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NEST TRIP REPORT
Alexander�s Trip Report 14 Aug 99
The Northeast Sump Exploration Team, NEST, returned and continued its
exploratory work in Alexander�s Cave on 14 Aug 99. NEST is a formally
recognized Project of the NSS and consists of a team of sump divers and
dedicated support personnel who are pursuing original exploration efforts at
several caves in the PA, Virginia and West Virginia areas. The team
surveys and further documents these sites through the use of still and video
techniques as well as engaging in biological surveys and water sampling at
these locations. NEST is also available to support the NCRC in situations
involving flooded passage and beyond sump rescues. Below is an account of
the Teams most recent explorations.
Jack led the team off entering the cave with his trusty chain saw, back in
the days when the cave had been commercialized the owners had constructed a
dam inside the natural entrance to artificially raise the water levels for
their boat tours. This dam had long ceased to serve any purpose and had
become an obstruction to navigation below this point. Jacks mission was to
chop out the center section so we could safely get the gear to the C sump.
This sump had never been explored and was our first objective for the day.
After transporting our equipment in through the man made entrance we
loaded up the boats. Despite the low water levels we still had to swim or
in my case float through several sections as we moved down stream in the
main river trunk toward our objective. The passage we were traversing
consists of a large water filled section up to 70 feet wide and 60 feet high
with a number of formations in evidence. The passage through the Dam was a
piece of cake thanks to Jacks efforts. We off loaded my side mounts on a
small island and after donning them John and I began the crawl to the C
sump. The passage was an off shoot of the main trunk, is about 5 feet high
and 20 feet wide and gradually narrows to three feet wide before becoming an
over head environment.
John placed a Disler Spike in a mud bank on the side and after an
equipment check I set off laying line from my AUL reel with a Spike in the
other hand. When I reached the overhead I vented air from my CF 200 dry
suit and settled to the bottom. The visibility was dismal, in fact there was
none. After proceeding a few feet I stopped and attempted to place the
first spike but was unable to do so because the bottom consisted of hard
gravel. I could feel open space to my front that seemed to slope downward.
The sump had been reported as a spring but today there appeared to be no
detectable flow. The limited visibility in the river had been destroyed by
our passage down stream to the site. Without the ability to place a line
belay and unable to see what I was getting myself into I opted to turn the
dive in the belief that there is nothing underground worth dying for.
Better to return on an other day under better conditions than to take
unnecessary risks. To safely work this sump would require an approach from
the downstream side to preserve the visiblity and the use of Under Water
Fixed Objects, UFOs or dog spikes. The UFOs developed by Eric Tesnau
consists of bowl or pyramid shaped concert monoliths with a stainless eye
bolt protruding from the top and are the solution for areas in which other
line belays will not work. The dog spikes are spiral steel rods that can be
screwed into gravel bottoms.
We headed back upstream pushing the boat through the shallows and
swimming the deeper sections. At the old boat dock we got John geared up
for his first sump dive and got back in the river for the wade to the E
sump. After a through equipment check John entered first with me right
behind. The vis was still at least a foot and I was able to observe John�s
finning technique which was excellent. We surface on the other side and
John became the eight person to ever see this part of the cave. I made a
few more trips through the sump to transport our photo gear and then we
dropped our tanks on a convent bank and began the slog upstream. After doing
a nose float through the now open E 2 sump and a look at the entrance to the
E 3 sump we set about our main objective, capturing the land of the straws
on slide film. While John operated the slaves I fired off several shot of
this incredibly decorated area. The ceiling of this room is covered with
hundreds of pure white soda straws, some over three feet long. These have
only survived the attention of vandals over the years because they have been
protected by the sump. After capturing this pristine area on film we worked
our way downstream for some passage shots. The large electronic slaves
behaved erratically but we managed to capture some excellent images.
