Subterranean Journeys A Springfield Plateau Grotto Publication

June 2014

Vol. 9 Issue 2

A stunning speleothem in Blanchard Springs Caverns, a cave system located in the Ozark National Forest in Stone County in northern Arkansas.

Blanchard is the only show cave owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service. There is a visitors’ center with tours offered daily during the summer to either of two tour routes, the Dripstone tour or the Discovery Tour. In the colder months, only the Dripstone tour is con-ducted due to hibernating Indiana bats in the lower level of the cave. Wild cave tours are also available.

Brian Sauer

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Page

President’s Column 3

Gating Fitzpatrick Cave, Jonathan B. Beard 5

Hints for Cave Survey Sketching, Jonathan B. Beard 7

Grand Re-Opening of Cricket Hole, Jonathan B. Beard 9

Photo Gallery - From the Lens of Matt Bumgardner 13

About the Springfield Plateau Grotto 16

Contents June 2014

Volume 9 Issue 2

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President’s Column

Growth and Grief

“We’ve never done it that way before.” This was the talking point of a recent sermon at my home church a few weeks ago. The pastor was speaking about how, in order to experience growth within an organization, along the way you will also experience grief. Growing pains, as you will.

Personally, I hate change! My husband and my closest friends will be the first to tell you, I like the comfort inside my own bubble; no risk of change equals serenity and security. My motto is, if it’s not broken, don’t’ try to fix it. Maybe some of you are like me. In this edition of the President’s Column, however, I am going to pose some hard questions. What can stunt or even kill growth of an organization?

What can stunt or even kill growth of an organization? Here is a very common one. “I want it done, only one way - my way.” Or, how about this one: “This is how we’ve always done it . Why try some-thing different?” Or, how about this one: “I don’t see that ever working for SPG’s benefit, so there is no point in trying (you fill in the blank).”

My ponderings led me to wonder, “What kind of potential does SPG have?” And, to reach that potential and maybe even beyond what we could possibly dream of, “What growing pains would we have to experience?” How can we grow SPG to make an impact outside Springfield or outside southwest Missouri?

Growth often involves taking risks and facing the possibility of failure. For example, what if a motion gets voted against or someone disagrees with the person making the motion? Uh-oh. That’s never happened be-fore- awwwkward! Or, what if we were to seek out public outreach opportunities actively and passionately throughout the community to get SPG more exposure, instead of waiting for the community to find out about us? It’s unrealistic to think people will eventually find out about us as long as SPG just continues to exist.

Case in point – Facebook. The Facebook page for Springfield Plateau Grotto was the brainchild of Maria Thompson. Sure, everyone was using Facebook as a means to connect to friends, but what if the grotto had a Facebook page? Maria took the bull by the horns, created the SPG Facebook page, and it has had nothing but soaring success. Photos and announcements by our members generally receive dozens or even hundreds of hits within hours of posting. 417 Magazine, the Republic Monitor and the Springfield Visitors Bureau all dis-covered SPG’s existence via Facebook. We may never have had media exposure from those media outlets without the Facebook page. Maria envisioned outside of the box to get our name out to the community and to potential members who may not have known that we existed. We’d never done that before! One person’s idea and enthusiasm has made a huge impact on our behalf in the world of social media. That was just one person! Just think of what we could do if everyone did something like this!

What is SPG’s vision, anyway? Is it only one person’s vision, the vision of a handful of members or a common vision among a group of people who want to make the world a better place by conserving our caves for fu-ture generations – our children, grandchildren, to enjoy? Should we only follow one person’s vision – “We’ve always done it that way.” or “Let’s just do it my way.” Why not expand our ideas to encompass endless op-portunities and possibilities?

You might be thinking, “SPG already participates in a lot of public outreach programs. We’re involved in cave gatings across the state; we occasionally get TV or newspaper coverage, etc.” But, the important question is, “Are we doing just enough to justify our existence as a viable grotto or are we giving serious thought to how we can ensure SPG’s survival for generations to come?

So, here are some ideas about what SPG members do to further our growth from within.

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1. Make an effort to go on at least one cave trip and/or participate in one public outreach or other cav-ing activity per month. SPG has more than 200 wild cave trips per year, and that doesn’t include other cave related activities, which means you have approximately 45-50 choices per month. Take your pick. Remember, your participation in SPG activities is important to our grotto’s vitality.

