12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies
12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies 12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies
days, and a push on Entrada del VientoBaja was made by Jerry. He exploredthe cave through some very tightcrawlways to a 3 meter drop where thepassage continued onward with goodairflow.~ On March 19, Jerry, Markand Dale discovered a small cavenear the summit of Cerro Zapatero.It was named Cueva de Coral for thelarge amounts of cave coral foundthere and the fact that Mark leftshredded pieces of his wool shirtthroughout much of the cave! Itwas estimated to be 50 meters long.Anew findLeslie only had a few days leftbefore she was to return to Ohio andTerri had recovered from her illness,so a 3 day hike to the logging villageof Yerbabuena was planned. On a previoustrip, Peter and Terri had reportedseeing what appeared to be alarge black hole in a massive cliffface close to Yerbabuena. The cliffsare similar to those Infiernillo islocated in, so with hopes of findinganother large cave system the crew ofsix began their hike on March 22.Following old logging roads andcrashing through the forest for partof the distance, the hike to Yerbabuenatook approximately eight hours.One small cave, Cueva de Musgo, wasdiscovered on the hike. The cave wasvery small, but had some interestingfauna in it. While walking down onelogging road that was virtually blastedout of a 100 meter high cliff face,the magical sounds of the Rio Coronadrifted up from the canyon 400 metersbelow. Since it was the height ofthe dry season, this meant that thestream might be emerging from a verylarge cave system. This gave everyoneadded enthusiam and they arrivedin Yerbabuena at dusk and proceededto set up camp. The original planswere to hike into the canyon andsearch for the black hole, but there86appeared to not be enough time toaccomplish this goal, so the followingmorning Peter, Jerry, and Marktalked to some locals at the sawmillabout the canyon and caves in thearea. They were told that the riverin the canyon came out of a cave andthat a guide to the cave could be obtainedon a weekend, but not duringthe week. They were also told of alarge sotano nearby that had an arroyoemptying into it. This soundedlike a more feasible project, soafter breaking camp, the six hikerswere led to Sotano de las Calenturas.It was indeed a large impressive sotanowith an entrance approximately10 meters by 15 meters and 20 metersdeep. Large boulders could be seenon the floor below. Using the onlyavailable gear, Mark, then Jerry,rappelled into the cave and spent 3Sotano de Las Calenturas.(Dale Pate)
to 4 hours exploring and sketchingvery large trunk passages. Theyexplored approximately 750 metersand left 4 major leads, most withgood airflow. It was also evidentthat the cave takes enormous amountsof flood waters due to the factthat a 10 meter long tree trunk wasfound wedged high up in a large passage.Onepassage had a steep slopeof large rounded cobbles that Markdescribed as "just like trying towalk up a pile of big marbles."Since the hike was only for reconnaisanceand a minimal supply offood and gear had been brought, itwas decided to leave for ConradoCastillo the next day. The crewdeparted and following a more directroute, arrived at the fieldhousein less than six hours. Everyonewas surprised to find a groupfrom Kentucky camped on the doorsteps.Phil O'Dell, Dan Quinlan,and Rick were cleaning and rearrangingtheir gear while Don Coonsand Sheri Engler had gone intoBrinco in search of the World Beyond.They turned back in a smallmazy area without reaching theirgoal.Zona de ManantialesPeter and Leslie caught a loggingtruck to Cd. Victoria whereLeslie caught a bus bound for theStates. Peter was to return a fewdays later with lots of provisionsnot available in Conrado Castillo.Meanwhile the rest of the group,which now included Terri, Dale, Mark,Jerry, Sheri, Don, Phil; Dan andRick solidified plans for a hike tothe Zona de Manantiales located inCauon los Hervores, some 1500 meterslower in elevation than Conrado Castillo.This resurgence is thoughtto be one of, if not the main resurgencefor the waters that flow inSistema Purificacion. It is approximately600 meters below the lowestknown point in the system and severalkilometers to the north. On March 26,everyone piled into and onto Phil'struck, and after stopping briefly atan airplane crash site, they arrivedat the trail head that led down intoCanon de Infiernillo, which ultimatelyintersects Canon los Hervores.The trail was well marked, andin slightly over one hour the entirecrew was sitting amid the bouldersof Ca~ion de Infiernillo. The trailcontinued upward and onward to Canonlos Hervores and further to somemines. At this point though, it wasdecided to abandon the trail andboulder hop downstream and severalhours later they came upon the crystalblue waters of the Rlo Purificacionas it flowed from Canon losHervores. There had been SOme concernas to whether there would bewater flowing in the Rlo Purificacion,so it was a welcome sight tosee the beautiful pools and cascadingwaters. Some elected to take aquick swim first, while the restimmediately began the hike up Canonlos Hervores in search of the manantialeswhich were marked on theCETENAL topo maps as being perhaps200 meters upstream. The geologyof the canyon was SOme of the mostincredible displays of its kind everseen. Chevron folding was very prominenton both sides, with one highwall having at least seven Chevronfolds, one next to the other. Thecanyon was explored until it narrowed,and it was apparent that the only wayonward was to swim. A pool stretchedfrom wall to wall and turned a bendto continue out of sight. Darknesswas closlng in, so camp was made backat the intersection. The nights weredefinitely much warmer here, 1.5 kilometersin elevation below ConradoCastillo.The following morning saw everyonebut Rick attempting the long swim.It promised to be an exciting day87
