotmail.com
tcalvert@cullman.net
Safety:
Harold Calvert
123 Co. Rd 250
Cullman, AL 35057
(256) 287-9770
webecavers@hotmail.com
Membership/
Editor/Library
David Drake
110 Co. Rd. 1386
Falkville, AL 35622
(256) 739-0811
idopits@peoplepc.com
Webmaster
Kuenn Drake
100 Co. Rd. 1386
Falkville, AL 35622
(256) 739-6915
kuenn@bellsouth.net
January 2011
Cullman Grotto Flowstone
ECHO))))) CHAMBER
TN WNS Caves Downgraded
Three Tennessee counties previously
marked "Confirmed" have been
downgraded to "Likely." This
includes the Dunbar Cave site. The
counties now listed as "Likely" are:
Montgomery, Fentress, Van Buren
and Blount. This means the only
confirmed cases of WNS in
Tennessee to date are in Sullivan and
Carter counties in the northeastern
corner of the state, near a confirmed
Virginia site. This is now the
southern-most and western-most
confirmation of WNS in the U.S.
The change was requested by the
state of Tennessee, which said that
the histological reports did not
support confirmation of WNS. The
counties downgraded to ―likely‖
were originally listed as confirmed
due to having bats that tested PCR
Positive for the fungus, but they
showed no other signs of illness.
Under the new ‖Working Case and
Cave Definitions for White-nose
Syndrome
and
Geomyces
destructans‖ issued by the USGS
National Wildlife Health Center, the
criteria for confirming a diagnosis of
WNS requires histological evidence
of infection with G. destructans.
These
criteria
require
the
identification of a specific pattern of
fungal colonization in the epidermis
which may extend to invasion of
the=0Adermis and connective tissue.
_____________________________
Is the
CullmanGrottoReady???
2011 SERA Cave Carnival Right of
Refusal
Six Ridges Grotto
Smoky Mountain Grotto
South Carolina Interstate Grotto
Southport Chronic Cavers
Spencer Mountain Grotto
Tampa Bay Area Grotto
Tennessee Cave Survey
Tennessee Central Basin Grotto
Triangle Troglodytes
Upper Cumberland Grotto
Alabama Cave Survey
Athens Speleological Society
Augusta Cave Masters
Birmingham Grotto
Bryson City Grotto
Central Alabama Grotto
Central Florida Cavers
Chattanooga Grotto
Clarksville Underground
Clock Tower Grotto
Crescent City Cavers
Cullman Grotto
Dogwood City Grotto
East Tennessee Grotto
Flint River Grotto
Flittermouse Grotto
Florida Speleological Society
Gadsden Grotto
Georgia Speleological Survey
Huntsville Grotto
Jackson County Grotto
JUST Cavers
Middle Georgia Grotto
Montgomery Grotto
Mountain Empire Grotto
Nashville Grotto
Obey River Grotto
Pigeon Mountain Grotto
Sewanee Mountain Grotto
TAG Calendar
Jan 8
Grotto Trip
TBA. Meet @ library 8:00am
July 18-22
NSS Convention
Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Visit NSS 2011.org!
Oct 6-9
TAG Fall Cave-In
TOTM, Lafayette, GA
June 25-29, 2012
NSS Convention
Greenbrier Valley, West Virginia
CANDID CAVER
Is the grotto ready to host this year’s
SERA? So far no one has claimed it
and if the 21 grottos ahead of us
decline it will fall in our lap.
Something to think about…but not
for very long.
Tracy (background) giggles as Greg delights in
meeting Santa for the first time
2
January 2011
Cullman Grotto Flowstone
Cullman County
12-18-2010
By Scott Murphy
Met up with John at the park around
10 to check out some possibilities.
We jumped into his truck and headed
up the road. Just around the corner
we were at our first spot. This one
was just a short hike down a power
line cut and into the woods about a
hundred yards.
