Raising the Bar
© 2009 Anthony J. Garot
Edits by C. Brian Smith
Protagonists
Don
Arburn
Dale Barnard
Jen Foote
Tone Garot
Erick Gonzalez Montell
Ben Hutchins
Carrie Hutchins
Goni Iskali
Ramona Josefczyk
Jim "Crash" Kennedy
Roger Moore
Kathleen O'Connor
Ashland Rutherford
Barbara Rutherford
Drew Rutherford
Kevin Rutherford
Ron Rutherford
Ann Scott
Jane Slater
Ben Tobin
Matt Turner
Steve Yochum
Carol Zokaites
Joe Zokaites
Introduction
I have
entitled this trip report "Raising the Bar" because never before have
I been on a caving expedition quite like this one. The number of
participants superseded any previous trip's count; and the launch of a new
website devoted specifically to this project helped to organize and disseminate
information in a way nonpareil to any other trip I have attended.
This particular trip to Laguna de Sanchez was quite possibly the most fun
caving adventure that I've experienced. We started with 12 people and
then upped it to 24, making this trip the largest Jim "Crash" Kennedy
has thus far arranged to this area. The camaraderie was palpable.
We had a huge campfire every night, and the local winevino manzanaflowed
freely. I personally got to dig two days in a row (and digging is perhaps
my favorite aspect of caving), and I bolted and dropped into an amazing, albeit
noisome, room. In two words: bad air. According to Jim, the group
found eight new caves and mapped 16. The meals were huge and
delicious. Thanksgiving dinner with the landowner and his family brought
the count to a whopping 36. We had fun trying to speak to them in Spanish
since English was not an option for them. We also had a movie night, a
slide show, and even an '80s dance partyall in the
middle of Nowhere,
There were two other
2009 Nov 19 Thursday
A lot of
the fun of a trip with Jim Kennedy is the pre- and post- trip activities.
Although our plan was to leave Saturday morning, I drove the six hours from
2009 Nov 20 Friday
The day
started with the pre-trip errand of buying bulk groceries. Carol
Zokaites, a
While Jim was in a meeting at Bat Conservation International, Ann Scott called
to say she was coming to pick up Ramona to bring her to
2009 Nov 21 Saturday - Departure
It was an
early morning. People started getting up around 6 or
En route, a rope holding the tarp on Matt's truck snapped causing some gear to
come off. Everything was reclaimed except the toilet paper and a
shovel. Apparently, the toilet paper exploded on the road, possibly
causing a white-out!
Crossing the border, all vehicles met at the Módulo CIITEV to get our visas,
car permits, and to exchange money. We met Team Moby (Don's group) there,
said our hellos to them, took obligatory pictures of the Mexican flag, and
handled our paperwork. This ritual is the same basic one everyone goes
through when visiting
Dr. Ann Scott taking photo of Mexican flag in a surprisingly clean
truck window.
The three vehicles tried to caravan from then on. The first order of
business was lunch: seven chickens and multiple Cokes for 700
pesos. At first, the price seemed a bit high, but $54 USD for 12
people really wasn't too outrageous. That's $4.52 per person for
delicious chicken barbecued right in front of us.
On the road again, we eventually reached
Driving through
We eventually arrived at the H.E.B. in
It was dark before we hit the limestone cliff walls at the pass. We
stopped for a few minutes to look around, but, alas, we didn't see much.
Arriving at Laguna de Sanchez, we stopped to pick up vino manzana and a few
necessary perishables for the trip.
As luck would have it, a wrong turn took us through a quick jaunt into the
lagoon orchards . . . which we usually do in daylight! After a bit of
creative driving, we finally made it to camp.
