45.1 SPRING 2015 ESSO Bee - National Speleological...

ESSO Bee Newsle er of the ESSO Gro o of the NSS

Eastern States Speleological Organiza on

1 www.essogrotto.com

45.1 SPRING 2015

INSIDE THIS ISSUE…

Trip Report: Potential Pits

Mapping Project

Page 2

From the Editor

Message from the President

Page 3

Event Calendar

Page 4

Bolting Project Update

Promoting the Grotto

Photos at CCSRP

Page 5

Winter Adventure Weekend 2015

Page 6

Grotto Committees

Trip Report: a trip to establish landowner relations and investigate potential pits

Jeff Rickman

Sheila and Keith had been invited to inves gate a few pits on a friend of theirs property. They met up with Jeff at McDonalds in Grayson and headed out to Carter City. The property was located off of Brushy Creek Rd. By chance Brian Saul, Mark Walker, Mike Rz, and Jeff Rickman had met the landowner before and remembered him being very friendly and open to cavers. A er a bit of small talk the landowner led us up a small road to the top of a sec on of pasture and pointed the way to where he had spo ed the pits. (con nued on page 6…)

Above: Sheila Stephens rappelling in to a pit

MAPPING PROJECT

The mapping project is currently

underway and is making good pro-

gress. The goal of the project is to

collect and organize cave and land-

owner informa on in one loca on

and for the informa on to be user-

friendly and accessible. The first

mee ng was held in February at

Steve Duncan’s house.

(con nued on page 6…)

The ESSO Grotto of the

National Speleological Society

PRESIDENT: Jeff Rickman

VICE PRESIDENT: Adam Wilson

TREASURER: Sheila Stephens

SECRETARY: Brian Saul

FROM THE EDITOR

Hi everyone,

February marked one year since I joined ESSO Grotto, and I have to say

that it was the best decision ever. Although I still have much left to learn, I

have learned more than I ever thought possible in the past year. I want to

thank everyone for continued support and contributions to the ESSO Bee

and also for everyone’s patience for this edition. My plan is for the Bee to

be quarterly / seasonal, so the next edition will be ready by July’s meeting.

Please send all photos, articles and suggestions to:

[email protected].

Also on behalf of every ESSO member, I would like to say congratulations

to our recently appointed officers! We are looking forward to a fun and

exciting year!

Thanks,

Lesli Burdette, Editor

[email protected]

Message from the President

www.essogrotto.com 2

45.1 SPRING 2015

Greetings everyone,

I have a few things to go over before you dive in to this edition of the ESSO Bee. First of all I would like to

thank our editor for undertaking this most difficult task. Let’s all remember that we can make her job a

little easier by filling her inbox with lots of awesome content. We love to see old and new photos as well

as trip reports both past and present. I for one would love to hear some stories from the early days of

ESSO.

Also, we have been kicking around the idea of having a Grotto day every month on the weekend follow‐

ing the Grotto meeting. These Grotto days could be held on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Activities

could include caving, hiking / ridge walking, map comparison, vertical practice, or anything else you could

think of. We will likely start in May. If anyone has any suggestions on trips or activities for the Grotto, or

would just like to voice your opinion on something, please feel free to contact me directly.

Jeff Rickman

[email protected]

(304) 634‐4112

3 www.essogrotto.com

45.1 SPRING 2015

UPCOMING EVENTS & CALENDAR

APRIL Saturday, April 25th……………....Volunteer Day, Cave tours……………..…....Carter Caves

MAY May 2nd-3rd………....Mammoth Cave Restora on Camp………..…Mammoth Cave, KY

Sunday, May 3rd……………....Annual Canoe Trip…………….Tygart’s Creek, Carter Caves

May 7th—10th……….………………………...SERA……..…………………………...Jamestown, TN

Monday, May 18th……………………….ESSO Mee ng……...……………...Flatwoods Library

May 22nd—25th…………………………...Speleofest………………....……………...Louisville, KY

JUNE Monday, June 15th..………...............ESSO Mee ng………..…………….Flatwoods Library

Saturday, June 20th…………….…...Annual ESSO Picnic……..…….…………..Carter Caves

June 25th—28th………………………..……..KOR………………………...…….Mount Vernon, KY


45.1 SPRING 2015

PLAN TO PROMOTE ESSO Recently, there has been much discus-

sion regarding ideas to be er promote

the gro o, including marke ng materi-

als and se ng up booths at major cave

related events such as KOR and SERA.

Since January, President Jeff Rickman

has been preparing business cards for

distribu on. As of March, business

cards were ready for prin ng. During

the March mee ng, Jeff also discussed

the idea of bumper s ckers and / or

window clings, which was very well ac-

cepted by members in a endance.

