Lost River - Karst Information Portal

2007 NSS Convention Guidebook
installed a chain gate in Easter Pit at the slot
that drops through to the trunk passage below.
It actually turned out to be a helpful foothold
assisting in climbing up or down in the slot
and was never used as a gate. For many months
to follow we would intermittently survey and
explore the cave. Some trips were long and
arduous, but with help of the survey data we
could see the passage trends. We logged many
hours during the next few years as cavers Dave
Black, Holly Cook, Greg McNamara, Ron
Adams, Tony Akers, George Cesnik, Tina
Shirk, Roger Gleitz, Sam Frushour, and Kevin
Komisarcik joined our team. We began to call
ourselves the Wyandotte Ridge Exploration
Group (WREG).
After surveying to the Room Above, we
soon found the continuing route to the main
corridor lying at the bottom of a large summit
of breakdown and through an obscure hole.
The borehole continued. It led us to the Room
Beyond. Here, another breakdown choke
occurred and we thought we had reached the
end. We made many searches for more passages
along the paths that lead to this area. The cave
was not giving up its secrets easily, but we did
not abandon hope. Between the Room Above
and the Room Beyond was a slippery, mudcovered
hill of shale we called the Shaley Slide.
Near the bottom, through a narrow crack, a
24
The chain slot.
low side passage was
found. It revealed
itself to be only a
series of constricted
crawlways, pits,
and canyons, which
required an expansive
digging effort to
penetrate. This
crawlway became
known as the Radio
Flyer No. 9, after the
little red wagon that
hauled loads and loads
of dirt out of the dig.
Many dig trips would
follow.
The digging
effort revealed an energy-sucking crawlway
affectionately called the Buzz Stripper that led
to a tight canyon called Chisel Canyon. It was
tight and contorted and always stood as my own
personal dread, as it required lying on your side,
positioning yourself in the center, and wriggling
through without sliding down into the crack
of the canyon. It goes for only a body length
but nevertheless is daunting. Just on the other
side of Chisel Canyon is a dome called Fools
Dome. With a bright light, one could peer to
the top of this 45-foot-high dome and only
wonder if more passage would continue above.
Below this dome, through a small obscure hole,
a 33-foot-deep pit was found. Requiring a rope
for descent, it is the lowest point in the cave at
215.5 feet lower than the Easter Entrance. The
short passage leading from it would soon end.
If the cave was to continue it would have
to be at the top of Fools Dome. Upon initial
examination by Dible and Wilson, it was
deemed climbable. On the next trip the wellseasoned
climber, Wilson, made it to the top
with the patient Dible providing a belay line.
It was a key event in the exploration. There
was passage at the top! A rope was rigged for
later trips and the surveying and exploration
continued in the upper level.
After learning the routes and knowing
how to negotiate the passages, trips to the