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Newsletter of the Pine Mountain Grotto Inc./KentuckyNumber 33April 2010

Contents

Cover: Avis by the entrance to Short Creek Cave by Kenneth StoreyBack Cover: Entrance to Rustys pit by Karen Caldwell; Group shot from the PMG Christmas party; F B Spelmanby Elliot Stahl

PMG Christmas party photo ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2Dinner at the Dupont Lodge

Fear and Loathing in the Tombstone Factory ............................................................................................................................................ 3With Apologies to the Late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Ed Bob Remembered ............................................................................................................................................................................. 10One great grotto companion.

Midnight at the Oasis ............................................................................................................................................................................. 11Photo by Dan Silvestri

Convention 2009 ................................................................................................................................................................................... 12Just where did Richard go in Texas?

National Cave and Karst Research Institutes First Education Director .................................................................................................... 14Dianne Gillespie new job

TAG 2009 .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 15Karen nds her way in North Georgia

Munfordville Kentucky Soldier Cave ....................................................................................................................................................... 17The search for civil war signatures

SEKCI 2009 ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 27Seeing old friends again

Editor: Kenneth StoreyNewsletter Design and Layout: Kenneth Storey

PMG Ofcers: Lee Powell-Chair; John Taylor-Vice Chair; Tina Messer-Secretary; Kenneth Storey-Treasurer; Mike Risk-At LargeCommittee Chairs: Safety-Mike Stanll; Pine Mountain Survey-Jimbo Helton; CRF-Mike Crockett; VSS-Jim West; Conservation-Jeremy Napier;

Member Services-Jason Napier; Media-Thor Bahrman; KSS-Richard Hand

The Pine Mountain Fault is published by the Pine Mountain Grotto, Inc. of the National Speleological Society, P.O. Box 460 Pineville, KY 40977.Regular membership in the Pine Mountain Grotto costs $15 per year. Non-member subscriptions cost $6 per year.

E-mail manuscripts for publication, art work, and photos to; Kenneth Storey: kennethstorey@charter.net, ormail to: 110 Sweetbriar Court, Winterville, GA 30683.

Copyright 2010 by the Pine Mountain Grotto, Inc.

The Pine Mountain Fault

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Group photo from the 2009 PMG Charistmas party. The dinner was at the Dupont Lodge at

Cumberland Falls State Resort Park..

Standing: Amy Vallandingham, Chris Osborne, John Talyor, Mark Joop, Dianne Gillespie, Lee AnneBledsoe, Karen Caldwell, Lee Powell, and Thor BarhmanBottom row: Rose Sisler, and Stacie Moltrum

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Night Time in The BunkerRatbag CallingStrange Rumblings from Black Shadow Country

Memo from the Adventure Sports DeskEven Thugs Need Fun

When the man from the Vincent Motorcycle Com-pany called it took me a while to understand whohe was and what he wanted. I had sealed myself into TheBunker with appropriate provisions for an evening of TheFiner Things: two dozen raw oysters, a large tray of fresh

sushi, a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken (Original Rec-ipe, of course) with mashed potatoes and extra gravy, aColt Python .357 Magnum revolver (stainless steel, pearlgrips, 4-8X variable Leopold scope), three cases of as-sorted Flying Dog Ales, a quart of Wild Turkey, a dozenextra large grapefruit, an untouched blister pack of Bena-dryl capsules, and a DVD compilation of Monique Covetlms. So when I picked up the phone and this ratbagLimey lunatic started spouting some twisted gibberishabout ow rates and burn times and average lumens I wasnot inclined to be patient.

Leave me alone, you twisted pervert! I screeched

into the receiver. Your kind has caused me too muchgrief already. Havent I suffered enough?

Just as I was about to slam the phone down I caughtthe words Vincent and carbide, and that was enoughto pique my interest. I knew that the Vincent people hadlong since given up on motorcycles. There just werentenough riders around who could handle the sheer king-hell power of the infamous Black Shadow and BlackLightningthe kind of riders who could take a semi-controlled drift through a hard, off-camber turn on wetpavement at 140 and come out laughing at their ability tooutsmart the Sausage Creature once againso the sick,twisted minds at Vincent had turned to the more lucra-tive carbide generator market.

Ten years before I had spent an entire summer cavingin the Mendip Hills with their rst offering, the now leg-endary Vincent Inferno, a generator so powerful, accord-ing to the companys press acks, that it could be used to

weld broken speleothems back together. It was hard tocontrolsome would say impossibleand it used up agenerator full of carbide in about fteen minutes, shoot-

ing a foot-long ame with a noise like fteen DC 10warming up for a head-to-head runway race. But therare some of us who like that sort of thing. We are, afteall, Professionals.

Now, Ratbag was telling me, Vincent was coming ouwith a new generator, a generator that would make thInferno look like a mildewed box of discount birthdacandles. This time they would collaborate with Kalashnikov, the Russian machine gun manufacturer, to produce the most heinously warped piece of caving gear eveimagined: the Black Molotov. I could hear Ratbag slob

bering and panting as he talked about it: aircraft-gradanodized aluminum, pressurized automatic water jetdouble the carbide capacity of the Inferno, innitely varable power settings, enabling the user to create anythinfrom a high-precision cutting torch to a ame throweat the touch of a dial. Whatevers Right. I could feel ThFear rising as I listened to Ratbag, but I could feel thexcitement, too, the sheer skull-splitting adrenaline rusof slithering into a dark hole with a truly evil piece oProfessional Carbide Equipment.

No one can say what sort of weird, atavistic urgcauses a man to take up carbide caving in the LED age

At least I cant say, though I have felt that urge myselmore than once, Bubba, and I have given in to it evertime. No one can say that I never inhaled. Buy the ticketake the ride. But one thing is certain. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more decadent and depraved than a man ithe grip of a serious carbide xation.

Ratbag was trailing off by this time, blubbering likesenile English dwarf about how honored his people woulbe if I would test the monster for them and write a product review. It would be teddible, he slobbered, juteddible if such a distinguished American cave journalias myself didnt get to try the Black Molotov right ouof the box, before the Eurotrash rabble got their slimhands on it.

Naturally, I told Ratbag, Id be happy to try thbeast and provide an unbiased review. My only priorit

would be Getting The Story. Total Coverage. Id neean expense account, of course. Attorney fees. Hotel alowance. Special carbide. Twenty-four-hour crushed iceDry cleaning. Swedish massage. Ratbag said he understood perfectly. The services of a professional dont com

Fear and Loathing in the Tombstone Factory(With Apologies to the Late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson)

By Raoul Duke, as told to Andy Messer

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cheap, after all. He promised to send a check straight toThe Bunker via courier dwarf.

A check? I roared, A check? Youll send nothingof the kind, you Cockney swine! Send cash! And not thatpounds-and-ounces play money you red-coated monarchsniffers use, either! American dollars, Bubba, in unmarkedtwenties, 1972 or earlier! And plenty of them! Send incare of the Adventure Sports Desk at The Bunker, and

dont try to short me or Ill y over there and rip yourbloodshot Limey eyeballs out!

This outburst sent Ratbag over the edge, and all hecould manage was a whimpered, Yes, sir, Mr. Duke, yes,sir, whatever you want, sir before the Kalashnikovthugs came and carted him away. I could hear his mufedscreams in the background as I hung up, and I chuckledas I imagined them beating him about the head and face

with rolled up back issues ofPravda. They could do withhim what they would. Everybody takes a turn in the bar-rel, Bubba, and tonight was Ratbags turn. It didnt mat-ter. I knew my money would arrive soon. They wouldntdare stiff me. Even thugs feel Professional Respect.

Werewolves in the NightBad Craziness in the RatMazeThe Swamp Thing Cometh

The package arrived around noon the next day, de-livered by a bicycle messenger with questionable fashionsense and a strange tic that caused his left eye to dart offat irregular intervals, as though trying to make contact

with his left ear. Oddly, his right eye appeared perfectlynormal.Do you know whats in this package? I asked,

reaching into my jacket for his tip, or possibly the Pythonif he gave the wrong answer.

No sir, he whimpered, his left eye going increas-ingly spasmodic, they wouldnt tell me. And I wouldnthave wanted to know anyway. Its none of my business.None of my business at all.

Thats good, I said, palming him a twenty. Younever know what information could be dangerous. Any-body could be watching. Anybody could be listening.

Anybody at all.Yes sir, he sobbed, Thank you, sir. God bless you.

I carried the package into The Bunker, being carefulto bolt the hatchway after me. There had been werewolfsightings in the neighborhood of late, unexplained disap-pearances, rumors of the ghost of Spiro Agnew rampag-ing through the hills biting the heads off small children.No sense taking chances. I laid the package down on the

Adventure Sports Desk and cut through the packing tapand twine with the razor-sharp Rapala let knife that always keep in the top drawer to open envelopes and fenoff rats. The rats had caused me no end of trouble. Gianred-eyed ends with heads like miniature horses, dripping fangs, their mangy fur swarming with parasites[Editors Note: At this point Mr. Duke suffered an appa

ent breakdown that rendered him incoherent for severa

hours. His writing from this period was deemed unreadabby a Panel of Experts and has been destroyed, on the advice of this publications attorneys. We rejoin the narrativat approximately 3 a.m. the following morning, after thintervention of a local team of Emergency Exotic Dancehad calmed Mr. Duke sufciently to restore a modicum rationality to his ranting.]