While John passed me gear I made two dives to move it out through the
sump to the support team waiting our return in a boat. As I neared the end
of my second transport dive the tripod I was carrying became snagged in the
line. I stopped at this point and after carefully feeling around determined
that the snag was caused by a line running from my left. My guide line was
on my right. I was able to surface on the downstream side and still
holding on to the end of this snag pass off the tripod. I reentered the
sump and with my left hand on the primary line and began wrapping the loose
end of the other loose line around my right. I stopped when I reached what
appeared to be a tie off on a natural belay point. With my guide line
securely under my left arm I used my wrist mounted shears to cut the
offending line which must have been a remnant of that placed by Brown and
Schweyen when they first cracked this sump in the eighties. With this
hazard safely removed John and I both dove the sump and returned to the
staging area at the old boat dock.
With the E1 sump under his belt it was now time for John to get a look
at the J1, this sump is 350 feet long and leads to the new section that we
discovered during the resurvey of the cave. Beyond J1 lies quite a bit of
dry cave and two additional sumps. Progress in this area has been halted by
the third sump which will require an underwater dig to make any further
progress. Today we were merely going to do an orientation dive up to the
major restriction. The low water levels had completely dried up the fifty
foot run that leads to the sump, instead of floating we were reduced to
stoop walking up the passage. The entrance was now a small pool of water
only a few feet across. After putting our fins on we crawled to this pool
and John entered first. With his fins sticking out and his head under water
he performed his regulator checks and then fined out of sight. I was right
behind him and after 30 feet we emerged into a large room, the low water
conditions and reduced flow had allowed almost all of the sediment to settle
out and the water was a beautiful cobalt blue, the vis had to be upward of
150 + feet. It went on for ever and was breath talking. I hovered at the
ceiling while John drifted down to look over the restriction. The
restriction is fairly snug and is on a downward slope. When I pass it both
my back and stomach are in contact with the cave. Then as he turned I
followed him out. His description on surfacing was spectacular, after E1
he was hoping for 4 feet of vis, not the Florida type that he had found.
While John waited I reentered the sump which was now silted out and
passed the restriction into the crystal clear water beyond. I stopped at
one or two points to look over high ceiling leads that Eric had noticed on
his last dive. These canyons rose over a dozen feet but did not appear to
continue. I shone my primary up into these spaces and watched my bubbles
as they danced along the walls and formed pools of simmering light in these
cavities. Just before the beginning of the rise that led to airspace I
found what I was looking for, a pair of backup lights that Eric had dropped
on his last dive while exiting in zero visibility. I retrieved them and
turned to exit.
It had been another highly productive day at Alexander�s with a new
sump reckoned and more excellent images added to the slide show. One to
two more photo trips and we should be ready to release it. We would like to
recognize our sponsors and all of the supporting cavers who helped make our
efforts possible. A special thanks to Arnold Jackson Of American Underwater
Lighting who supplied our exceptional primary lights, meteor 4�s, and other
critical gear and Jon Breazile of the Fifth Dimension Dive Center who has
provided us with other vital support. We would also like to thank Terry
Brady, of the Brass Anchor who has provided us with generous audio visual
support. Additional sponsors include Lamar Hires of Dive Rite, Gene
Weisheit of East Coast Divers, Alex Sproul of Inner Mountain Outfitters,
Adrew Kipe of Maryland Reproductions, and Robert Carmichael of Brownies
Third Lung and HALCYON, The Doing It Right Equipment Company, and our most
recent sponsor, DUI for our outstanding CF 200 series Dry Suits, Tim
Walker, Hank and Jane Anderson, and the Sovik and Mothes families without
whose support none of our efforts would have been possible.
Diver Explorers
Joseph Kaffl
John Spostao
Support Team Members
Dave Hollick, Pa Project Coordinator
Brad Basson Rescue Coordinator
Jack Rice
JD
Ken Leipert
Bill Schultz
Kathy Medon
..
JOSEPH
KAFFL
SUMPDIVER@MS*.CO*
NEST
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