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Punkin Cave
 General Information
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Trip Report 2007 Mar 07
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Trip Report 2007 Jun 02
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Cave Map (so far . . . )
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360° Panorama
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Scope And Purpose Of Project
Project Management
How Can I Get Involved
This past weekend a diverse group of 18 cavers assembled at Texas Cave Management Association's fieldhouse in Carta Valley, Texas for the continued survey of Punkin Cave. We have had 4 teams in the cave previous to this trip, the most recent being 2 teams in November of last year. My ambitious plan was to have 4 teams in the cave at once, trying to get as much survey as possible before the bats return this spring. Trip length ran from 4.5 to 8 hours, depending on the team. Two teams went to the south end of the cave. Team 1 went to the Mortuary Room and mapped a couple of loops off the east end of the room and a bunch of stuff under the room. They also did a detailed survey of the small entrance to the cave, tying it in to the surface survey and the entrance room survey. There is still good airflow off the Mortuary Room, but everything gets too tight. Total for team 1 = 89.06m. Team 2 also headed into the Mortuary Room, but immediately started surveying an alternate route back up to the entrance room. They tied in to the permanent brass screw at station P3, creating another vertical loop. I think this is going to be called the Trick or Treat route from the team's comments in the survey book. As Don was telling me, if somebody above you kicked the wrong rocks, you would probably be buried in an avalanche of dry guano. A grisly fate! Total for Team 2 = 59.63m.
The other two teams went to the north end of the cave, and never saw each other all day. Team 3 returned to the Superstition Maze, mopping up some high loops and pushing the main survey trend southward, almost exactly back under the small entrance! They report that they scouted out a bunch more passage that they didn't have time to survey, and left dozens of leads. Total for Team 3 = 79.20m. Team 4 returned to the Nightmare on Maze Street with the intent of mopping up some small side leads and moving on to a different area. Well, the side leads went through a bunch of loops (most still unmapped) in a horrendous chert layer before popping out into the largest room found so far in that part of the cave. It was named Sleepy Hollow. A couple of base stations were set in that room for future surveys, but the sketcher was too overwhelmed by the complexity to continue in that direction, so it was soon left in favor of mopping up more small loops. However, and big new downtrending rift-type area was soon found, which lead to the current deepest point in the cave at -61.2m (-200.9 feet). One passage heading into this rift was mapped (Fifty Fathoms), and there are many high leads and parallel passages in this area. Total for Team 4 = 159.59m, and total to all teams for the day = 387.48m. The total survey for the cave now stands at 950.2m, or 3117.4 feet. Punkin Cave is now the 45th longest cave in Texas and has moved from the 56th to the 29th deepest.
Twenty-one cavers from the Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas areas descended upon the wilds of Carta Valley to once again do battle with the monster known as Punkin Cave. 10 were returning veterans, bearing the physical and emotional scars from previous surveys into the bowels of the cave. The others were Punkin virgins, soon to be initiated to the guano-filled delights that keep bringing us back. By the end of the weekend we could lay claim to another 300 meters of hard-fought survey, and some increased photodocumentation.
The next morning saw a mass breakfast directed by Pete the Elder, with everybody tanking up for the long day ahead. Releases were signed, and a group meeting was held to go over the cabin and property rules and to assign everyone to teams and survey objectives. After the usual gearing up process, everyone headed to the cave to await their turns on the two rappel lines.
Pete lead a mix of veterans and newcomers (including Re-Pete) through the upper reaches of Sleepy Hollow, sketching this complex area and surveying some of the many leads. There were several tie-ins to existing survey, creating more loops but allowing us to check our survey accuracy (which so far has been consistently good). This team racked up 68.76 meters of survey in 17 stations.
Altogether, the four teams produced another 269.44 meters of survey (972.6 feet), bringing the total to date for Punkin Cave to 1378 meters. Some of this is splay shots and redundant survey, but even when we exclude those shots, Punkin will get bumped up from the 45th spot on the Texas Long Cave List to the 34th or maybe even the 33rd spot! It still remains the 29th deepest, as we were unable to extend the depth of the cave on this trip.
Finally, on Sunday, a group of us headed out to do some much-needed road work, while a larger group headed off to Deep Cave, guided by Don Arburn. The Forest of Columns, Bear Scratch Room, Lunch Room, and Miller Time were visited, and a small cluster of a couple hundred Cave Myotis (Myotis velifer) were noted in the Forest of Columns. Afterwards, everyone picked off ticks accumulated at the entrance. All pitched in with cleaning up the cabin (especially Hue) and grounds before mothballing everything for the next trip.
