April 2009 Cave Trips

Breakdown Cave Fitzpatrick Cave April 4th	Jon Beard	Jon Beard led a Spokane, MO high school group through Breakdown Cave (Christian Co) on an educational field trip sponsored by the Christian County Soil and Water Conservation District. Later on in the day he guided a group of scouts from Springfield, MO through the cave and nearby Fitzpatrick Cave.
Sequiota Cave April 5th	Jon Beard, Kimberly Gramm, Charity and Eric Hertzler, Melvin Johnson, Gabe and Kasi Rodgers	Jon Beard, Kimberly Gramm, Charity and Eric Hertzler, Melvin Johnson, Gabe and Kasi Rodgers plus three Springfield Parks Dept. staff conducted the annual bio inventory and resource assessment of Sequiota Cave (Greene Co). Gabe assisted Kasi in testing the water quality of both the North Creek and East Creek of the cave. Eric, Charity, Kimmy and the parks staff conducted a transect of North Creek while Gabe, Kasi and Jon conducted the transect of East Creek. Very little trash was found in the cave this year (one boot and two beer cans). For the first time since the catastrophic siltation of the cave during Dec. 2005, East Creek has some aquatic lifeforms (one each of isopod, amphipod, salamander larvae). Adjacent Walkway-all-the-Way Cave was briefly checked for trash and graffiti. Dozens of measurements of remaining pudding-like silt revealed that the silt is diminishing slowly year by year—maximum depth measurements in 2007 were 36 inches, 24 inches in 2008 and 20 inches in 2009, averaging less than 12 inches.
Breakdown Cave April 7th	Jon Beard and Charity Hertzler	Jon Beard and Charity Hertzler led three high school groups from Billings and Ava, MO through Breakdown Cave (Christian Co) on educational field trips. Charity guided the first Billings group, then Jon guided the Ava and second Billings groups. Cave biology, ecosystems, speleogenesis and the cave as a natural history museum were discussed before showing some of the restoration work was shown in this formerly vandalized cave. These groups were sponsored by the Christian County Soil and Water Conservation District under the leadership of Amanda Cook (a former teacher).
Nixa Sinkhole April 13th	Dr. Doug Gouzie, Jon Beard, Roy and Judy Gold, Bill and Bonnie Heim, Kasi Rodgers and Jerry and Helen Vineyard.	Dr. Doug Gouzie made a presentation to the public on the Nixa sinkhole and other sinkholes—what they are, how they form, how urban sinkholes are "fixed" and answered questions. Copies of SPG’s publication "Caring for Your Karst" were handed out to audience members. Other SPG members in attendance included Jon Beard, Roy and Judy Gold, Bill and Bonnie Heim, Kasi Rodgers and Jerry and Helen Vineyard.
Smittle Cave April 18th	Zach Copeland, Brian Goeppner, Max White, Charley Young and Jeff Young	Zach Copeland, Brian Goeppner, Max White, Charley Young and Jeff Young spent eight hours in Smittle Cave (Wright County) visiting the main passage, Formation Passage, Meander Passage, Water Passage, Waterfall Room, Register Room and the Terminal Room.
Breakdown Cave April 18th	Evan Christiansen and Charity Hertzler	Evan Christiansen and Charity Hertzler led a troop of boy scouts through Breakdown Cave (Christian County) on an educational field trip. Due to lots of recent rain, some challenging passages were too wet for the scouts, but the rimstone terraces were nicely filled with water. Two cave salamanders near the entrance were seen as well as two larval salamanders in Sally’s Pond.
Breakdown Cave, Fitzpatrick Cave April 18th	Charley Rey	On another educational field trip, Charley Rey guided a group of scouts through Fitzpatrick and Breakdown Caves. A grotto salamander was seen in Fitzpatrick Cave. The Main Room and North Loop were traveled in Breakdown Cave.
