17MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

134As we drove on, the road became steeper and the sinks becamelarger. After a couple of miles we found ourselves winding betweenlarge dolinas which were up to a quarter of a mile across. Filledsinks and small open pits were still too numerous to count.Several times we stopped and found that the dense vegetation wassupported by small karst pinnacles separated by narrow fissures.Rocks dropped down these fissures would sometimes. rattle forseveral seconds. About four miles out of Julilowe crossed overthe top of the range and continued west through the now dryerforest. Sinks were still very numerous. One pit was too close tothe road to be passed by, so stopping for a few minutes Don droppeddown to check it. Fifty feet down it quit. From this pit theroad gradually descends for about four miles into the valley ofJoya de Salas. We found S6tano de la Joya de Salas just beyondthe school on the far side of the village, 22 miles from the Inte~American Highway.The town, consisting of about 40 families, and the s6tanoare located in a wide, flat, grassy valley entirely surrounded bylow mountains. (See photograph on page 136.) At the southern endis a low divide, about 100 feet high, which separates this valleyfrom another which is also a flat grassland, except studded withgroves of pines. Near the town in the center of the valley is awide, shallow lake of several acres. The s6tano is several hundredyards away, and just above it is an earthen dam which impounds asmaller lake, thus preventing runoff from entering the cave. Atthe school house we found the 'professor' and told him our plansto re-enter the s6tano. From him we learned that during the hurricaneof 1909 a log jam plugged the entrance and the entire valleyfilled with water until it flowed over the divide at the southernend. The town was completely flooded. When the jam broke therewas a huge explosion and a giant whirlpool drained the entire floodinto the pit. Then, during the recent hurricane earlier this fall,the upper lake overflowed and there was again a whirlpool over theentrance. This was the first time the cave had flooded since 1955.Although it was now late in the afternoon, we decided to rigthe entrance in order to get an early start in the morning. Wefound the expansion bolt which had been used at the entrance bythe previous group, ascertained that it was still solid, and droppeda rope down the 258 foot chasm. Orion rappelled in to checkthe bottom and found that the recent flood had caused no noticeablechange.The next morning our entire group entered the cave and proceededdirectly to the Cathedral Room where we stopped to eatlunch. (See AMCS Newsletter, v. I, no. 5, p. 54-58 for a descri~tion of the cave. AlSO, see cave map on page 135 of this issue.)Here at the 650 foot level Bob drew the job of checking a coupleof unpleasant mud crawlways which didn't go. The cave was stillqUite wet and the flood had left many interesting marks. Therewere the usual logs jammed hi~h above our heads, but most strikingwere the Tecate cerveza cans (empty) which stood upright on theledges at this level, as if they had just been left the nightbefore. From here Orion, Don, and I continued on to the end ofthe previous exploration and the supposed bottom of the cave at892 feet. At least we found that it wasn't under water. Wheredid all the water go?Small passages led from each end of the bottom. One which