2. Work to get new members actively involved in the grotto. This is so imperative. How do we get new members excited and involved? Get to know them. If you are a bashful or reserved by nature, step out of your comfort zone and reach out to a newer member. Find out what sparked their interest in caving. Offer to take them on a trip or personal tour of a cave they have never seen. Share your story of how you got involved in caving and mentor our younger members. The next generation of young cavers and new mem-bers ensures the survival of SPG for years to come.

3. Unconventional trips. The grotto could seek out new cave trips opportunities; visit caves that we either haven’t been to before or visited in several years. We may have to drive farther, but with some planning, it’s completely doable. It only takes one person’s initiative to pull a trip together. You don’t have to be extremely knowledgeable about caves in order to lead a cave trip; you just have to be willing to be the person to do it.

4. Here is a big one: volunteer. I cannot stress this enough. More people need to volunteer, rather than placing the burden on the same people who have always ‘done it’. The individuals who have always car-ried the weight are getting worn paper thin. I know this firsthand. Volunteering even 2-3 hours of your time, once a month, can make a huge impact. Simply offer to accompany a cave trip leader or lend a help-ing hand at a public outreach event. Write a short article or submit your cave photos for publication in Subterranean Journeys. If you are more ambitious, offer to assist one of the grotto editors with our monthly and quarterly publications. Each member has a variety of skills, talents and knowledge that could benefit SPG, whether it is public speaking, writing articles, taking photographs, guiding cave trips, teaching members how to rappel or about springs, caves and karst geology, giving presentations at grotto meet-ings, civic organizations, schools or youth organizations. Put your knowledge to work for SPG. You don’t have to try to change the world to make a difference.

5. Provide more interactive meetings. Here’s an idea. Yes, the purpose of our meetings is to take care of grotto business, but meetings don’t need to consume two hours. Several members drive a good distance to the monthly meeting, and spending unnecessary time going off on ‘tangents’ not only bores people to death, doesn’t accomplish much other than to eat up valuable time, not to mention making our meetings unattractive. If we are to draw more people to our meetings, we should spend more time discussing what SPG is really about – caves and caving.

6. Trust and encouragement of others within SPG. Nothing will kill the growth of an organization more quickly than a breach of trust. I must place emphasis on the word ‘kill’. The word trust speaks for itself. Encourage other members to get involved. Tell other members how much you appreciate their efforts. Remind others how valuable their presence is within the grotto. You would be surprised at how a few words of appreciation can go a very long way.

The hope of the younger generation stepping up means that change in SPG is inevitable. Along with change may come a few growing pains as we take on new initiatives whether they stem from unconven-tional means or outside the box thinking. My hope is that this column will compel some of you to do just that. Don’t be afraid to try something you have never done before!

As always, please let me know your thoughts and ideas. I appreciate and encourage every-

one’s feedback.

As always, please let me know your thoughts and ideas. I appreciate and encourage every-one’s feedback.

Respectfully yours,

Charity Hertzler

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Gating Fitzpatrick Cave

By Jonathan Beard, NSS 21408-RL (FE)

I don’t know much about the property’s early years in Christian County, but before World War II, the Fitzpatrick family owned a large stretch of land along the James River. In the area of Fitzpatrick Cave, the family operated an amusement park where people would explore the cave, stay in small rental cab-ins and rent paddleboats on a small section of river. This section of the river was a small lake formed by a five-foot tall concrete dam. Part of that concrete wall is still visible in the center of the river, but it hasn’t impounded water for decades.

Change in Ownership

In 1948, William Nevatt purchased about 40 acres of land from the Fitzpatrick family from what is now US-160 east and from the ridge top to the James River. He would eventually sell a few parcels of that land until there was about 17 acres remaining in the Nevatt family.

I had wanted to gate Fitzpatrick Cave since 1983, when Breakdown Cave was gated. There was the thought that it would be expensive to gate its THREE entrances. Many fellow cavers considered the cave a sacrificial cave and showed no interest in having it gated. I had many other cave trips and pro-jects along the way and so the years passed, and additional vandalism occurred. Three times, others including Ron Jaeger and I, armed with shovels and rakes, refilled illegal looters’ holes in the floor. Without a gate, I was reluctant to do any other restoration in the cave.