But I digress. It is always bad business to lose sighof The Task at Hand, especially at a time like this. Focus uber alles, Bubba, and dont you forget it. Stay thCourse. Death to the Weird. I opened the box. Thmoney was there, stacks and stacks of it, old twenties arequested. And cradled between the stacks was the beaitself, a football-sized canister of pure malevolent evil, th

Vincent Black Molotov, carbide generator of the Apocalypse. Dark, sleek, dangerous, suitable only for TraineCaving Professionals. Just looking at it, I understoothe pure lthy speleo lust poor Ratbag must have felt ithe presence of this thing. But Ratbag was gone nowgone wherever the Kalashnikov thugs stowed those whfailed to Get With the Program, and I was alone witthis unpredictable beast. But thats where Im comfort

able, Bubba, out on the ragged edge. Its not unusuaout here, to see a man roast and eat his own spleen ancall it Good. Whatevers Right, I say. I knew the Molotoand I were going to be friends.

My plan was to test the Molotov at the annuThanksgiving gathering of the Dirty Old Men, a grouof speleo freaks and survey boo-hoos so degenerate eveother cavers shun them. But that was not to be. For fortodd years this collection of evil swine had met at a secrelocation in southwest Virginia, taking over a whole motefor the Thanksgiving holiday, disgusting the owners an

frightening the maids in a terrifying Invasion of the MuPeople. But the invasion had been called off for this yeaNot enough realdegenerates left these days. John Taylobroke the news.

As a Doctor of History, and as your Attorney, Johsaid, I advise you to go caving with me and Mike Lisinstead.

Mike was driving non-stop from Florida, John told meno doubt piloting a banana-yellow Mercedes loaded to th

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gunwales with specialized caving gear and high-poweredgrapefruit, as well as a few carefully hidden vials of pow-dered souvenir gator heads, Just In Case. I know from sadexperience what a couple of grams of powdered souvenirgator heads can do to a man, especially a man with mytightly wound temperament and exotic sensibilities, but Iknew that wouldnt stop me from answering the call of theSwamp Thing if I heard its quavering staccato yelp. But

what the hey, Bubba, its all for The Cause, right?Well go to Morrills Cave, John said. I was there

fty-six years ago next Thursday. Its a great cave. Youlllove it. Its usually full of spelunkers, but dont worry.

Well kill like champions.Sign me up, I said.

When the Going Gets Weird,the Weird Go Caving

Meeting the Locals Meeting the ProfessionalsWhy Does It Burn When I Cave? ...

A Cave Is Just a Cave, but a Good Cigarette Is aSmoke The Hodag Screams for Spelunker Blood

As a Caving Professional, Ive become accustomed tothe company of the Terminally Weird. A group portraitof any ten cavers would show more varieties of pure hu-man oddness than all the Viennese quacks together couldever catalog. These are the people Jim Morrison had inmind when he sang People Are Strange, but even theLizard King himself couldnt have envisioned the king-

hell weirdness that passes for normal behavior around 4a.m. at OTR. I say this to emphasize the point that a tripwith John Taylor and Mike List would have been weirdenough, even by caving standards, but that the additionof Jimbo Helton and Jim Old Yellow Hat West to themix pushed the Gonzo Meter so far past the red line as todrive sane people weeping into the streets.

But I was comfortable with that. I never go caving without an attorney, after all, and John is one, albeit anon-practicing one, and Jimbo is the son and brother ofattorneys, and Jim is married to an attorney, and Mikeis a member of the Law Enforcement Community, so I

gured we were set for whatever bad craziness came ourway. Death to all those who would whimper and cry, asBobby Zimmerman said, and lawsuits be damned.

I had what I needed to properly eld test the Molo-tov: thirty pounds of my special carbide, often whisperedabout but rarely seen by other cavers, a closely guardedblend called Climax Fireball mixed and sold by a legend-ary dealer known only as Risk; water collected from karstsprings in the Pyrenees and smuggled into this country

by a vicious band of renegade nuns; andmost importantlya pair of extra dark Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses tmake the Molotovs presumably fearful blaze of light toerable, even to a person like myself with sensitive retina

As backup I had two Sten Lights, a specially modieWheat lamp with spare battery, ve meticulously restoreantique Autolites, a half dozen Petzl Duos with twentyLED arrays where the standard bulbs should have been

and an assortment of less Professional lights, plus a casof custom double-charged DuraCells. That was nothincompared to the collection of lights actually bolted to Jim

Wests helmet, but I was counting on the Molotov as mace in the hole.

I met the others in an abandoned parking lot othe local college campus. The only people weirder thacavers, after all, are college faculty members, so w

wouldnt attract so much attention there. Jimbo anJohn had brought their cameras to document the Molotov test, despite my warnings that the thing might methe lenses if they got too close. Mike, with his usual propensity for Doing The Right Thing, had packed a trulterrifying stash of souvenir gator head, enough, I calculated, to twist the entire population of Blountville if came to that. I went ahead and sampled some, just to bon the safe side. Besides my caving gear I had broughalong copies ofCaves of Tennessee, Caves of Knoxville anthe Great Smoky Mountains, the Tao Te Ching, the booof Revelation and Rope Bondage for Dummies. If thereone thing I learned in cave journalism school it is to carran appropriate personal library at all times. Your life madepend on it. And if theres one thing I learned from

Richard Nixon, it is to tape record everything. To that enI was also packing a vintage Teac four-track reel-to-reerecorder with an on-board battery and an Electro Voicmicrophone. I would get the story At All Costs. In the interest of remaining inconspicuous, we all piled into Jimmini-vanJims collection of multi-hued plastic leis thonly tip-off to the true mind-melting weirdness of itdriverand headed for Morrill Cave.

It was a long strange tripbut arent they all? Ausual, we had trouble nding the place, but, like BlanchDuBois, I have always depended upon the kindness ostrangers, so I felt condent we would get there if w

could only enlist the help of Local Experts. What follows is our conversation with the employees of a locaconvenience store, transcribed directly from the fourtrack:

Jim: Yeah, hey, were looking for Morrill Cave. Youwouldnt know

Convenience Store Clerk: Moral Cave?Jim: Huh? Yeah, Morrill Cave. See, it says right

here(sound of paper rustling)

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Convenience Store Clerk: Hey, Randall Randall!These fellows is looking for a Moral Cave

Jim: See it says right here, Morrill Cave Road.Randall:Yeah thats probably Swine Kingdom

Road. Thats the only thing I could think of that itcould be

Convenience Store Clerk: That wouldnt be theold Sophisticates Club, would it?

Jimbo: Really, we dont know what it is, we justdecided to come over here and look for it.

Convenience Store Clerk: Thats probably the oldSophisticates Club. Thats just off SwineKingdom Road a couple miles.

Randall: More than a couple.Convenience Store Clerk: Thats probably it,

though. They had a lot ofwhat did they callitmoral violations in there. You dont want to gothere, though.

Mike: We dont?Convenience Store Clerk: NoooooooRandall: Oh, Lord, no!Convenience Store Clerk: They shut that place

down, mustve been four years ago.Randall: Five.Convenience Store Clerk: They said it was some

kind of a spelunker hangout, you know. I neverwas in there.

Randall: Trust me, you dont want to go.

Easy, I kept telling myself as this conversation woundon interminably, just take it easy and keep calm, or theyll

know youve been into the gator head. Dont mention thatthe clerk is actually a giant troglobitic craysh. Dont sayanything about the owstone growing out of Randalls earcanals. Just keep recording. Remember that you are a Pro-fessional Cave Journalist.

I have no recollection of how we got out of there orhow we found our way to the cave, but we did, some-how. Though Morrill Cave is designated as a Tennes-see State Natural Area, it is located on private property,and the owner charges a ve-dollar-a-person parking fee.Only when we had found the house, paid our fees, drivendown to the parking area and piled out of the van did

Mike realize that he had been to this cave the past sum-mer. I began to wonder if he was hitting the gator head alittle too often down there in Florida.

We started gearing up. We had parked next to avan with Indiana plates. Before we had nished chang-ing clothes the Hoosier cavers showed up, appropriatelydamp and muddy, and started telling us about the cave.

The whole cave smells like an ashtray, their leadersaid, shaking his head. Theres a group of ashlight

cavers in there, and theyre smoking like crazy. Wmust have picked up forty cigarette butts on our waout.

Dont worry, I told him, draping an arm arounJohns shoulders. This man is an attorney, and he hapledged us all to kill like champions. Its a legally binding oath.

The leader looked uneasy, like he desperately wante

to change the subject for some reason. In a typical cavegambit, he quickly shifted to making small talk about gea

Hey, those are some fancy lights youve got there,he said, glancing toward the equipment I had spread othe ground. His eyes shifted to my carbide generatoSay, he began, that looks like a Oh my God, it canbe. Is that a

I silenced him with an evil glare.Its a prototype, I said, the Black Molotov. Onlthree have been built so far, and the fellows who testethe other two arent around to say what they thought oit. Im on a Professional Mission here. Its a secret, butfeel I can trust you. That is true isnt it? I cantrust you?

He blanched and swallowed hard as my right handarted into the top of my coveralls. Ordinarily I keethe Python in a hand-tooled leather shoulder holstecustomized for a quick draw, but in this case I was onlreaching for my M&Ms.

Look, mister, he said as he backed slowly towarthe open door of the van, his hands held before him isupplication, I dont want any trouble. In fact, I neveeven saw you. I didnt see any cavers from Kentucky herat all today, or anyone using carbide.

I pulled out the M&Ms and tore open the packageYoull go far in life, Bubba, I told him. But he waalready yanking the van into gear and throwing gravel bthe time Id nished the sentence.

He seemed kinda nervous, Jimbo observed.His kind always is, I said. But thats good. Its no

everyone who has the right sort of nerve endings to taunthe Sausage Creature.