The first cave we checked out
might not measure 50 feet but it did
have formations in it and bats. It also
had some animal bones and a couple
of skulls in it we decided they were
from a fox also a lot of scat in the
back which looked fresh. I was sort
of wondering if we were going to run
into a fox or something in the back of
the cave.
Cove Cave. I didn't go very far back
in this cave cause we needed to be
back to the park by 3 plus it got
really tight but kept going.
The next cave we went to is not in
the ACS data base but probably
should be. (my list is getting long.
Going to have to get out and survey).
This one had a sink entrance and a
death rock you had to go around to
get in the cave. It moved every time
you touched it. We could hear a
waterfall at the entrance of the cave.
On the way out we had to be
careful at the death rock. We made
sure we were standing in the right
place if it was to fall. We were
pressed for time now so we headed
over to the 5th possibility. This cave
had a huge entrance and it wasn't on
the ACS database either. This one
had spray paint in it so you know a
lot of people have been in this one it
probably has a name.
Spider web
We didn't get to explore all of this
one cause we were running late. This
one needs to be mapped. It looked
like it could be a saltpeter mined
cave. There was also some writing on
the ceiling of the cave which looked
to be old written with a candle or
lantern.
Pangea Cave
John at cave entrance
After we left from here we headed
over to the Seven Falls area this is
some beautiful country here I think it
would be awesome if it was a
preserve. We parked on the side of
the road and headed down into the
woods. We could tell we were in
Sandstone near the truck but when
we got further down the creek you
could see the change in the rock.
This is where we saw the next
entrance. John had already been in
this one and it didn't go but I crawled
in to see if the last rain had opened
anything up. The creek flowed right
into this hole and disappeared.
Down the creek just a little further
we entered our 3rd possibility. Come
to find out later that this was Powell
After you went down into the cave
you were in a stream passage. Then
you’re at the first drop. We really
didn't want to get wet but I wanted to
make it down. We set here for a
minute and saw that the passage went
off to the right. This went back about
30 feet and pinched off. Water was
coming in here also. On the way
back to where we were sitting I
found a way down without getting
soaked. There were some nice
rimstone dams at the next drop. It
was another 6 feet down. In here
there was a tight passage that went
off to the left which would need
some digging out. Further back the
ceiling got really low and there was a
lot of water in this passage. Would
for sure get wet in here. Would have
to come back here in the summer
time, we could hear a large waterfall
here. Nice flowstone in this room
also.
Breaking the Curse!
By Harold Calvert
After quite a few rained out /rained
on/blown away/hail and tornado trips
3
January 2011
that I have been involved in, I had
become somewhat of an outcast in
the caving circles, or so it seemed. I
would either hear, "it will rain for
sure now that you are here," or it
would pour a flood from nowhere
even though there was no forecast of
any. And I had thought that after so
many of these trips that maybe it was
true.
Even on our trip to Yosemite there
was a problem event with no rain in
the forecast. Kuenn and I approached
the rope for a long climb with perfect
weather, cool and not a cloud in the
sky. After climbing about 500 feet,
dark clouds blew in and blew us
around as well. Then there was the
rain, and lightning, and hail. Just as it
seemed that I would be denied once
again, we decided to ride it out. But
then something happened. The
clouds parted giving way to sunshine
and seemingly washing away the so
called curse. I have been rain free on
every trip since.
Yes, it seems the curse is gone and
the opposite is now occurring. Now I
go on trips with rain forecasted to
find sun and nice weather.
And so was the case for the New
Year’s Eve trip. The forecast was
ugly. Rain, thunderstorms, high
wind, flash floods, 90% but we went
anyway, planning for the worst.
Cullman Grotto Flowstone
degrees. It had been snowing, raining
and freezing all week.
We located the pit and rigged it as
well as the adjoining pit, Jeepside.
All had good rappels and climbs.
Finishing up in good time and
daylight to burn, we headed to Cedar
Ridge Crystal, a horizontal cave with
much to see. It is very well decorated
and a must see for any caver in TAG.
There were many photos here, as
usual. Seems everywhere you look in
this cave, photo opportunities
abound.
