meters to where the ceiling narrowed in a constriction that threatened toblowo<strong>ut</strong> my light with its howling gale. Ahead in the distance was thepowerful roar of a great waterfall. Returning to the others we decidedto map down to the beginning of The Canal and then quit <strong>for</strong> the day. Ourlast <strong>station</strong> was 180 meters below the entrance, making this new sectionthe deepest portion of the <strong>cave</strong>.The following day, ~~rch 17, was to be our last day of caving inBrinco. Ediger, Robert, and Jerry set off to try to connect their downstreampassage (Katy Fells) with the Laguna Verde, while Terri, Sheila,and I returned to try to survey The Canal. Ediger's survey party mapped26 <strong>station</strong>s to a point which turned o<strong>ut</strong> to be close to Laguna Verde, b<strong>ut</strong>a connection remains to be realized. Beyond the last <strong>station</strong>, it wasdropping down and heading in the right direction. For our group, TheCanal was a cold survey. Even ,in wetsuits we were shivering. At theconstriction~re I had stopped, our lights did get blown o<strong>ut</strong> as wesurveyed and swam through. B<strong>ut</strong> strangely enough, once on the other sidethe roar of the impendinf waterfall was suddenly behind us! ~fuat hadsounded exactly like the roar of a distant waterfall was actually thewind in the constriction. A few shots later The Canal ended in a blankwall with the only wayan being up. We ended the survey and exploredahead, Sheila and Terri checking one passage while I took another. Soonwe joined up again, with the others reporting having passed several sideleads. Although the passage was still climbing, it still seemed likedownstream. Soon I left the others behind, running down virgin passagefollowing the air flow. Finally ahead I could hear the sound of echoingwater-not wind this time!· Continuing on, I entered a room with a stream,the largest in the <strong>cave</strong> and scoured clean and wet to the ceiling! Afterlooking a short ways to the right and left, I returned and met the othersa short way back. Together we explored left in the trunk, the directionof tne water and air flow. We went <strong>for</strong> over 100 meters to where swimmingwas once again unavoidable. Upstream also led to swimming. \.Je dubbed thisnew section "The World Beyond" so unlike the old <strong>cave</strong> it was. lle left the<strong>cave</strong> with shredded hands and wetsuits.We had a leusure journey back to Texas, stopping on the way at EIChorrito, where thousands of Christian pilgrims had gathered in a festivalto worship the Virgin who had appeared in travertine in the <strong>cave</strong>.So Cueva del Brinco continues to yield amazing discoveries. In fourdays of caving we had extended the <strong>cave</strong>'s length from 2.1 kilometers to3.2 kilometers (making it the 12th longest <strong>cave</strong> in Mexico) and also increasedits depth. Take the air and water flow, add in the likely resurgence1400 meters lower and I think you can say that Brinco is just beginning.ATEA RIVER CAVE PUSHED - An Australian expedition to ~ew Guinea led byMexico veterans Julia James and Neil Hontgomery in summer 1976 found fossilpassages connecting into the river system, enabling them to survey 2-1/2miles of the <strong>cave</strong>. The river passage itself was explored <strong>for</strong> half a mileb<strong>ut</strong> it still continues.5PERUVIk~ EXTENSION - A French expedition to the Tarma area of Peru hassucceeded in pushing the siphon in Huagapo Cave (~ee Canadian Caver).They discovered 20~. of new passages adding 33m of depth to the <strong>cave</strong>.
5uestination: Sierra las Alazanas and Cueva los Hundidos, CoahuilaDate: February 10-14, 1977Persons: Sheila Ba1sdon, David Honea, Janet Honea, Peter Sprouse, andTerri TreacyReported by: Sheila BalsdonThe objective of our trip, besides having fun, was to check severalsinks (Hoya la Loba, Hoya Armenia, and Hoya 10 Sartenejas) in the Sierrade las Alazanas, near the town of San Antonio de las Alazanas. The townis located abo<strong>ut</strong> 60 km SE of Saltillo. Driving as far as possible, weparked at an elevation of abo<strong>ut</strong> 7000 feet. We continued hiking <strong>for</strong> severalhours up an old lOfginP- road eventually reaching a high ridge at abo<strong>ut</strong>11,000 feet. We camped in the first sink, Hoya la Loba, <strong>for</strong> ~o nights.Drinking water was not available on the ridge and had to be brought upfrom the stream abo<strong>ut</strong> 1000 feet below.Although the ridge top is a reasonably developed example of AlpineKarst, no <strong>cave</strong>s were located in any of the sinks. This was most likelydue to heavy sedimentation in the sink floors and to the general yo<strong>ut</strong>hof the development. Frost fracturing seemed to be an" important mechanismin the karst development.One family resides in Hoya la Armenia. Vegetation was typical ofhigh altitude areas and included pine, spruce, and aspen trees. Numeroustrees had broken limbs or trunks suggesting a recent heavy snow. On thesecond afternoon of our stay, it snowed 1-2 inches. The high altituderecord <strong>for</strong> snow frisbee was set at 11,000 feet on February 12. Thesunrise on the snow the next morning was spectacular as was a leisurelyhike back to the vehicle.Driving abo<strong>ut</strong> 15 km S of San Antonio brought us to the vicinity ofCueva 108 Hundidos. After waiting in the tents <strong>for</strong> a rain shower to pass,we took the appearance of a brilliant double rainbow as a good omen. A30 min<strong>ut</strong>e hike brought us to the <strong>cave</strong>. We were not disappointed. The '<strong>cave</strong>is developed in gypsum, the walls and ceiling show bea<strong>ut</strong>iful marbling ofgray and white bands. The large trunk passage reaches dimensions of asmuch as 150 feet wide by 30 feet tall, ending in breakdown. The <strong>cave</strong> wassurveyed, with a length of abo<strong>ut</strong> 500 meters. He returned to