A Monthly Newsletter of the Cullman Grotto of the National Speleological Society

The FLOWSTONE Vol Vol 23 Issue 5 May 2016

May 2016 Cullman Grotto Flowstone

Front Cover: Perry & Sharon Clayton on

rope in Valhalla Pit .

Photo by: Mandy Lynn

May 2016

Volume 23 Issue 5

Inside this Issue

2

3

4

6

7

Echo Chamber

TAG Calendar

Mini Cave-ation All Dressed Up…

Bouncing Valhalla Executive Minutes

Minutes

Candid Caver

CULLMAN GROTTO FLOWSTONE

The Flowstone is published monthly by the Cullman Grotto of the National

Speleological Society. Items submitted for publication must be received by the 20th

of

each month for inclusion in the following month’s issue.

The Cullman Grotto will exchange by request with any publishing grotto.

Republication of items within The Flowstone is allowed provided credit is given to

author and source.

Membership to the Cullman Grotto is fifteen dollars ($15) per year for individual or

twenty dollars ($20) per year for family. Dues are payable at the first grotto meeting of

each year (January) and includes subscription to The Flowstone. Subscription rate for

non-members is fifteen dollars ($15) per year.

The Cullman Grotto meets on the first Monday of each month unless the first Monday

falls on a holiday or otherwise noted. In those cases the meeting will be held on the

second Monday. Meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. and are held at the old L&N train depot,

Arnold St., Cullman, AL. All visitors and prospective members are welcome.

Official Grotto Address

Cullman Grotto

c/o Harold Calvert

123 Co. Rd. 250

Cullman, AL 35057

webecavers@hotmail.com

Newsletter Exchange

The Flowstone

Sharon or Perry Clayton

1628 Edmondson Rd

Hanceville, AL 35077

dcpbookwyrm@hotmail.com

2016 OFFICERS APPOINTMENTS Membership/

Chairman Vice Chair Advisor Library

Harold Calvert Perry Clayton Victor Bradford David Drake

123 Co. Rd 250 1628 Edmondson Rd. 8333 US Hwy 31 110 Co. Rd. 1386

Cullman, AL 35057 Hanceville, AL 35077 Hanceville, AL 35077 Falkville, AL 35622

(256) 287-9770 (256) 352-0235 by carrier pigeon only (205)790-1350

webecavers@hotmail.com perryclayton@charter.net dmdrake1@gmail.com

Secretary Treasurer Safety Webmaster

Evon Thompson Tracy Calvert Jeff Lynn Kuenn Drake

378 County Rd. 395 123 Co. Rd. 250 (256)558-7042 100 Co. Rd. 1386

Cullman, AL 35057 Cullman, AL 35057 bamacaveman@yahoo.com Falkville, AL 35622 (256) 352-0235 (256) 287-9770 (256) 739-6915

binerbat@gmail.com webecavers@hotmail.com kuenn.drake@gmail.com

Visit us: www.cullmangrotto.com or

May 2016 Cullman Grotto Flowstone

2

SCCi Celebrates 25 Years!

April 26, 2016

By Ray Knott

Did you know that the SCCi is

celebrating 25 years of conserving

caves? It all started in 1991 with a

small group of cavers who wanted to

create something new; a land

conservancy dedicated solely to cave

protection and access. 25 years later,

their idea has turned into something

much bigger than they ever

imagined. The Southeastern Cave

Conservancy, Inc. (SCCi) is now the

largest land conservancy devoted

specifically to caves. SCCi owns and

leases 170 caves on 30 preserves in 6

states. It has succeeded through the

hard work of many individuals, good

timing, and patience.

As SCCi continues growing beyond

its 25th year, the organization is

primed to continue buying significant

caves, engaging more people in the

mission of cave conservation, and

educating our communities about the

importance of preserving caves and

karst environments. Last year, SCCi

acquired the Stephens Gap and

Johnsons Crook preserves, two

significant purchases that cavers and

nature lovers alike will enjoy for

generations to come. It also hired its

first full-time employee, an

Executive Director. SCCi is actively

engaged with numerous conservation

partners, always setting the example

for balancing environmental

conservation with continued

recreational access.

