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Post by paul snook on Feb 17, 2008 0:52:40 GMT -5
right arm (mirrored) left arm (mirrored) 10 on each with one on my neck, the remaining 14 will span across my back from shoulder to shoulder
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Post by paul snook on Feb 17, 2008 0:43:13 GMT -5
hey all bull's back, e-mail has been down, sorry to be gone for so long, but hey I'm back now, and went caving with some scouts today, and several of the boys came up with a name for a new bat species, ( some of you may have seen these frost / condensation covered bats before) with the bats sleeping and not getting to close to them, the question was " whats the sparkling stuff on them? it looks like diamonds" " are these 'bling - bling bats'? so there it is we now have a name for them. frosty, due covered bats are now named " bling-bling bats" and speaking of bats I'm now 21 bat tattoos into my collection of bats per cave tats i spoke of several months back. with 14 more to go, and i have come up with a new idea for my leg, a spiraling wrap of all the caves Ive sketched maps of, any how ,, hope ya'll didn't miss me to much, and hope you'll forgive me for rambling in this trip report,
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Post by paul snook on Nov 11, 2007 20:58:42 GMT -5
Nov 10, met with ray Heery, frank Maynard his 10yr old son Ben, and rob Davidson, to survey and map Keaton well cannon county TN, after taking the long twisty way around the MTN. we parked, geared up, and hiked UP the remaining portion of the MN, then started rigging to do the first drop, rob and ray were first down, and frank read instruments while I started the sketch and data, with Ben looking on EAGER to bounce his first pit, upon reaching the bottom, rob and ray shouted to us that there was a dead raccoon at the bottom, near the lip of the second drop, then the rest of us dropped in, we went ahead on with the survey, ending up with 290 + ft of passage and 102 + ft of pit, then when we were done surveying, Ben frog climbed his first pit like a pro. when he reached the top i could hear him asking his dad if he did good, from my waiting spot at the bottom of the first drop, i could hear he was very proud of himself. frank and Ben dropping in side by side frank and Ben climbing out side by side Nov. 11 th met with ray Heery, Robert Sewell, and Steve "super spud" Hambrick, to survey and map a small cave Steve found ( sorry cant give the name by landowner request) knowing that Steve had free climbed a drop near the entrance we grabbed light gear and headed of into the woods, reaching the cave we waisted no time in getting started, and then got slowed down when I reached the top of a flowstone mass that almost plugs of the way to the back, the very one that Steve had free climbed, i looked over the edge and told Steve that was loony for doing such a climb with out gear , then after some discussion and some second and third guessing, Steve and Robert headed back to the trucks to get more vertical gear, they returned a few minutes later with gear, and a P.E.E.L. ladder Steve had brought with him ( Personal Emergency Escape Ladder) after rigging, and all passing the vertical spot, we continued on and finished the survey with ,,, whoa!,,, dejavu,,, almost,,, 280 + ft of passage and 50 + ft of vertical, this little cave also yielded a really nice flowstone drapery and stalagmite formation, in the middle of the passage ,near the back, very picture worthy, after getting up the ladder safe and down the other side, Robert watched as ray and I listened to Steve pull another one of his super spud stunts, as he fell on his way down the flowstone, don't worry he's OK, and we ended a good weekend with all headed home OK , and two more TN maps soon to be turned in, and in the books ray testing the P.E.E.L ladder Steve back lighting the massive
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Post by paul snook on Sept 30, 2007 13:38:38 GMT -5
foggy veiw of the river on way to cave one of the passages in cave waterfall (lower falls) near the cave
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Post by paul snook on Sept 30, 2007 7:15:07 GMT -5
sorry folks having some trouble getting pics to down load will add them in later
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Post by paul snook on Sept 30, 2007 7:14:20 GMT -5
the morning started off very well, got up early to take pictures along the twisty back road route chosen for the day, got several nice shots mostly of the foggy morning, over a rd side pond, over the river, over a soy bean Field, then discovered a waterfall not far from the meeting location, and got several good shots of it, then go0t a phone call from a work buddy, " hey man looks like i can make it, where do i meat you and what do i bring"? after giving details, rick ( work bud) Steve, and Robert joined me at the entrance area, we then headed in, seeing hows this was ricks first caving trip ever, we did a short tour of the lower levels and some photos, then headed to the pain,,,,, i mean survey ,,,,, I mean PAIN,,,,, there is supposed to be approx 1500 to 2000 ft of passage in the section of cave we went to map, we surveyed 200 ft and could go no further, it was slimy muddy, about an inch deep in water through out most of it, all belly crawl, wide but snug in places, and wall to wall fist and double fist size coble stones, not much fun to lay on or survey in, we reached a point where there was wall to wall water approx two inches deep and it looked to continue for another 30 ft or so, but none of us could progress any further due to girth, if any body wants to assemble a 2 - 3 man team and tackle this beast ( its rumored to connect to another cave in the area) ill gladly provide the survey gear and the book, and the beer after, all in all it was a good trip, after some more touring and photos, we called it a day, the survey now stands at 9,952.5 ft and still going,
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Post by paul snook on Sept 30, 2007 16:40:08 GMT -5
are the new ones coming in the mail next week? a quote from " the beverly hillbillies" movie jethroe is asked if he fixed "them bare as bones breaks" his reply, " yep took'em off yesterdee, the new'uns is comin in'da mail next week" and this conversation goes on while drivin DOWN a hills and curves ozark MTN. rd
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Post by paul snook on Sept 11, 2007 20:01:26 GMT -5
are the new brakes comin in the mail next week?
