Chouteau News is the monthly newsletter of the Chouteau Grotto,
a chapter of the National Speleological Society. Views expressed within
are not necessarily that of the editor or that of the Grotto.
Announcements, articles, and other newsworthy items should be addressed
to the editor or sent via email to: greaserd@health.missouri.edu
Chouteau News
December, 1998
Volume 1 Number 8
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Chouteauís annual holiday party will be hosted by the Walk family
on Saturday, December 12th, at 6:00 PM, featuring a lap and dissolve
slide show you wonít soon forget. Location: 4580 Todd St., Columbia.
Phone: 442-2660. Directions: From Columbia, take Rt. WW (East Broadway
turns into WW) for a couple miles east of US 63, past the Casey's
Store (on right), to Daniel Boone Blvd. (This is less than a mile past
Casey's on the right.) Turn right, follow road (stay to the left) for a
couple of "blocks," turning left onto Todd Street. Rick's house is on
the right, 4580 Todd. (Look for the caving cars!)
Bring your favorite dish for the pot luck dinner. BYOB.
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1. Looking ahead...
Stream Team: Sunday, Dec. 6th, 1 PM. Clean up trip to Gans Creek,
weather providing.
Survey Trip: Three Creeks C.A. Help continue the mapping effort in
December.
This is a wonderful time to visit the area. TBA - call if you're
interested.
Recreational Trip: Saturday, Dec. 19th. Winter Cave & Float Trip,
Current River. WETSUIT REQUIRED. Call Daryl for details.
Trip Coordinators:
Daryl Greaser @ 445-8222 or greaserd@health.missouri.edu
Michael Greaser @ 875-4952 or talondog@hotmail.com
2. Regional / National:
Jan. 16th: MSS Meeting, 1 PM, Rolla at the DNR Division of Geology and
Land Survey Building. The building will be open at 9 AM for educational
and demonstrational purposes.
Jan. 23, 24: Restoration Field Camp, Mammoth Cave. Contact Norm Rogers
at 309-682-1570 or nrogers1@juno.com Visit the Restoration Camp website
at:
http://www.oldsci.eiu.edu/physics/len/mammoth/mcrp0.html
3. Recent events:
Mike Morgan and Daryl Greaser accompanied Rick Walk into the Devilís
Icebox for a photo and water quality trip on Nov. 8th. The group
photographed the endangered pink planarian (Macrocatyla glandulosa),
and took water quality samples for MOKEG.
Carol Wicks, Douglas Noltie, Allison Williams, Toby Dogwiler, and
Bethany Sudholt explored Holton Cave on Nov. 14th to look for
cavefish.
A fish was found, but it was not troglodytic.
MOKEG members Joanne Whitaker, Toby Dogwiler, and Bob Lerch along with
Chouteau members Roger Brown and Daryl Greaser attempted to enter
Hunterís Cave on Nov. 20th, but were unable due to the poor condition
of the locks and quality of the key copies. Bob made the executive
decision to force access after a second failed attempt with a complete
set of keys, at which time new locks and a pair of bolt cutters were
obtained. Needless to say the 3/8" logging chain was no match for the
bolt cutters, and entry was obtained a mere seven hours after the first
attempt. Only Roger, Bob, and Daryl were still able to make the trip by
that time. Water quality samples were taken, and a small catfish was
located some distance inside the cave. The trip doubled as a Stream
Team function, as Chouteau members helped obtain the samples.
Look for a complete report in the Foresight.
Rita Worden attended MCKCís Skaggs Cave workday on Nov. 21st.
Rita Worden and Jennifer Wolfe set out for Doss Cave on Nov. 22nd.
Michael Greaser has extensively investigated the new housing development
dubbed Three Creeks Farms, bordering the Conservation Area of the same
name. Much of this new development is on a sinkhole plain dangerously
close to Bass and Turkey Creeks. Fortunately the landowner seems very
reasonable and conservation-minded and does not want to do anything to
hurt the local ecosystems, which is evident by the extensive list of
use restrictions imposed on potential buyers. There are ten 10-acre
lots for sale. Mike is currently looking into the possibility of
conducting dye tracing in the area, as it is suspected that the sinks
may drain into Hunterís Cave.
As a reminder, Hunterís will be closed to general public access during
the MOKEG research, at least for the next 18 months. Please direct those
interested in obtaining a permit for the cave to Mike Leahy or Bill
Elliott, both of the MO Dept. of Conservation.
As part of the ongoing Three Creeks Comprehensive Cave Inventory and
Mapping Project, Daryl and Michael Greaser visited the northern part of
the park on Nov. 7th, to determine two possible cave locations identified
in the eighties by Joel Despain. The caves, Neck Joint Sink Cave and
Gordon Cave, were located and will be surveyed at a later date. Daryl
Greaser is working on a critical inventory of all of the areaís caves,
as a preliminary investigation revealed that some of the caves were
given second names and catalog numbers in the mid to late eighties.