Cedar Ridge Crystal drapery
Finishing up here, we headed out to
find food, Mexican of course. Isn’t
that how you are supposed to finish a
caving trip?
One Last Trip for the
Year
Cagle’s Chasm, where Harold rigged
the main drop while, Kuenn rigged a
300’ rope that connected Jeep sides
over to the bottom of Cagle’s.
This pit was a lot of fun in that,
without too much effort, you could
drop down one side, and climb up the
other. Each side had attractions that
made them fun. Cagle’s was a moreor-less standard drop with an easy
lip, but those are always fun, and the
hike to the top of the pit was easy.
What really makes this fun, however,
is the connecting passage over to
Jeepsides. This makes it possible to
drop down Cagle’s and climb up
Jeepsides, and vice versa. It adds
just enough variety so that this stands
out from a standard yo-yo.
Another virtue of this pit is its
proximity to Cedar Ridge Crystal. I
had heard that this was a beautiful
location, but, honestly, I wasn’t
prepared for just how lovely it turned
out to be. With very little work we
found ourselves in a vast room with
wall-to-wall formations. They were
packed so tightly that it was difficult
to navigate the chamber without
disturbing them. Harold suggested
that we return some time and just to
do a photo-shoot there. I think this is
a great idea.
All in all, this was a great trip, and a
fantastic way to end the year on a
high note.
Formation gallery Cedar Ridge Crystal
Our plan was to go to Cagle’s, an
open air pit, then Cedar Ridge
Crystal in the afternoon. The closer
we got to Cagle’s, the nicer the
weather got. The sun popped out and
the temperature had risen to 65
By Perry Clayton
On the last day of 2010 we got the
chance to go to Cagle’s Chasm /
Jeepsides along with a side trip to
Cedar Ridge Crystal. On this trip
were Evon, Harold, Sharon, Kuenn,
Will, Brian and me. First we went to
Sharon giving a thumbs up…sorta!
4
January 2011
Cullman Grotto Flowstone
Loads of Fun at Cagle’s
and CRC
wrong place and ended up driving
around for a while until we found it!
I love it when a plan comes together.
By Kuenn Drake
The first noticeable change as we
parked our vehicles was the lack of
barking beagles. It has been 3 or 4
years since my last trip to Cagle’s
and we would later find out from the
grandson that his grandfather no
longer raises beagles there anymore.
The next noticeable change was the
road slash trail to the pit -- drastically
different. Recent logging in the area
has changed it beyond my usual fail
safe memory (cough). As we hiked
down the road I noticed a trail jutting
off to the right but rambled right
passed it (obviously looking for the
neon sign—Cagle’s This Way).
After course correction we were soon
at the pit.
Will on rope Jeepside drop #2
The Grotto Trip for December was a
fitting wrap up for the month, and
year for that matter. There’s no
better way to close out the old and
bring in the new than ON-ROPE.
Seven of us met at the library and
headed for South Pittsburg’s Cagle’s
Chasm and nearby Cedar Ridge
Crystal caves.
Participants were
Harold, Evon, Perry, Sharon and
their nephew Brian, Will and me; for
four of the group this would be their
first trip to these TAG classics.
Finding the parking place to hike up
the hill to Cagle’s has never been an
exact science. As Patrick recently
put it, ―you drive around for a while
and then you find it‖. Hoping that
we could avoid that Harold came by
the office during the week and we
tried to pin point the exact spot on
Google Earth. Confident we had
located it both with map and
coordinates in hand we set out.
Armed with the confidence that
prior-preparation-prevents-poorperformance we approached the
designated area just south of South
Pittsburg and we drove right to… the
There are several things to value
about this pit, it’s easy to find (that
is, once on the correct trail), one of
the easier hikes, ample areas to rig
and relax as you wait your turn.
There was some discussion as to its
official depth, however, based on
several online reports with varying
depths we are going to say 185’ for
the main shaft.