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Post by paul snook on Sept 11, 2007 15:58:32 GMT -5
"We were under the impression that more people were coming but they never showed. "
we waited, but it seems like pits were more important than snail shell, or sleep was more important, dang yoyo's and lazy cavers, it's ok though, we understand, you guys just dont got it in you to do such a NON- sweaty trip, I mean its not like your going to be getting hot and muddy in snail shell, you dont even have to clean gear afterwords, seams like yall just want to do the up and down sweat pouring caves or the crawl'y muddy ones, but we forgive you, maybe next time,
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Post by paul snook on Sept 10, 2007 16:09:46 GMT -5
please allow me to add to the porterfest report, by saying: it was a good time, sorry I didn't get to stay for more of it, the basics vertical class, on Saturday morning at the rock house went well, Robert Sewell and his family attended, along with ed and his brother, and a long lost porter Ray Heery even managed to crawl out from under his rock to lend me a hand in teaching, several drops were made, and a couple of climbs with a change over or two in the mix, ( tncaveres, I need some help tweeking the three knot climb) sadly on Saturday, not to long after going back to camp and watching Ranger Maynard sniff Dr. Beaners beard for left over breakfast, I had to leave, however, on sunday, I did meat up with Brian b. and jlynn and Becky for snail shell cave " Venetian av." and after gearing up and giving some time for others from porterfest to show up, we headed in for the girls first trip in to TN's most notorious danger cave, all was safe the water was down, some photos were taken, the girls handled it like pro's, and when we headed out, some more pictures were taken and the water was up about a foot more than on the way in, all in all it was a good end to what part of porterfest I was able to make the Sewell's share a wall, one going up the other down " what was breakfast Dr. Beaner?"
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Post by paul snook on Sept 1, 2007 18:00:14 GMT -5
comment over-heard, from roger to terri: " I finaly got to use my lost creek cave suit in lost creek cave"
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Post by paul snook on Sept 1, 2007 17:49:14 GMT -5
Roger, Terri, Cash, Gary, Steve, and I set out for lost creek cave white county this morning, the drive was nice and scenic, until we got temporarily misplaced and discombobulated in route, but we finally got our bearings and ended up in the right place, pulling into the parking area under heavy smell of dead something, we were greeted by tents and other cars, the other cavers were nowhere in sight, and when we met up with them later in cave, it only confirmed what we thought, they got an early start, the waterfalls in and out of the cave were running nicely, but not very much volume, we picked up a little ( and I do mean little, just a few cans) trash and spotted a few places of graffiti, stopping a few times for pictures on the way in and more on the way out, we finished our day with a cooling of in the falls outside and then the drive home, the waterfall the group standing in the entrance clockwise starting at top left, Gary, roger, Steve, cash, Terri at the waterfall in cave Steve ( background) and I ( foreground) on a hand flash and time delay shot in main passage and on a side note always leave your keys in a visible spot before locking up, so you don't have to cut the lock off your gear box in order to get them out , or make sure you have the tools to remove the lock, keys do help you get home, ya we had a rough start ,but the day ended well as you can tell from the pics
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Post by paul snook on Aug 6, 2007 17:25:46 GMT -5
Joined by J&B and an old workmate Joe, we headed off early Sunday morning for a trip to the pool room and cathedral room, in blue spring, it was a nice semi foggy drive with a little scattered rarely seen Tn wild life, spotted along the road ( not road kill, at least not when we spotted them) a young felted buck, a raccoon, and one peregrine falcon, along with several patches of grazing doe, the cave proved to be its usual self, windy, wet in some spots, muddy, challenging, and BEAUTIFUL! we all had a good time and as always pics do follow, Joe checking out the size and depth of the rim stone near Hanson's crossing l-r= Joe, B, and jlynn, checking out the pool room calcite stalagmite, ala L.E.D. glow
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Post by paul snook on Jul 31, 2007 15:49:43 GMT -5
robert, that sounds good to me, and lynn I am glad you told me about him, I just wish he hadnt made the connection, now I gotta bribe some- BODY into doing and surveying it as well. PS: yall have heard of the movie "snakes on a plane" im sure, but have you ever heard of snakes in a cave, or should I say snakes in hell hole in the cave, cant wait for yall to hear that storie on oct, 13th when we get together with Mr. Brasier and hr3 at the cave
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Post by paul snook on Jul 30, 2007 16:22:18 GMT -5
LOL!!!!!! who's og?