Besides Jims van, the parking lot contained onbeat-up old Chevyno doubt the spelunkers carand fancy new van. The vans owners were obviously Profe

sionals, though of a low sort: caving-for-pay outtters.Its hard to say, Bubba, which group cavers loo

down on more. Spelunkersalso known as locals, rednecks, ashlight cavershave the edge by virtue of thereputation for pure atavistic dumbnesscarrying a few

weak ashlights, not wearing helmets, descending dropon frayed clothesline with no clear idea how to get bacup, drinking and drugging underground, spraypaintinthe walls, killing bats, collecting speleothems, generall

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trashing the place, getting lost, getting killedbut I feela certain twisted admiration for them. The best of themare skilled and resourceful cavers, successfully making duedespite a total lack of Professional Caving Equipment,caving on a Huckleberry Finn level of knowledge andtechnology. The worst of them are meaner than corneredrats and twice as ignorant, and theyve managed to turnthat into a strength.

I also feel a grudging respectcall it ProfessionalCourtesyfor the caving-for-pay people. Cavers objectto the increased trafc underground, but they rarely callfor curtailment of their own cave privileges, just those ofother people. And most every caver I know would oncehave been a potential customer for these greedy swine,eager to queue up for a look at the mysterious under-ground, and the hell with the objections of snooty elitists

who would keep them out.All of which would certainly not keep me from impal-

ing and roasting both the spelunkers and the cavers-for-pay on a hot spit just for the freakish fun of it if the op-portunity arose, but it pays to keep things in perspective.

All geared up, we followed the trail of USA Lightlters down to the caves upper, dry entrance. Standingthere at the portal, we all knew the Crucial Moment hadarrived. The Molotov was loadedarmed and danger-ous, as it wereand the Big Bang was at hand. Even Jim

West looked nervous as I put on my helmet and placedmy thumb and forenger on the ignition knob.

Let there be light, I said, and twisted my wrist tostart the reworks.

Nothing happened. The others let out a collective

sigh of relief as I ripped off my helmet and began to cursethe Molotov ercely. Then I realized I had forgotten toturn on the water jets. I ipped them on, twisted the igni-tion knob again, and and had an indelible image of hellliterally burned into my brain as the Molotovs ame jetbathed the whole world in a blinding ash of blue-whitelight that even the Ray-Bans couldnt contain. I foundmyself wishing I had worn a welding mask.

When my pupils had shrunk to pin-pricks I was ableto see the others, all of them thrown to the cave oor bythe initial blast, lying in twisted heaps, vainly trying toshield their eyes from the unbearable glare. I knew that

any sympathy I gave them would be taken as a sign ofweakness. I strapped my helmet on, ignoring the scalp-searing heat at my forehead.

Get up, I said. Were Professional SpelunkerHunters, after all. Kill em all, let the hodags sort emout. Up, up and away.

One by one they staggered to their feet, put on theirsunglasses, and stumbled down the passage. Maybe wereally would kill like champions.

The Hoosiers hadnt picked up nearly all the cigarettbutts in the cave, and we were able to track the spelunkers through the spacious passage with ease. The combnation of tobacco smoke and carbide fumes proved aoddly pungent mixture and the Molotovs ame burneup most of the available oxygen, giving the numeroularge formations a sort of hallucinatory quality in our hypoxia-addled brains. Every scene appeared in stark relie

the near-blinding light of the Molotov contrasting witthe deep shadows thrown by every breakdown block ospeleothem. I eventually noticed that the others had nobothered turning their lights on at all.

Still, I wasnt satised with the Molotovs performance. I kept shaking it and cursing at it, disgusted b

what I saw as its failure to attain Maximum Possible Firepower. My fellow cavers winced and covered their eyeat every violent are-up brought on by my shaking ththing, but I didnt let that deter me. Youll thank mfor this someday, I told them, as they cowered behind owstone mass after one especially garish light show.

The upper passage through which we were travelinperiodically intersected with the lower, wet passage until we nally reached a climb-up where the two tunnediverged. We would be going high, naturally, so Jimbrigged a webbing hand line to make the climb safer. I

worked, too, until I tried to climb and the Molotovame vaporized a foot-long segment of the webbinright in front of my face. I fell backwards, but luckillanded on John, who was spotting me, if perhaps nointentionally. As your attorney, he said, as he lay theron the cave oor, I advise you not to fall. Eventuall

we all made it up the climb and continued down thpassage.Not much farther along, we came upon the cave

signature speleothem, an enormous owstone draperperhaps forty feet wide and twenty feet tall. In the incandescent glow of the Molotov it appeared to be meltinlike a gigantic ice cream cone on a Dog Day afternoonI wasnt sure whether the heat from the carbide am

was actually melting the calcite or whether I had overindulged in the gator head.

Very impressive, John said.Wow, Mike said.

I gotta take a dump, said Jimbo.Damn it! I screeched, I cant believe that Ra

bagmay he rot in hellstuck me with such a uselesgenerator. Ive seen industrial magnesium ares brightethan this. Clearly, this Sub-Professional Performance othe part of my primary light source would be the cross

would have to bear for my unwarranted kindness to Ratbag, that scaly, syphilitic little hairball, and for the everexpanding globalization of the carbide generator industry. I silently vowed to write my congressman at the rs

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opportunity demanding American carbide generators forAmericans, by God. But that would have to wait.

We pressed on, soon reaching Morrill Caves mostbizarre attraction, the Tombstone Factory. I sat downand shed in my pack for my copy ofCaves of Knoxvilleand the Great Smoky Mountains. Having found it, I dugaround some more until I came up with the Teac andthe Electro Voice. I spooled the tape, turned my carbide

ame up a few notches in order to see the page moreclearly and read the following description into the micro-phone for later reference:

There is one other mystery connected with this pe-riod in the caves history. There are three sites in thecave where inexplicable slices were made into variousforms of owstone. Stalagmites, columns, and ow-stone slopes were sliced by some unknown type ofsaw, with smooth even faces and with keen accuracy.The larger of the sites is known as the tombstonearea and contains many cuts.Not only did some-one go to the obvious trouble of making all thesecuts, but they left virtually all of the pieces lyingaround; practically none of the cut-out pieces weretaken out of the cave. This is one mystery that willbe difcult to clear up.

That quotation comes from cave historian LaurieAdams. Larry E. Matthews, the books author, does infact clear up at least part of the mystery, noting that sev-eral tombstones manufactured from the sawn slabs stillstand in a nearby cemetery. But what of it? Let the dead

bury their dead, I say. Thats gibberish, of course, butits scriptural gibberish, and I take that very seriouslyindeed.

I suppose the combination of carbide fumes and myown mounting agitation at the disappointing dimnessof my light kept me from noticing them until they wereupon us: spelunkers, three boys and a girl, serious red-necks, all of them smoking, the devil-red embers of theirdiscount cigarettes glowing as they greedily sucked smokeinto their lungs. They all wore the dull, sullen look oftheir breed as they shielded their eyes from the Molotovsglare, but one of the boys did manage to speak, in a rudi-

mentary way. That theres a purty bright light, he said.Bright? I barked at him. You call this bright? This

is twilight compared to what this thing ought to be put-ting out. Bright? You wouldnt know bright if it melted

your eyeballs, you swine! This pathetic thing is a pitifulwaste of my custom carbide.This outburst hardly seemed to phase him, though he didseem to sense, in some dim recess of his primitive brain,that he had given offense. I never meant nothin, hesaid.

Wait a minute, I said. Are you all smoking? Smoking? In a cave?

Spokesboy spoke again. We never meant nothin,he repeated, seeming to have a single stock phrase readfor any occasion.

Jesus Criminy! I yelled, yanking the cigarette ouof his mouth and stufng it, still lit, into the pocket of hmuddy annel shirt. Dont you fools know what hodag

are? Dont you know how much danger youre in?We never meant nothin, he said for the third time

varying the emphasis for some subtle effect discernibonly to him.

It doesnt matter what you meant, I said. Hodagdont care what you mean, for Gods sake. All they carabout is a good bloody, gristly meal of spelunker meaand theyre drawn to the smell of cigarette smoke. Hav

you ever seen that movie, The Descent?Spokesboy gave a little nod.The creatures in that movie are prairie dogs next t

real hodags. The director had to tone down the violencto get it past the ratings board. Real hodags will eat youeyeballs, slowly, one at a time, while theyre still in youhead. And what comes after that starts to get painful.

Obviously the smart one of the group, Spokesbolooked a bit uncomfortable now. The other three sti

wore the utterly vacant stare of the living dead, but didnt let that bother me. Ive met John Sununu, after al

Theres only one thing you can do, I told himGet out of the cave as quickly as you can, without smoking any more.

Now the girl came to life for the rst time and pipe

up, Without smoking?Yes, I said, without smoking. Mike, wheres thagator head? He reached into his pack and came out wita softball-sized bag of nely ground lizard. Here, I tolthem. Each of you eat about an ounce of this stuff. Ithodag repellent. Seeps out of your intestines and int

your pores. Hodags hate the smell of it. Its your onlhope. They did as they were told, and we sent them otheir way with a warning to try to use as little light apossible on the way out so as to avoid the monsters attention. I noticed that Spokesboys shirt was smolderingbut I didnt mention it.

Man, that was a lot of gator head you told them teat, said Mike. Do you think theyll be all right?

They never were.They was just kids, said Jimbo. They didnt know

no better.

Lets rock n roll, I told the others. Tempus fugit. Times a wastin. We moved ever deeper into thcave, threading our way through breakdown. By now

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had given up on coaxing the sort of spelunker-roastingperformance I had hoped for out of the Molotov and hadsettled for a more moderate klieg-light glare instead ofthe promised nuclear ash. So when we met the caving-for-pay group the guides and clients hardly even had toshield their eyes.