A full report on the area, complete with cave maps, history and
pictures, will be compiled for the MSS and the MDC. Any information
that you have on the area, including pictures and/or history, are
requested to be forwarded to Daryl.
Election results: No changes this year. Officers are listed on page
four.
Sue Bruenderman and Daryl Greaser toured Wyandotte Cave near Lexington,
Indiana. This is a famous cave that has evidence that suggests native
Americans inhabited the cave as long as 4,000 years ago. The cave has
over nine miles of mapped passage and is extremely dry. Due to relative
close proximity and the large number of opportunities in the area, an
Out of state Cave Trip will be planned to this location next year. Stay
tuned for details.
A Grotto trip to the Devilís Icebox is in the works, announced by Rick
Walk at the business meeting. Primary focus will be on Water quality and
photography.
Please welcome new members Toby and Kathleen Dogwiler to the grotto.
They are both experienced cavers and have a lot to offer. Toby is a
graduate geology student at MU.
4. Story:
FABLED CONNECTION CONFIRMED
Chouteau members link two entrances during survey trip on November
29th.
THREE CREEKS C.A. - Nine Chouteauites convened on what proved to be the
clubís most productive survey trip this year. Bob Lerch and Daryl Greaser
led a trip to Coon Cave (The Catacombs, Mosquito Cave) for the purpose of
surveying the cave in order to eventually complete the mapping projects
on the MDC-owned land. Only a handful of caves in the area remain
unmapped, providing an excellent training environment. Coon cave is
a small cave that opens up along a ridge facing Turkey Creek. The group
was divided into two teams, one to begin surveying the known entrance,
and one to try to make the connection from a rumored entrance to the
south. Years ago Paul Lowry claimed to have made the connection.
His claim lay unsubstantiated until Sunday, when Bob and Andy Lerch
proved it was possible, but not before digging through several cubic
feet of debris and negotiating a difficult watercrawl. The cave
serves as a drainage mechanism for the upper fields to the south of
the ridge, as the water is channeled into an intermittent stream that
empties directly into the upper entrance, thereby undercutting the
overlying ridge. Situated between the two viable entrances is a sink
that contains an opening too small for a human. Seven stations
totalling approximately 100 feet of mostly watercrawl was surveyed.
The survey will be finished this month. Dave Webster, Tom Heffelfinger,
Alison Williams, Lee Houghtaling, and Michael and Kevin Greaser also
participated. Look for a full report in an upcoming edition of the
Foresight.
5. Committees / Officers:
1998 Committees
Editor Foresight
Rickard Walk
Associate Editors, Foresight
Daryl Greaser, Bob Lerch
Editor Chouteau News
Daryl Greaser
Conservation
Bob Lerch, Joe Engeln
Education
Bill Elliott, Bob Lerch, Rick Walk
Safety / Rescue
Rick Walk, Jim Yancey, Scott Schulte
Research Review
Joe Engeln, Carol Wicks, Jim Huckins, Bob Lerch, Louise Hose
Library / Exchange Publications
Kevin Feltz, Rick Walk
Public Relations
Mike Morgan, Bill Elliott
Trip Coordinators
Daryl Greaser, Michael Greaser
Stream Teams
Devils Icebox, Jim Yancey
Hunterís Cave Stream,Daryl & Michael Greaser, Bob Lerch
Spring Cave Stream, Daryl & Michael Greaser, Bob Lerch
Gans Creek, Ken Midkiff
1998 Officers
Chairman
Mike Morgan NSS# 11700
20757 N. Ponderosa Rd.
Clark, MO 65243
(573)-687-3254
CaveCriter@aol.com
Vice Chairman
Bob Lerch NSS# 45004
407 Maplewood Dr.
Columbia, MO 65201
(573)-449-7225
lerchr@missouri.edu
Secretary
Tom Heffelfinger NSS# 41453
607 N. Oak St.
California, MO 65018
(573)-796-2570
THeffelfinger@watlow.com
Treasurer
Kevin Feltz NSS# 23141
2310 Nelwood Dr.
Columbia, MO 65203
(573)-474-1173
kfeltz@coin.missouri.edu
MSS Representative
Daryl Greaser NSS# 45614
5994 W. Hatton Chapel Rd.
Columbia, MO 65202
(573)-445-8222
greaserd@health.missouri.edu
Foresight Editor
Rickard Walk NSS# 28189
4580 Todd St.
Columbia, MO 65201
(573)-442-2660
aneswalk@showme.missouri.edu
Chouteau News is the monthly newsletter of the Chouteau Grotto,
a chapter of the National Speleological Society. Views expressed
within are not necessarily that of the editor or that of the Grotto.
Announcements, articles, and other newsworthy items should be addressed
to the editor or sent via email to: greaserd@health.missouri.edu
