VOLUME 11 NUMBER 5 NOVEMBER 1991

f i s s h n myw [ I s m 0735-048'11 l a tho l r t a r m l t t a n t p u b t l m t l o n o f tho Olaefsr G r o t t o of t h m

~ s t i s p l e o l o g f ca1 S o d sty. mpy rl @t 1 W l by the O Lael or G r o t t o . I.btar+ aLm not corn ri ghtsd by fndlvdduuC8 or W 0 t h ~ graupe may be mpled by o * a r NSS P u b l i w t l o n a p r w l d a d c m d l t f a gwmn t o the uuthar nnd Tha AL setan mver and a copy l e rant t o the Edt t o r [oddroam h l m ) , Brick 1 maw. arm uvmilablm f r a tho President For t 2 mh. Send o r t l e t e b L e t t e r s , n a r m f m ~ , nnnaunc-mq t r I p rapor ta , csve a u n q s , d r m l n g e , f i o t o g r a p l q snd so f o r t h d i r n c t t y t o the Edf tor , Op$nfonm nxprsnmd rlthl n arm mt m m s s e r t l y tho- of The 4 a a k n bvw, the Q Laclmr Omtto, or *th* H s .

CCsllbrehi p I open t o m1l jnteraeted I n ALaeksn mu8 d l seovery, ex~ lora t l rm, b u c t l ptl on, a u w q , msppt ng, photo@ra@yr hydrologyr m ~ r # a l ~ g y , bf 0l0gyl g d o g y l history* s p l e o ~ g s n s l a and o t h e spsl a m n pram ems, coneervatl ent mamgansnt, ndvsntureg and f e l l a a h l p of k l a s h n cw w g Annual he^ r r s 575 for I n d l v l d r a l or 520 for ? s a l l y m b e r d f f x Add $8 t o &ma t f m w r n a and n f m n i L p o r C g o i ~ p r e l s r r s d w s r suflace. I n a t l t u t i o n s t 8ubaerlptiona are 8m p a r v o l u r (B IsarmeJ,

e r e C a on January 1 end srm asnt t o the Traaaurer [sddrsea balm] , lpsyabEs t o 6 l e c i r r Omtta Tho- J o t n i n g t o r the f lret t l m s bt*een Octobr 1 nnd bearbr 91 wtlL b arnml-rod p s l d throu* the t o L L a f n g yanr. Duee smtua IB indlca tmd on tha anILtng 1sbwL. bnchonge mase lng~ ore h a l d a t

7 :30p an t h e weendMsdnsmdsy of 00dt month [Laest lm~ t r f o m a t f o n On back covm]. IFbetlngr h e l d I n o f h r r oreme ore not rmgul arly aehsdul@d, and asy be armnwd throum *a a p p r o p t l a t s V f ea Preot dent.

Nme Address af3 St Z i p Presi dent J Rodwell, J r 2944 Emory St Andorage FK 99508 VP N o r t h M I ke Mawr 1466 Carr h e Fad rbanks AK W709 V P S h n t C u r v I n b t z l s r POBox100738 AndtoragakK99510 VPSEast W i n Allmd POBox376 Haf nes AK 99827 Secretay Jack MassJe 3443 W 86th A p t 8 A h o r a g e AK 99502 Treasurer W Harvq Bcwws 305 S Bart1 ett O. W as1 11 a AK 99687 Ed1 tor C w t n W l e r POBox100738 An&orageAK%lO W R e g R e p D a v e K l i n g e r $ 0 0 0 ~ 5 3 7 Ceavnm WA 98826 P r o g C h a i r J d ~ n J a n s e n 17SX)JTonsfnaCt EagleRfvAK!3%77 Menbwship Carl Cl a r b Sr P 0 Box 2725 Palmer M 99645 ConservatnJlrnFerguson POBox20908 Jurwau AK 99802 Cave bscu Gene Kyle 201 E 9th h 300 Anchorage AK 99501

Hane Work 277 -7150 277-7 150 4566963 452-1414 272-8766 272-8766 vfa WNS* v.ta WINS* 248-2047 349-8587 376-2294 373-2247 272-8766 212-8766 54-8-5480? 54a5480t 694-2%3 694-2953 c u r r m t l y no phrxle 4633829 784-3151 2 4 ~ 297 n 1-2424

* Messagjs may be announced to Kw i n daily v ia radl o stat1 on WNS a t (907) 766-2020 t The area mda for Dave K l1 nger i n Leavetworb, Washf ngton i s (509) (m nmbersl

Cwer: Denise Ward in €I Capftan Cave, 1988 lPWIE 11). Photo by Carlene Allred.