When we got to camp, we noticed a lot of "firewood" had been cut and
was sitting around the old mud fire ring. My first order of business was
to move the fire ring out of the mud area. The "muddy fire pit"
game was old hat. As it was getting cold, I finished up the new fire
ring, quickly grabbed my tent, found a level spot, and then pitched it. I
was tired, so I lay down for a bit. Do you know that I actually dozed
off? Later Jim, Ramona, and Jane came by to find me. My mistake was
getting up; I went to the fire, laughed, drank, and had a good old time
chattering about nonsense. I paid for it the next morning.
The camp layout was different this trip because of the larger count of
cavers. The kitchen was positioned under a screen tent. Two
bathroom pits had been dug by the landowner, seemingly for a large party of
people. This was somewhat amusing considering that Don had built a toilet
box specifically for this trip. In the past, we simply ducked under the
fence with a rock hammer, paper, and a promise. A few ill positioned
tarps, providing a hint of privacy, completed the bathroom arrangement.
2009 Nov 22 Sunday
I woke up
early and knew I was going to have a rough day. What is the saying?
"For every ounce of pleasure, there is a pound of pain." Since
no one else was yet awake, I put in my earplugs and decided to go back to
sleep. My first realization of the morning was that I wasn't being
inundated by jejenes! If you are unfamiliar with jejenes, they are nasty
blood-thirsty creatures spawned from Hell. While the bite of the jején is
virtually unnoticeable, it spits a protein into its prey as it bites, the
antibody of which causes red welts to appear on the skin. These inflammations
are accompanied by a fierce itch that can last for several days; for this
reason, I wear long-sleeved shirts while in
It was a slow day overall; people headed out around
During these few hours of daylight, Matt, Crash, and Jane ridge walked and
tagged caves. The tagging of caves was a new concept initiated this
trip. Jim had procured blue, anodized aluminum tags that we nailed into
trees nearby significant, or potentially significant, Karst features. The
quantity of known caves and features was becoming too large to manage.
GPS Waypoints taken at these features were averaged until the error was between
3 to 5 meters of accuracy.
Folks started coming back shortly before dark. Ann and I made guacamole that
was, if I say so myself, divine. Carol started cooking chicken and
mole. People assembled around the camp fire to keep warm and discuss
lofty topics. We typically had a huge bonfire each night, nearly wiping
out a tree per night. Downed wood was plentiful in this area.
Typical fire we had
each evening.
2009 Nov 23 Monday
On this
day I led a group into Cueva Culo de Pollo, a cave found on the previous trip
by Jim, Devra, and me. At that time, we knew the cave to have a large
drop, the extent of which was unknown because we ran out of bolts. Team
"Chicken Butt" consisted of me, Steve, Joe, and Jen. Jen began
to feel ill after the initial entrance survey and did not continue past the
keyhole. For rigging, we used a natural initial point; then Steve
commenced to bolt a hanger directly above the pit. Unfortunately, the
hammer drill battery was drained after only two inches of depth!
Unfortunate indeed, now our day was nearly done.
Before leaving, however, our sketcher, Joe, tried to fit through the keyhole
just to see if he would be coming back the next day when batteries might be
fresher. After some maneuvers you might see in a yoga class, Joe's final
assessment: he was just too big. Steve took over sketching just past the
keyhole to mop up the point right above the pit where he drilled.
As team "Chicken Butt" finished up and headed toward the entrance, I
heard thunder. What?! That sound reminded me that I had left my
tent fly openoh no! The rain proceeded to come down, and then came harder
and harder. Then came hail chunks which were about 8mm or better.
As our group descended the hill, we overtook Jim's group who were also headed
down. Jim decided to take the merged groups to El Infierno for a peek,
but my thoughts were only of my potentially disastrous tent. I walked
back with a feeling of foreboding doom. The time must have been
approximately
Ramona later found out that her tent leaked. Oh, no!