There are many ways to get involved

with SCCi and be a part of its next 25

years. Basic membership, sustaining

membership, Buy a Piece of the Cave

and other giving opportunities allow

SCCi to remain on solid financial

footing. Volunteers are regularly

needed for special events like cave

cleanups and other important

functions. The Valhalla Society is a

way to give to the SCCi from your

estate or life insurance policy and

ensure caves are protected even after

you are gone.

However you choose to get involved,

rest assured you will be part of an

organization like no other. For more

information, visit www.scci.org or

call 423-771-9671 Ex 101.

2016 NSS Director's Election

By Tony Canike

NSS Members - Remember to vote in

the 2016 NSS Director's Election!

You should have received an

electronic ballot from

elections@vote-now.com to the

email address you have on file with

the NSS; that email may be in your

spam folder! We have six seats to fill

this year, due to two directors having

to step down early, so you may vote

for up to six of the eight candidates.

Please contact Nathan Farrar:

nominating@caves.org with any

questions regarding the process.

Deadline to vote is June 8, 2016.

Thanks!

It is Out There

By: Allen Padgett (Lafayette,

Georgia) ON_ROPE@windstream.net

This evening at the Blue Hole on

Pigeon Mountain I ran into two 30's

aged young men coming down the

Ellisons trail. They had located the

Dug entrance and the Stairstep

entrance. They had flashlights and a

20 ft rope ladder. They had been in

the cave towards the Warm Up pit.

ALL of their information had come

from the internet and social media.

They had no knowledge of the NSS

or Dogwood City Grotto. They were

from metro Atlanta. They had seen

all of those amazing photos and

wanted to be a part of that adventure.

Just like the fellow rescued from the

bottom of Fantastic a week ago, you

don't know what you don't know.

Ellisons cave draws these

adventuresome types like a moth to

flame. It will continue to do so. Our

trip reports and wonderful photos

travel about the web forever. The

genie is out of the bottle. The

information is easily accessed, the

equipment is easily accessed, let the

adventure begin. The cave will suffer

and the frequency of rescue call outs

will increase.

What can we do? When you upload a

trip report, mention the NSS and that

serious training is necessary in every

article on line. The score is Ellisons 3

spelunkers 0. Who will be next? Will

that article in the on line grotto

newsletter or that photo on Facebook

be the spark that sends some innocent

to their death?

Google Ellisons cave or Fantastic pit.

Look on Google Earth. You will be

amazed, horrified or both.

ECHO))))) CHAMBER

May 2016 Cullman Grotto Flowstone

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Bridge Day Rappel By Mike "TinY" Manke

Harold Calvert and I have registered

VBATS and VBATS2 again this year

to participate. Returning team

members feel free to register for the

same team you were on last year and

email me at nbr33fans@yahoo.com

so I can keep a list of who is

registered.

Past years’ belayers, please contact

me first before registration so I can

assign you a team.

New team members will be accepted

on a first come basis once our

belayers and past team members have

had a chance to sign up first. Please

email me to be put on a waiting list.

See you on a

loooooooooooooooooooooooog rope

soon!

Call for volunteers for the

2016 Ely convention!

NSS conventions rely on our

dedicated volunteers to help produce

the event. If you are interested in

becoming part of our team, please let

us know. We'd love to welcome you

to Nevada!

Here are just a few categories where

we need help:

-- Banquet (set up and take-down,

drinks & food)

-- Security & Medical

-- Campground Operations

-- Registration

-- Marketing coordinators

-- Field trip assistants

-- Howdy Party (set up and take-

down, drinks & food)

-- Salon & Session assistants

-- Garbage pickup

-- Stage hands for entertainment

-- Videographers (to video major

sessions)

-- Take down at end of convention,

etc.

Please email Debbie Spoons at:

xplorecaves@yahoo.com if you can

help. Let her know where you would

like to help and what days you are

available.

Thank you! We look forward to

seeing you in Ely!

NSS 75th

Anniversary

Convention

July 16-23, 2016 ~ Ely, Nevada http://nss2016.caves.org/

TAG Calendar

May 2 Grotto Meeting L&N Train Depot, Arnold St 7:30pm May 7 Grotto Trip TBA May 14 Grotto Training Day Old Garden City Bridge 9am - ?? May 7-14 NCRC Cave Rescue Operations & Management Seminar Mentone, AL June 2-5 SERA Cave Carnival Hosted by the Nashville Grotto Pigeon Mountain, GA July 16-23 75

th Annual NSS Convention

Ely, NV

May 2016 Cullman Grotto Flowstone

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Mini Cave-ation

By Scott Murphy

This wasn't supposed to be a cave

trip but sort of ended as one. We

were going down there to do a recon

trip on paddling a couple different

creeks/rivers and camping also. We

camped at Falling Waters State Park

in Chipley, Florida. We arrived

Saturday morning and hiked out to

Falling Waters waterfall. We couldn't

hike down to the observation deck.

