12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

1979 SPRINGDale PatePROJECTPlans were made in early 1979 toreturn to Conrado Castillo and SistemaPurificacion t located northwest of Cd.Victoria t Tamaulipas t for an extendedstay in the mountains and a push onSome of the more promising leads inthe cave system. The goals for thespring were to extend the depth andthe length of the system. The potentialis definitely there t for belowt~e deepest known point in InfiernillOtthere are 600 meters of exposedlimestone before the closest knownresurgence is found. Eight hundredmeters above the highest known portionsof the cave system is an extensivekarst field with literallyhundreds of unchecked pits. Anymajor find going up or down could resultin a new depth record for theworld. When the 1978 push to connectBrinco to Infiernillo was in fullswing, there were several large passagesthat had been partially exploredbut not mapped due to lack of time.One of the goals for the spring was tomap as many of these passages as possiblet as well as any new discoveries.Quite a few people were involved inthe activities for the spring and itseemed that 4-wheel drive vehicleswere arriving or departing almostweekly throughout the expedition.As of early March t the official lengthof the system was 21,055 meters.Caving in Conrado CastilloSpring activities got off to astart on Saturday, March 10 when twovehicles arrived in Conrado Castillo.In Paul Fambro's truck were Paul,Nye Nestman, Lisa Wilk, Kurt Schultz,Dale Pate and Gerald Atkinson. InJim Rodemaker's truck were Jim, DennyBarnes, Terri Raines, Peter Sprouse,Leslie Turpin and Terri Treacy.The ensuing weeks saw quite a fewthings happening. On 12 March, Terri tLisa, Dale, Peter, Leslie, Paul, Nyeand Jerry entered the system throughthe Cueva de Vapor entrance and proceededto the Phreatic Preattic Roomwhere two mapping teams were formed.This'large chamber was mapped as wellas part of the Attic Room. Severalleads were pushed t including one thatheaded upward above the Attic at thetop of a large flows tone formationaround 7 meters high. This turnedout to be the passage that Hal Lloyd,Jim Smith, and Jill Dorman had foundover the Christmas holidays.On March 14, Peter, Leslie t Terriand Dale returned to the Attic Roomvia the Vapor entrance and completedOpposite:(Paul Fambro)83