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Permit: Unknown
Leader: Bill Gee
date: 26 July 2003
manager: None
Assessment: Carroll Passage
participant1: Herbert Worth
participant2: Richard Cranins
participant3: James Lewis
participant4: Lori Lewis
participant5: Bruce Elliott
participant6: Lori Jeffries
participant7: Tami Cullviler
TimeIn: 7:30am
TimeOut: 11:20am
Damage: Yes
Remote User:
Date: Friday August 01, 2003
Time: 06:25 PM
purpose:
Thank you trip for Greg Fry family and friends
details:
The trip also included Russell Jeffries and Pam Rader. Pam watched the rear of the group. Herb Worth is a member of MVG. All others are Greg Fry family and friends.
Friday night Terry Defraties and I rigged the belay system. We tied a pair of prussik minding pulleys to webbing hooked in the loop on the bottom of the big hatch. We used more webbing to pull the pulleys slightly to one side, putting them almost directly over the ladder. A Blue Water and a PMI rope were rigged, each with a pair of triple-wrapped prussiks on it. Saturday morning Randy Bruegger completed the belay system with a length of 2 inch iron pipe. We slid the pipe through the webbing loops, leaving it on top of the concrete slab. Rigged this way, the pipe became the primary anchor point rather than the loop on the lid.
Everyone who went in wore a seat harness. We borrowed some seat harnesses and made others out of webbing. A belay rope attached to the harness made an effective safety. For the down belay, the prussiks were held just loose enough for the climber to pull the rope down with them. Up belay was accomplished by maintaining tension on the rope and letting the prussik minding pulleys keep the prussiks loose. In either case, had there been a fall the prussiks would have grabbed the rope and arrested the fall. The belays were never called on.
Two ropes allowed us to have two people on the ladder at once. The surface help consisted of Teddy Marsan and Bill Copeland getting everyone geared up and fitted for harnesses. Terry DeFraties and Jeff Page ran the belays. Colby Johnson did entrance control. I think several other people showed up to help but I did not get all the names. Thank you to everyone who helped on the surface!
I rappelled into the cave at 7:30. Randy Bruegger came down next followed by guests. Pam came down last, forming the first tour group. Randy stayed behind to help everyone get out of harnesses for the second tour group.
The first group left the ladder at 8:30 with a return time stated of 10:30. We headed down the Carroll passage to the totem Pole, then returned and made the side trip over to Thunder Falls. We arrived back at the ladder at 10:30 and started getting people into harnesses for the climb out. Everyone was out by 11:15. Only one person had any serious trouble, but she made it on her own power.
Along the way I made many stops. I pointed out the boxwork formation near the Thunder Falls shortcut and the pools that mark the beginning of Carroll River. We looked in every pool of water for cavefish but did not see a single one. We saw one bat hanging from the ceiling. Everyone got a chance to ogle the formations.
Vandalism:
There is a white stalagmite near the trail which has a lot of mud on it. This needs to be pressure washed.
RestoNeeded:
It would be nice to have a few more trail markers.