Gerardo, the landowner, walked by the campsite accompanied with two relatives
who spoke some English. It was conveyed to me that we should not
burn the "chairs" around the campsite. Ooops! Not long
after, Jim returned with the El Infierno group. Then Jim grabbed a
chainsaw to decimate a fallen tree. Matt, Joe, and I loaded the fire wood
onto Matt's truck. Jim cut several chair-sized logs as replacements for
the "chairs" Gerardo wanted saved. He also cut several larger
logs for use in making a rich and robust camp fire experience.
Dinner was costillas, ribs cooked over the fire. Corn and baked potatoes
finished the ensemble. The salt on the potatoes was a little heavy, but
the rosemary was a nice touch.
Later that evening, around
Ron Rutherfords
truck was safe.
The foul weather changed the dynamic of the trip. The slippery roads to
Laguna de Sanchez meant no restocking of supplies. Although we were chock
full of food, those who drank beer found the supply limited.
The music switched to 80's fare, and a dance party soon ensued. Jen said
she was starting to feel better; I hoped she would be able to cave soon.
2009 Nov 24 Tuesday
Team
"Chicken Butt" needed a sketcher because Joe didn't fit through the
keyhole in Cueva Culo de Pollo. First, I recruited Ramona who was then
supplanted by Ron Rutherford. The group of the day was, therefore, me,
Steve, Jen, Ron Rutherford, and Ron's son, Drew.
Steve decided to enlarge the keyhole a bit, then passed through and completed
the bolt started the previous day. He used Ron's hammer drill. This
time, the bit went into the limestone like a hot knife through butter.
After securing the hanger and rope, Steve rappelled down the pit. After
some deliberation, a rope pad was put in place, and he continued further
down. A particularly jagged and nasty section concerned Steve, so he sat
on a ledge, "Steve's Ledge," while I dropped down to take a
look. I brought Ron's potent hammer drill with me, just in case. I
decided to put in a rebelay bolt for one final drop into a vast room. The
oxygen was scarce, the hammer drill was heavy, and I was in an awkward position
hanging by a thread. This was just cause for heavy breathing on my part
as I made short order of the task at hand.
Below me, the floor looked a long way down, and I would have sworn that the
rope didn't actually touch bottom (it did). The total rope length was
50m, by the way. I was already breathing with effort, and since I didn't
have a lot of experience with bad air conditions, I decided to let Ron take the
lead. I ascended back up the rope, past Steve, all the way to the rigging
point near the keyhole. Ron then carefully rappelled down the drop using
a lighter to test the air, and made it to the bottom without difficulty.
He stated that the air was tolerable, so Steve joined him to assist with the
survey. My plan was to wait up top until they were done.
Jen, who was just up at the keyhole, and I had a chat. She decided that
she didn't wish to go down. Instead, she took Drew to look for caves,
then back to camp. Fifteen minutes later, I became bored. I yelled
down to see if it was safe for me to come down. It was, and I descended.
The big room was cool! It was decorated and even appeared to continue;
though no one was willing to go further because of the lack of oxygen.
Ron continued sketching while Steve and I took photos. Eventually Ron
neared completion, and since he was getting a headache, Steve began his ascent
up the rope. Positioning the single rope pad proved to be futile.
It was tied and retied back into position, but the rope moved to a different
position once Steve got higher. Eventually the Steve and Ron were out;
then I ascended derigging as I went. I left one hanger in the cave
because of lack of wrench. Oh well.
The three
of us got back to camp late, around 7:30 p.m. At this time, it was dark,
and, unfortunately, it was raining again. Within the cloud canopy that
enveloped us, large drops formed from condensation on tree branches, making it
seem to rain even when the rain stopped. A dinner of Mac-n-Cheese blended
with canned chicken was already piping hot. Way better than Beanie
Weenies! Jim and Joe ran out to us with bowls of the steaming, delicious
victuals for us.
After dinner, I helped coordinate the washing of dishes and after-meal
cleanup. There was a huge drum of water on the stoveway more than was
necessary for the dishes. We started with the normal amount of heated
water to wash, then 15 minutes later used the rest as
the rinse water. Perhaps 30 minutes after that, Ron came by to collect
the heated water he requested to clean his family from poison ivy.
