16 July 2011 Binkley Cave Area Trip Report
by Dave Everton
After a long, hearty trip (14.5 to 15.5 hours) the week before in Binkley Cave, it was decided to
select some easy objectives for this day. Brad Barcom had wanted to collect some entrance
location information to submit to the Indiana Cave Survey in order to request a membership
upgrade, and we decided to do this first. It would involve visiting several entrances, taking some
basic measurements, and completing some paperwork later (electronically). However, the awful
recent major affliction of sleep deprivation he has dealt with of late contributed to him getting all
the way to New Albany and turning around; it dawned on him that his scooter may have been
stolen overnight. Having recently lost an expensive bicycle due to theft, he had to return home
when he couldn’t reach anyone to confirm whether it was still there or not.
Today was also the day of a Guy Stover Pit Cave entrance room cleanup, coordinated by
Brenda Shultheis. She and her husband John met with their crew consisting of Tim McLain, Bob
Jackson, Aaron Valandra, Gary Roberson, and Brian Leavell (who rode down with me and Pat
Burns) at Frederick’s Café. Pat, Rand Heazlitt, and I were also there, and made checking out a
sinkhole our first objective; I’d been contacted late in the week by Corydon landowner Desiree
Thayer, who had been digging at the bottom of one. The property was east of known
boundaries of Binkley Cave, and it would be awesome if we could find access to cave over that
way. Desiree was very kind, and took us to two sinkholes. Unfortunately, neither one had
anything that interested us. She must want a cave, though, because she even asked about
aggressive methods of digging in order to find one! We chatted with her for a while and
departed to our next destination, which was the Boone property.
We hadn’t been in the small cave we’d been calling Boone Blow Hole (I need to ask Mr. Boone
about a name for it) since opening it in February. Tim McLain hadn’t been inside either, although
our timing was poor, since he had work to do moving trash, and by the time we got there, had
pretty much just gotten inside to start work. We entered the cave without him, with everything
looking very stable and now partly clean-washed since water has been getting inside. Just past
the constriction which had to be removed partway inside the cave, a dirt pocket in the ceiling on
the left side had given way, blocking the small sloping opening to the canyon below. There is
nothing dangerous about what happened, but it will take some bucket brigade work to remove
the sediment back out of the passage. One thing that was quite different was the sediment was
now moist, compared to how dry it had been in the heart of winter. There was a slight airflow
going into the cave, but nothing near comparable to the winter flow rate, which reinforces what
Gary has repeatedly observed that air is always much stronger in the winter, and not near
opposite flow rate in the summer in most locations.
Although I’d been curious about two things further inside the cave, I wasn’t so curious as to
want to relocate the sediment, so we exited. Rand wasn’t up for a trip in Blowing Hole, so we
agreed to go over and investigate Baelz Spring Cave, which is a high spring off Baelz Rd which
used to serve as a water supply for the Baelz family many years ago. Pat used a picnic
tablecloth on my front seats and we avoided changing clothes before going over there. Arriving
at the site, we parked along the road and Pat observed a small amount of water flowing out from
the culvert underneath the road coming from the spring. We ascended the scenic ravine to the
cave entrance, and in went Rand and Pat first. We’d brought a couple of dig tools, but left them
outside. The only time I’d been to the entrance was on May 1, 2010 when everything was in
flood, and we couldn’t even get in the entrance due to high water. Today was quite different; the
water level was very low, and the entrance room and cave passage was easily entered. We
proceeded upstream in a passage averaging 6 feet wide and 2.5 feet tall with a shallow stream
in places and sometimes pooled water, but reached a spot where the ceiling lowered for most of
the passage width except the right side, but very little airspace was present. None of us wore
wetsuits, and it was actually cold. On the way out, I estimated 300 feet of passage we’d visited.
One bizarre thing noted during the trip was the presence of an abundance of seedlings growing
everywhere, from the roof to the clay banks; some areas had a very high concentration of them!
They were white and ranged from one to two inches long. There was noticeable airflow exiting
the cave, and in the bathtub where we stopped, a good flow of air visibly moved the seedling
sprouts. It is possible that the ceiling raises above clay fill on the right side near that point; it was
doing so near where we stopped, but would possibly need to be dug. There is what appears to
be a narrow channel in the ceiling which would permit further exploration; perhaps if the water is
deep enough, it would make forward progress easier. As we exited, we worked to try and trench
out a few areas of the sediment on the floor in hopes of lowering the water level in the pool at
the end, and we then exited the cave and worked for quite a while trying to lower the water level
and increase the water flow outside, which we accomplished. We didn’t go back inside the cave
to the former point of penetration to determine whether we’d made much of a difference,
although we definitely increased the flow for some time above what it had been before we
started. I suggest that when we return to survey it, we can assess whether we can push it
further or not. The cave entrance plots out at a surface elevation of 600 feet, so there is plenty
of height for cave passage, even if there is no hope or possibility of connecting to Binkley Cave.
Rand decided to return to Guy Stover Pit, while Pat and I relocated to the Baelz entrance area
of Binkley Cave to try and relocate some rock and sediment which covered the entrance culvert
earlier this year. We played around with that for a couple of hours, not really gaining much
noticeable progress. The cleanup crew saved the day; they all came down and after giving me
some time to take my weekly bath (in Indian Creek), we all relocated over to Beef O’Brady’s.
Pat and I first went by the Weiland home to see if the owners were there, but they weren’t.
After good food, drink, and conversation, we went our separate ways. Four cavers were staying
at Rand’s, and had intentions of visiting Blowing Hole the following day to push Aaron’s Alley.
Brian, Pat, and I headed home, with arrival around 10:30 at my house. It was another good day
south of Corydon! It should be noted that due to last year’s popularity of the last weekend of
August being a project weekend, I have decided to establish the last weekend of August this
year to work on uncovering the Baelz entrance. Brenda will also likely have what she thinks will
be the final trash-bagging trip in Guy Stover that weekend as well, in hopes of having the major
trash haul during a weekend in September. Please mark August 27-28 on your calendars now if
you are interested in participating; we will also likely include an ISS meeting, and perhaps have
a project presentation on Saturday night as well, if I can secure a laptop and projector.