Table of M n t s

Tongass Cave P r o j e c t B e m e s NSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Challenge Cost Share Agreement Termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Summer 1990 European Caving Adventure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Minutes o f Glacier Grotto Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 B a s f c C a v e S u r v e y i n g i n Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Page 2 The A1 askan Cav er Vo? me 11 Nunber 5 Nwmber 1991

Tongass (=ave P~QJ .ect -9s NSS by J u l ius (Jay1 Rockwell* Jr .

In keeping w i t h arranganents made w l t h the NSS Internal Organ l ra t ion Cam- rnittee, the Society's Research Advisory Cumit tee (RAC) and the Northwest Cavlng Asso., the Tongass Cave Project i s bed ng t rans fe r red frun the 61 acier Grotto to the RbC, ef fec t lve Decanber E, 1991,

The 1 e t t e r of tern1 nat ion o f t h e Grot to* s agreement width the U. S. Forest: Setvdce, dated Uwmber 15, appears to the r fgh t . Members of PMIE V have been personally n o t i f l e d of the t ransfer of 1 eadershi pt assets and 1 jab11 i t f e s ,

This t r a n s f e r i s not an abrupt one. A t the incep t ion of the PWIE rerles, i n 1988# i n dl scussf on w-l th Evelyn Bradshaw, In terna l Organ f r a t 1 on Chal r, a n d J a n e t Th or no* NSS Con se rvati on Ch a i r, the f u- ture p o s s l b i t i t y of making i t an NSS p r o j e c t was cons1 dered. It was deci dedt a t t h a t t imeb t o carry it a s a Grot to funct lon for a 1 Imlted tlme to see i f dt waul d develop I n t o a 1 arger program, I n what appeared t o be an sxponenti a1 I n- crease of annual a c t l v l ty, the magnitude of the l a s t sumnerbs work demonstrated t h a t i t should be h a n d l e d by the NSS i t s e l f rather than by a single Grotto. Turning i t mer t o the NSS w l l l enable Grotto managment t o devote more a t t e r r t l on t o other G r o t t o a c t i v i t i e s , which have 'beccme IncreasingSy neglected.

Thus, the Grotto a s a n organlzati on w i l l no t p a r t l c l p a t e i n PWfE VIr b u t urges i t s mmbers t o apply a s f n d f v i dual s f o r the opportuni ty t o he1 p on thi s out- stan d l ng project. Kev i n A1 1 red m 11 1 con- t i n u e a s Project Leader; those 1 nterested shoul d c o n b c t hJm as soon as possl b l e,

I taka t h l s opportunl ty to thank each of those who have con t r i bu ted to any PCWIE I n any way w h a t - s e w e r f o r your he1 p and support. Whl l e we have not y e t figured It all out, I am under the i w presslon t h a t the extent of the PCWIE V surveys may have been close to a record. the effect of t h i s work fn; concert w i t h the outstanding e f f o r t of the U.S .F .S . may prwe to be the b g i n n l n g of an a l l - t lme h lgh i n cave conservation e f fo r t s .

See If you can t o p fat: next year!

mall enge Cost Share A g r w Temi mti an e x t r a c t e d frclm Forest Serv ice r e p l y t o

G r o t t o presf dent Dr. J ul 1 us Rockwe1 I , J r.

We are wr* f t ing t o inform you t h a t the Ketch1 kan Area of the fongass N a t l on- a1 Forest Is term1 n a t i n g the Challenge Cost Share.. . dated May 25 r 1990 # between the Area and t h e NSS, Glacier Grotto. Th is termlnat ian I s poss ib le under p a r t C(1.1 of the agrement. T h i s te rm ina t ion frees t h e G lac ie r Grotto and t h e Forest Serv ice of a1 'P agreed respcnsi b i l ftf es. We understand t h a t you support t h i s ac- t i o n whfch was discussed I n your phone conversation w i t h Jmes F. Baichtal, Forest Geologist, on Nwmber 7 , 1991,

T h 5 s t e n I n a t i on 1 n no way ref1 ects any Forest Serv ice d l s s a t i s f a c t 1 on w f th the 1-01 e t h a t the Glacier Grotto has played i n t h e organl izat lon and running of the PrI nce o f Wales Is1 and Expedit ions, The Forest Servdce can not beg1 n to thank the G 1 aci er G r o t t o f o r i t s cooperati on f n expl o r a t i on and eval u a t l on of the abun- dant k a r s t and cave resources on t h e Ketch t kan Area, The I ntent of t h 1 s ter- rninatl on I s to re1 ease the G l a c i e r Gsat to f run the r q u l rment to organize and con- duc t the annual.. . expadl ti ons. We hope that the Glacier Grotto w f l 1 be the p r l r~ c i pal p1 ay er i n a1 1 fu tu re expedit ions.

l'IWeI.. . w i l l rep1 ace the. .. agreenmt w i t h [onel between Cusl and the NSS., .