- Page 54 and 55: There was much speculation aboutthe
- Page 56 and 57: turning to Camp II we found Richard
- Page 58 and 59: We had barely slept three hourswhen
- Page 60 and 61: POSTEXPEDITION NOTESBill Steele and
- Page 63: -f//'~:;San,Agustin,,~~~:= ']--="~-
- Page 67: translated from the Mazatecby Cathy
- Page 70 and 71: Ateschalla Norte ySurThe following
- Page 73: CUEVA DE TASALOLPANcuetzalan, puebl
- Page 76 and 77: CuetzalanSteve KnutsonSpring 1979Ma
- Page 78: Thirty meter pitch into canal secti
- Page 81: ENTRADACANONACUEVATECOLOESTADA DE P
- Page 85 and 86: S6tano del BuqueRobert JefferysSota
- Page 87 and 88: the rope. What John had been trying
- Page 89: METERSo50NmICEBERG ROOM100-506500
- Page 92 and 93: CUEVA DE XOCOTLATintroduction by Ge
- Page 94: was a sizable horizontal sectionwhi
- Page 97: Cueva de XocotlatMunicipio de San P
- Page 101 and 102: 1979 SPRINGDale PatePROJECTPlans we
- Page 103: were the only ones left at the fiel
- Page 107 and 108: persons working on this mapping tea
- Page 109 and 110: Fifteen meter drop in Moria.(Thomas
- Page 111 and 112: French delegationarrivesAfter sever
- Page 113 and 114: French ConnectionFriday the 13th sa
- Page 115 and 116: everyone prepared for the hike toCa
- Page 117 and 118: Terri t Dale t and Steve returned t
- Page 119: SISTEMAPURIFICACIONMunicipio Villa
- Page 122 and 123: Letters to the EditorTothe Editor:B
- Page 124: ATLAS DES GRANDES GOUFFRES DU MONDE
to 4 hours exploring and sketchingvery large trunk passages. Theyexplored approximately 750 metersand left 4 major leads, most withgood airflow. It was also evidentthat the cave takes enormous amountsof flood waters due to the factthat a 10 meter long tree trunk wasfound wedged high up in a large passage.Onepassage had a steep slopeof large rounded cobbles that Markdescribed as "just like trying towalk up a pile of big marbles."Since the hike was only <strong>for</strong> reconnaisanceand a minimal supply offood and gear had been brought, itwas decided to leave <strong>for</strong> ConradoCastillo the next day. The crewdeparted and following a more directroute, arrived at the fieldhousein less than six hours. Everyonewas surprised to find a groupfrom Kentucky camped on the doorsteps.Phil O'Dell, Dan Quinlan,and Rick were cleaning and rearrangingtheir gear while Don Coonsand Sheri Engler had gone intoBrinco in search of the World Beyond.They turned back in a smallmazy area without reaching theirgoal.Zona de ManantialesPeter and Leslie caught a loggingtruck to Cd. Victoria whereLeslie caught a bus bound <strong>for</strong> theStates. Peter was to return a fewdays later with lots of provisionsnot available in Conrado Castillo.Meanwhile the rest of the group,which now included Terri, Dale, Mark,Jerry, Sheri, Don, Phil; Dan andRick solidified plans <strong>for</strong> a hike tothe Zona de Manantiales located inCauon los Hervores, some 1500 meterslower in elevation than Conrado Castillo.This resurgence is thoughtto be one of, if not the main resurgence<strong>for</strong> the waters that flow inSistema Purificacion. It is approximately600 meters below the lowestknown point in the system and severalkilometers to the north. On March 26,everyone piled into and onto Phil'struck, and after stopping briefly atan airplane crash site, they arrivedat the trail head that led down intoCanon de Infiernillo, which ultimatelyintersects Canon los Hervores.The trail was well marked, andin slightly over one hour the entirecrew was sitting amid the bouldersof Ca~ion de Infiernillo. The trailcontinued upward and onward to Canonlos Hervores and further to somemines. At this point though, it wasdecided to abandon the trail andboulder hop downstream and severalhours later they came upon the crystalblue waters of the Rlo Purificacionas it flowed from Canon losHervores. There had been SOme concernas to whether there would bewater flowing in the Rlo Purificacion,so it was a welcome sight tosee the beautiful pools and cascadingwaters. Some elected to take aquick swim first, while the restimmediately began the hike up Canonlos Hervores in search of the manantialeswhich were marked on theCETENAL topo maps as being perhaps200 meters upstream. The geologyof the canyon was SOme of the mostincredible displays of its kind everseen. Chevron folding was very prominenton both sides, with one highwall having at least seven Chevronfolds, one next to the other. Thecanyon was explored until it narrowed,and it was apparent that the only wayonward was to swim. A pool stretchedfrom wall to wall and turned a bendto continue out of sight. Darknesswas closlng in, so camp was made backat the intersection. The nights weredefinitely much warmer here, 1.5 kilometersin elevation below ConradoCastillo.The following morning saw everyonebut Rick attempting the long swim.It promised to be an exciting day87
Change language