If you have any sugges ons or ideas,

please send to Jeff Rickman at jrick-

[email protected].

PHOTO DISPLAY AT

CARTER CAVES

LODGE

Renova on plans for Carter Caves

Lodge include photo décor of vari-

ous themes such as caves, wild life

and flowers. At the March

mee ng, Coy presented the idea

of having an ESSO designated sec-

on with a plaque dedicated to

ESSO members for the long history

of loyalty and service to the park.

If you would like to submit photos

for considera on, please email to

Coy Ainsley at

[email protected].

CARTER CAVES BOLTING PROJECT

Last fall, several volunteer weekends were held to com-

plete the bol ng phase at the future rappel sites at Carter

Caves. The project has been ongoing for several years and

is now nearing comple on. During the March mee ng,

Coy discussed the progress of the project and future plans

for trails and building addi onal steps to improve func on

of the rappel site. Per Coy, rappel sites should be ready

and open to the public by Memorial Day Weekend.

Above: new steps at rap-

pelling site

Right:: Installa on of bolts

Photos courtesy of Adam Wilson


45.1 SPRING 2015

WINTER ADVENTURE WEEKEND

“WOW! Or should we say ‘WAW’!” was Coy’s opening line to his Staph thank you email. With a record

breaking 436 par cipants, over 150 trips and workshops, and $2,300 raised from dona ons and auc ons, WAW

2015 was undeniably the best the park has seen yet. According to Andy Niekamp, WAW registered more par-

cipants on opening day of registra on in 2015 than for the en re event in 2010; needless to say, Winter Ad-

venture Weekend has come a long way in 5 years.

This year, many ESSO folks volunteered leading trips, events and workshops. To name a few: Mark

Walker was a guide for the corrugated cave, Sheila Stephens and Keith Music lead tours through Bat Cave, and

Jeff Rickman and Brian Saul ran the recrea onal tree climbing area while several others worked the high line

pu ng on harnesses, helmets and working the ropes. Aside from tours and workshops, there was also a great

turn out for the auc on, the squeeze box compe on, along with many beau ful submissions for the Photo Sa-

lon.

Le : WAW 2015 shirts “Keep Calm and Adventure On” Right: Highline team organizing rope, helmets and harnesses

Photos courtesy of Adam Wilson; addi onal photos on page 8


Trip Report: a trip to establish landowner relations and investigate potential pits

...con nued from page 1

A er a short walk we soon started seeing very promising features. The en re top of the hill was li ered with sinks, cracks,

and small pits. No stone was le unturned. Every li le sink that was spo ed was inves gated. One par cular pit was about 20

-30 feet deep and able to be dropped to allow further inves ga on. The bo om was covered in a large debris pile consis ng

of leaves and s cks of various sizes. All agreed that a digging project would be in order. By the end of the day we had accumu-

lated enough digging projects to keep a dozen gro os busy for the next 10 years. If we all had Keith's energy the task could be

accomplished in a day or so. A er about 3 hours of looking around we decided to pack it up. Given the amount of poten al

for the area and the friendliness of the landowner we hope to return for a gro o trip and do some ridge walking in the future.

Above: Sheila Stephens descending in to a discovered pit on the property; addi onal photos on page 7

45.1 SPRING 2015

MAPPING PROJECT

(continued from page 1…)

At this point, the second mee ng is wai ng to be

scheduled. Addi onally, many of the coordinates

and maps need to be checked in the field for accura-

cy. If you have any cave related informa on or sug-

ges ons for organizing informa on, please contact

Steve Duncan.

GROTTO COMMITTEES

In the past, ESSO used a system of commi ees and non-

officer posi ons to achieve various goals and tasks. During

the March mee ng, Jeff Rickman discussed re-

implemen ng such a system to improve ac vism and in-

crease membership. Previous commi ees existed for top-

ics such as trip coordina on, safety, conserva on, ver cal,

survey and several others. If you have any related sugges-

ons or would like to volunteer for a commi ee or posi-

on, please contact Jeff Rickman at [email protected].


Above: Jeff Rickman and Keith Musick descending in to a newly discovered pit on the property

Photos courtesy of Jeff Rickman

45.1 SPRING 2015


45.1 SPRING 2015

Top le : Rob Kline and Adam Wilson on highline

Top right: Brian Saul Recrea onal Tree Climbing

Bo om le : cave tour

Bo om right: Rob Kline tearing down highline ropes

Photos courtesy of Lesli Burde e, Jeff Rickman

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