Aside from a few random and readily expendable chil-dren and parents, the caving-for-pay clients turned out

mostly to be college students from a school in westernNorth Carolina. If theres one thing more useless andasinine than a college student, Bubba, I wouldnt wantto hear about it. And anybody who takes college studentsinto caves must be a world class fool and a king-hell mas-ochist besides. Try as I might to reason with myselfwe

were running low on gator head, and I was nding it hardto collect my thoughtsI couldnt resist the temptationto pull out the Teac and interview one of them.

Duke: So, uh, what are youI mean why did youOh, jeez, hodags, look out!!!...That was closeIdont know how much longer I can Say, you

wouldnt happen to have any powdered souvenirgator head on you, would you? No. No, yourea clean-living American young person. Of course

youd have nothing to do with something likethat. I dont condone it either, of course.Naturally. Did you know that Im a doctor of cave

journalism? Whats your name, little girl? Justspeak into the microphone.

College Student: Heather.Duke: Heather?

College Student: Yeah.Duke: Jeez O Pete. What kind of twisted lunaticsare your parents? Did your mother watch a lot ofdaytime dramas?

College Student: What are you talking about? Isthere something wrong with you?

Duke: Wrong? With me? No, why? I mean, Imsweating a little. Kind of hot in this cave. I feel likemy foreheads on re. And my lights kind of dim,thats a problem. But no, Im ne. Im a CavingProfessional, after all. Sort of like your guide, but

without such closely spaced eyes.

College Student: Get away from me. I never wouldhave come in this lthy cave if Id known Id meetsomebody like you.

Duke: Heather, wait! I love you! You remind me ofEstes Kefauver! Come back!

But where were we? We were talking about collegestudents and things got a little out of hand. I avoid thelittle punks myself, always a good policy in This Day and

Age. But I was strangely drawn to Heather and she hadeserted me. I felt like a dog took my place. And whenever I feel that way its time for a dose of Revelation. sat down on a rock, produced the book from my packopened it at random, and read this: And the fruits thathy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all thing

which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, anthou shalt nd them no more at all. So no more Heathe

The other college students were milling about the pasage, all but the ones standing enraptured and entrancelistening to a caving story Jim West was making up on thspot. One of the milling-about ones wandered over to mand asked what I was reading. I leapt to my feet, threwmy hands in the air, and cried out in a loud voice, sayingBabylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become thhabitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, ana cage of every unclean and hateful bird! For all nationhave drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornicationand the kings of the earth have committed fornicatio

with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed ricthrough the abundance of her delicacies! Then I wepand scourged myself and rent my garments. The studenactually turned on his heel and ran, no mean trick on thmuddy oor of the passage. Some people cant handle thtruth, I guess.

Eventually the caving-for-pay group headed out, anJohn, Mike, Jim, Jimbo and I were left alone in the passage, each of us sitting on a rock and pondering his losse

We had planned to keep going until we reached the bitteend of the passage, but it was plain now that we wouldnmake it. John said he thought several of his internal or

gans had been crushed when I fell on him. Mike was dicouraged at the thought that we had used up all the gator head and he would have to drive all the way back tFlorida without any. I had somehow lost Heather. Jimb

was dangerously constipated. It was time to go home.

Another Night in The BunkerThe Strange Revenge of Punxatawney Phil

The End of the Black MolotovGod Loves Dick Cheney

Freak Power in the Pine Mountain Grotto

But that was last year. Tonight its snowing outsidepiling up in three foot drifts, and the wind is howlingThe Bunker is windowless and soundproof, but I cafeel it just the same. Punxatawney Phil saw his shadowtoday, according to news reports, and bit his handlerindex nger clean off before retreating to his hole for simore weeks of peaceful wintry sleep. The paramedics sai

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theyd never seen so much blood, but the snow soakedit up. That fellow will never be the same. The rest of hislife hell look at the mangled stump of his nger and seepsychedelic visions of hideous yellow rodent teeth clamp-ing down on tender esh, crushing bone, severing liga-ments. Hell never celebrate Groundhog Day again. And

whats the other name for Groundhog Day? Candlemas.The blessing of the candles takes place today, a more civi-

lized ritual that involves no rodents at all. And what docandles do but give light? Unlike the Vincent Black Mo-lotov, which never gave enough light, never took it as faras I wanted to go, never blazed with quite the glory Iexpected. I sent it back to Ratbagturns out the Kalash-nikov thugs only gave him a few playful lacerationslikethe groundhog handler, hell never be the same but itsprobably for the bestwith my succinct handwritten re-

view: Ratbag, when it comes to the fate of this genera-tor, Conrad had it right in Heart of Darkness: Extermi-nate all the brutes.

Change is in the air. Theres a new president in Washington now. The previous president, Dick Cheney, watransgured immediately after the inauguration, risininto the sky with a glowing benecent sneer on his lipJim Wests latest stint as chair of the Pine Mountain Grotto ended with the New Year. No one thought it coulhappen, but a bald man is now chair of the PMG. Hcampaign centered on the perdiousness of his long

haired opponent, which was strange since no one warunning against him. More and more cavers are usinelectric headlamps these days. Even Risk is talking abougetting out of the carbide business, moving to Dubuquand opening a pizza joint with go-go dancers.

But Im still here, right where I like it, dug into thbunker with all the necessities and a few luxuries, if icomes to that, just a crazy hillbilly with a brain full of gator head and a heart full of hate. Res ipsa loquitur. Let thgood times roll.

Last September PMG lost a fellow member and long time grotto companion. Formany years Ed Bob was a common sight at Cranes Nest. Always there to greet fellowcavers before you ever reached the front door.

Editor

Ed Bob RememberedBy John Taylor

Ed Bob was a stray when he arrived at Crane Nest and seemedto be just out of puppyhood. The rst mention of him in mycaving log was March 20 1998 so he must have been around12 or 13 years old. We had grown old and gray together but

when you look at photos taken ten years ago they show no grayin his face. He was still physically vigorous and only recently heand I hiked through the Blanton Forest to Knobby Rock nearthe top of Pine Mountain. Although Ed Bob never articulated aparticular point of view, I just have to believe that Crane Nest is

a fabulous place to be a dog. September 2009 email John Taylor

Younger John and Ed Bob Lisa Store

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PMG member Dan Silvestri photographed this group of stalagmites in a section ofGap Cave known as the Rimstone Riviera.

It was taken during one of several photo trips in the ongoing CRF survey of GapCave at Cumberland Gap National Park.

Midnight at the Oasis

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Convention 2009Richard Hand

During last years convention in Texas Richard had the chance to goon three different cave trips. Here are his impressions on those caves.

Editor

Halls Cave, Kerr, Texas

This cave is in the Segovia Member of theEdwards Limestone Its passages were controlledby the rudistid reef that has a high porosity andpermeability. Rudists fossils decorate the roof of

the cave. The cave is entered by walking down atalus slope in a sinkhole. Inside there are abundantstalactites and drapes, although most are dry. Thelarge amount of travertine and the dry rimstonedams both indicate that the cave once experiencedwetter conditions. The cave faunas have beensensitive to both moisture and temperaturechanges.

Halls Cave is located in the center of theBalconian biotic province. Its most numerous

living vertebrate is Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana (Mexican free-tail bat), whose colonies often occupythe cave in the summer. In most years a bachelorcolony of only males forms, but in the summer of1991 the cave housed a maternity colony. The caveis also the summer home for the Hirundo fulva (cave swallow).

The Halls Cave fauna provides detailed informationabout changes in temperature, moisture, and soildepth in central Texas over the last 18,000 years.

The presence in the fossil record of Sorex ( shrews),Zapus hudsonius ( meadow jumping mouse),and Microtus ( voles) prior to 13,000 years BPindicate a cooler climate. That the area aroundHalls Cave was also moister prior to 13,000 yearsBP is indicated by the presence of Synaptomyscooperi ( southern bog lemming), and Cryptotisparva ( least shrew). Cryptotis has been replacedby Notiosorex crawfordi ( desert shrew). Cryptotis

parva now resides in the moister northeasternstates, and Notiosorex crawfordi remains part ofthe Texas fauna today.

Halls Cave deposits also document the long-term denudation of the local soils. Prior to 10,000years BP Cynomys ( prairie dog) was present in thearea around the cave. They require soil at least ameter deep. As the soil thinned they vanished fromthe area, and Thomomys ( pocket gopher) becamethe dominate soil resident. These faunal shifts inthe fossil record indicate a signicant drying andthinning of the soil.

In summary, the abundance of small animalfossils in Halls Cave provides an opportunity

to interpret their changes as a reection of theenvironment of the area during the terminalPleistocene and Holocene.

Thanks go to Rick Toomey, III for a veryinstructive eld trip.

Friesenhahn CaveBexar County, Texas

The Edwards Formation resisted karstdevelopment until the Balcones Faulting thatoccurred during the Miocene. For this reason,except for Fyllan Cave, the ages of all known cavedeposits in the area fall within the last 25,000years. Friesenhahn Cave is located near theBalcones Escarpment on the southeastern edge ofthe Edwards Plateau. It is best known for its richcollection of mammoth ( Mammuthus columbi)

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milk teeth associated with numerous articulatedskeletons of the extinct scimitar cat (Homotheriumserum (= Dinobastis serus)). During the Pleistocenethe original cave entrance may have been a pit trapfor animals, but as the talus cone enlarged animalscould freely enter and leave the cave. Homotherium,Smilodon fatalis ( sabertooth cat), Canis dirus(dire wolf), Arctodus ( an extinct bear), and Ursus

americanus ( brown bear) all entered the cave,probably denning there. Below the talus cone, slategray clays indicate the presence of a reducing pondenvironment. As the sediment nearly lled theentrance only small carnivores, rodents, and turtlescould enter. Then it closed completely.