Apologies Ron, but we missed that memo . . . .
The incidence of poison ivy wasn't bad the prior trip because it still hadn't
grown back since the forest fire. This trip, however, poison ivy reared
its ugly head. Carol Zokaites got the worst batch; Matt probably got the
second worst; and luckily, I only got a small dose.
Most people went to bed early because of the cold, damp, dark evening.
Me, Jane, Jen, and Steve decided to watch a movie in Jim's Tahoe off of my
laptop. The movie selected: Army of Darkness. At intermission, Jen
and Steve ducked out.
2009 Nov 25 Wednesday
The rain
seemed to have stopped, but camp was still in the cloud cover. I was not
entirely enthused about these bleak conditions. Since most of my gear was
dry, though, I made due.
My team today consisted of me, Joe, Jen, and Jane. Everyone's name
started with a "J". Well, sort of. We surveyed two caves:
Cueva de Llano Sumidero (
Cueva Tres Luces required some exposed climbing, which is primarily the reason
it was so much fun. Jane had been in the cave before, so she became our
de facto guide. We had a lot of fun exploring the cave, taking pictures,
and otherwise enjoying the afternoon.
A hot, plentiful, and delicious dinner of spaghetti and meatballs was nearly
prepared when our group arrived back at camp. Earlier, the
2009 Nov 26 Thursday - Thanksgiving
Today
there were three teams: a large team assembled to drop El Infierno, a 55m drop;
the
Team "Dig Dug" consisted of Matt, me, Kathleen, and Ramona. Our
objective was to push La Cueva de la Vaca Púrpura (Purple Cow) and La Cueva de
Más Cencerro (More Cowbell). Other holes we dug were icing on the cake.
Purple Cow turned out to be just a simple chimney down about 10 meters,
measured in Tone-lengths. It continued down and diagonally as a narrow
fissure crackhumanly impassable.
More Cowbell showed more promise. Kathleen and I
alternated attempts to pry a wedged rock out of obvious passage. The rock
was below, at foot level, and none of the tools we brought quite reached
it. This elusive rock taunted us by shifting to and fro, but it simply
would not drop. Kathleen's tenacity was noteworthy, and since there was
only room for one, I looked for other digging options.
I pulled rocks out of a likely possibility and found obvious cave passage
below! Woo hoo! I passed the baton to Matt who continued excavating
approximately one ton of rock. Matt wanted to call it El Toño Baño, and
that's exactly what we did. When Matt pointed out that Tone's Bathroom
was "filthy and filled with stuff," I was less sure of the
compliment.
Matt tossing rocks
like they were pebbles.
Ramona had found a dig location down the hill and wanted my opinion. I
was a bit skeptical, but her enthusiasm warranted some effort. I
recommended that she get Kathleen and Matt to assist. My idea was that
Kathleen would go head first, and Matt and I could lift her back out once she
looked around. While Ramona was gone, I brutally smashed several
limestone fins out of the way. With a little more cleanup, we wouldn't
have to do the Kathleen-hoist after all. Once Matt finished the cleanup,
and I removed one boulder, Kathleen easily maneuvered into the hole.
Unfortunately, my initial assessment was correct: the hole didn't do
anything. Foo.
After a few hours of wielding hammers and pry bars, we were getting
tired. It was Thanksgiving, so we wrapped up early and started back
toward camp. Along the way, we tagged and recorded waypoints for a few
more features. The day was tiring, but satisfying . . . even if we didn't
break into major cave passage. Matt and I plan to return on another trip
with wedges and feathers to remove a few irritants, especially in El Toño Baño.