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Post by paul snook on Jul 29, 2007 18:08:37 GMT -5
I figure 500 - 1,000 to the end at the tight spot, also I spoke with Robert Brasier today via phone, and he advised me that the tight spot is the connection to the spring cave, he did it when he was 15, and SMALL, he said it was scalloped ceiling tight belly crawl head side ways and if you want to avoid getting hung up go with form fitting clothes and small gear pack, don't sound fun I know but if were going to do this right,,, some-body's are going to have to survey it, and the connection to horse shoe as well, he also told me about some of the history of the cave, that is what he knew of from the 60's, he said the length of hell hole sounded about right and that even then its name was marked on the wall, and when he was young going in there, the first time through hell hole, the crawl was neck deep in water , and that the wet lead that you ( tncaveres) looked at was a swirling siphon, he remembered seeing salt peter vat remnants and troughs, as well as the civil defense shelter with tools in it, the lights and generator as well, I'll be talking to him again soon as he started to tell me a story on another cave were working on, and ill get more on this at the same time.
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Post by paul snook on Jul 29, 2007 10:05:47 GMT -5
I got your old & all , I also got a passage or two for your YOUNG self to look at
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Post by paul snook on Jul 29, 2007 6:58:25 GMT -5
I think you and two others should go re tape it to make sure we didn't miss, for reasons of accuracy, and to feel it for your self ;D after all if your going to go through it you need to really do it, get the full effect, instruments and all ;D, ill even bring the sulfur clouds ;D
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Post by paul snook on Jul 28, 2007 18:29:27 GMT -5
lol! thats funny, and no I didnt step on a barking spider before I took the picture
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Post by paul snook on Jul 28, 2007 15:46:14 GMT -5
After being postponed out under threat of rain at snail shell cave, Ray Heery, Rodney Schmeide( tncaveres) and my self decided to survey in Harrison saltpeter cave in Bedford Co. TN, we went in with the goal of working a passage that has been named ( I think by locals, they even spray painted the name on the wall) "torture chamber / hell hole" and as much as time would allow past it, we met our goal and left ourselves in good standing for the next trip, this post takes an odd turn now, so be warned, on several of our pleasure trips and some of our photo trips, new cavers, boy scouts, and even experienced cavers have asked " how long is it?" and I have always guessed around 300, Rodney said 450- 500, but we had NO idea of the true nature of this BEAST, after the trip we went our separate ways and I later met up with Rodney in near by wartrace, and we talked for a bit while adding up the figures for that section, then got Robert Sewell on the phone to run them through his calculator, and no joke folks this passage is named appropriately and the length only confirms it, it's tortuous and it does feel like your crawling to hell and through it, and with survey data to prove it, its,,,,,,,,, are you ready,,,,,,,,,,,, 666 ft long from start to stop,,,,,,,,, ooooooooh spookyyyyy!,,,,,,, don't that just grab you by the boo-boo and make you say hmmmmm? entrance to torture chamber hell hole ( notice bottom right behind the pictures date stamp) Rodney and other rescue techs in hell hole on a previous trip, this shows the size of the key hole portion( looking over Rodney's arm) Rodney laying down on the job, while reading instruments, in the key hole crawl section Jordan and Greg taking a breath in the key hole crawl on a previous trip this should give you an idea of where the name came from, and on a side note,,, the beer drinking, spray painting, hand held flashlight caving schmuckeis, who tote 6 packs of long necks into the cave have successfully made there way to the other side of this spot without breaking a bottle, we know because the bottles are found there every time we go
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Post by paul snook on Jul 21, 2007 17:43:17 GMT -5
the mock rescue planned for today with tncaveres ended up becoming a photo and survey trip, due to lack of volunteers, its all good though, the tech team members that did show got a quick tour of the cave, and helped with knocking out 167 ft of survey, they also sat in a few places and discussed techniques to getting some one out, so some rescue pre- planning was done , the day also included the team posing in some photos, and pushing a lead/ dig. ray trying out his home made spotlight Shot with KODAK Z612 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA at 2007-07-21 home made light prt2 from for-ground:Rodney's arm,Mike Clements, Dan Brown, and Jessie ? , coming out of torture chamber/ hell hole. early morning deer grazing across from the cave, they ran for cover shortly after this photo was taken, approx 7:am
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Post by paul snook on Jul 14, 2007 18:13:32 GMT -5
went to Cheshire cave today with cave madam jlynn, her two daughters, my son Jonathon and his cousin randy, had a good time, this was the first cave for Alicia and Ava and they loved it, little Ava was a little nervous in spots but when the cameras came out she warmed up quick with a cute little " I love the spot light " smile, when mommy said " say chucky- cheeze" she did loud and proud, caving cousins randy & Jonathon the ladies all of us( 10 sec. timed shot) the ladies, zoom, look at that ;D smile
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