The modern entrance is a karst window, athirty foot pit directly into the room in which thecat skeletons were found. There was an adult andtwo kittens of different ages. The facts that the

skeletons were still articulated and that they wereso well preserved indicate that they must have diedwith rapid burial, most probably in a cave ashood.

The Scimitar cats had shorter upper caninesthan the sabertooth cats, but their canines weremore attened ( like knives), and they had sharpserrations ( blood groves). Their forelimbs werestrikingly elongated, and together with their shorterhind limbs, they assumed a sloping-back posture

like modern hyenas. They were eeter of foot thanthe slow, heavy sabertooth cats, and were able toprey on juvenile mammoths. They followed theirprey into extinction near the end of the ice age.

Several other animal species have been identiedin the cave. There is such a rich faunal assemblagethat bones and teeth protrude from the bottom ofthe talus cone, the walls, and the oor of the cave.

This site promises to keep paleontologists busy fordecades to come.

Cave Without A Name

At this time this is a beautiful show cave. It isalso located on the margin of the Edwards Plateau.Extinct species have been found in its fossil record:a mastodont, an ovibovid (musk ox), and a horse.

Also mammals now of more northern afnities, thahave been extirpated from the area have been foundSorex cinereus (masked shrew now living in Canadand the northern states), Microtus pennsylvanicu(meadow vole now living in Canada and the northerneastern, and mountain states), and Mustela ermine(ermine or shorttail weasel now living in Canada anthe northern and western states). This cave offers

peak at the history of animal life in the area.

See the Halls Cave report for more details.

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In celebrations of Memorial Day weekend,I usually attend Speleofest. I did attend

Speleofest this year, but I had a differentreason to celebrate, obtaining my dream job.

As many of you know, NSS education is myfocus, where I became Education DivisionChief at the Nov ember 2008 BOG meeting.It was too at this meeting that II becameaware that the National Cave and Karst

Research Institute (NCKRI) was searchingfor its rst education director. I applied forthe job in December, interviewed for theposition in April and anxiously awaited theNCKRIs decision.

I was packing my gear for a fun lled weekend at Speleofest when, Dr. GeorgeVeni, executive director of NCKRI, calls meto ask the question, So do you want to moveto Carlsbad? With this began the latestadventure in my life, building a nationwide

cave and karst educational program.The U.S. Congress created NCKRI in 1998as a federal entity, located in the City ofCarlsbad, New Mexico under the auspices ofthe National Park Service. In 2006, NCKRIchanged to a non-prot corporation,operated through the New Mexico Instituteof Mining and Technology to maximize itsexibility to enter into partnerships withother entities and to be in a better positionto raise funds. Dr. George Veni was brought

on board in 2007, as the institutes director.Dr. Veni has vey high aspirations for

NCKRI. He knows that it is throughpartnerships that NCKRI will build itsfoundation for success. My position aseducation director for the institute reectsthis idea. I have the task before me to builda cave and karst educational programs bothformal and informal with national focus.

National Cave and Karst Research

Institutes First Education Directo

Dianne Gillespie

NCKRI Headquarters is designed to conduct research and business in amplelaboratory, library, and ofce space, while educating the public about the importance o caves and karst through its museum, classrooms and bookstore. Withtechnical expertise rom Bat Conservation International, NCKRI Headquarters

will be the worlds frst building to include a bat roost as part o its design. Phas1 construction will be complete in November 2009.

Photo courtesy of NCKR

The rst thing that I am doing to accomplish this task is to travenationwide to research existing programs, and to build and gaipartnerships. My trip across the US began with InternationCongress of Speleology in Texas and will be complete at neathe end of November. When my trip is complete, I will use mresearch to build NCKRIs educational local, state and nationaprograms.

Some of the goals that I have for cave and karst education to get the issues and ideas included in the National Educatio

Curriculum Standards and state curriculum standards in thstates that have cave and karst resources, from Oregon tFlorida. Build programs that bring a better understandinof caves and karst terrains to educators, land planners, citplanners, and government ofcials.

Pine Mountain Grotto wishes Dianne all the best in her job. Edito

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TAG 2009Karen Caldwell

I arrived at TAG at 11:55 eastern time on Thursday night(worried that I would be stuck sleeping in the car outsidethe gate, because information said registration closed atmidnight). After checking in I proceeded to our usualPMG campsite location. Finding a new spring and lakein our usual area, I did not nd the small contingent ofPMGers that I was looking for. I asked lots of people who

were still awake and no one knew anything about LeePowell or Mike List or PMG. Although, several peoplepointed me to the Pigeon Mountain Grotto (who by the

way have a sign...Where is ours? and we need to get itto the people going to events!) I then drove around incircles literally for half an hour looking for PMG. Once Idecided to check the other side of the camping areas. Badidea. It was muddy, really muddy. I dont know that I hadseen the traction light in my new car before, now I haveand I was almost stuck. At least I could reverse. I wentback to the dryer (not dry, just dryer side) and drovearound a couple more times. Being discouraged and tiredby this time I gave up, pulled over on the side of the trail,took the cooler and a box out of the back seat and sleptthere. In the back of the car which is what I was trying toavoid by arriving on time.

I woke in the morning drove a very short distance(around the same place I had driven at least 5 times thenight before) and saw Lee. Lee and Mike both have new

vehicles which I did not recognize and I couldnt see wellenough in the dark to nd them. It might have beeneasier if both of them had not been in bed when I arrived.

At least I nally found them.Forgetting that I was now in Eastern time, I thought

I had time to eat breakfast and get ready when Mike toldme we were leaving for a cave trip at 10:00. A few minutes

later he said were leaving in 10 minutes. So, I hurriedand grabbed food for breakfast in the car and somethingto eat for later (you know me food rst). Then I tried toget my caving gear together in a hurry. We all know how

well this usually goes. So I had most of what I needed.No extra batteries or back up lights, and no hair band,but otherwise mostly together.

Jim (a trip leader from SCCi) took us on a nice tripof Anderson Spring Cave. Wet crawl, only my left armand pack were dry when we came out. It was a good

trip though. Wet and muddy, but had some very nicformations, if you climbed up to see them. Which w

all did except Mike who patiently waited for us to comdown. I should have stuck the back of my neck in thstream when we got out like Lee did to get the mud ouof my hair (It worked for him, he did not have any mud ihis hair). When we got back to the showers I had clumpof mud in my hair. How nice, I think mud makes you hashiny or something so it must have looked good the nexday, but the only mirrors were in the port-o-johns so didnt hang out to x my hair in there.

Friday night was the band, a small bonre, and a verwindy storm (we took cover in Lees new soccer momvan..I shouldnt make fun, it slept very nicely and I didn

have to get my tent out).

Saturday the three PMGers (Anne Elmore was alsthere, but she didnt stay or cave with us) joined Fre

and Gary (I dont know anyones last name) and took trip to Rustys. Lee and I took lots of pics (some includehere) while the others explored. I was terribly rude anclimbed out on top of some guy, but I had to go and h

was really slow.The whole other group was climbing on som

modied self made systems that were very slow, but maybI was just in a hurry. They all seemed really interested animpressed by my rope walker. Which I know you donreally need at Rustys but it is all I have so I used it.

Mike List and Karen at the entrance to Anderson Spring Cave.Lee Powel

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The whole other group was climbing on some modied self made systems that were very slow, but maybe I was juin a hurry. They all seemed really interested and impressed by my rope walker. Which I know you dont really need aRustys but it is all I have so I used it.

Saturday night we ate Chinese and I learned that I am surrounded by true friends who say rude things. We goback just in time not to win anything in the door prize drawing and see the re lit. They had a DJ and dancing (I thinI like the band better) at the munchie pavilion. And Lee and I stayed up late enough to attend the SCCi rafe drawin

which to our displeasure was proceeded by an auction which took about an hour before we could nd out that whadnt won anything in the rafe either.

Lee did buy a new frog system which we took back to Rustys Sunday afternoon to test. It worked well and Lee wagood at it. We bounced a few times and then went in search of a corn maze. We found one, unfortunately they didnadvertise the times so it was closed when we arrived.

It was a good TAG. We missed all the other PMG members who make it great. We hope you will all come bacnext year and join us for TAG 2010.

Lee in Rustys. Karen Caldwell

PMGs campsite with no PMG banner. Karen Caldwel

Karen and Lee deep inside Rustys Cave. Karen CaldwellSaturday nights bonfre ready to burn. Karen Caldwell

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Between mid-December 1861 and early March 1862, a number of Union soldiers from Ohio, Indianaand Pennsylvania visited a small cave on the northern outskirts of Munfordville, Kentucky. The ducunder crawl entrance is in a steep sinkhole on the west side of what was then the Louisville and Nashvil

Railroad, and leads to about 500 or 600 feet of up and down meandering passage with a vertical extent of perhapthirty-ve feet.

