| Sand Cave May 2nd |
Zach Copeland and Brian Goeppner |
Zach Copeland and Brian Goeppner briefly visited Sand Cave in Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. |
| Fitzpatrick Pit May 3rd |
Jon Beard, Evan Christiansen, Roy Gold, Kasi Johnson, Bill Heim, Lloyd Morrison,Gabe Rodgers and Jack Rosenkoetter |
Jon Beard, Evan Christiansen, Roy Gold, Bill Heim, Kasi Johnson, Lloyd Morrison,Gabe Rodgers and Jack Rosenkoetter participated in a vertical workshop at the fieldopposite the entrances to Fitzpatrick Cave. Four ropes, a cable ladder and an etrier wererigged for everyone to practice on with Jack acting as instructor (with help from Bill Heim). Afterwards, Jon, Bill and Lloyd dropped Fitzpatrick Pit (Christian Co) nearby, a 45-foot pitwith only minimal horizontal passage but some nice speleothems. |
| Smittle Cave May 3rd |
Max White, Charley Young, Jeff Young | Max White, Charley Young, Jeff Young and three others visited and photographed Smittle Cave (Wright Co). They visited the Main Passage, Formation Passage, Dingle Way, Waterfall Room and the Register Room. |
| Natural Arch Cave May 3rd |
Charity Hertzler, Bob Taylor | Charity Hertzler assisted Bob Taylor in the survey of Natural Arch Cave and itsnamesake Natural Arch (Greene Co) in the future county park known as Lost Hill Park. These features are remnants of a cave system that perforated a narrows and eventually resulted in the piracy of Little Sac River, hence the "lost hill." |
| Colossal Cave May 4th |
Zach Copeland and father Bill and |
Zach Copeland and father Bill and Brian Goeppner participated in restoration workconducted in Colossal Cave in Kentucky. Work involved removal of the in-cave staircase that was used in the old show cave days. Later they strolled through the cave. Because of lots of rain, there were waterfalls in the cave. |
| Wasp Cave, Sander Spring, Sterile Cave May 4th |
Jon Beard, Kasi Johnson and Gabe Rodgers | Jon Beard, Kasi Johnson and Gabe Rodgers visited the Valley Water Mills Park (Greene Co), a park being constructed and operated through the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks. After getting GPS readings on Sander Spring and two joint-determined sinks,they masked spray paint graffiti in Wasp Cave, a 40-foot solution tube. Three pipistrelles and five little brown bats were seen. Photographs were taken in Sterile Cave nearby, an 80- foot cave with some nice speleothems and lots of cave crickets. |
| Diamond Cave May 4th |
Zach and Bill Copeland and Brian Goeppner | Zach and Bill Copeland and Brian Goeppner took the tour in Diamond Cave in Kentucky. |
| Mammoth Cave May 5th |
Zach and Bill Copeland and Brian Goeppner | To round out their Kentucky trip, Zach and Bill Copeland and Brian Goeppner took the Historic Tour of Mammoth Cave. |
| Breakdown Cave May 6th |
Jon Beard, Roy Gold and Gabe Rodgers | Jon Beard, Roy Gold and Gabe Rodgers gave a local CBS affiliate reporter and video cameraman a short tour of the Main Room of Breakdown Cave (Christian County) for a two-minute local TV broadcast on caves, stressing cave conservation and caving safety. |
| Fitton Cave May 11th |
Jon Beard, Jack Rosenkoetter, Bob Taylor and son Matthew Taylor | Jon Beard, Jack Rosenkoetter, Bob Taylor and son Matthew Taylor plus MSU student Luke Rengstorf traveled to Arkansas’ Fitton Cave. The primary purpose of the trip was conducting stalagmite reattachments in the East Passage. Teamwork was an important part as some found matching pieces while other pieces were being reattached. A total of sixpieces were reattached using epoxy. The group also did some close-up photography in the Tennouri Passage. |
| Giboney Cave May 12th |
Melvin Johnson | Melvin Johnson checked the latest pollution event in Giboney Cave (Greene Co). For the second time in three years, a strange white, mortar-like substance was carried into the cave by the cave stream, coating the streambed with a white coating. However, a bristly cave crayfish was seen near the well casing in the cave. |
Crighton Natural Bridge and Spring Cave |
Melvin Johnson, Charley Young and Eric Hertzler |
Melvin Johnson and Charley Young assisted Eric Hertzler in the continuing Crighton Natural Bridge and Spring Cave (Greene Co) survey project. |
| Fisher Cave May17th |
Jon Beard, Michael Carter and Max White | Jon Beard, Michael Carter and Max White of SPG, Paul Hummel, Mary Krisca and son Aaron of MMV resumed the restoration project in Fisher Cave (Franklin Co). Additional discarded stalagmite pieces were excavated from a stream bed in the Ballroom, cleaned, and some were reunited with their original locations. Nine stalagmites were reattached using epoxy, plus some flowstone buried under excess trail gravel were uncovered for the first time in seven decades. |
