Lost River - Karst Information Portal

2007 NSS Convention Guidebook
away from the wall. It was a very nice 56-foot
rappel. And as sure as I was looking at it, there
lay an old still in front of me at the bottom.
The copper tubing lying on the floor spiralling
up into the air, it lay next to the mash box, a
copper structure approximately 2 feet long by
1 foot wide by 1½ feet tall. Shaped in an oval
pattern and flat on the top and bottom, it lay
blackened with layers of oxide that had coated
it through the years. This was truly a historical
find.
The Sinking Creek Cave System consists
of Sinking Creek Cave, Trinkle Cave,
and Mitchell Spring Cave. The Sinking Creek
System is a large storm sewer type cavern
which drains a large portion of the uplands
to the north. Sinking Creek meanders out of
these hills and disappears a few hundred feet
from the northern extremity of the cave. The
water reappears inside near the Sinking Creek
Entrance. The system has been known for many
years. Bates originally mapped most of the cave
in 1932. Since then, only infrequent trips have
been made to Sinking Creek. This has resulted
in the cave remaining unscathed by visitors.
A word of caution must be stated here: when
entering this cavern be sure the weather is clear
and has been clear for several days. Sinking
Creek is a large subterranean sewer that totally
inundates its passages during a storm. Even
light rains cause a noticeable increase in the
stream depth. On one mapping trip we entered
this system several days after a light rain. The
Mitchell Spring Entrance was nearly siphoned
and the stream averaged 18 inches higher than
normal. The pool depths given on the map
were measured during normal flow in late
autumn and winter. Large deviations can occur
after rainstorms. Park to the left of the airplane
hangar. Do not block access to hangar. There
should be a mowed area for parking.
The northern section of Sinking Creek is
426
Sinking Creek Cave System
Of course we had carried our surveying
gear and planned to survey our new find, but
not without first checking for a continuation
of the crevice, hoping for virgin cave passage. It
ended abruptly at both ends narrowing to near
to nothing.
We christened the cave Old Still Pit and
felt certain the best thing to do was to leave the
remains of the still as they were. I hope they are
still there to this day and the story attached will
air with that same skepticism as before.
By Kevin Komisarcik
entered through the Trinkle Cavern Entrances.
The Sinking Creek Entrance collapsed and filled
several years ago and is no longer passable. This
section of cave is large and relatively dry. About
800 feet in one encounters the first pool. Just
beyond is a small grotto filled with some very
pretty dripstone formations. In approximately
2,000 feet the ceiling dips down and the only
enterable side passage in the system is off to the
right. This crawlway terminates near several
small domes. The breakdown beneath one’s
stomach is full of glass and other surface debris.
Four hundred feet beyond this side passage is
a massive flowstone formation which cascades
down from the ceiling. Beyond, the cave
continues with its dark, muddy passage covered
wall to wall with water. Finally, 3,700 feet in,
a well casing has pierced the cave’s interior
breaking up the monotony of this drab passage.
A thousand feet farther on a small room comes
into view. Just beyond, submerged breakdown
covers the floor and is very capable of tripping
a caver and giving him a bath. The passage now
bends sharply several times and heads to the
north. Finally, the pools become deeper and
one enters the largest room of the cave. Here
the water trickles out of a crawlway which soon
becomes too small to push. The mud bank to
the right of this crawl is the former Sinking
Creek entrance.
The southern section is also best entered