They were rebuilding it and some of

the board walks around the other

sinks and pits. We didn't bring any

caving equipment with us. I didn't

ask the ranger at the check in about

the access of the pits either. They had

a lake there that fed water into the pit

making it the tallest waterfall in

Florida. It is 100 foot tall.

The next day we went kayaking on

Holmes Creek. This creek has

multiple springs feeding into it. It

had been raining the past few days so

the main creek was muddy. We

paddled up into Cypress Spring and

we could tell that the water was

getting clearer up around were the

spring boils up. It was very clear

there. Some of the pictures we have

seen previously before we got there

was really blue water and you could

see the bottom everywhere. Guess

we'll have to visit later on in the

season.

On Monday we drove over to Florida

Caverns State Park, we wanted to

check out the paddling here also but

it looked like the river here was

flooded. Here they have a tour cave

that we took a tour in. It was a

Monday and there were a few people

there to take the tour. We noticed

before we got to the cave that they

only charged us for a kid’s entry

which was 5 dollars instead of 8. I

told Leginia that I bet some of the

cave was flooded. It was. It was a

nice cave with many formations.

Our tour guide was very informative.

He said that had a Gray Bat cave

there on site one of 12 in the country.

We told him we had one down from

our house also. Think he said there

were also 24 known caves on the

property. I asked him what qualifies

as a cave in Florida but he didn't

know. Before we left we hiked

around the property and found a few

caves that we peeked in but didn't go

too far in.

All Dressed Up and Nowhere

to Go

By Harold Calvert

Have you ever had an urge to go

caving? That's how Sharon and I felt

when that we spoke to a second grade

class at Bryan elementary this last

Friday.

It all began about one month ago

when a friend I went to school with

located me on Facebook. She asked if

I still went caving, which of course

was a yes.

The second question was "Can you

do me a favor?" Usually that means

can you take me on a trip, not this

time. She has a friend, who is a

school teacher, who had been looking

for a caver to speak at her class. They

were going to be studying cave

related things. I said "Sure no

problem." Before I could ask how old

they were she told me that it was

second grade. Oh me, what did I get

myself into, was my first thought.

But I already said yes, so the

planning began.

The teacher, Mrs. Murphy, gave me a

brief description about what they

were studying. How caves formed,

May 2016 Cullman Grotto Flowstone

5

animals in caves, and formations.

With them being so young, I did not

want to go over their heads with

technical stuff. But she told me to

throw anything at them, they enjoyed

hearing and learning about things.

And they also liked big scientific

terms so they can make everyone

think that they are very smart.

I told Mrs. Murphy that I should

come to the school first and meet

with the principal and office staff, so

they could know what was going on.

Showing up at an elementary school

with a full set of vertical gear and

rope might get the local police called

in a hurry!

After picking up Sharon, we

made our way to the school parking

lot where we geared up for the

presentation. It’s a good thing that I

came and set this up ahead of time,

they were quite surprised in the

office about our appearance. Mrs.

Murphy sent two students to escort

us to the classroom. It was a joy to

see how excited the class was to see

us. They immediately started asking

questions, which mad our job much

easier. We gave a slide show about

what kind of caves there were and

what was in them. I was surprised

about all the things that they had

already learned about caves. They

knew about stalactites and

stalagmites, bats and salamanders.

We told them about other types of

formations, and Sharon gave a very

good presentation about bats. She

also had a good video about our

climbing rig and I had one about

rappelling.

After we were done, they were free

to ask questions, and boy, did they! It

was fun to hear some of the questions

they had; we answered them as best

we could.

The teacher had to finally cut them

off; we had gone over the time that

they had allowed for us. They then

swarmed us to touch all the gear and

ask questions about it. At that age,

hands on is as much a learning

experience as anything else. When

we were all done, the teacher

gathered us all up for a group photo.