| Fitton Cave May17th |
Roy Gold, Jack Rosenkoetter, Charley Young, and Brian Goeppner |
Roy Gold, Jack Rosenkoetter, Charley Young, and Brian Goeppner made the loop trip through Fitton Cave’s Crystal and East Passages. |
| Tumbling Creek Cave May 17th |
Melvin Johnson | Melvin Johnson took a group of master naturalists to Tumbling Creek Cave (Taney Co) for an educational trip hosted by Tom Aley. |
| Fisher Cave May 18th |
Jon Beard, Michael Carter and Max White | Jon Beard, Michael Carter and Max White of SPG and Paul Hummel of MMV prepared for and reattached 11 stalagmite pieces in a span of 37 minutes, plus epoxied three additional stalagmites in Fisher Cave (Franklin Co). Other pieces were cleaned before calling it a day. A total of 23 repairs were made in the Ballroom, bringing the total to 103 speleothem reattachments during the span of the project thus far, all but 15 in the Ballroom. |
| Lone Hill Onyx Cave May 18th |
Kasi Johnson and Gabe Rodgers | Kasi Johnson and Gabe Rodgers visited Lone Hill Onyx Cave (Franklin Co). They spent most of their time in the huge dome room with the nice formation in the middle. While at the cave they removed some graffiti. |
| Breakdown Cave, Fitzpatrick Cave May 21st |
Jon Beard and his sister Dian | Jon Beard guided his sister Dian through the Main Room of Breakdown Cave and most of Fitzpatrick Cave (Christian Co). While there, photographs were taken of some of the restored speleothems. Several cave salamanders were seen as well as several larval salamanders in the many pools. |
| Breakdown Cave May 22nd |
Charley Rey | Charley Rey led his earth science class from Glendale High School in Springfield through Breakdown Cave in Christian Co. |
| Fitton Cave May 24th |
Evan Christiansen, Zach Copeland, Roy Gold, Bill Heim, Charley Rey, Jack Rosenkoetter, Max White and Charley Young |
Evan Christiansen, Zach Copeland, Roy Gold, Bill Heim, Charley Rey, Jack Rosenkoetter, Max White and Charley Young returned to Fitton Cave in Arkansas. They entered the Fitton entrance, took the Crystal Loop including the West and Mystery Rooms to the Roundhouse Room, then exited by way of the East Passage to T-Junction and out the Bat (Wet) entrance. |
| Crighton Spring Cave May 26th |
Eric and Charity Hertzler, Jon Beard | While Eric Hertzler sketched a cross section of the gorge outside, Jon Beard and Charity Hertzler conducted a bio inventory of the first 150 feet of Crighton Spring Cave (a.k.a. Natural Bridge Spring Cave) in Greene County. Three bristly cave crayfish were seen as well as the following salamanders: Two grotto, two dark-sided and 70 (seventy) cave. Some photography was done as well. |
| Smallin Cave May 29th |
Jon Beard and Roy Gold | Jon Beard and Roy Gold hosted Alan Leary (MoDot biologist) and Dr. Dave Ashley and four students (including Ben Miller) in a bio inventory of Smallin Cave (Christian Co). Rushing water prevented an optimum view of the streambed, but six bristly cave crayfish were caught, measured, sexed and numbered before returning to the stream. Also seven cave salamanders and one grotto salamander were found in the 1,400 feet of cave traversed. Evidence of flooding was seen everywhere from the record March rains. Sonrise Cave nearby was also checked for biota—several adult or nearly adult grotto salamanders were seen and one cave salamander in the 80 feet of cave seen. |
| Zoo Cave May 31st |
Bob Taylor and Jon Beard | Bob Taylor and Jon Beard went to Taney County for some surveying in that county’s Zoo Cave. While another group worked on Heusel Cave, Bob and Jon surveyed 267 feet in Zoo. Most of this survey was in the maze area. |
| Wright County’s Fry Creek Cave May 31st |
Kasi Johnson, Gabe Rodgers, Roy Gold, Charley Young and Max White | Kasi Johnson and Gabe Rodgers took water samples as far back as the junction room of Wright County’s Fry Creek Cave (Hicks), then headed out with Roy Gold. Roy then waited at the entrance for Charley Young and Max White who’d decided to make the trek to the cave’s end. On the way back out, Charley and Max took photos of the passages, big rooms, white isopods, brown crayfish and a grotto salamander as well as removing a bunch of string and a couple of old "D" cell batteries from the cave. They had also planned to show the Mansfield Fire and Rescue Team the cave, but the group never showed up. |