That night Erick showed up with much needed cerveza as well as some pork and
chicken soup dishes. Being a holiday, and always wanting to keep good
landowner relations, an invite had been extended to the land owner and his
family to join us for dinner. Gerardo, Gloria, the three girls, and two
of the boys showed up. Alan, the nephew, and Edsgar, the son were unable
to make it due to chores. None of Gerardo's family speaks English which I
think created a slight initial awkwardness. Later, the
The feast was deep-fried turkey, baked honey-glazed ham, mushroom stuffing,
garlic mashed potatoes, and asparagus in butter sauce. Although we had 34
people, there were still plenty of leftovers. Unfortunately, leftovers
were of little use because of the sheer volume of food that we brought.
Therefore, leftovers were typically thrown over the fence to the pigs.
Misfortune hit me when a terrible headache vexed me. Since I was
physically exhausted from digging all day, I went to my tent to lie down.
I woke about 1.5 hours later feeling much better. It was probably just a
muscle tension headache due to smashing rocks. I got up, put on an extra
coat, and then went to sit around the campfire again.
2009 Nov 27 Friday
Matt
enlisted me to take a look at Hoyo Encantador (Lovely Hole). He had
reported that it blew considerable air, and in the cool weather, vapor.
Jane joined us making a group of three.
We hiked the 660 m from camp over rocky terrain. The hole didn't need to
be rigged at all, and after a bit of cleanup, I sent Jane inside to take a
look. Over the course of the day, we pushed the cave some 10 feet.
We used Jane's bat bag (actually Jim's) to haul dirt and rock out of the
hole. We found a herbivore skull as we continued.
We made a fun crew. We had tunes, we had laughs, and we pushed cave; what
could be better?
Jane Slater models a herbivore skull.
Jen and Kathleen showed up after a few hours from dropping El Infierno.
Jen went into the pit to take a look, and then apparently she started to
dig. Tap, tap, tap . . . ouch! She soon
emerged saying that a rock dislodged and hit her in the mouth. Later, Ron
and Drew came by to take a peek inside.
Since this was the last day of the trip, we finished early to eat dinner and to
start the chore of packing. After dinner, Jim and I took care of the
finances, which I had been tracking in an Excel spreadsheet. This was my
first caving trip with a NetBook. I found the NetBook to be useful for
taking trip notes, doing the finances, and even watching movies. While
Jim and I worked out the financial details, Ramona and Steve sifted through
more than 6 GB of collected images to prepare a slide show. They whittled
down the count to a little more than 200. The projector was run from
Ron's 500 Watt inverter connected to an extra truck battery brought
specifically for inverter use. Nice! I cannot speak for everyone,
but I enjoyed reminiscing and seeing what other people had been doing during
the trip.
2009 Nov 28 Saturday - Return
To USA
Erick and
Jen departed camp first because her flight out of
Our first stop was to Gerardo's home to offer him excess food and supplies that
we didn't use during the trip. We took a tour of his place to see
piglets, kids (both types!), and other livestock. We said our goodbyes
then headed toward Laguna de Sanchez. Caesar, Gerardo's son, joined us
for the ride. He would eventually walk back home on his own.
Jane Slater with a kid.
Reaching the town of
Continuing down the mountain, Ramona and Jane jumped atop Yeti (Jim's Tahoe)
for a roof ride through breathtaking limestone scenery. We stopped at El
Cercado to collect the deposit on beer bottles and toss the garbage from the
trip.
Our motley caravan stopped for lunch in the town of
Continuing with our journey, the two vehicles arrived in
The Lov Pub in
Driving
through
Later, we heard that both Ron and Don were also extorted by the Mexican
"law" at the bridge before the border. Although I have been
extorted before in
We arrived home late.
Summary
According
to Jim, our group mapped 16 caves, including about eight new ones found on this
trip. We placed anodized aluminum tags on more than 70 cave entrances and
Karst features. GPS waypoints and track logs were abundant.
The general consensus was that the trip was good. Congratulations to Jim
"Crash" Kennedy for pulling off an amazing adventure.