01/05/2014
Here is Ben Hutchin's latest trip report...
Webster Cave trip report December 30th-31st, 2013.
December 30th
Sometime around 9:00AM Central, Ben Hutchins, Ben Tobin, and 1st time Websterer Katie Wightman met Jeff Gillette (who had been waiting for some time) in the field by Webster Cave to push Colon Crawl, while Jeff would head to Boot to the Head to continue digging towards Upper East Bore. Jeff used trusty kayak power while the rest of us inflated $7.00 river tubing inner tubes. I was trying webbed gloves to assist with paddling. The gloves helped nominally, but kayaking still seems more comfortable and efficient although with numerous portages (especially in summer), and hauling ‘yaks to and from the cave, I think this is still debatable. Previously, 145’ of Colon Crawl had been surveyed, and the notes show comfortable passage continuing as a two foot wide by four foot tall passage. Katie, however, was not convinced. The water was several feet higher on this trip, inundating Colon and giving it a menacing appearance. Katie decided this was not an appropriate 1st Webster experience (and as we would like her to come back, we agreed). Furthermore, as Jeff astutely pointed out, neither Ben nor I tried particularly hard to convince her. Instead, we decided to check out Parks Grotto before following Jeff to Boot to the Head to check the status of his dig and try to figure out if this is indeed the best hope for a sump bypass. We shot two shots up and into the dig for a token 21 feet. Although this dig does seem to be related to Upper East, after plotting out the numbers, the passage appears to be first heading back towards a bend in Parks Avenue around station g28 where it looks like the upper passage might cross over. Sorry Jeff, but you may want to consider another dig although I guess it could always curve back.
December 31st
Ben and I headed in the cave around 8:00AM Central to continue survey in Derelict. Aide by two kayaks that Jeff was gracious enough to leave, we made it to the far shore of Marathon Lake in just 1.5 hours: it helps when only one has to be dragged into the cave. After a bit to eat, we made it to the end of the previous survey, and after a bit of buffoonery (funny how the cave changes between visits) we were surveying though surprisingly sloppy belly crawl. Luckily, after a few shots, the cave becomes notably more pleasant and we were soon in comfortable passage alternating between wide, dry belly crawl and comfortable hands and knees with dimensions as good as seven feet wide by three feet high. We quickly set 20 stations for 641 feet (some of the nicest survey had in Webster in a while). This basically puts us at the end of known passage. Just past the end of survey, there is a small, not quite stand up room with a bit of dripping water. The passage continues as a belly crawl about three feet wide. As noted previously, this passage blows lots of air: not quite as much as the sump but probably more than any other lead in the cave that I’m aware of, including things like Giger that probably lead to the surface. Where is this passage going? Almost 1600 feet has been surveyed in Derelict, which steadily heads southeast before curving and heading northwest for the last 400 feet. What this passage will do is anyone’s guess. Options include curving back to the south and interesting an upstream extension of Dempster River, heralding in a glorious new era of Webster discovery. Only the air and general direction of the pasage suggest this possibility. More likely, the air could be explained 1) if the passage intersects with some lower Necronom-related passage, causing a chimney effect or 2) if the passage leads to some surface sink in the sinkhole plane. Yet another option is that it is heading towards sandstone capped ridges which are still over 100 feet away. Regardless, there is no guarantee that the passage continues large enough for human access. Near the end of survey, there were several menacing rimstone dams that could suggest upcoming troubles. Only one way to find out. Ben and I enjoyed the kayak trip back out of the cave, emerging just in time for a beautiful Kentucky winter sunset illuminating the tree trunks and reflecting off of icicles along the blind valley below the main entrance.
The cave now stands at 9.61 miles with enough in-cave leads to certainly push 10 miles even without connecting to other caves. If we were to update the stats, Webster would be ranked as the 307th longest cave in the world, literally just a few feet behind Big Bone Cave, Tennessee. With a few more surveys we could easily move up into the 280s. On a side note, for those of you who have seen much of this cave, please take a look at the quad maps, and if there is any substantial unsurveyed passage that you know about, please let us know so that it can be surveyed (this plea does not apply to the first left in Necronom).
