09.12.2009

SEC
Vonny Droms sits at the top to Holy Water Pit during Shovel Eater Cave survey trip.

Bottom, is Mark Minton sitting at the top of the new 102-foot pit we surveyed in SEC.
SEC
Shovel Eater Cave Survey Trip
by Mark Minton

  • Participants: Chris Coates, Yvonne Droms, Nikki Fox and Mark Minton.
  • Taped a new 102-foot pit in Rubicon Hall, next to the Holy Water Pit.
  • RHB survey with 215 feet.

Chris Coates, Yvonne Droms, Nikki Fox and I went to Rubicon Hall to finish up vertical leads left from last month. Our group was the first in at about 10:40 AM. When I stepped on a large cobble embedded in dirt next to the squeeze just below the lid, it rolled forward and stopped precariously wedged in a slot. I couldn’t get it to come out so I left it. Bob and Carl later got it to drop further down the slot where it seems to be stable, although it changes the moves you can make negotiating the squeeze.

The cave was quite dry and there were not even any drips in the Ohio Bypass. At the bottom of the Bypass Yvonne tuned several of our racks so that the bottom bar would open more easily. It turns out that a Petzl bolt hammer has just the right wedge shape to open up a MicroRack bar if it is too tight. With most of our gear and rope already in place we then made rapid time to our destination. Our first order of business was to survey and descend the pit Yvonne and I found last month beyond the window at the top of Holy Water Pit. Chris and Nikki went across the J hang to the window and down to the ledge below it. Then I went across to help with the survey and derig. After Chris established that the new pit connected to the bottom of the left side of Holy Water Pit as expected, Nikki went down and I pulled up the rope and redeployed it down the main shaft. The new pit dropped 102 feet from the rig point at the window, which is at least 20 feet below the top of the climb we did above it last month. Since the climb had been derigged, the upper part of the drop could not be surveyed to establish the total depth. Nevertheless, Shoveleater has yet another 100-foot pit. Chris and Nikki also took advantage of the drier conditions to probe around for a way on below RHA5, but found nothing open.

While Chris and Nikki established the tie-in at the bottom, Yvonne belayed me back across the traverse at the top of Holy Water Pit as I cleaned the route. We then gathered up all of our gear and joined the others at the saddle between the two bottoms of Holy Water Pit. I had a bit of a problem on my way down when I discovered that the knots connecting two pieces of rope together were not quite on the floor. I had not bothered to untie anything when I dropped the ropes down the pit, so they were still tied to the quick links and bolt hangers from the rigging at the window. This would not be an easy mess to pass, so I swung into an alcove and untied everything. With all of the knots out I had just enough rope to reach bottom. Yvonne followed and we had lunch. While digging around in the mud at the bottom of the rope I found the sledgehammer that Ralph had lost over a year ago. It had been completely covered and was totally invisible, which explained why previous teams hadn’t found it. It was still in good shape, which was fortunate because we needed it later on.

Our final objective was a hole in the wall of an alcove above RHA6. The alcove wasn’t very far up, but there was no obvious usable route into it. The main pit wall was mostly covered with thick mud and very rotten flowstone. However there was clean rock past the alcove and above the right-hand bottom of Holy Water Pit, so I devised a route up beside the alcove followed by a traverse back into it. This went well and I was standing in the alcove after four bolts. The walls of the alcove were covered with popcorn but the rock was good. I made it to the top after three more bolts. Yvonne ascended the static rope I rigged and cleaned the climb. Then Chris and Nikki came up.

The passage at the top of the alcove actually went down slightly, and then after six feet dropped into a tight pit. Yvonne used Ralph’s hammer to open it up large enough for her and Chris to get into. There was also a tight canyon above the pit. Unfortunately neither passage went. It is likely that the tight canyon above the pit is a lower level of the SAS survey done in the floor of the large passage continuing beyond Rubicon Hall. There was surprisingly good air flow in this lead, as there was in the window back at the top of Holy Water Pit. Since both of these leads loop back into known cave, I guess the air is just circulating. We surveyed our find and then descended, pulling down the rope behind us.

Having accomplished our goals, we ascended Holy Water Pit. On the way up I checked the remaining lead, which was a narrow slot in the wall about 20 feet off the floor. It was way too tight to follow anywhere. Further up we found an old glove in a narrow infeeder near the top of Holy Water Pit, which we brought out. All ropes and rigging have once again been removed from Rubicon Hall. We took all of the ropes and climbing gear to HHH15 and left them for future use. As we approached Hellhole Hall we met Dwight’s group, which was exploring a lead in the HEX survey. We passed them and began our exit up the Ohio Bypass. As we were climbing Bob and Carl arrived. Everyone was leaving at the same time. Yvonne and I got out at 11:30 PM after a 13-hour trip. It was a beautiful, warm night.

So Shoveleater has yet another 100-plus-foot drop, but we had to derig it because we needed the hardware and rope. Sorry Terry.

Leads Left: None. Rubicon Hall is finished.

Total Survey: 215 feet (RHB Survey)

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