We rigged the main drop first and
then went over to rig Jeepside. On
previous trips to Cagle’s we have not
rigged Jeepside; this was a primary
objective for me on this trip.
Cagle's has multiple entrances with
varying depths and different routes to
the bottom. The main pit is about 30
feet across and 185' deep. The second
entrance known as "Jeepside" lies
just up the hill and to the right. Being
a much smaller entrance that is a
multi-drop. You descent 20 feet to
large formation bridge and then
rappel another 75 feet or so to a room
with a few side leads. A small
fissure at the bottom of the de-rig
slope is the connection to the main
shaft. Using bolts to redirect and
drop the remaining 70 – 80 feet to
the bottom of the main shaft. It is a
nifty semi-technical route to the
bottom and is cool to observe from
either position, i.e. on rope in the
main shaft or from the final rap of
Jeepside into the main shaft. On this
particular day there was a chilly
trickle of water raining down on that
last leg.
Evon at the connection in Jeepside
It was an added bonus to have Evon
and Will along; studies and distance
keeps both of them from caving as
much as they would like. We spent
the next few hours enjoying the pits,
taking advantage of the multi-choice
rigging. It was a beautiful and
pleasant winter’s day in the company
of Grotto friends.
After Cagle’s we briefly joined the
group at Cedar Ridge Crystal. Will
had never been here either so he and
I spent about 45 minutes in cave with
the others taking in the splendor
before heading back to Cullman to
ring in the New Year with family.
Soda Straw in Cedar Ridge Crystal
5
January 2011
Minutes of the Meeting
of the Cullman Grotto of
the National
Speleological Society
December 7, 2010
The regular monthly meeting of the
Cullman Grotto of the National
Speleological Society was called to
order on Tuesday, December 7, 2010
at 7:43 pm by Harold Calvert,
Chairman.
Eight people were
present.
The minutes of the previous monthly
meeting were read. A motion was
made by Kuenn Drake to accept the
minutes as read. The motion was
seconded by Arlon Baker.
A treasurer's report was given. It
was agreed that a check will be
written for $100 for gloves for Camp
Hulaco.
The Flowstone Editor, as always,
encourages members to write trip
reports & contribute to the
Flowstone.
The Trip Advisor discussed Bangor
Cave & evidence of clean up that he
has witnessed there.
The Conservation Officer advised us
to pick up some trash along the road
by our house or something equally
eco-friendly and neighborly.
Old Business:
There are still grotto shirts available
for purchase.
The Grotto Christmas party will be at
Evon's house Friday at 7pm. Bring
food and a gift for the dirty Santa.
New Business:
Nominations and Elections held for
2011 officers!
Treasurer : Tracy Calvert (only
nominee) Elected
Cullman Grotto Flowstone
Secretary : Sharon Clayton (only
nominee) Elected
Chairman : Harold Calvert (only
nominee) Elected (hmm...anyone
hear a freight train??? Oh, I guess its
just 'cause we're in the depot)
Vice-Chairman : Perry Clayton and
Kuenn Drake nominated.
Perry
Clayton was elected.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:32
pm.
Trip Reports:
Several different reports were given
about the post-Thanksgiving trip to
McBride's. Then Vic told us some
more stories about the olden days of
caving. This time, Bill Cuddington,
skulls
and
murder-most-foul
featured.
Harold showed us what he has
finished so far of his El Capitan
video masterpiece.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:26
pm
Will on rope Jeepside drop #2
---------------------------------------------
Minutes of the Executive
Meeting of the Cullman
Grotto of the National
Speleological Society
December 7, 2010
An executive meeting of the Cullman
Grotto of the National Speleological
Society was called to order at
7:21pm on Tuesday, December
7,2010 by Harold Calvert, Chairman.
The
Chairman,
Treasurer
&
Secretary were present.
Dale Douglas was approved as a full
member of the grotto.
Formations in Cedar Ridge Crystal
The purchase of gloves for Camp
Hulaco was discussed .
Harold will contact people to see
about pricing for Grotto Hats to be
made for the coming year.
6