Rockwoods Cave April 18th	Jon Beard, Nancy Nycum, Jack Rosenkoetter and Maria Thompson	Jon Beard, Nancy Nycum, Jack Rosenkoetter and Maria Thompson of SPG joined Dr. Bill Elliott, John Lawler, Kevin McCarthy and Derek Shields of the MDC, and Missouri Master Naturalists Kay Labanca, Ed Leutweiler, Mary Mierkowski and Joan Twillman in a cave restoration workshop at Rockwoods Cave (St. Louis County). The small cave, gated by the MDC last November, has considerable graffiti in it. A good percentage of the graffiti was removed using brushes and other equipment, but there is much work remaining to be done. Thanks to Bill for making arrangements for this workshop.
Lowell Cave April 19th	Jon Beard and Bob Taylor	Jon Beard assisted Bob Taylor in the continuing survey of the long, twisted upper level of Lowell Cave (Wright County). The cave stream was running well due to profuse rain. Several photos were taken of the passage character and features of the dry upper level. Because of the many meandering tight turns in this level, it is difficult to determine at times whether one is going further into the cave or back toward the entrance.
Cedar Bluff Cave, Blackies Cave and Grisham Spring April 20th	Jon Beard, Roy Gold and Tom Morton	Jon Beard, Roy Gold and Tom Morton led a school teacher into Cedar Bluff Cave (Stone County) to check the cave as a potential educational resource. The cave is about 600 feet long, and contrary to previous descriptions, it is in the Reeds Spring Formation, not the Burlington. The cave is known for its spectacular bridged entrance, its "rooms" divided by very tight sinuous tall squeezes, chert bridges and almost total lack of speleothems. However, lots of spray paint graffiti needs to be removed. Pickerel frogs, lots of cave crickets and four pipistrelle bats were noted. The group also visited nearby Blackies Cave and Grisham Spring.
Fisher Cave April 24th	Jon Beard, project director Michael Carter, Nancy Nycum, Maria Thompson and Max White	Jon Beard, project director Michael Carter, Nancy Nycum, Maria Thompson and Max White brought restoration equipment into Fisher Cave (Franklin Co) and also spent time in the cave discussing the next phase of the nine-year restoration project. Jon also delivered dozens of copies of "Caring for Your Karst" to park naturalists in Onondaga and Meramec State Parks to distribute to interested karst landowners who visit these state parks.
Fitton Cave, April 24th	Evan Christiansen, Roy and son Duncan Gold, Jack Rosenkoetter and Charley Young	Evan Christiansen, Roy and son Duncan Gold, Jack Rosenkoetter and Charley Young spent the day in Fitton Cave (Arkansas) going as far as the Tennouri Room.
Junction Cave April 25th	Evan Christiansen, Gabe and Kasi Rodgers	Evan Christiansen, Gabe and Kasi Rodgers guided members of the general public at an Earth Day event sponsored by Wonders of Wildlife and the Springfield-Greene County Parks in graffiti removal in Junction Cave (Greene Co). The cave is a bit over 300 feet, located in Ritter Springs Park. Much of the graffiti was removed. There were so many volunteers that they were divided into two groups, one led by Evan and park staffer Scott Hootman, the other by the Rodgers.
Fisher Cave April 25th	Jon, Nancy, Maria and Max	Jon, Nancy, Maria and Max returned to Fisher Cave to conduct two types of cave restoration. Jon, Nancy and Maria began to remove trail gravel from a path in the Ballroom no longer in use. Using plastic trowels, scrapers, brushes and cave stream water they removed silt and gravel from a six-foot span of trail. This exposed a solid 7 flowstone floor marked with stalagmite stumps that will hopefully be matched to broken stalagmite pieces previously discovered and cleaned. Max spent the day attempting to find stalagmite matches and found two. These were summarily reattached to their original locations using two-part epoxy adhesive by Jon, Nancy and Maria.
Fisher Cave April 26th	Jon Beard and Max White	Jon Beard and Max White spent the day in Fisher Cave looking for stalagmite matches, finding and reattaching four stalagmites to their bases. Thus far, 149 speleothem reattachments have been made in the cave in the duration of the restoration project.