Some 146 years later caver Chris Clark toured part of the grotto, noted some of the soldier names, and evelearned a bit about one of them. On August 11, 2009, Chris graciously led Joseph C. Douglas, Sherry Person

Elliot Stahl, and Marion O. Smith to the cave to record and photograph the names. While there, Joe found ithe back upper level names which Chris had not seen. A few months later, on November 5, Marion returned onsolo visit and copied additional soldier and suspicious old names. The following names and initials were recordeon these two trips:

E W Brent 1862 W. S. IlerCo. C. 15 Re O.V. U.SA 1862

JEFF. McDowellCo. B. 15. O.V. USA 1862 A. B. Harry

Co. E 65 REG OVMJ. B. M 1862

W

m

PumfreyD. Vornhork(??) Co E 65 Reg OVMCo C? 65 OV Feby 17 1862Feb 15 62

N. McD. Coe W. Fies 64th OhioCo. B. 64. REGT Mach 3 1862OHIO. VOL

M. J. HALSEADH R D DEC 30 1861

O. Culbert OV Isaac A. Mills 1862

A. M. Burns J M YCo. I 15 O.V. G H I

1861 H. A. Miller H. Seiters A?V Co. I 15. OV

John Waters F. H. KLAINECo F. 65 Regt

MUNFORDVILLE, KENTUCKY

SOLDIER CAVESarah A. Blankenship, Joseph C. Douglas,Lynn K. Roebuck, and Marion O. Smith

All photographs taken by Elliot Stahl

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G. W. Cummins Feb 20th O.V.I 622nd Lieut Comp I15th OV F. B. SPELMAN

Co E 65 Re OV. USAR E LINE

R M DAVIDSONJacob Somerville Co I 1st Regt OVMCo C. 38 Ind 1862

J H WELLSJ M GRADENCo A 78th Reg THOMAS YOE(?)

OM 1862A. J. NEELCo A, 78 PV A P(?) HAITY(?)

65 OVM_____ RUSSELL Feb 17th 1862____ March(?) 1862

L Q Fletcher 1862 A DENNIS Fremont

H YOUNG P.(?) B. S_____ 1862SMITH FREY

B P DoyelM R C 1862

R O LucasW A LowryCo H 78 PV W Bettinghaas

W. F. HINMAN1

As inscribed on the cave walls, soldiers from six

regiments are represented, the 1st, 15th, 64th and65th Ohio, 38th Indiana, and 78th Pennsylvania. Butresearch has revealed that men from other outts werethere too, certainly the 49th Ohio and 57th Indiana.These military visitors saw the cave during at leasttwo periods: December 1861-early February 1862and middle February-March 1862. There is a chancethat other soldiers found the cave six months later.

The 1st and 15th Ohio, 38th Indiana, and 78thPennsylvania, distributed among three brigades,

were all part of the recently organized 2nd Division

of the Army of the Ohio, commanded by BrigadierGeneral Alexander McD. McCook. On December 9,1861, the 2nd Division was ordered to move forwardfrom its position near the railroad below Nolin. Theexperience of the 15th Ohio for the next two months

was probably typical of McCooks soldiers.2

On December 10 the 15th moved to the villageof Munfordville on Green river where they wentinto camp about one-fourth of a mile north of the

town. Their camp was named Camp Wood for a loca

resident, George Wood, a member of the KentuckMilitary Board. Within a few days the men seabout making their quarters more comfortable. Thregiment was encamped on a steep hillside whersometimes the ground had to be graded and leveleoff before the [Sibley] tents could be properly placed.The 78th Pennsylvania camped on the north bank othe river.3

While at Munfordville the regiments all took theturn on picket duty. Many of the days were inclemen

with Captain Amos Glover (1832-1890) of Compan

F and other members of the 15 th Ohio recordincold & sleeting, too cold for drill, unsettle& snowy, and rainy weather. The historian of th38th Indiana wrote that The winter was unusuallsevere and much sickness prevailed. He claimed thground around the camp was tramped until the mu

was like mortar.4

Sergeant Andrew J. Gleason (c1837-1910a diarist from the 15th Ohios Company F, o

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December 30, 1861, alluded to exploring a notedcave in the vicinity. It is assumed that it was the sameMunfordville soldier cave under scrutiny in 2009.5

On February 14, 1862, McCooks 2nd Divisionmarched north to go to the Ohio River, boardsteamboats, and reinforce Major General U. S.Grants army in front of Fort Donelson, Tennessee.En route, the news was received that operations at

the fort were going well, and the division was counterordered back south. On the 16th some portions of it,including the 15th Ohio, crossed the Green River andcamped about a mile south of Munfordville. Fromthere the 2nd Division took part in the Army of theOhios long, slow march to Nashville,

with various commands arriving thereFebruary 25 to March 6.6

The 57th Indiana and 64th and 65thOhio regiments provided a number ofthe second wave of soldier visitors to the

cave at the north end of Munfordville.The latter two units were part of theSherman Brigade raised under theauthority of Ohios governor by U.S.Senator John Sherman. The 57th wasorganized at Richmond, Indiana, andfrom late December 1861 until mid-February 1862, it was stationed in theBardstown and Lebanon, Kentuckyareas as part of the 21st Brigade. Boththe 64th and 65th Ohio were organized

at Manseld, Ohio, and in mid-December 1861 they moved by rail to Cincinnati andthen by steamboat to Louisville. By the 30th of thatmonth they had marched to a camp four miles eastof Bardstown. There they stayed just over two weeksbecoming part of the 20th Brigade, which like the 21stBrigade, was in the 6th Division of the Army of theOhio under Brigadier General Thomas J. Wood.7

The 64th and 65th Ohio were among theregiments which marched in stages, January 14-24, some seventy-six miles to Halls Gap, Kentucky.

There the decent road ended, and they were put tobuilding corduroy roads to facilitate the movementof supplies to General [George H.] Thomass forcesat Somerset. This was hard work since the road

was almost impassable . . . one great channel ofmud. Their job was to fell trees, cut the trunksinto lengths of twelve feet, split these into sections,and lay them transversely, covering them with a fewinches of earth. By then Thomas had eliminated

the Confederate threat in southeastern Kentucky bdefeating General Felix K. Zollicoffers army at MiSprings. About February 8, Woods 6th Division waordered back west to the Louisville and NashvillRailroad and southward to Munfordville as part of thUnion army buildup there. The 64th and 65th Ohiby February 10 had trudged forty-four miles bacto Lebanon. On the 12th they boarded railroad car

slowly moved to Lebanon Junction, and then southAt 2 AM on February 13 they reached Munfordvilland passed the remainder of the night in a corneld

At Munfordville were many soldiers massed for forward movement. There were camps everywhere

infantry, artillery and cavalry. Tentcovered every eld for miles. Aftedaylight the men of the 20th Brigadset up tents a half mile from GreeRiver. By the 15th men of the 21Brigade, including the 57th Indiana

were present. There were some ver wet and dismal days at the campThe Sherman Brigades corneld wadecidedly too muddy for comfort,and the men were obliged to resorto some desperate shifts to get by. BFebruary 24 Woods division begacrossing Green River to join in MajoGeneral Don C. Buells Army of thOhio advance to Nashville.9

The following Septembe

14-17, in their movement towarLouisville, the Confederates under General BraxtoBragg forced the surrender of over 4,000 Federalat Munfordville. The Union defenders were hodgepodge of detachments, companies, recruitand large portions of the 60th, 67th, 68th, and 89Indiana regiments. It is possible that a few mesought the safety of the cave by the railroad durinthis attack. However, so far no names found in thcave substantiate this notion.10

Identication of the soldiers who left evidenc

of their existence on the walls of the Munfordvillcave is uneven. For some almost too much is knownFor others just the barest of facts have been found

A continued and determined effort would no doubexpand biographical knowledge. For those who wanto know more about the less developed individuafeel free to continue the research. Below is what habeen learned about twenty-ve of the caves Civil Wa

visitors.

Marion recording one o the namesin his notebook.

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Edward W. Brent(c1840-c1920/21) was possibly a son of English-born Edmond Brent, a schoolteacher, and his wife Frances, who in 1850 lived in Knox County, Ohio. On December 14, 1861,he joined Company F, 65th Ohio Infantry as a private, and only served until July 4, 1862, whenhe was discharged due to disability. Sometime thereafter, he married a woman named Ellen G.By 1868 he moved to Jefferson County, Missouri, where he worked on a farm. At a later date helived in St. Louis and made his livelihood as a builder. He died there between January 3, 1920,and June 16, 1921. 1870 Census, Mo., Jefferson, Plattin Twp., Hillsboro P.O., 23; (1890)

Veterans Census, St. Louis, St. Louis, 179 th Enum. Dist.; (1890), 39th Enum. Dist., 6A; (1920),

St. Louis, Ward 18, 1A; Ofcial Ohio Roster, 5: 499; Civil War Pension Index, 1861-1934.

Andrew M. Burns(c1840-1876), a son of Andrew Burns (1813-1876) who served as the1861-63 chaplain of the 65th Ohio, was a resident of Richland County, Ohio. He served as a 1stsergeant in the three months service of the 15th Ohio. Then on September 9, 1861, he enteredthe three years organization of the same regiment as 1st lieutenant of Company I, serving brieythe next winter as a member of General A. McD. McCooks staff. On April 30, 1862, he waspromoted captain. On the following July 5, while the regiment was about two miles north ofHuntsville, Alabama, he returned from a leave. Later, about January 24, 1863, from Murfreesboro,Tennessee, he again went home on leave, carrying lists from the several company commandersof . . . men who were absent with or without leave, with instructions to look them up and have

them returned to the regiment. Soon after, March 18, Burns resigned his commission. 1850Census, Ohio, Ashland, Dist. 139, Milton Twp., 25; Ofcial Ohio Roster, 2: 497; A. A. Graham,comp., History of Richland County, Ohio: Its Past and Present (Manseld, Ohio, 1880), 335;Biographical Encyclopaedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century (Cincinnati, 1876), 72; Cope,Fifteenth Ohio, 21, 172, 261; The Ohio Historical Society Civil War Documents, Series 147-34:96.