the car afteran exciting midnight hike through the desert chaparral to the tune ofcoyote howls.We drove to ~~nterrey on Monday, the 14th. After visiting the Cetenaloffice to purchse maps, we gorged on cabrito and left <strong>for</strong> the border.Letter sent ~-1ay 2 from the French Readers Digest requesting slides ofSotano de las Golondrinas. Interested <strong>cave</strong>rs with slides of Golondrinasshould contact them soon.l..]e are looking <strong>for</strong> our book "Natural l.J'onders of the t-Torld" <strong>for</strong> transparenciesshowing "Sima de las Golondrinas in ~1exico." Hould you be ableto send us a choice of transparencies on the subject or if not could yo<strong>ut</strong>ell us an address where to make our request? Looking <strong>for</strong>ward to receivingsoon your answer.C. Van HieuDocumentation PhotographiqueSelection du Reader's Digest5 ~ 7, Avenue Louis Pasteurn - BagneuxFRRiCE
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ASSCCIATION FOR MEXICAN CAVE STUDIE
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3So the large-entranced sotano whic
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5MINA OTATES, T&~.: DSC. 25, 1974,
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MERIDA, YUC.: OCT. 1974, David McKe
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AMCSMEMBERSHIP ACTIVITIES LETTEREdi
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3Michael Schulte has been working o
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5To the right of the partition in t
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7Diamond Cave RevisitedAndy Grubbs,
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9CHE~-VEN-SIL-MUTSYSTEM\+--1000 ft.
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Cave Map Symbols11On the following
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13I NATIONAL SPELEOLOGICAL ISOCIETY
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ASSOCIATION FOR MEXIC&~ CAVE STUDIE
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17Discussion of Map Symbolsby Bill
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19in a 90 meter pit could collect d
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AMCSACTIVITIES LETTEREdited by Bill
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3After leaving Valladolid we went t
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CASI UlL 5By Bill Stone as told to
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June 97Dear AMCSRE:Diamond CaveAfte
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Anyways we speleo-boppedEstrella an
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The adrenelin still pumping through
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13Sotano Hondo de Pina1itoBy Steven
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CAVE MAP SYMBOLS(continued)15The AM
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mechanical shading -- the dots, con
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morphogenetic feature involving gra
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height variation, say. across the w
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23that list to include a broader se
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25be represented by rigidly p,eomet
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27..• D. 0. ȯGravelFEATURENOTESS
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ASSOCIATION FOR MEXICAN CAVEUAP Snm
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AlfCSACTIVITIES LETTEREdited by Bil
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35. I personally had the following
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volunteered to rescue the bag. They
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one large black hole near the top o
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The next day we left camp at dawn a
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11First Exploration of NogalThursda
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- Page 83 and 84: 15Trip Report, Christmas-New Years
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- Page 92 and 93: 22Diamante received its name from t
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- Page 102 and 103: 3View across the botto~ of Hoya de
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- Page 119 and 120: RETURN TO HUAUTLA~Jith t~e 1976-77
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- Page 133 and 134: The Fissure t..as located by T.P.
- Page 135 and 136: 11The next morning Francisco "Kissi
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- Page 139 and 140: 14This idea was thwarted given an u
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- Page 155 and 156: 30Medical Report On The April 1977
- Page 157 and 158: '32One caver alInost lost her voice
- Page 159 and 160: 34considered normal. The diabetic d
- Page 161 and 162: 36Jim Smit~ Has followinp, Blake Ha
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stove in a semi-catatonic state. He
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above the roaring cascades. At time
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With two leads 'beckoning we began
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Chaining a passage in Cueva de Infi
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the cave. We pulled our rope down b
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increased the cave's depth to -197
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series of parallel ascending (+30 0
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La Sistema Purificacidn: a theory a
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Between the Cold and the" GlorybyTe
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Back tothe Bird PitsbyBill StoneSum
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'Getting Down in Peiiaby Bill Stone
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CUEVADELAPENAPROFI LEmetersoRanc ho