17MB PDF - Association for Mexican Cave Studies

Monday morning was spent mapping Sotano de San Rafael de losCastros, which was small but interesting. It lies a few hundredfeet above a tiny nacimiento just north of Cd. Mante. The nativestold us of some big sotanos and caves up on the plateau above.That afternoon we stopped to see Bee Cave, northwest of Cd. Mante,but time did not permit us to map the cave. The entrance appearsto be about 120 feet across, 80 feet wide, and 320 feet deep witha huge pile of breakdown in the middle. It is not certain if our~~~~o~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~i~a~~~;u75oofno~~el;~t~~~c~i:~~k.Th~tb~~OkSas if a large chamber were dissolved out and the roof just slidin. Of importance biologically was the finding of three blindfish, the first recorded in the Sierra de Guatemala. After leavingBee Cave, we began the long trip home with the feeling thatwe had accomplished a great deal in so short a time.33Persons: Reva Byers, Gina Carter, Jim Duke, Mac SmithDate: 7-11 April 1966Destination: Ciudad Valles and surrounding areaReported by: Jim DukeSomewhere around 5 PM on Thursday, approximately on schedule,we left Austin and arrived in McAllen, Texas at midnight. Herewe ate at Jim's parents' house then continued on to Ciudad Victorawhere we stopped briefly. From Victoria our destination was ElNacimiento del Rio Frio, located just to the north of Ciudad Mante.(See AMCS NEWSLETTER, Volume I, Number 9, page 90.) We arrivedshortly after another group led by Barbara Hershberger. Withboth groups combined, we trekked up to the cave, and after severalattempts at speleo-photography we returned to the cars and the twogroups split. From Rio Frio we pushed on through Cd. Mante toAntiguo Morelos, where we headed west toward Nuevo Morelos, loggingthe road as far as kilometer post 197 before sunset. The demiseof daylight forced us to abandon our efforts and head for CiudadValles, in hopes of meeting Charlie Loving and crew. The Lovingswere not to be found so we camped by the highway just to the northof Valles near Los Sabinos. The next morning was a slow one andValles finally faded behind us around noon as we headed west onMexico Highway 86, toward Rio Verde, road logging as we went.Roughly, the first 1/3 of this drive was through tropical vegetation,the second 1/3 was throu&h rather common vegetation fora semi-arid area, and the last 1/3 was through barren country withsparse vegetation. There were many possible leads along thehighway but those checked didn't go. At Rio Verde we asked aboutcaves in the area and were told that there are some just off thehighway, but no specific directions were given. After eatingsupper we returned to Valles. There we met with the Lovings andcrew and after conversation and refreshments, left on the highwaynorth and spent the night again near Los Sabinos. Sunday morningwe went on to Antiguo Morelos and continued the road log on westas far as Ciudad del Maiz. On the way back from Maiz we made astop at Rob Blagg's ranch (an American rancher in the area) and aside trip to El SaIto del Agua (El SaIto Falls), both very enjoyablestops. A few other delays were caused by overheating of thecar. From El SaIto we headed for McAllen and then to Austin.