Sentiments about the cave began to change about five years ago or so. While hosting the MCKC Board of Directors at the Nevatts’ River Place cabin on June 13, 2009, Bill and Bonnie Heim and I took fellow Board members down the road to show them first, a very vandalized cave (Fitzpatrick Cave) and sec-ond, a restored cave (Breakdown Cave). All went according to plan until, upon showing them the phreatic pool that might contain a bristly cave crayfish; we not only saw a bristly cave crayfish, but the state-endangered species, the Ozark cavefish!

Suddenly the cave became known as an endangered species habitat! Not only that, but two of the MCKC Board members were cave archeologists, Craig Williams and Susie Jensen. They found numerous prehistoric artifacts such as scrapers and chert flakes. Further investigation showed that the cave was an important archaeological site, and it was registered as such. My desire to gate the cave grew by leaps and bounds! It was no sacrificial cave after all!

Animal jaw and flake. Photo: Jon Beard Newborn slimy salamander Photo: Jon Beard

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When Jim Cooley began organizing April of 2014 as a multiple cave gate month (Cleveland Cave in St. Clair County, Allie Spring Cave and Mill Creek Cave in Pulaski County), I asked if we could begin the en echelon set of projects by gating Fitzpatrick Cave. As Charley Young’s barn still contained a significant portion of unused steel from previous cave gating projects, SPG already had most of the steel it needed to gate Fitzpatrick.

I took detailed measurements of a location 40 feet inside the cave which appeared to be appropriate (Blake Stephens, an MDC Ozark cavefish biologist when he came to check out the cavefish habitat first suggested this site). Then I sent the sketch to Jim Cooley, who is a wiz at drawing up gate designs to give us a rough idea how much steel we might need to gate the cave.

I returned later with my wife Alicia and using 2 x 4 boards, we determined how many pieces of steel were to be cut at what lengths. I then made a list of what was needed. All that was needed was ap-proval by SPG members to use the steel at Charley’s barn and fund purchase of additional steel and other gating expenses. After discussion, the funds were approved unanimously at an SPG meeting.

C.A.I.R.N. archaeologists then visited the cave to check the site and confirm that our plans would not interfere or damage an archaeological site. No problem—just river silt and gravel.

I gave Charley the list of steel to cut and prefabricate in order to save time and oxy-acetylene gas ex-penses at the site. Charley and I had done the same for the gate at Pearson Creek Cave in Greene County some two and a half years earlier.

Finally, April 17th came. Converging on the scene were Charley Young, Max White, Mark Jones (an Illi-nois caver), Roy Gold, Jim Cooley and me. We talked with Mike Nevatt, who just happened to be there with a friend to burn leaves in the outdoor fireplace. The cavers, with their equipment and supplies, drove the narrow road alongside the river to the grassy river bottomland adjacent to the western en-trance of Fitzpatrick Cave.

We worked feverishly through the day (Max left for work once everything was unloaded) and continued working, only stopping for lunch and to refill the generator with gas. After 5 p.m., Max rejoined us after his job work for the day ended along with Matt who came from his job to see what was going on and joined in some of the work. Around 7 p.m., the job was done; equipment and supplies were loaded into the already stuffed Cooley van. After some final work, we took some group photos. Fitzpatrick now has a very handsome gate that will hopefully keep the vandals at bay for many years to come. As it turned out, Charley’s prefabricated pieces of steel were adequately sized. Very few amendments were made to the original gate concept. We had reasons to feel that the job was well done.

And, now that it’s gated, this poor cave can finally receive the restoration attention its conjoined twin Breakdown Cave received many years ago. There is extensive graffiti to remove, much of it nasty black spray paint in the upper level. Flowstone muddied from muddy hands needs to be cleaned. There are hundreds of broken stalagmites to reattach using 3M epoxy adhesive. As it was stated in the old, “Six Million Dollar Man” TV shows opening credits, “we can rebuild him!”

Many thanks to those who worked to make this happen. If the cave could speak, it would sigh in relief and say “Thanks!”

