The Lehman Caves Lint Camp was a great success!  With the help of 16 volunteers (Jon Jasper, Kyle Voyles, Megan Porter, Jason Knight, Dixie Hemingway, Dave Stratford, Val Stratford, Jeana Statford, James Perry, J.R. Rowley, Deborah Rowley, Lynette Cowley, Ben Roberts, Brian Hamilton, Emily Page, and Danika Hanks) a total of 41,700 ft2 of cave passage was restored. 

Saturday, we removed lint that has been accumulating since the first Lehman Caves Lint Camp in May 1998.  In a three-years time, amazing fuzzy "lintite" formations were able to form. We removed the high unreachable lintites by spraying water from ladders.  Reachable lint was removed using paintbrushes. By the end of the 8-hour day we were able to clean the lint from the Gothic Palace to the Music Room (3000 ft2 of cave passage).

On Sunday, we removed wood debris from the old handrails from historic tour route that used to run through the Crystal Palace (500 ft2 of cave passage).  To remove the debris, we would place rags to catch excess water from running into the pools below.  We then would spray water and scrub the wood-covered flowstone.  The excess water and debris would then be vacuumed up with a wet/dry vac.  The transformation was amazing.  We were able to clean about 20% (500 ft2 of the 2,500 ft2) of the affected areas. 

Lintites in Gothic Palace

Before & After of Crystal Palace

Many new perks were introduced in this Lint Camp.  The park allowed us to stay in one of their 3-bedroom houses.  This house gave us a heated place to stay, a place to cook meals, and a shower.  Thanks to Margaret Yates, Lead Interpreter, we also had access to hot tub during the Lint Camp.

Many afterhour trips were available during the Lint Camp.  Saturday night we had people photo-touring Lehman Caves studying the usually full pools throughout the cave.  On Saturday, we also had a trip to see the delicate aragonite formations of Snake Creek Cave.  We had trips going to view the unique folia formations in Indian Burial Cave on both Saturday and Sunday.

Dale Green is bothered by his absence.  Dale was recently hospitalized due to an intestinal blockage and could not made the Lint Camp.  Dale is expecting a full recovery would like to be a part of another restoration camp.  For those who would like to return or start being a part of these restoration camps, contact Dale Green or Jon Jasper.