Nathaniel McDowell Coe(May 26, 1834-February 15, 1897), a son of James and Maria McDowellCoe, was born at Sugar Creek, Wayne County, Ohio. By 1860 he had become a permanentresident of Ashland County. During the war Nathaniel served in the Union army three times.The rst enlistment was in the three months version of Company H, 15th Ohio, April 23-August

29, 1861. Then on the following October 10 he became a member of Company E, 64th

OhioInfantry, gaining promotions to corporal November 28, 1861, and later to sergeant. He was

wounded at Chickamauga September 20, 1863, and held prisoner eight days. On November 30the next year he was slightly wounded at Franklin, and mustered out only ten days later, havingfullled his term of service. Finally, he was active March 27-May 30, 1865, in Company H, 6 thU.S. Veteran Volunteer Infantry (Veteran Reserve Corps). On February 28, 1867, he marriedLetitia J. Tannehill (1838-1921), and they eventually had seven children. After Nathanielspassing she recorded that He was a very energetic practical man and good nancier whoserved the Presbyterian Church at Perrysville [Ohio] for 24 years preceding his death. 1860Census, Ohio, Ashland, Hanover Twp., Loudonville P.O., 10; (1880), Green Twp., 991; (1890)

Veterans Census, Enum. Dist. 2: 2; (1900); Ancestry.com/One World Tree re James Coe and

Maria McDowell; Ancestry.com, genealogy, rootsweb, re Letitia Tannehill Coe; Hinman,Sherman Brigade, 966.

George Wallace Cummins (c1839-c1867/68), a son of William and Jane Cahill Cummins ofCrawford and Richland Counties, Ohio, was a clerk before the war. On September 9, 1861, heenlisted in Company I, 15th Ohio Infantry (three years service) and three days later became its2nd lieutenant. His brother, Abraham C. Cummiins, was the companys rst captain, until hisresignation on April 20, 1862. George was successively promoted 1st lieutenant two days later,and captain March 18, 1863. At Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863, he was one of seven

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captains of the regiment who were conspicuous for their gallantry, and were with their mencheering them on. On June 21, 1864, the 15th captured Bald Knob near Kennesaw Mountain,Georgia, and defended it against a counterattack. There, Cummins, with his and two othercompanies plus a few other detachments fortied the Knob under a most terric re fromtwo or three batteries of the enemy. Soon after the capture of Atlanta, starting September3, Cummins escorted north sixty seven of the non-veterans of the regiment whose terms ofservice had expired. He rejoined the 15th Ohio at Marietta the following October 4, havingcome down on the train from Chattanooga the day before, passing Big Shanty (now Kennesaw)

ten minutes before the Confederates struck and began tearing up the track. On January 12,1865, Cummins was mustered out of service at his own request, and the next day started forhome from northern Alabama, where his regiment had been engaged in the pursuit of Hoodsarmy after its crushing defeat at Nashville. At some point George married a lady named Harriet,but whether or not they had children is undetermined. The war apparently affected his healthbecause between October 31, 1867, and April 1, 1868, he died. 1850 Census, Ohio, Crawford,

Auburn Twp., 659; (1860), Richland, Shelby Sharon Twp., 249; Ofcial Ohio Roster, 2: 497;Graham, Richland County, 935; Ofcial Records, Ser. 1, Vol. 31, Pt. 2: 276; Vol. 38, Pt. 1: 409;Cope, Fifteenth Ohio, 21, 560, 568, 684; Civil War Pension Index, 1861-1934.

Robert M. Davidson(b. c1841), possibly a resident of Hancock County, enlisted in Company I,

1st Ohio Infantry (three years version) on September 10, 1861. He gained promotion to corporalSeptember 23, 1862, and was mustered out September 14, 1864. Ofcial Ohio Roster, 2: 26.

William Fies(October 17, 1841-November 22, 1920), a son of Wilhelm Fiess and MagdalenaEgel, was born in Ellmendingen, Baden, Germany. During spring 1847, the family emigrated to

America, settling at rst in New York City. In August 1852 they moved to Marion, Ohio, and sixyears later young William was apprenticed to Widman and Diebold to learn cabinet making. OnOctober 30, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company B, 64th Ohio Infantry, and subsequentlygained promotions to corporal November 16, 1862, and sergeant April 1, 1864. By his ownstatement William took part in all the campaigns, battles, and skirmishes the company andregiment were participants except . . . Chickamauga, at which time I was on detached duty

and engaged in recruiting service. At Stones River he was slightly wounded. Late in the war atFranklin he and ve others of his company were captured and were sent south to Corinth, Selma,Montgomery, Meridian, and nally to Andersonville prison in south Georgia. On March 26,1865, he was among a sizeable party of prisoners sent to Vicksburg and released. Eventually, heand many hundreds of former prisoners and others were crowded onto the steamboat Sultanato be carried up the Mississippi River. Not far north of Memphis, about 2 AM, April 27, 1865,a boiler exploded, triggering a re and great loss of life, probably over 1,700 men. Fies initiallysuffered the left side of my face bruised and bleeding, my left hand badly scalded, and my leftshoulder disabled, which afterwards proved to be a very bad dislocation. The boat was ablazeand he jumped overboard. After a number of adventures he ultimately drifted into a cottonwoodsapling which he climbed. After daylight a steamboat came up the river and launched a row boat

to rescue him. He was taken back to Memphis, but later was sent on another boat to Cairo andfrom there to Columbus, Ohio. He received ill-treatment there and took French leave forhome. But he was called back and was mustered out of the army at Columbus May 30, 1865.

On November 17, 1867, William married Anna C., daughter of Justus Haberman, andthey had at least eight children. From 1866 until 1877 he was part of the rm Fies, Schaffner,and Dreyer in the furniture and undertaking business. After then he continued those occupationsalone. At various times he served the town of Marion as city clerk and councilman. Ofcial OhioRoster, 5: 439; Hinman, Sherman Brigade, 945; Chester D. Berry, ed., Loss of the Sultana andReminiscences of Survivors(Knoxville, 2005 [1892]), 124-33; Ancestry.com, One World Tree,

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Wilson S. Iler(c1841-September 14, 1864), son of David (1814-1877) and Bithynia Truex Iler(1816- 1900), resided with his parents before the war in Morrow County, Ohio, where he was afarm hand. On August 30, 1861, he entered Company C, 15th Ohio Infantry (three years service),becoming the regiments Principal Musician, meaning bugler, June 1, 1863. The author ofthe regimental history many years later recorded that Iler was among those on the roster who

was fond of singing. While the regiment was camped at Bellefonte, Alabama, in August 1863Iler and others got together and sang the songs which were popular at the time: When thisCruel War is Over and a Response By a Soldier, and selections from the New York Glee and

Chorus Book. Another time singers from another regiment came over and Iler got together aquartette who sang, Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming. Some few days later, September 6,at Winstons Gap, Alabama, Iler again had a little concert with members of another regiment.On May 27, 1864, during an assault at Picketts Mill near Dallas, Georgia, after he had blown. . . the bugle, Iler seized the musket of a comrade who had fallen and went forward withthe line. He was soon laid low by bullet wounds in his arm and leg. At a eld hospital hisarm was amputated. While there the adjutant of the 15th Ohio saw him, acknowledged that Ilerssunny disposition and cheerful manners had endeared him to everyone who knew him, andobserved that although suffering from pain he was as cheerful as ever, said he would soon beback, and added, Adjutant, a bugler only needs one arm. But, a few months later, at a hospitalin Chattanooga, Iler succumbed to gangrene. He was buried in the National Cemetery there,

Section F, grave 567, now 2169. 1850 Census, Ohio, Morrow, Gilead Twp., 1001; (1860) 25;Ofcial Ohio Roster, 2: 456, 470; Cope, Fifteenth Ohio, 302, 303, 473, 474, 475; Ancestry.com, P. McCarrell Family Tree; Roll of Honor. Names of Soldiers who Died in the Defence ofthe American Union, Interred in the National Cemeteries at Chattanooga, Stones River, andKnoxville, Tenn. (Baltimore, 1994 [1866]), No. XI: 152.

Francis H. Klaine(April 1840-1920), a native of New Jersey whose parents were from France,apparently lived in or near Holmes County, Ohio, before the war. On October 28, 1861, heentered Company F, 65th Ohio Infantry as a corporal. On June 20, 1862, he was commissioned2nd lieutenant to date the previous March 30. Later that year, November 8, he resigned and leftthe army. By May 1865 he was in Nevada making $600 a year, probably as an engineer for the

Potosi Works. He resided in Tuscarora many years, continuing to work as an engineer. About1876 he married a woman named Mary and by 1884 they had two daughters. Sometime after1890 he moved his family to Santa Clara County, California, where he became an Orchardist.Ofcial Ohio Roster, 5: 498; Reid, Ohio in the War, 2: 382; U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918, RG58 (M779, Roll 1), National Archives, Divs. 3 and 11, Dist. 1, Nevada, May 1865,p. 30; 1880 Census, Nevada, Elko, Tuscarora, Enum. Dist. 4, p. C43; (1890) Veterans Census,Nevada, Tuscarora, Enum. Dist. 4, p. 1; (1900), Calif., Santa Clara, Santa Clara Twp., 76thEnum. Dist., 4A; (1920), San Jose Twp., 9A; Civil War Pension Index, 1861-1934.

William A. Lowry, a probable resident of Butler County, Pennsylvania, was mustered in October12, 1861, as a private, Company H, 78th Pennsylvania Infantry. He was elevated to corporal

February 1, 1862, and in March 1863 discharged to accept another promotion, the nature ofwhich is thus far undetermined. Bates, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 2: 1063.

Robert O. Lucas(b. c1838), likely a resident of either Holmes or Coshocton County, becamea private in Company K, 65th Ohio Infantry October 26, 1861. He was promoted to hospitalsteward April 1, 1862, and presumably served until November 30, 1865. Ofcial Ohio Roster,5: 500.