Matt Bumgardner and the new gate. Photo: Jon Beard

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Hints for Cave Survey Sketching

By Jonathan B. Beard, NSS 21408RL (FE)

Not all cave surveyors are accomplished draftsmen, nor are they talented artists. It certainly helps if you are either or both, but in the case of this cave surveyor, neither. I often say my older sister got all of the artistic talent in the family (besides being a chef, she sells her art), and I never went to drafting school.

I wish I had kept the sketch of my very first cave-mapping attempt. It was August 30, 1975, and the cave was Money Cave in Dent County. I drew the sketch on the inside surface of a cereal box with a red pen-cil using a dime store compass measuring in three-degree increments and a steel 100-foot enclosed tape (that soon got mired in mud and rusted anyway—a use once, throw away model). Sure, I ended up throwing it away, but I should have kept it to show cavers what my first attempt looked like. It goes without saying that experience has improved my ability.

Surveying caves requires learning how to do it and dedication. It is a time consuming process that in-volves an average of an hour for every 100 feet of survey, depending on how difficult the cave passage is to traverse and how complex its detail. I’ve spent an entire day sketching just one or two survey shots with lots of breakdown and speleothems to sketch in. I’ve also surveyed more than 1,000 feet in one day because there was little detail to sketch (e.g. wall-to-wall water with a flat ceiling). And think about it: It takes at least as much time to draft a finished cave map on the drafting table or computer as it did to survey the cave. No joke.

Things to remember when sketching: The less ambiguous your sketch is, the easier it is to draft. What was obvious on your sketch while sketching may not be so obvious a month later when you’re drafting the map and trying to figure out what a line or symbol on your sketch means.

Your cross sections must agree 100% with your plan view; otherwise, the map viewer will wonder which is correct. If the passage on your plan view shows as 24 feet wide, your cross section of that place should show as 24 feet wide. If a breakdown block shows as 3 feet from the left wall and 5 feet long on your plan view, it should show as 3 feet from the left wall and 5 feet long on your cross section. If there are three breakdown blocks on your plan view, there should be three breakdown blocks on your cross section.

Your profile must agree 100% with your plan view and cross sections. If your plan view shows a ceiling height of 8 feet, your profile at that spot should show as 8 feet tall and your cross section should show 8 feet tall at that spot.

If not, then something isn’t depicted accurately. Your ceiling height symbol on your plan view is not cor-rect, the height of your profile is not correct or the height of your cross section is not correct. Better to make it correct while still in the cave than to try to figure out which is correct at the drafting table or computer. Surveyors have often resorted to returning to a cave to resolve a sketch issue. If the cave is three miles from your house, it’s not too bad. But, what if the cave is 200 miles away? Not so bad if the cave is short and easy, but what if the problem is three miles into a challenging cave? Sketch and draft-ing problems are usually preventable.

A legible set of notes with no ambiguity is the ideal, especially if the sketcher hands the notes to a draftsman, that is, a different person drafts the map than the one who sketched the survey. It’s one thing to read your handwriting, but it is often more difficult to read someone else’s handwriting! A large percentage of cave maps produced in southwest Missouri in the 1960s and 1970s were drafted by the late Dr. Ken Thomson on behalf of several other people who did the actual survey sketching. We’re

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talking many dozens of cave maps! How good could Thomson’s drafting be if others’ survey sketches were sloppy and ambiguous? More than once a drafted map was upside down! That is, the north ar-row was 180 degrees off because the sketcher either forgot to place the north arrow on his sketches and Thomson assumed the north arrow was pointing up when it should have been pointing down, or the surveyor incorrectly used a compass! I know of at least three caves where, in the older version of the maps, the cave is pointing the opposite direction as the newer map (McKee Cave of Dallas County, Shelf Cave of Christian County and Cave of the Winds in Barry County).

When sketching, be precise, be clear, be obvious, be detailed. Leave nothing to the imagination. Never be stuck having to guess. Do NOT be afraid to use an eraser in a cave to correct your sketch. Be sure the line or symbol on your map is exactly the way it should be drafted on the final map. It’s the right size, the right shape and in the right location.

