Memorial Day Weekend at Lilburn Cave and the Redwood Canyon Karst Twenty joint-venturers and three up and coming caverkids attended The Cave Research Foundation expedition to Lilburn Cave, nominally coordinated by Bill Farr and John Tinsley. The long weekend was extremely productive with more than 245 volunteer hours logged among activities ranging from sedimentology, cartography, cave restoration and hydrology to maintenance of the field station, replacing shingles damaged by legions of aggressive woodpeckers, repairing the water supply reservoir, piping, and filtration system, installation of a new communications/radio electronics and 600+ feet of direct-burial cable connecting the in- cave dataline to the field station. And that was just on Friday evening. Not exactly. The weekend started with a Herculean performance by Jeff Cheraz and his friend, John Benson, a new JV. They hiked into Redwood Canyon bearing not only their packs laden with caving gear and a new toolbox, but also bringing along a spool of direct-burial shielded multi-conductor cable weighing about 100 lbs including the pole used for the transportation aid. Jeff had procured the cable through his professional contacts as an electrician. The cable's arrival clears the way for the completion of the new data and communications lines now being installed in the cave, replacing the deteriorated phone wire installed more than 25 years ago. The spool will make a fine fireside table or kindling when we tire of it being in the way of life in the field station. In a weak imitation of Jeff and John's action, Mark Scott and John Tinsley packed in a 55-gallon drum that Jeff had procured and left in the back of his truck, along with a length of electrical conduit to use as a bearing pole. Jeff had wired the barrel to the pole, and covered the wire with duct tape, so Tinsley and Scott really had no excuse for not bringing the barrel along. The load looked impressive, but in total it weighed about 10 pounds. The new barrel will augment the existing water supply for the field station, replacing a barrel with a seam split open by the rigors of a freezing winter a year ago. The cartographic effort made steady progress as quadrangle and lead-checking continued under the direction of Brad Hacker and Carol Vesely. Carol Vesely, Roger Mortimer, Andrew Todhunter (new JV), and Art Fortini surveyed and checked leads between the Schreiber Complex and the Impossible Dream in the central sector of Lilburn Cave. A total of 81 feet of new passage was surveyed (JN survey, connnecting into known passage at JI-6. A passage remains to be surveyed there, and Roger Mortimer knows where it is. On Sunday, Vesely, Todhunter, Cheraz, and Scott checked climbing leads in the Attic above the pit that drops into the Hexadendron Room. Two new leads each about 50 feet apart were located, and connected upward to passages containing footprints and survey stations. Jeff Cheraz, Brad Hacker, and Mark Scott sojourned to River Pit Avenue, thence to the junction where one departs for the Z-Room and Thanksgiving Hall (station 801). Ten stations were surveyed, tying into known passage that is on the map. Brad incurred a near-miss when a suite of boulders decided to come loose, and brushed him aside while passing his position. Slightly shaken, they exited the cave. Lynne Jesaitis, Merrilee Proffitt, and John Benson went to the area above the Z-Room and located much passage that appeared to be virgin. Nearby were Hedlund survey stations, but none were numbered, and the Hedlund survey documentation (unbeknownst to the surveyors) was available in the field station. This area will yield solid footage on future trips when the party is equipped with the Ellis Hedlund survey data to locate and number the stations, and tie the new survey into the cave. Roger Mortimer, John Benson, and Merrilee Proffitt surveyed off Curl Passage from BP5; the passage led nowhere exciting, but curiously had conspicuous air flow throughout. Twelve stations were set and about 90 feet of survey was netted. A productive trip. Phone line installation and maintenance was engaged in by many folks under the direction of Howard Hurtt. About 600 feet of direct-burial cable was buried between the Field Station and Meyer Entrance, with most of the expedition taking part at one time or another. The lion's share of the labor was supplied by Hurtt, Mary Ann Russo, Boris Galitsky, John Benson, and Jan Hubner, with assists from Tinsley, Art Fortini, Lynne Jesaitis, Jan Hubner, Mark Scott, and Cheryl Smith. Paul Nelson and Cindy Heazlit went to check the in-cave phone line integrity. Another trip will be required to complete that testing, and to install the new phone drops. John Tinsley and Boris Galitsky walked the karst to note any unusual sinkhole activity in result of the heavy winter runoff. Two intriguing leads were found, both above the putative Great North Cave, and cartographic talent was diverted on Sunday to push these new developments. Neither panned out as totally going cave, but both retain high potential with some further work. Mark Scott climbed the tree and inspected the solar collector panels, finding them clean. The branch of the tree that shades the panels for a couple of hours each day during prime time is about 20 feet higher up the tree and is well out of reach. Trimming it might be difficult without dropping it onto the panel array, so we will probably just accept the shade penalty, at least for now. Bill Farr, ably assisted by Brian Christopher Farr and others, repaired the water line and installed a new filter on the intake tube. Boris Galitsky and John Tinsley led the pecker repair contingent. Actually it isn't what you may be thinking or hoping for. Woodpeckers have discovered the field station, and have pecked numerous holes through three layers of shingles, tarpaper, and 1/2-inch plywood sheathing thereby letting light into the cabin. Perhaps the 'peckers just like the attractive hollow sound of the cabin. But we wish they would ply their trade elsewhere. We have run through 1.5 bundles of shingles since the action got hot about two years ago. Additional shingles will need to be procured and transported to the cabin as a reserve against further damage. Hurtt and Tinsley replaced the broken glass pane in the lower 1/3 of the window next to the stove. Howard also brought in a spare piece of glass, in case there is a next time. Howard repaired the communications module and radio. Tinsley took measurements of the loft-shelf preparatory to fabricating a face frame for the new storage facility being planned by Mike Spiess. Bill Frantz and Marianne Russo conducted a restoration trip to an area located under the Jefferson Memorial. Here, a flowstone floor has been tracked with mud and dirt. Restoring this area will require several trips to clean; likely some etching with acid solutions may be required to release the worst of the detritus from parts of its flowstone carapace. In summary, the Memorial Day expedition was highly productive and sustained progress on all fronts. Future CRF trips:
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