12MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

THE UPSTREAMCAMPAIGNThe following day saw us back atthe wat~rfall marking the head of the859 passage. The stream came from ablack gallery twenty meters aboveand we were prepared to aid up thewall if need be. This proved unnecessaryas I managed to put in afree route up the right face. Theothers were up the static line in aflash and we pushed on. Though thepassage carried a strong breeze, itsoon got very wet forcing a retreat.We had done the climb in camp clothesand opted for a return with wetsuits,and survey gear.Our next foray into this sectionsaw Hal and I out in front clangingaway, heavily laden with rope andclimbing gear. The others were shootingthe survey in on our heels.Shortly the gallery split. The climberswent right, the surveyors left.Two twenty meter climbs and 300 metersof swimming brought an end to theright hand branch -- upstream sump.The left continued as a tall canyon.A considerable amount of man madedebris clung to the walls. "Thislooks like the town dump from SanAndres," Steve .said ,.vryly. Later westumbled across an off color basketballlaying on the floor. The passagethusly gained the appellation,"Red Ball Canyon!" Inevitably weran out of rope after scaling twomore shafts and had to leave it forthe next push. On returning to thejunction we had a short conference.Steve and crew volunteered to surveythe right hand branch providedHal and I derigged the 859 passage.As more rope was needed for the upstreampush the pact was agreed uponand the deeds done. A tally with thecalculator back in camp showed we hadbombed out nearly a kilometer into ablank spot on the map. The trip hadsapped us though - eighteen hoursfrom camp. We drifted off.Anthodite clusters along theNorth wall. (Bill Stone)Again my back was aching and Iknew we'd been laying there for onehell of a long time. Steve consultedhis watch. It was March 22 and we'dbeen sleeping for 26 hours. Planfor the day was a photographic triparound the big chambers. We packedoff with a trash bag full of press25 bulbs intending to turn thelights on. Every bulb Steve setoff brought a round of applause fromthe rest of us. No one bulb wouldhave phased the room, so we mountedthe camera on a tripod and locked theshutter open. Then for the next halfhour Steve would waltz back and forthpainting in the vista. Followingdinner Tommy, Hal and I took a fastpaced recce up the Metro to its47