"The dedi cat4 On* experti se* and ac- m p l Ishmants o f the p a s t K M I E partfci- pants has contrf buted great1 y t o the ad- vances i n cave management on t h e Area. NSS Proj ect Status w I1 1 brf ng news o f the resource and pl anned exped i t ions t o a n a t l onal audl ence. With w Eder exposure of the accom pl l s h m e ~ s o f t h e TCP, even more n a t l onal expert! se can be drawn upon to help the Forest Service I n evaluation of the k a r s t and cave resources on t h e Area, The Forest Service f e e l s t h a t th i s change w l l l a1 1- the Area to better man- age and conserve t h e cave resources.

'%gal nr it i s the Forest Serv ice' s hope t h a t the G'lacler G r o t t o w i l l be a p r l nclpal p laye r f n upcoming expeditions a n d wil l contfnue t o prwlde exper t tse I n cave management techniques* conserra- ti onr car 1 ng safety, etc. lt

Nwmber 1991 Vol m e 11 Nunber 5 The A1 askan Caver P a w 3

S- L 9 X l European CavIng Adwarrture story and photos by Curv I n Metzl er

In l a t e May (1990) 1 l e f t Anchorage f o r Copenhagen, the p o i n t o f en t ry f o r my summer t r ave l s I n Europe (map on page 161, P l a n s were t o spend the s m e r v j 5- I t i n g f r iends, seeing sights, p r a c t l c i n g Swedl shr and spel unkf ng, A f t e r a week o f v f s i t l n g f r t e n d s and museums i n Qermark, I got on b m r d a t r a i n t o B e r l l n ,

yl stay I n Ber l I n was short, w i t h t ime agaln spent v f s f t i n g f r f e n d s and m u s u n s . B u t many changes were t a k i n g p lace I n the busy f e n e r c a p i t a l c i t y duslng the s m e r of 1990. Om change was t h a t the Bert 1 n W a l l was being t o r n dmn, and I c o u l d not pass up an appor- t u n f t y to take p a r t I n such a historical event. So I rented a hammer and ch ise l and c h l p p d away a t "The Wal lM f o r a 1 I t t l e w h l l e. Then I t was back on the t r a i n agaln, t h i s t l m e bound f o r Paland.

Pol and

S-lnce the t r a i n a r r i v e d i n Krakw a t 0530, I declded to wait around u n t l l the banks opened so I mu1 d change money and make a call to Andrzej (Andy) Wito* my spelunking contact i n Poland, Whlle wai ti ng a t the s t a t 1 on, 1 was spotted by a man who h a d sf dden 1 n the sane r a i l road ca r w i t h me from Germany, He wondered i f I needea any help, and I explairred that I was w a i t i n g to c a l l a f r l a n d . He attempted t o he1 p me by p u t t i n g a c o i n I n t h e telephone coi n slot and ask ing me f o r the nunber t o my f r f e n d . I r m l n d e d him t h a t i t was st171 very early In t h e morn1 ng, and expl a i red t h a t I d l d not w a n t t o awaken my f r iend, His reply, no t k n w i n g t h a t I had not y e t met my "f riendtf, was: "If hers your f r lend, 7 tl s no probl em.

Andy a1 te red h l s schedule xr t h a t he coul d p ick me up a t the t ra i l n stat1 on. Me a1 so arranged fo r -me of his f rl ends t o show me around the twn o f Krakow, t h e tour 1 ncl udi ng 1 unch at the "Cave CafeM. A f t e r work, Andy gave me a tour o f t h e cas t le# W d w e l p which stands on a 1 imestone h i l l b u i l t upon as early a s t he n i n t h century,

Page 4 The At askan Caver

There are caves under the castle; one of them i s ca l l ed The Dragonfs Den, According to a 1 egend, there was once a dragon t h a t 1 i r e d I n a cave under the c a e l e and savaged t h e peep1 e, They had t o o f f e r i t cat t l e dal ly , j u s t t o s a t f s f y f ts appetl te and avo1 d I t s w ra th . K i ng Krak and h f s sons at tacked t h e monster severa l tlmesr but were n o t successful , So they resorted to trickery, and gave it sk lns f i l l e d w i t h burnjng sul f u r i n p l a c e o f the ca t t l e . A f t e r greedi ly swal l w l n g t h e offer1 ng, the dragon died o f s u f f w a t i o n fran burn ing w i t h i n .

