| Mud, Walnut and Hutchinson's Waterfall Cave January 1st |
Max White, Charley Young and Gary and Tammy McCoy | Max White, Charley Young and Gary and Tammy McCoy visited Mud, Walnut and Waterfall Caves (Newton Co, AR) for photography. |
| Little Brown Branch Cave January 3rd |
Jon Beard and Roy Gold and Bob Taylor |
Jon Beard and Roy Gold assisted Bob Taylor in some mop-up in the survey of Little Brown Branch Cave (Douglas Co). Afterwards, the three split up and hiked up and down Little Brown Branch in search of any obvious caves, but found none. Later, a small cave was checked along Brown Branch. A large overhang over a pool in the creek revealed a short solutional passage. The feature was named Brown Branch Shelter (Taney Co). After this, the trio attempted to get permission for nearby Brownbranch Cave (named as one word after the small town), but were denied. An attempt to find the landowner to Smallett Cave (back in Douglas Co) was not successful. |
| Devils Slide Cave January 7th |
Charley Rey | Charley Rey took his high school earth science class to Devils Slide Cave (Greene Co) for a lesson on cave mapping. |
| Walnut and Hutchinsons Waterfall Cave January 8th |
Roy Gold and son Duncan, along with Charley Young and Jim Huckins | Roy Gold and son Duncan, along with Charley Young and Jim Huckins (Chouteau Grotto) photographed Walnut and Waterfall Caves (Arkansas). |
| Onondaga Cave January 10th |
SPG, LOG, MMV, and MMV | Members of SPG, LOG, MMV, and MMV conducted restoration work in Onondaga Cave (Crawford Co) under the direction of Greg Hanson and Tara Flynn of the state park. Participating were: Jon Beard, Kris Butler, Amanda, Brian and Taylor Cook, Chris Doerhoff, Jeff Grigg, Le Ann Helling, Aaron, Ed and Kathy Kriska, Lorely and Ron Lather, Tim Lockwood, Alex and Diana Mounce, Joe Nicolussi, Jack and Jim Rosenkoetter, Scott Steiner, Mary Walls, Max White, Charley and Sarah Young. The group attached five stalagmite pieces, removed pea gravel from a rimstone terrace in the Missouri Caverns section and then removed concrete and old wiring from flowstone at the Queen’s Balcony. Some also took photographs. |
| Onondaga Cave, Cathedral Cave January 11th |
SPG, LOG, MMV, and MMV | Jon Beard, Kris Butler, Chris Doerhoff, Roy Gold, Le Ann Helling, Tim Lockwood, Joe Nicolussi and Bob Taylor gathered remaining equipment and did some final touches on speleothem repairs, then did some photography in Onondaga Cave, and then photographed speleothems in nearby Cathedral Cave (Crawford Co). During one session of photos in the latter cave, several of the group washed and removed muddy boot prints from a white flowstone opposite the Cathedral formation. |
| ABC Cave January 16th |
Jon Beard, Eric Hertzler, Max White and Charley Young | Jon Beard, Eric Hertzler, Max White and Charley Young were among several cavers from central and eastern Missouri in a multi-faceted trip to ABC Cave (Pulaski Co). Eric assisted with a mapping effort (there were three mapping teams), while Max and Charley photodocumented the cave and Jon led an effort to remove graffiti, trash and carbide dumps. |
| Breakdown Cave January 17th |
Ashley Whaley | Ashley Whaley lead a group of seven through the Main Room of Breakdown Cave (Christian Co). |
| Cox Cave January 18th |
Zach Copeland and Brian Goeppner |
Zach Copeland and Brian Goeppner spent 40 minutes in an undocumented and recently opened cave they tentatively called Cox Cave (Lawrence Co). The cave goes about 60 feet where the passage splits. One passage follows a joint along a tight S curve belly squeeze, then opens into a 14-foot high and 30-foot long room. A digable gravel stream inlet continues. The other passage is a bellycrawl maybe 30 feet long to a room. Biota noted included cave crickets and 12 pipistrelles. |
| Skaggs Cave January 18th |
Bill Heim | Bill Heim was among a group of five (including OHG’s Bill Copeland and Bob Stratford plus two others) who visited Skaggs Cave (Pulaski Co). They spent a short time checking out the formation area to the right of the entrance and then proceeded to the rest of the cave past Harlen’s Puzzle. They noted some isopods and a grotto salamander past the 69 Room. |
| Breakdown Cave January 21st |
Jon Beard and Charity Hertzler | Jon Beard and Charity Hertzler checked, cleaned and oiled the locks at Breakdown Cave (Christian Co), then did an informal bio inventory of the Main Room, counting two larval salamanders in Sally’s Pond, several cave crickets and heliomyzid flies and several pips. |
| River Cave January 22nd |
Jon Beard and Eric Hertzler | Jon Beard and Eric Hertzler conducted a bio inventory of River Cave (Camden Co) on behalf of the state park. Species noted were big brown bats, eastern pipistrelles, grotto salamanders, isopods, rove beetles, etc. Later the two searched in vain for a nearby cave lead, then drove to Tunnel Dam to view the manmade entrance to the tunnel. A couple of sandstone shelters were found, but neither was large enough to call caves. |
| Breakdown Cave January 24th |
Liarra Bartlet, BJ Gray, Charity Hertzler, Rob Holland, Lisa Medlock, Charley Rey, Gabe and Kasi Rodgers | Liarra Bartlet, BJ Gray, Charity Hertzler, Rob Holland, Lisa Medlock, Charley Rey, Gabe and Kasi Rodgers spent the day in Breakdown Cave (Christian Co), giving new members an introductory visit to the cave. |
| Kiesewetter Cave January 24th |
Jon Beard, Eric Hertzler, Lawrence Ireland, Lloyd Morrison, Max White and Charley Young |
SPG members Jon Beard, Eric Hertzler, Lawrence Ireland, Lloyd Morrison, Max White and Charley Young joined Christen Easter and Ken Long of LOG, Andy Free of MSM and others in the survey completion of Kiesewetter Cave (Pulaski Co) and photodocumentation of the cave’s features including close-ups of troglobitic cave critters. Lawrence and Christen’s team mapped the few hundred feet past the "Squeeze," while Eric, Andy and Jon mapped three loops and a lower level muddy crawl named the "Wrong Way." Cave manager Ken guided a couple who are leasing the property through the cave while Lloyd, Max and Charley photographed "Hartwig’s Paradise," the "Formation Passage" and assorted millipedes, pseudoscorpions and such. Ken had a hot giant pot of homemade elk and deer chili plus a hot campfire waiting for muddy, weary cavers. |
| Neongwah Bear Cave, Bridal Cave January 25th |
Jon Beard and Eric Hertzler | Jon Beard and Eric Hertzler visited Neongwah Bear Cave and neighbor Bridal Cave (Camden Co) on the way back home from Kiesewetter. The first cave is about 250 feet long with an impressive formation room ("Castle of Ruins") midway through the cave. While there they spotted six pipistrelles and several cave crickets. Bridal Cave was its usual well-adorned self. |