Be sure nothing is missing. Make sure there are cross sections where you want them and no missing cross sections. Complete your lines, your circles. It takes extra time to be neat and complete, but not as much time as driving back to the cave to complete a sloppy or incomplete sketch.

I am, admittedly, the world’s slowest sketcher. I wear out erasers on Papermate disposable mechanical pencils long before I run out of pencil lead. The result: dang near the equivalent of a pencil draft qual-ity sketch. More than once survey project directors have complimented me on the neatness of the sketch I have submitted to them. Not because I am the most gifted artist—not because I am the most skilled draftsman. I may never win a cave map cartography salon, but I may get an A for neatness.

Bottom line: Be neat and complete.

And remember. My foray into cave surveying started in 1975 with a rough sketch on the inside of a cereal box in a dark place in Dent County, Missouri.

A sketch from a recent Living Cave survey

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Grand (Re)Opening of Cricket Hole Cave

By Jonathan Beard, NSS 21408-RL (FE)

On September 2, 2007, wife Alicia and I were hiking around Ritter Springs Park in Greene County. On one leg of our journey, we followed a trail we hadn’t hiked before. We unexpectedly walked beside an open joint in the Burlington Limestone. I looked down into the vertical opening and saw what appeared to be cave passage. I climbed down six feet and looked into the cave. After my eyes adjusted, I could see walking passage disappear into blackness. I couldn’t believe I had never heard of this cave before.

In checking the Missouri cave database for Greene County., I found no cave at that location. I talked about it with Bob Taylor that evening, and we set up a trip the next day to map it.

Bob and I were there as planned, and while Bob was sketching, I took a GPS reading of the cave and sev-eral photographs of the 40-foot cave. Inside, the ceiling was up to 11 feet above the sloping floor. There were nice examples of crinoid, brachiopod and horn coral fossils in the limestone walls, some minor amounts of dripstone and flowstone, and we noted hundreds of camel crickets that had left nearly black stains on the ceiling domes from countless generations of the species. I decided to name the cave Cricket Hole. We also saw a pickerel frog, a slug, a black ant (who seemed to be watching two crickets mate) in this moist, but dry cave. The cave ended at a drain in the southeast corner of the cave. The drain was too small to allow us to go any further. Although a short cave, it is rather spacious with a lot of interesting features.

What Happened to Cricket Hole?

On April 13, 2013, Greg Sanders, Lonnie Batson and I were hiking around the Park. When we came to Cricket Hole Cave, I was alarmed to see the entrance completely filled with wood chips with not a hint that there was a cave entrance there! After talking with Melvin Johnson that evening, we would try to meet with the Springfield Parks department officials to see if the cave could be reopened.

Alicia Beard at the entrance to Cricket Hole, 2007. Photo : Jon Beard

April 2013. The entrance to Cricket Hole filled with wood chips. Photo: Jon Beard

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On June 12, 2013, Melvin and I met with Jon Carney and others of the Parks dept. and Rhonda Rimer of the Missouri Dept. of Conservation. I gave them a small slide show of the photographs I had taken in the cave. Mr. Carney explained that a neighbor had voiced concern that their grandkids might fall into the crack and not knowing there was a cave there, the entrance was filled. Now knowing that a cave was there, plans were made in the rough to dig open the cave in November, but a long and rough win-ter prevented a dig until spring of 2014. Meanwhile, I had acquired Bob’s unfinished map of the cave after his untimely death. All it needed was a few additions, which I added, and submitted it to the MSS.

A group of eager diggers assembled on March 25, 2014, at the filled entrance to the cave, armed with various shovels, rakes, hoes and buckets. Rhonda, Melvin and I were there as well as two Missouri Master Naturalists and three parks employees.

We began digging about 9:00 a.m., and we found, as expected, the wood chips were easy to remove. However, we soon learned that about 12 inches down, the fill did not consist entirely of wood chips. We found a more dense and heavier deposit of chat—a mixture of gravel and sand. Once we arrived at the two-foot depth, we began running into large, buried rocks. Upon closer inspection, we realized these were large broken pieces of concrete, some in excess of 60 lbs. One of the parks employees drove off to buy a large rock bar. That seemed to work well in loosening the partially buried chunks of concrete, and by 11:00 a.m. I slithered down into the cave! Rejoice! The cave was open again! We spent the next two hours fastening a rope around concrete boulders and hoisting them out of the cave to create more entry space as well as remove any rock fall hazard.