The next day, J u l y 9, Andy took me t o t h r e e caves: Wierzchciule Cave, King Cave, and B a t Cave. Wierzchowle Cave has been excavated; f n f ac t , Andy was one o f the workers who spent many hours

Mal n Entrance t o W I e r z c h w l e Cave.

a spider web spanning t h e entrance, b u t

Cave Passage w f t h an Excavated Floor.

pat ient ly di ggl n g through the sediments whlch fllled the passages o f the cave. I n the f 11 t were f o u n d many bones and teeth frm species which have long ago becane extinct. The l i s t o f s p e c i e s inc ludss m m a l s such as hyenas, l lons, and bears, a l l of which had 1 ived i n the cave a t one tlme. The bears bones and skull s were i d e n t i f i e d as those of the European cave bear, of the species U rsus m. There was a1 so ev f dence t h a t man had occupied the cave durf ng a certaln psr lod of time dn the cave*^ preh 1 story,

The second cave, Klng GaveB whlch t i e s i n Narodowy Nat iona l Park, I s fmed f o r l o n g ago having saved the 1 i f e of a Pol 1 sh king, According to the legend, KZng Lokletka was attempting t o escape

the k i n g was qui te short and was ab le to squeeze by w f t h o u t disturbing i t , The k i n g h i d I n the cave wh I1 e the enmies approached the cave entrance. When they arrived, they noticed t h a t the spider web was still i n t a d . They assmed t h a t the k i n g had not entered the cave, and hurried on by* Thekfng remained hiding Ins ide the cave for sane d a y s a f t e n a r d * untll there was no longer any danger.

While t ravel ing beween caves, we saw many cave entrances and karst fea- turesacross the karst landscape. O n e o f the most s t r i k i n g s f g h t s was Herculesf ClubB a pinnacle of 1 imestone shaped 11 ke a cl ub and tower1 ng h i g h above the tress. Later, we visited B a t Cave, which has a wa1 k- In entrance and con ta l n s some nice fonnatI ens and a fek, bats. Sane o f the formations a r e bl ack I n ml or, due t o mi neral Impu r i tl es,

f rm enmfes pursu ing h l m when he came t o t h e entrance t o the cave, There was Hercul esl Cl ub,

November 1991 Vol me 11 Nunbar 5 The A1 askan Caves Page 5

Rappel 1 i ng I rho Frog Cave.

The mxt day, J une 10, Tmasz and Voytek, f r iends o f Andy, jcd ned us i n a t r l p to three more caves. The f f rs t , Frag CaveF starts o u t a s a shal lar p i t entrance Inhabl t e d by sane species of frog, the second, Terrace Cave, begins as a mall opening b e h i n d a boul dar I n a f fve- foot -d l meter depression 1 n the midd le of the forest, It then cont inues as a n e a r l y vertical crack about f I f ty to six ty feet deep which must be d r o p p d I n order to reach the r es t o f the cave.

It was a1 ready evening by the time we f i nall y reached Coral Cave, the 1 a s t cave which we explored dur ing our long Traversl ng i n Terrace Cave,

Andrzej , Tmasz, Voytek a t Entrance to Terrace Cave; Tmasz Deep Lnsf de.

Page 6 The A1 askan Caver Yo1 me 11 Nwnber 5 Nw an ber 1991

--

Voytek Enter1 ng Cora l Cave. Format1 ons I n Coral Cave.

excursl on. We r i gged the entrance p i t On June 12. Andy and I drove to w ~ ~ a r o p e a n d a l s o a 1 a d d e r m a d e f r a n Z a k o p a n e t o g o f o r a hike I n t h e T a t r a *o cables w i t h metal crossbars. The Mountal ns, ~ h f ~ h l f e a1 ong t h e border cave was ~e most b e a u t i f u l of the caves between Pol and and Czechosl ovaki a, We f h a d s e e n 5 o f a r i n P o l a n d . Wec l fmbad saw l o t s o f wlldf lwers~ qot someareat o u t of the cave i n the dark and headed hme, reaching there about 0200# i n the early morntng of the next day.

Andy and I got up 'Pate on June 11, played t o v r l r t by v l s l t i n g the c a s t l e Wawel again, and f i n a l l y drwe a 1 l t t l e ways t o v i s i t t h e W f e l l c z k a S a l t Mine. 314s ancient mine has been a c t l v e for swen centuries, and i s the o n l y m l ne I n the world to have been a c t l v e con- t i n u o u s l y f r a the Middle Ages u n t i l today. It conta l ns some 200 m l l es of chambers and shaf ts# !ncl u d l n g 1 a k e s and even a large cathedral, l o c a t e d on nine l e v e l s a n d a t depths of wer one thousand feet.

Nwmber 1993 Vol m e 11 Nmber 5 The A? askan Caves page 7