Before we left, all the kids came up

and gave us hugs and presented us

with some goodie bags to take on our

next trip. I was a little nervous about

speaking to such a young group, but

it was one of the best groups that I

had ever spoken to. Mrs. Murphy

said "You know you have to come

back next year." It would be my

pleasure.

May 2016 Cullman Grotto Flowstone

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Bouncing Valhalla

By Sharon Clayton

The Grotto trip plan for April was a

return trip to Valhalla. A number of

Grotto members were going to the

ACS meeting in the morning, so

those of us who were just joining up

for the trip agreed to meet up in

Scottsboro. We had to do a bit of

vehicle shuffling, since the road to

Valhalla is notorious for destroying

all but the most rugged of vehicles.

But the trip almost didn’t happen at

all!

When we got to the gate on the

property and went to enter the

combination on the lock, nothing

happened. More & more of the group

joined up to see if they could open

what others hadn’t been able to…no

luck!! A call was made to Buddy

Lane to confirm that the combination

we had was correct…it was. So,

more attempts were made at forcing

the lock to work. Still no joy!!! So,

finally, one more call was made to

Mr. Lane. What now, sir?

Surprisingly, Mr. Lane told us to just

cut the blasted thing if we had the

gear to do so. Thankfully, Kuenn had

a good hacksaw & pliers in his truck,

so cut the lock we did. Harold had

used the time to address some issues

he was having with the Pregnant

Snail. He thought he had it sorted,

but we decided to let him bring up

the rear in case it died on the way up.

There were only 3 vehicles capable

of taking on the “road”, so we had to

pile in. Mandy, Jeff & Bo opted to

ride in the back of Kuenn’s

truck…for the “experience”. Ha!

Well, they got an experience, all

right! Mandy finally bailed about

half-way up & went to ride

w/someone else (where she had less

chance of losing her head to a stray

tree limb or being unceremoniously

dumped out into a mud hole).

About half the group was interested

in doing the cave, while the rest of us

decided we were content to bounce

the pit a few times. It was a beautiful

day, so those who wanted to get

some pictures of the pit & the

climbers/rappellers had a wonderful

time doing so. I got in 2 good

bounces and was considering going

for a third when we heard the cavers

returning. I knew they were going to

be ready to get on rope, so I decided

to call it a day & help with cleanup.

It was a great day spent with good

friends. I look forward to the next

adventure…whether in Valhalla or

beyond!

Minutes of the Executive

Board Meeting of the

Cullman Grotto of the

National Speleological

Society

April 4, 2016

The executive meeting of the

Cullman Grotto of the National

Speleological Society was called to

order on Monday, April 4, 2016, at

7:30 p.m. by Harold Calvert,

Chairman.

Discussion was held regarding the

announcement of Cullman Grotto

May 2016 Cullman Grotto Flowstone

7

trips and who is allowed to

participate in the trips. It was agreed

upon that each trip leader should be

knowledgeable of each participant’s

qualifications for the level of skill

needed for each trip. A disclaimer

will be prepared that will be included

with each announcement of any

Cullman Grotto trip.

The meeting was adjourned.

Minutes of the Meeting of the

Cullman Grotto of the

National Speleological

Society

April 4, 2016

The regular monthly meeting of the

Cullman Grotto of the National

Speleological Society was called to

order immediately following the

executive board meeting on Monday,

April 4, 2016, at 8:00 p.m. by Harold

Calvert, Chairman. 8 members were

present.

The minutes from the March meeting

was read. A motion was made by

Perry Clayton to accept the minutes

as read. The motion was seconded by

Sharon Clayton. The motion was

approved.

The treasurer's report was given.

Announcements:

ACS meeting – April 9 at the library

in Scottsboro, Alabama.

NSS Convention – July 17-23, 2016,

in Ely, Nevada.

SERA – June 2-5, 2016, at Pigeon

Mountain, Georgia.

Old Business:

Discussion was held on safety

training and a safety training day was

scheduled for May 14th at Garden

City.

New Business:

None.

April Grotto Trip

Valhalla after the ACS meeting.

Trip Reports

There was a discussion of the

Fantastic Pit rescue.

The meeting was adjourned.

Candid Caver

How many cavers does it take to open a lock?...

(Answer: In this case only 1… with a hacksaw.)