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Robert M. Davidson

Henry A. Miller

Jeerson McDowell

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Jefferson McDowell(c1841-November 23, 1863) was one of three sons of Guernsey Countyfarmer Christopher McDowell who served in Company B, 15th Ohio Infantry (three years unit).Jefferson enlisted September 6, 1861, and died in a Nashville hospital from a wound receivedat Chickamauga, Georgia, September 20, 1863. 1860 Census, Ohio, Guernsey, Madison Twp.,

Antrim P.O., 91; Ofcial Ohio Roster, 2: 463, 465; William G. Wolfe, Stories of Guernsey County,Ohio: History of an Average Ohio County(Cambridge, Ohio, 1943), 275, 283.

Henry A. Miller, sergeant of Company H, 78th Pennsylvania Infantry, was mustered in October

12, 1861. On February 18, 1863, he was made sergeant major. He is perhaps the person whoscratched 1861 H. A. Miller on the cave wall. Bates, Pennsylvania Volunteers, 2: 1063.

Isaac A. Mills of Buena Vista, Indiana, was most likely the man who left his name in theMunfordville cave. He served in Company E, 57 th Indiana Infantry from December 21, 1861,until November 6, 1862, when he was discharged because of disability. Another candidate,a plain Isaac Mills (b. c1831) was a private in Company D, 49th Ohio Infantry, which wasbrigaded with the 15th Ohio. But the Mills with the middle initial A is thought to representa higher probability. Ofcial Ohio Roster, 4: 511; Report of the Adjutant General of the State ofIndiana(8 vols., Indianapolis, 1865-69), 5: 636.

William Pumfrey(c1815-1880), a native of Berkshire, England, was a prewar farmer in RoyaltonTownship of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. He was married to a lady named Maria Ann, and theyhad before 1860 seven children of whom one apparently did not survive. Pumfrey was the oldestsoldier to visit the Munfordville cave, serving as a private in Company E, 65 th Ohio Infantryfrom October 18, 1861, until his muster out at Nashville December 14, 1864. He returned toCuyahoga County and resumed farming, dying sometime in the mid to late 1880s. Ofcial OhioRoster, 5: 497; 1850 Census, Ohio, Cuyahoga, Royalton Twp., 160; (1860), 103-4; (1870),North Royalton, 20; (1880), Strongsville, Enum. Dist. 76, p. 363C; (1890) Veterans Census,Strongsville Dist., Enum. Dist. 175, p. 1; Civil War Pension Index, 1861-1934.

Henry Seiters(b. c1833), likely from Richland County, enlisted as a private in Company I, 15 th

Ohio Infantry (three years) September 7, 1861, and was discharged August 16, 1862, on asurgeons certicate of disability. Ofcial Ohio Roster, 2: 498.

Jacob Somerville, a resident of Scott County, was mustered in September 18, 1861, as a privatein Company C, 38th Indiana Infantry. At some point he was transferred to the Veteran ReserveCorps. Indiana Adjutant General Report, 5: 203; 8: 165.

Festus B. Spelman (c1834-November 13, 1915), whose mother, Elizabeth (b. c1806), waswidowed before 1850, was a laborer in Marlboro Township of Stark County, Ohio. He became aprivate in Company E, 65th Ohio Infantry, November 11, 1861, gaining a promotion to corporalJanuary 1, 1864. For a while, beginning the following September 28, he was on detached duty

at Chattanooga. His discharge by order of the War Department was dated November 30, 1865,at Columbus, Ohio. Curiously, in the 1890 veterans census, he only claimed service throughDecember 25, 1863. He returned home, became a farmer, and sometimes lived with his brother,

William. He never married, and eventually became a resident of the Ohio Soldiers and SailorsHome near Sandusky in Erie County, where apparently he died. Ofcial Ohio Roster, 5: 495;1850 Census, Ohio, Stark, Marlboro Twp., 843; (1880), Enum. Dist. 145, p. 149C; (1890),

Veterans Census, Marlboro Twp., Enum. Dist. 20, p. 6; (1910), Erie, Perkins Twp., Enum. Dist.51, p. 1B; Ohio Department of Health Death Index, p. 8071 (Ancestry.com).

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Dolsen Vankirk (c1843-December 31, 1862), who probably lived in either Ashland or ErieCounty, began service in Company G, 65th Ohio Infantry, as 1st sergeant, October 5, 1861. He

was promoted to 2nd lieutenant August 12, 1862, and a few months later, at the battle of StonesRiver, was struck squarely in the forehead and fell dead. Ofcial Ohio Roster, 5: 502; Hinman,Sherman Brigade, 47, 348.

James H. Wellswas mustered in September 18, 1861, as a private in Company H, 38th IndianaInfantry. He was killed in action, but the date and place are not named in the regimental history.

Henry F. Perry, History of the Thirty-Eighth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry (Palo Alto,Calif., 1906), 352, 384.

The above sketches bear out what is already known about most Civil War soldiers, that their militarexperience was not easy. Seven of the Munfordville cave signers were killed, mortally wounded, or died odisease; ve were wounded (including the person captured); one captured; three discharged for disability; thretransferred to the Veterans Reserve Corps (including one of those wounded); and two resigned. Why did they

visit the cave? The most probable reason was curiosity, but it may also have been to escape the nasty weatherThose there during the winter of 1861-62 were mostly new to the army and had not been in combat. One

wonders that when they innocently placed their names in the cave how much death and suffering did theforesee.

Sources

1 Diary of Marion O. Smith, Aug. 11, Nov. 5, 2009.

2 The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Ofcial Records of the Union and Confederate Armies(70 vols. in 128 booksWashington, D.C., 1880-1901), Ser. 1, Vol. 7: 460; Thomas B. Van Horne, History of the Army of the Cumberland(2vols., Cincinnati, 1876), 1: 65

3 Alexis Cope, The Fifteenth Ohio Volunteers and Its Campaigns War of 1861-5 (Columbus, Ohio, 1916), 47; Samuel P.Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers(5 vols., Harrisburg, Pa., 1869-71), 2: 1030-35.

4 Harry J. Carmen, ed., Diary of Amos Glover, The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, 44 (1935), 258-59, 263; Cope, Fifteenth Ohio, 51-54; Henry F. Perry, History of the Thirty-Eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry(Palo Alto,Calif., 1906), 18.

5 Cope, Fifteenth Ohio, 3, 53; Ofcial Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866(12vols., Akron, Cincinnati, 1886-95), 2: 455.

6

Cope, Fifteenth Ohio, 77-78; Diary of Amos Glover, 263-64; Frederick H. Dyer,A Compendium of the War of theRebellion(Des Moines, Iowa, 1908), 1503.

7 Ibid., 1140-41, 1526-27; Wilbur F. Hinman, The Story of the Sherman Brigade(Alliance, Ohio, 1897), 34-35.

8 Whitelaw Reid, Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers(2 vols., Cincinnati, 1868), 2: 378-82; Dyer,Compendium, 1526-27; Hinman, Sherman Brigade, 85, 87, 92, 93, 95-96.

9 Ibid., 96-97, 103; Reid, Ohio in the War, 2: 378-82.

10 Ofcial Records, Ser. 1, Vol. 16, Pt. 1: 959-67.

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Last years (2009) SEKCI was smaller in numbersfrom pervious ones but still turned out to be a goodevent. Lisa and I arrived Thursday night at CranesNest and were greeted rst by the guard dogsFrankie and Ed Bob. Several people were already

there and hanging out in the back. Caver friends,some we hadnt seen in a few years, welcomed us.After catching up a little, John showed off his newlibrary cabin. Just up the hill from the hot tub Johnhad a small cabin built to house his large collectionof books and videos. We were expecting a simplebox of a house with a few shelves, but instead founda beautiful room with hardwood oors and whiteshelves. It looked like someones living room. Hiscarpenter friend did a really ne job on it.

Friday morning came early, especially with

only a few hours sleep. While Bill Friz went outto make sure the road rally course was in order,we hung out at Johns waiting for other folks toshow up. We trapped a few friends into watchingour slide show from Italy (sorry guys). By Fridayafternoon the party had grown.

We enjoyed the evening talking under JimWest tarps. No caving this trip because of WNS sowe instead talked about caving.

Saturday there were choices to make. RoadRally, hang around the house or go 4 wheeling with

Jimbo and his friend. I still wanted to at least seecave entrances so I chose the road rally. Lisa chose4 wheeling with Jimbo. There was an extra spaceon the 4 wheeling trip, so Richard Hand decidedto go too.

I rode along in Bob Threns truck (thanksfor driving Bob) along with David Newson. Firststop was breakfast where I had a good talk withGerald and Avis. They followed us on the road

South East Kentucky Caver Invitational

Kenneth Storey

Relaxing under a Jim West tarp. Kenneth Storey

Rear entrance to Short Creek. Kenneth Storey

John Taylors new library. Kenneth

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rally. Not sure if that was the best decision but offwe went to the rst stop. I was navigating so you canguess what happened. We did get lost a few times butGeralds group still wanted to continue to follow us.

We saw caves Ive been in before and a few thatI have never seen. So at least I got to smell cave dirt.Several times I would hear from Lisa as they rode all overthe top of Pine Mountain (Lisa here: we were having agreat time riding around the mountain. Thanks Jimboand Curt!).

We nished a good day off with the cookout.Again, many thanks to Bill Fritz for dinner. Also thanksto Bill Fritz, John Talyor, and Paul Johnson for settingup the road trip. Thanks John for letting us crash in

your front yard, again.This years SEKCI will be on June 4-6. Hope

to see you all there.

Hail Cave. Kenneth Storey

Curt and Richard shooting the rapids. Lisa Storey

Lisa, Jimbo, and Richard. Curt

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