Reopening Cricket Hole on March 25, 2014. Photo: Jon Beard

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Master Naturalist Mike and I explored the cave, finding chemolithoautotrophic bacteria, about a dozen cave crickets and some concrete blocks that had rolled down the length of the cave.

After the last of the rocks to be removed that day were taken up and out (leaving about 20 to be re-moved at a later date), I spent some time taking photographs of crickets, speleothems and fossils be-fore exiting. Only Melvin and I were left to collect our remaining tools and head back to the cars.

Although the re-opening of the cave exposes it to potential vandalism, there has been relatively little of it in this cave prior to its filling in 2012.

Cricket Hole is a cute little cave, so if anyone is planning to visit caves in Ritter Springs Park, you should take some extra time to see this cave. It is one of seven documented caves in Ritter Springs Park (the others are Ritter Bat Cave ,when the grays and snakes aren’t there, Copperhead Pit when the snakes aren’t there, Possum Pit, Junction Cave, unenterable, but pretty-to-look-at Ritter Spring Cave and short Blowing Cave). If you don’t make it into Cricket Hole, at least enjoy the attached photos and map. As with all caves in the Springfield-Greene County Park system, a permit is required to enter, but to SPG members, it is but a formality to see most of them.

Giant crinoid. Photo: Jon Beard Horn coral. Photo: Jon Beard

Flowstone. Photo: Jon Beard Crinoid Stem. Photo: Jon Beard

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From the Lens of Matt Bumgardner

Barry County Caves

Neverending Shelter, an impressive 400’+ wide overhang.

Don Dunham, Jon Beard, Roy Gold , Charley Young and Darrol Gasawski get ready to go into Butler Hollow Cave.

Greg Sanders standing in Sedum Shelter

View from inside Twilight Rimstone

Jon Beard gazing at a pit In

Butler Hollow Cave

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Round Spring Caverns, Shannon County - Photos: Matt Bumgardner

Used extensively by prehistoric natives , Round Spring was the site of an early 1800s gristmill. About a mile downstream was the original location of Eminence, Missouri, which was destroyed during the Civil War. The spring was located on the Eminence to Salem wagon road.

Round Spring was the first site purchased for the Missouri State park system in 1924 and nearby Round Spring Caverns, a deep cave with two passages, was opened privately to tourists in 1932. By 1972, both the park and the caverns were incorporated into the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.

Formations in Round Spring Cavern’s Tobacco Barn

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Fitzpatrick Cave, Christian County - Photos: Matt Bumgardner

Left: Tiny speleothem growing from the bottom of a broken stalactite.

Above is an example of graffiti found in Fitz-patrick Cave. The photo at the right shows the same wall after volunteers worked for many hours to restore a passage wall.

Fitzpatrick Cave has been extensively van-dalized over the years. In addition to bro-ken speleothems, graffiti is found through-out the cave.

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Subterranean Journeys is a Springfield Plateau Grotto (SPG) quarterly journal published in Springfield, Missouri.

Editor: Maria Thompson

E-mail: journal@spgcavers.org Assistant Editor: Jonathan Beard

E-mail: mokanman@att.net

Springfield Plateau Grotto Officers

President Charity Hertzler

Vice President Matt Bumgardner

Secretary Greg Sanders

Treasurer Roy Gold

MSS Director Max White

About SPG

Springfield Plateau Grotto (SPG) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization made up primarily of southwest Mis-sourians who share a common interest in cave conservation, surveying and management. Project-oriented, the group works in tandem with public agencies and private landowners to enhance understanding of caves and foster awareness of the importance of conserving the cave environment. SPG works in cooperation with the Missouri Speleological Survey to document, map and study caves and is a cooperating member of the Missouri Caves & Karst Conservancy.

SPG is very serious about our commitment to the well being of Missouri's caves and the cavers who visit them. Our members are active in cave exploration, mapping, restoration, gating and management.

SPG membership in the organization is not automatic upon payment of the dues. If you are interested in ex-ploring membership with us, please visit the SPG website and attend our monthly meetings.

Thank you for your interest in SPG and our endeavors.